Adam & Eve, the First Family Part Two

We are picking up the story of creation of Man and the first family, here in the third chapter of Genesis.

Up to this point in the history of creation of the world, we’ve learned how the world was created,

And how man became a living breathing human being,

Human Being = To be of mind and soul.

We pick the continuation of that in Genesis chapter 3,

In this chapter we’ll discover what happened to God’s glorious perfect creation.

- Genesis 3:1-7

Genesis 3:1–7 (CSB)

1 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”

2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’ ”

4 “No! You will certainly not die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Lets start with the Serpent.

- Did God Really Say?

What is this serpent?

Genesis 3:1 (CSB)

1 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made.

In the Hebrew, the word used in verse one is “Na-khash,” which means = serpent.

This same word is used over twenty times in scripture and always translates to snake.

So it is logical to assume that this creature, had some sort of limbs before it called on it’s belly.

The rest of verse one says

Genesis 3:1 (CSB)

……He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”

Slide - “Did God really Say?”

This verse right here appears to have set the precedent for all of our human woes today.

being especially pronounced in the field of psychiatry.

The word comes from the Greek word, Psyche = Psyche in the Greek psykhe, which means “the soul, mind, spirit,

Since, to be human is to be of mind and soul,

The evil one could not destroy the soul, so he went out right after the mind, the Psyche.

Matthew 10:28 (CSB)

28 Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

We don’t want to be told what is good or bad, we want to make up our own rules.

I had a conversation once with a young man about the preference God placed on humans rather than animals.

As you can imagine, he was an animal lover, so he thought it cruel and unfair of God to crown Man with the rule of earth

Instead of sharing it somehow with all life.

After all he said, God created everything, why not make it all equal.

I said, because you’ve passed over one of the ingredients of the story.

God created Man in His likeness, The Imago Dei. In the image of God we were created.

We were created with a mind, body and soul.

The animals were not.

Again, I say, You don’t see giraffes trying to be anything but Giraffes.

We don’t see bees going on strike in order to get the cats to get along with dogs.

Genesis 3:2-5

2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’ ”

4 “No! You will certainly not die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

This is the first place in scripture that satan denies that death is the result of sin.

He denies that obedience to God is a benefit, by conjuring up the lie that we are better off choosing for ourselves.

The enemy right from the very beginning of humanity, conjured up the doctrine of lies that appeal to humanity

To be autonomous.

DIY

“Do it yourself”

This brings in with it a lot of other questionable things.

Well if this is good, than why not that?

Or, Why can’t we,

I just don’t understand, etc……

You don’t need God in your lives to determine what is good.

As per where we get philosophical questions like the The Euthyphro Question:

Slide

“Is an action wrong because God forbids it or does God forbid it because it is wrong?”

This question was posed in Plato’s time a couple thousand years ago but is still active today.

We aren’t sure if we should just trust God with our lives, or if we should just DIY our lives.

- DIY

“Do it yourselves.”

This is the same old question that the serpent posed to Eve, here in the beginning of humanity

Did God really say?

We try to define our own morality in a way that best suits us, don’t we?

Or we try to make up stuff that justifies our desire for autonomy from God

The biggest argument of the atheist today is, “You don’t need a God to be moral.”

Books are written by brilliant scholars, on how to be a good person without needing God to determine what is good.

If you’ve ever wondered where this desire to scoot around morality to get what you want came from,

It came from this conversation in the garden between the serpent and Eve.

And he is still whispering it into your ears today, when ever you are tempted to desire.

- Three Points of Temptation

In verses 6 & 7 we read

Genesis 3:6 (CSB)

6 The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

Here we see that there were three points of temptation to which Eve succumbed.

She saw that it was good for food

It was delightful to look at

Was desirable for obtaining wisdom

We still go through this today don’t we?

Then we may ask, “Well, whats wrong with that?

Well the problem with that is,

This is how the devil tries to get you to be disobedient to the will of God.

