Genesis 3:1-24

Introduction

Good evening CTZNS! I’m excited to be here with you all tonight.

I once heard a story from a friend of mine. He was at football practice for what seemed like all day in the scorching heat. After practice, he was exhausted, dehydrated, and incredibly hungry.

Therefore, he stopped at McDonalds on his way home from practice and went to town. After properly stuffing himself, he proceeds to make his way through the front door of his home. A terrific aroma met him as soon as the door creaked open. The smell of his favorite home cooked dish.

Horror overtook my friend as he realized what he had just done, squandered something lovely with something terrible.

This is the essence of our text this evening. Adam and Eve were walking with the Lord in the garden of Eden, perfectly at peace. However, sin soon creeped in and distracted them both from the beauty that was before them.

You see, we’re all sinners. As a matter of fact, before Christ, we’re all sinners on a direct path to be dealt with by the hands of an angry God.

God is angry due to our sin, our disobedience, our fallen-ness. He is not angry without cause because we have all failed to uphold His perfect standard.

As we take a look at this account in Genesis 3:1-24, we will see man’s sinfulness unfold, which of course now carries over to us due to the brokenness of this fallen world.

We must continuously go back to Genesis 3, for this is where we find the need for our salvation.

READ Genesis 3:1-24.

Body

We need a bit of context to be able to understand how we ended up here in Genesis 3.

Genesis 1:26-31 “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.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 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.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”

God created all the world, including man and woman, and proclaimed it to be very good

After God created Adam a companion (woman, Eve), it is recorded in Genesis 2 that they both were naked and not ashamed. They were living freely with each other before God in His good creation. All was well and right.

However, then the crafty serpent comes into play and begins to whisper seemingly sweet words of temptation into Eve’s ear that eventually reaches Adam.

The serpent persuades Adam and Eve that they are not to listen to what God had commanded. This of course is a drastic mistake, and the essentiality of all sin.

Every time we sin, we are functionally proclaiming a momentary pleasure to be more worthwhile than the Lord and His promises.

You see, this reminds me of when I was a junior in high school. I was in love with baseball, it was my whole world. In many ways you could quite literally say it was the greatest idol in my young life.

I obsessed over the sport from a young child: every game, every TV show about it, every chance to play it, I was all over it. I finally made the varsity baseball team my junior year and was so ecstatic. All my hard work up to that point was worth it.

But then, something began to happen. I felt less motivated to work hard. I had achieved what felt to be my biggest accomplishment in life up to that point, yet an overwhelming feeling of sluggishness came over me.

I became convinced that my position on the team was enough. I believed the lie I was telling myself that I had made it and was good to go. This contentment eventually became even more profound when my wife and I began dating senior year, but that’s a different story for a different time.

This is exactly what Adam and Eve, and we, do all the time. I’m not saying my contentment with not training for baseball any longer was sin.

However, we convince ourselves (just like I did) and become tempted that sin is going to please us more than Christ. And we indulge. And indulge. And indulge.

This momentary pleasure will bring more happiness and satisfaction than anything God can provide. Beloved, this of course is simply not true, but remains a reality for most of us as followers of Christ. This cannot be, we must repent and run to the only all-satisfying one!

Romans 5:18-19 “Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.”

Why does Adam and Eve’s sin effect me you might ask? Well, one lineman that holds on a football team causes a penalty that effects the whole team.

Their sin brought sin into the world God created, making us all susceptible.

Which God allowed to happen for the ultimate glory of His Son the Lord Jesus.

Christ’s righteousness, His righteous acts of obedience have purchased our salvation, of which we’re all in need.

Notice too the promise the evil serpent gives to Eve in Genesis 3:5: “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.””

Every time we sin, we proclaim this lie of the enemy. That we know better than God and wish to be Him.

Adam and Eve both end up listening to and believing the serpent over God and eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

They become aware of their nakedness and sew fig leaves together to cover their shame.

In verse 8 we see that they are certainly aware of their disobedience as they attempt to hide from God, a fools task. They hide when they hear the Lord coming as they knew that He would want to be with them!

God calls out and asks Adam where he is. Since we know God is the all-knowing one, we know therefore that this wasn’t an exercise for us to realize the one instance where God didn’t know everything.

Rather, this is an example of God proving the point here. That point being the sinfulness of man. Adam had to respond, he had nowhere to go and couldn’t run from the Almighty.

God was shining light on the disobedience that had just taken place to reveal the gravity of the situation.

The remaining content in this chapter is perhaps quite depressing as it reveals the consequences of Adam and Eve’s sin. Consequences that had a direct effect on them and also us today.

As a result of the fall, the woman’s pain in childbearing is multiplied and man shall struggle and toil greatly with work and provision for his family.

Regarding the serpent, his punishment is in verses 14 and 15.

Genesis 3:14-15 “The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on 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 her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.””

This is the foretelling of the redemption of Christ! Praise God! He HAS bruised Satan’s head, stripped him of his power and won ultimate victory over him and his dominion!

Take heart believer, there is a remedy for these verses in Genesis 3! The Lord Jesus Christ!

· Christ’s finished work on the cross paid the debt that you and I have racked up against the Lord, repent of your sin and believe in this today!

Conclusion

The essence of this passage in Genesis 3 brings us all face to face with our ever so similar present reality. A reality that we must face and confront every single day on this earth. That reality is the fallen, sinful state that we are all plagued with.

It often feels if so I am constantly pointing my child away from certain things around the house or on the playground or outside or in someone’s house. And she often gets angry with me. However, I still am constantly redirecting her in order that she doesn’t get hurt, no matter how angry she gets. I won’t stop protecting her.

This is how the Lord is with us. He points us away from sin and the world and toward Himself. Yet, we often neglect His direction for what we feel is best and most satisfying. Adam and Eve were warned about the fruit from tree of the knowledge of good and evil, yet they were tempted and fell.

And so do we. Yet, there is a Savior far more precious than your sin. He is far more satisfying and sustaining than any fleeting pleasure we believe the world will provide for us.

Behold the love, patience, grace, and mercy of our God here. Though utterly sinful, He sent His Son to save us from our wickedness and depravity!

So, I implore you today to run and cling to Christ. Don’t ever let go. We are all fallen, but He has died to save us. Repent and believe in this truth today!