The Fall: A Rejection of God's Design

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If you would, Please turn back to Genesis Chapter 3.

We’re going to be looking at (primarily)...

…How, the Fall...

…in many ways...

…was a rejection of God’s design for...

Marriage

Family

Gender Roles

But first, let’s begin with a word of prayer.

Pray

Let’s briefly review the events we read about last time...

…before we dive into the narrative in Chapter 3.

Remember how it all began.

After having created everything else, we read:

Genesis 1:26–28 (ESV)

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

This is similar to a king from another land...

…setting a statue of himself up in another land...

…as a symbol of his dominion over that land.

This was the commission that God’s image bearers were given.

They were God’s “vice-regents” on the earth

They were representative rulers...

…asserting the High King of Heaven’s authority in this foreign land.

This is how they would glorify God on the earth.

But, at this point, there is only Adam.

How could Adam fulfill this by himself?

Well, Remember God addressed that in:

Genesis 2:18–24 (ESV)

18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”

After he had surveyed and...

...Established his authority over (by naming them)...

...All of the rest of creation...

…It became very clear that nothing...

…was suitable to help Adam accomplish his task of....

…Glorifying God by filling the earth with His image bearers.

Then God provides:

21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs...

22 ...made into a woman and brought her to the man.

23 Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh...

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Now, there’s a helper for Adam that was suitable.

A helper who shared in the one image of God...

…yet had a different function in God’s world.

A helper whose essential worth and dignity was equal...

…but whose role and function was subordinate.

A helper whose role was:

Auxiliary

Meant to Augment

Compliment the work assigned to her husband.

To make it possible for him to accomplish it!

-This was/is God’s design:

One Man:

Meant to lead

One Woman:

Meant to follow and support.

One Lifelong Union:

Meant to Glorify God through the primary means of procreation

-Now, in Chapter Two, we also see something of...

…a narrowing, or focusing, of the Divine Commission:

Genesis 2:8–9 (ESV)

8 And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.

9 And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

So, the man is given a base of operations.

It’s set apart from the rest of his domain...

…as a special place of...

Worship (Service to God)

Communion (Enjoying the presence of God)

(We’ll see the that second one later)

We see the first in:

Genesis 2:15 (ESV)

15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

Work:

‎ Avvad To serve, minister, work, till, toil

Priestly imagery

Work before the Fall (Work is GOOD!)

Keep:

Shammar To keep, guard, preserve.

This Place...

This Work...

Was Holy unto the Lord!

It was to be cultivated and kept!

-Now, God being a moral being in and of Himself...

…He gave His image bearers a moral law to govern their lives.

It was pretty simple:

Genesis 2:16–17 (ESV)

16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden,

17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Adam could enjoy God’s blessings without guilt or fear.

He would rule over all of earth in God’s stead...

…and be well supplied to do it.

But, there was one limitation:

He had to mind his place.

He had to stay in his appropriate position.

Adam, as exalted as he was...

…was NOT the ultimate ruler!

He was the VICE-regent!

Only God himself possesses boundless knowledge and wisdom...

Only God can possess the knowledge of good AND evil...

…without being corrupted by it.

Up until this point God had only revealed good to Adam.

Since God is wholly good in his essentially being...

For Adam to “become like God” and be aware...

…of both good AND evil...

He would have to become it!

But, the call to God’s Image-bearers was to...

...”Walk by faith, and not by sight.”

It was to trust in the wisdom and goodness of God...

…and be content with His will and provision...

…and to NOT lean on his own understanding!

If he did this...

…God would provide all he needed to...

Fulfill his work

Be sustained forever.

But, if he chose the path of:

SELF-fulfillment

SELF-realization

Sight...

…And rejected simple faith in the Word of God...

…Then he would experience the alien phenomenon of...

Evil, Pain, Death

-This is the last thing we’re told about...

…the condition of Man before the Fall.

They were given the command:

Genesis 2:24 (ESV)

24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

And then we’re told:

Genesis 2:25 (ESV)

25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

This was the beauty and perfection of...

…this sacred union before the vice-regent’s act of treason.

Chapter 3 tells us how it happened:

Genesis 3:1 (ESV)

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made...

Play on words:

The serpents cunning (Arum) is contrasted with the innocence of our first parents signified by their nakedness (Arom).

Here’s how his cunning works:

He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You (plural) shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” (Emphasis Mine)

Those are the most dangerous words in the whole world.

Why?

Because they’re meant to cast doubt on the...

Reliability...

Sufficiency...

…of God’s Word!

(Our culture is rife with this cunning today)

Now, is that what God had said?

NO! It’s an intentional distortion!

One that’s meant to call into question the goodness of God...

…in giving them laws to obey.

What did God ACTUALLY say?

Genesis 2:16–17 (ESV)

16 ...“You may surely eat of every tree of the garden,

17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

God’s purposes were never to withhold good from His imager bearers...

…it was meant to preserve and protect them...

…and to give them guidance in how they could thrive in His world!

God’s “restrictions” are for our good! (Even NOW!)

-Now, in verse 2 we see that...

...the Woman is already deceived by Serpent's silver tongue.

Genesis 3:2–3 (ESV)

2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden,

3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”

Keil and Delitzsch say this:

"She was aware of the prohibition, therefore, and fully understood its meaning; but she added, “neither shall ye touch it,” and proved by this very exaggeration that it appeared too stringent even to her, and therefore that her love and confidence towards God were already beginning to waver.” — K & D Commentary

And with his foot now in the door...

…the Serpent kicks it wide open.

Genesis 3:4–5 (ESV)

4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.

What rank and utter blasphemy!

