The Fall
Some Thoughts and Encouragements
on Genesis 3
Romans 5:12, “But God demonstrates His own
love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us.”
Luke 19:10, “seek and save those who were lost.”
Sin , a definition:
Sin is: Any act or attitude that is not “Love the
Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and
strength.”
( Deut 6:5, Matt 22, Mark 12, Luke 10)
Sin by acts like the Ten Commandments (Ex 20)
Sin by attitudes “you have heard it said...” (Matt 5)
Sin, some consequences.
TO ADAM: Genesis 2:16, “If you eat of the fruit of the
tree...you will surely die.”
TO US: Romans 5:12, “through one man sin came into the
world and death by sin, so death passes to all men for all have
sinned.”
Romans 3:23, “The wages of sin is death, the gift of God is
eternal LIfe through, Jesus Christ our Lord.
2 Cor 5:21 "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our
behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in
Him.
"Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God
had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from
any tree of the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees
of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the
garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'" The
serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die! "For God knows that in the day
you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and
evil." When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight
to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit
and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of
both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig
leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. They heard the sound of the
LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid
themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Then
the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?" He said, "I heard
the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid
myself." And He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the
tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" The man said, "The woman whom You
gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate." Then the LORD God said
to the woman, "What is this you have done?" And the woman said, "The serpent
deceived me, and I ate."
The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, Cursed are you
more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will
go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life; And I will put enmity Between you
and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the
head, And you shall bruise him on the heel." To the woman He said, "I will greatly
multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you will bring forth children; Yet your desire
will be for your husband, And he will rule over you." Then to Adam He said,
"Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree
about which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat from it'; Cursed is the
ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. "Both thorns
and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; By the
sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it
you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return." Now the man called
his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. The LORD God
made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. Then the LORD
God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and
now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and
live forever"-- therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to
cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So He drove the man out; and at the
east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which
turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life." - Gen 3:1-24 NASB
Now the Serpent...God made
Rev 12:9, “The great dragon was thrown down,
the serpent of old who is called the devil and
Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was
thrown down to the earth, and his angels were
thrown down with him.”
Isaiah 65:25, “The wolf and the lamb will graze
together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox;
and dust will be the serpent's food. They will do
no evil or harm in all My holy mountain, says the
LORD.”
Some sins have temporal consequences.
Is it really true?, God said..
Gen 2:16, “The Lord God commanded the man,
“You may freely eat from any tree of the orchard,
but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will
surely die.”
Do you take God at His own Word? Do you know
His Word?
When you hear His word, Do you have a, “did God
really say that” in attitude, in action?
And the woman said to--who?
Gossip.
Who do you listen to?
Are you loyal?
Eve’s response:
Gen 2:16, “The Lord God commanded
the man, “You may freely eat from any
tree of the orchard, [she skips the word freely] but
you must not eat from the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil [that’s true], and
you must not touch it [that’s not true. She added that
part.] lest you die [God said, “You will surely die.”] .
Some speculation:
Is Adam a bad teacher?
Are you, do you teach at all?
Does Eve forget God’s Word? On purpose
or accident?
Do you know God’s Word?
Do you conveniently forget it?
“don’t even touch it”
When God gives permission --enjoy!
When God gives restriction--obey.
Do you secretly misbelieve God’s
commands & mistrust Him, trying to fix His
Word for Him
Surely, you will die
John 8:44, Satan is “the father of lies.”
When God speaks and Satan lies, it is up
to you to decide which you believe and
which you reject.
Is God holding out?
Do I believe Him in the restrictions He
Gives?
Obedience: Who to believe
James 1:14,15, “each one is tempted when he is lured
and enticed by his own desires; then, when desire
conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when it is full grown,
it gives birth to death.”
John 16:9, unbelief as a sin
Phil 2, “who humbled himself, even to death on a cross”
Luke 22:42, “not my will but Yours be done.”
Your eyes will be open to be
like divine...
