3:19 sweat of thy face. The Curse on Adam had four main aspects: (1) sorrow, because of the futility of endless struggle against a hostile environment; (2) pain, signified by the thorns; (3) sweat, or tears, the “strong crying” occasioned by the labor necessary to maintain life and hope; and (4) eventual physical death in spite of all his efforts, returning back to the dust.

But Christ, as the second Adam, has borne the curse for us (Galatians 3:13), as the “man of sorrows” (Isaiah 53:3), wearing the thorns and suffering the greatest pain (Mark 15:17), acquired by strong crying (Hebrews 5:7) to sweat as it were drops of blood before being finally brought into the dust of death (Psalm 22:15). And because He so suffered for us, once again someday God will dwell with men, and “there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain” (Revelation 21:4). Indeed there shall be “no more curse” (Revelation 22:3).

3:19 dust thou art. The Curse thus applies to man and woman, to the animals and to the physical elements, God’s whole creation. It is so universal as to have been discovered and recognized empirically as a general scientific law, the law of increasing entropy (“in-turning”). This famous Second Law of Thermodynamics is sometimes also called the law of morpholysis (“loosing of structure”). It expresses the universal tendency for systems to decay and become disordered, for energy to be converted into forms unavailable for further work, for information to become confused, for the new to become worn, for the young to become old, for the living to die, even for whole species to become extinct. One of the most amazing anomalies of human thought is that the concept of evolution, which has never been observed in action scientifically and is exactly the opposite of the universally proved scientific principle of increasing entropy. This theory is nevertheless believed to be the most fundamental principle of nature by almost the entire intellectual establishment!

3:22 as one of us. Once again there is a divine council of the Godhead, this time to decree man’s expulsion from the garden. Man’s ultimate restoration requires his full instruction in the effects of sin and separation from God.

3:22 tree of life. The delicious fruit of the tree of life had been freely available to Adam and Eve, but it was not necessary for their survival. It was only eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil that would result in death (Genesis 2:17). The same will apply when the tree of life is planted again in the new earth. Its fruit and leaves will be freely available for food (Revelation 22:2), but it will not be necessary for survival, since there will be no more death there (Revelation 21:4). However, it did contain such wonderful health-giving ingredients that it would have enabled people to survive to tremendous ages even after sin and death entered the world, and this would have undermined God’s intended purpose for death (see note on Genesis 3:17). The words “for ever” in this verse are from the Hebrew olam, which can also legitimately be translated a “long time,” depending on context (e.g., Isaiah 42:14). It is also used for the “lasting hills” (Deuteronomy 33:15).

3:22 live for ever. The fruit of the tree of life will be freely available to all in the new earth (Revelation 2:7; 22:1-2).