Payday Someday

R.G. Lee’s famous sermon, “Payday Someday,” is appropriate for the results of the first disobedience recorded in the Bible. The first to receive his payday is the serpent.

The Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
cursed are you among all animals
and among all wild creatures;
upon your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.

I will put enmity between you and the woman
and between your offspring and hers;
he will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:14-15)

The serpent is cursed above all wild creatures. Just as he tempted the man and woman to eat the forbidden fruit, he is now condemned to eat dust. Beyond this, there is a profound division between the woman, her offspring, and the serpent.

Many believe his judgment foreshadows the events of the cross. While the serpent was able to strike at Jesus’ heel, Jesus ultimately triumphed over the evil one through His victory on the cross.

Paul wrote about the power of the cross: “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:15).

Payday for the Woman

God’s message to the woman conveys both judgment and grace. The judgment is one that every woman who has experienced childbirth understands—the intense pain of bringing forth life.

Yet, in His grace, God has chosen women as the means through which procreation and the gift of life continue on Earth.

To the woman he said,
“I will make your pangs in childbirth exceedingly great;
in pain you shall bring forth children,
yet your desire shall be for your husband,
and he shall rule over you.” (Genesis 3:16)

Payday for the Man

Eating, a prominent feature of the serpent’s judgment in the narrative, also becomes a central theme in God’s message to the man following his disobedience.

And to the man he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
about which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life;

Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.

By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread
until you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:17-19)

Adam was a gardener in the Garden of Eden, where he had every opportunity to walk with God and enjoy the garden’s abundant produce.

However, after his disobedience, God tells him five times that he will eat—but no longer with ease. Instead, he will eat through hard labor, as the ground will no longer yield its fruit effortlessly. It will be filled with thorns and thistles, requiring great toil.

The provision of food will now come through intense effort, not from the harmonious cooperation with God that he once enjoyed in the garden.

As a young preacher, I read R.G. Lee’s sermon “Payday Someday.” While I don’t recall the sermon’s content, its title speaks volumes. For those who choose willful disobedience to God, there are inevitable consequences—a payday someday.

The first couple discovered this truth, and humanity has been learning it ever since.

Our choice is clear: to walk joyfully with God in a relationship of obedience and partnership, rather than turning away and disobeying His clear directives for our lives.

A Further Act of Grace

The story of Adam and Eve concludes with their departure from the Garden of Eden, clothed not in garments of their own making, but in garments designed by God for their protection.

And the Lord God made garments of skins for the man and for his wife and clothed them (Genesis 3:21).

This act of grace reveals that even in the midst of judgment, God extends His love and mercy. It reflects His desire for us to experience the very best that we can, even in the face of our failures.

YouTube Discussion

Rudy Ross and I discussed this passage on YouTube today.