Genesis 3:14

Genesis 3:14 says, And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:  The serpent was at least used by Satan in the deception of Eve, and but it was really Satan that was punished.  We may simply be following the deception of Satan when we sin, but we will still have to accept punishment for our sins.  Verse fifteen adds, And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.  Though spoken to the serpent, this relates more to the woman and Satan.  This refers not to the serpent, but to Satan.  The woman had been deceived by Satan, but now there would be an enmity between them.  Satan really is always the enemy of people, wanting only their destruction in an attempt to justify his own actions.  Then, there is a reference to Christ, the One Who would bruise Satan's head while Satan bruised His heel.  Satan may have felt almost victorious at the death of Christ, but it proved but a temporary bruise in terms of eternity.  Verse sixteen declares, Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.  The women was not left blameless.  Though she had been deceived, she was still responsible for her disobedience.  Pain in child birth was her sentence, and we could add the fact that her husband would rule over her.   Still, we should view this as with both husband and wife being obedient to God.  Verse seventeen says, And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;  Though Adam attempted to blame both the woman and God, he was told he was responsible for his own actions.  We cannot place the blame for our sins on anything but our own disobedience to God.  I don't believe that we are  guilty of sin simply because we were born, but are guilty of sin when we are capable of knowing what God wants us to do and not doing it.  God had made it clear to Adam what was not allowed, and Adam did it anyway.  Verse eighteen adds, Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;  Then verse nineteen continues, In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.  Instead of a garden where everything was in harmony, Adam was going to find the ground cursed and have to labor for his food.  I believe that we will always find life harder when we do not follow God's teachings.  Verse twenty states, And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.  Adam named the woman Eve, meaning she was the mother of all people who lived.  Verse twenty-one declares, Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.  God made coats of skins for Adam and Eve.  Someone may personally believe that it is sinful to wear fur and leather, but God certainly does not teach this.   We should never attempt to make things true when they go against Biblical teachings about God.  Verse twenty-two proclaims,  And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:  Adam and Eve had eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but had apparently not eaten of the tree of life.  God said that this was not going to happen.  Verse twenty-three adds, Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.  Adam and Eve were evicted from the garden of Eden, and sent to earn their own way.  Verse twenty-four states, So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.  We don't need to speculate where the garden of Eden was or is, because God has hidden it from us and prevents us from going there.  Our way to everlasting life with God is through accepting Jesus as our Savior and Lord, and that is what we really need to concentrate on.