This is an outright denial of...

The truth of God’s Word

The goodness of His nature

Verse 5 make that clear:

5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

What’s the implication here?

God is just holding you back.

He just doesn’t want you to be equal with Him.

You can’t have a fulfilling life...

…if you’re in submission to Him.

You must break free from his tyranny!

You must...

come into your own...

become the master of your own destiny...

take charge of your own life...

be free from the shackles of submission and service...

do what what thou wilt...

(live how you want)

(do what makes you happy)

Become like God!

Behold, the advent of Feminism!

See its destructive fruit in verse 6:

Genesis 3:6 (ESV)

6 So 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 to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate,

You should have gasped when I read that just now.

This is cosmic treason!

But it gets worse:

and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

This is where you faint in despair.

What’s wrong with this picture?

Everything!

Everything is backwards.

There has been a complete reversal...

…of the roles that God had assigned to them.

First of all, Adam failed to “Keep” or “Guard, Protect” the garden.

Why was the enemy of God allowed in it?

Also, Why did Adam “who was with her” ...

…allow the Serpent to instruct his wife...

…on the Law of God?

-Furthermore, why did Eve not go to Adam to receive it?

God had given it to Adam!

-Also notice, that Eve didn’t consult with her husband...

…BEFORE partaking of the forbidden fruit?

He was the one in charge!

-Adam did not “guard” his wife against deception?

It was his responsibility to protect her.

-Eve led the way!

Adam followed!

Adam pleased his wife...

…instead of pleasing God!

The whole order was reversed.

And in that, the whole creation was cursed!

-But... the reliability of God’s Word was proven:

Look at verse 7:

Genesis 3:7 (ESV)

7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked.

Now they had acquired the knowledge of good AND evil

How?

By becoming it.

And what was the effect on their union?

Its perfection and harmonious bliss...

…has now become defiled and sullied...

…by the corruption of sin!

Now, the union will be fraught with:

Shame

Pain

Conflict

Abuse

Neglect

Oppression

God’s word is proven true...

…and every man and serpent, a liar!

They have died (spiritually)...

…and their nakedness now serves as...

…a visible expression and reminder of their inward corruption!

So, how does the now fallen couple respond?

By increasing their iniquity.

And this is the nature of sin.

It snowballs

It leads to more and more sin

It’s crazy how often we try to remedy our sin...

WITH MORE SIN!

-What should Adam and Eve have done?

Recognized and confessed their fallen condition...

…as being outside of their ability to repair.

Recognized the good nature of God...

Thrown themselves at His feet for Mercy and Forgiveness!

Instead, they take matters into their own hands:

And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

This is fallen man’s attempt to cover (Atone)...

…his own nakedness.

Seems like a good idea at the time, right?

It works for a moment...

But what happens to those plucked fig leaves in about 3 days?

Such is the futility of man’s attempts...

…to make himself right with God!

-Now, look at verse 8.

It wasn’t just their relationship with each other...

…that was corrupted by the Fall:

Genesis 3:8 (ESV)

8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day,

This is meant to connote the idea of blessing and refreshment.

This was something they used to ENJOY!

But this is the new reality:

and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Now the presence of the Lord is a terrifying proposition to them?

Has God’s nature changed?

NO!

Their nature has changed...

And the result is enmity!

(And don’t overlook their hubris in thinking that...

…they could hide themselves from God)

Now, verse 9 is important:

Genesis 3:9 (ESV)

9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”

The “you” is now singular!

Why does He call out Adam to give and account?

Because the buck stops with him.

Because ULTIMATELY its his failure.

He is the covenant head of:

The Marriage

All the earth!

This is why we read what we do in the book of Romans:

Romans 5:12–14 (ESV)

12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin...

not the woman

not the serpent

The man!

This is why Paul said:

Romans 8:19–20 (ESV)

19 ...the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.

20 For the creation was subjected to futility...

-Now, let’s read on:

Genesis 3:10 (ESV)

10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”

The word for naked here is more forceful.

It carries the connotation of being exposed.

God replies:

Genesis 3:11 (ESV)

11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

And then Adam steps up, at last, and take the lead… Right?

Wrong!

Genesis 3:12 (ESV)

12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”

The sin keeps spreading!

No confession

No repentance

Just cowardly blame-shifting.

Even blasphemy!

Why do I say that?

Because he blames Eve for his transgression...

And possibly even attempts to put God Himself in the Dock!

Guys, we need to remember something here:

1 Timothy 2:14 (ESV)

14 ...Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived...

Adam’s sin was intentional!

Paul’s point there is that women shouldn’t lead...

…because God’s design for them was to follow...

…and that that makes them more susceptible to being led astray...

…and that when the roles were reversed...

…it brought about condemnation to all...

But, implied within that is that Adam knew what he was doing...

And did it anyway!

Then when brought to trial before the Judge of All the Earth...

...his defense was:

It’s my wife’s fault...

Or, maybe even Yours!

There are great lessons for us in that, men.

Leadership doesn’t just mean...

Getting your ego stroked

Being able to boss people around...

It means taking responsibility for failure when it happens too!

-Now, that being said...

…Eve didn’t do much better on the witness stand:

Genesis 3:13 (ESV)

13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

She blamed it on the Serpent.

But why did she get deceived in the first place?

Because she abandoned God’s design for...

Marriage

Gender

And Paul assures us that she too:

1 Timothy 2:14 (ESV)

14 ...became a transgressor.

Brethren, the lesson for us is very simple:

Proverbs 3:5–8 (ESV)

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.

8 It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.

Let’s ask to be enabled to do that!