Do you crave “spirituality” over God’s own clear message?
I want to be extra-special, different, elevated
2 Cor 11:14, “Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of
light.”
How Jesus beat temptation
I John 2:16, “Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, the
pride of life.”
Matthew 4:1-11 shows Jesus quoting God’s word
and obeying it, when Satan tempts with:
bread for his flesh.
a mid air angelic spectacle for his eyes.
all the kingdoms on earth, for His pride.
Where was Adam?!?
I don’t do these things, so am I good?
We need to fear that our proclivities are towards being
unhelpful, silent passive cowards who sit back, say and
do nothing, let the world go by, let sin happen, let our
wives and children suffer, and then we ourselves
participate in sin.
Shame, fear, naked, hid
Gen 2:25, “And the man and his wife were both naked and
were not ashamed.”
Gen 3:7-10, “Then the eyes of them both were opened and
they knew they were naked…and I was afraid because I
was naked, and I hid.”
Habakkuk 1:13, “Your eyes are too pure to approve evil,
and you cannot look on wickedness with favor”
Adam blames, Eve
blames
ADAM:
The woman
who You gave me
EVE:
The snake
on excuses:
Is God concerned about the circumstances
surrounding the sin?
James 1:14,15, “But each one is tempted when lured
and enticed
by his own desires. Then when desire conceives, it
gives
birth to sin; and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to
death.”
The Serpent Judged
Gen 3:16, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring; He shall bruise
you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.”
Gal 3:16, “He does not say, "And to seeds," as referring to
many, but
rather to one, "And to your seed," that is, Christ.
Is 53:5, “But He was pierced for our transgressions, he was
crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us
peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.”
Satan will be crushed
Heb 2:14-15, “..That through death He might destroy him who
had the power of death, that is, the devil,and release those
who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to
bondage.”
Rom 16:20, “And the God of peace will crush Satan under
your feet shortly.”
Rev 20:10, “The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the
lake of fire and brimstone. And they will be tormented day and
night forever and ever.”
Eve judged.
Labor will hurt more than it would have.
God has a clear role for the woman, a helper
to man. One of her sins was ignoring that
role. A male dominated world is evidence of
God’s judgment here.
In Christ, “Eph 5:18-45” tells how man and
woman can live harmoniously in the roles
God Gave.
Adam’s judgment
Adam is judged for obeying his wife and
disobeying God.
The ground cursed.
live by sweat and toil to eat.
you’ll die in the dust that you came from.
Tree of life removed
God’s mercy:
Adam won’t live “in sin” forever
through toil and misery, maybe Man will
seek deliverance
God promises a Saviour
Adam’s children in Adam’s “Image”
Gen 5:1-3, “This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In
the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness
of God. He created them male and female, and blessed them
and called them Mankind in the day they were created. And
Adam lived...and begot a son in his own likeness, after his
image, and named him...”
The virgin birth: God’s mystery of sin passed down through
fathers, starting in Adam.
Rom 5:12, “Therefore, just as through one man
sin entered the world, and death through sin, and
thus death spread to all men”
Rom 5:19, “For as by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so also by one Man's
obedience many will be made righteous”
Phil 2:8, “He humbled Himself and became
obedient to the point of death, even the death
of the cross.”
Adam vs. The New Adam
1 Cor 15:22, “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all
will be made alive.”
ADAM:
Tempted, Disobeyed, Sin
Must pay the wages of sin
Will suffer death eternally
Anxiety, fear, shame before God
|
NEW ADAM, JESUS
Tempted, Obeyed, Righteous
Already paid the penalty of sin
Suffered already, beat power of death, gives eternal life
Hope, peace, confidence before God
God’s Mysterious Plan
Eph 1:4-10, “God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ...chose us in [Jesus Christ] before the foundation of
the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before [God] in love...[God] made known to us the
mystery of His will...that in the dispensation of the
fullness of the times [God] might gather together in
one all things in Christ.”