He plants doubt in your mind like a seed,

Did God really say, you shouldn’t or this isn’t for you, etc?

The more worldly you are, the more susceptible you will be to temptations.

We know this because that is how Eve was duped into disobedience, by her desire to be her own rule maker.

This serves as a lesson to us, not to be attached to this world, because it is through those worldly desires that we fall.

1 John 2:16 (CSB)

16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions—is not from the Father, but is from the world.

Lust of the flesh

Lust of the eyes

Pride in ones possessions.

Is not from the Father but from the world.

The rest of verse six and seven

Genesis 3:7

7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

What this verse tells us is that they weren’t conscious that they were naked until they sinned.

Then their eyes were opened and they realized they were naked.

Immediately they went to covering up that nakedness because they understood their nakedness served as a reminder of their willful disobedience before the Lord

- The Cover up

When they realized they were naked, they immediately wanted to cover it up.

What do we do when we make a mistake?

We try to cover it up.

If you’re a painter and make a mistake, you cover it up with something else.

To illustrate the point in today’s generation,

I’ll use our choices in mates, and tattooing their names on our bodies.

I know many people who have done this.

Tattooed the love of their life on their body, only to break up with that person, but the name on your body still serves as a constant reminder of that mistake.

What’s the first remedy that comes to mind?

Cover it up with something else to cover the reminder of that mistake.

They used fig leaves the Bible tells us because there were no stores in the garden.

They were so desperate to cover the reminder of their sin, they were willing to use anything they could find.

Genesis 3:8–10 (CSB)

8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 So the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”

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

In this verse we learn that God WALKED personally in the garden.

Adam and Eve enjoyed a perfect Holy Communion with God.

Things were prefect.

Have you ever had a time in your life when you sat back and thought to yourself,

Man, things are perfect?

Well, if you were fortunate enough to have had moments like that, they don’t compare to what they had in the garden with God.

Because for them, things were perfect!

But that all came crashing down when they disobeyed His commands.

They knew it, they saw it, they felt it.

Lets go back a moment to those three points of temptation that cause Eve to sin.

Lust of the flesh

Lust of the eyes

Pride in ones possessions.

There is a complete reversal of these points.

In other words, they came back to bite her.

Instead of the lust of the flesh, IE: to be in perfect communion with God, They Hid themselves from God in the garden

They saw with their eyes, for the first time that they were naked,

Instead of pride, they were ashamed

Brothers and sisters, anytime we step outside the will of God, and fall to the temptations of this world.

We will always end up with these reverse effects.

Ending up ashamed of ourselves and what we have done, ostracized or distant from God, and regretful.

Notice one more point.

God came looking for them, why?

- Where are you?

Because they were the ones that hid themselves from the Lord.

It wasn’t Him that left the relationship, it was them.

Brother or Sister, if things aren’t going well in your life today,

If things are out of control, let me tell you, He didn’t go anywhere, you did

You are still hiding yourself from Him.

He is always there looking, so to speak, waiting, and calling out to us, even though we may have sinned,

And even though we may have sinned terribly, He still calls us by name,

looking for us to come back to Him.

He is looking for us to reveal ourselves to Him from where ever we were hiding.

Ever gone to a dentist for a toothache, only to have the pain go away when you get there?

Or how about a car that was making a noise, only to have it stop when you get to the mechanic?

The reason God wants you to come out from your hiding, completely covered in the fig leaves of your sin

is to reveal the sin, in order to deal with it.

If you are fighting

addiction,

Pornography

Depression

Lust

anger

pride

Or what ever Sin you are dealing with but the Lord is tugging at your heart saying,

(So and So) “Where are you.

Don’t keep hiding because you are ashamed of your addiction.

You can’t fix yourself, if you are convinced you can, then you have have been duped again.

Come out from your hiding and reveal yourself before the Lord even if you have tried to cover your sin with fig leaves.

Genesis 3:11–13 (CSB)

11 Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 12 The man replied, “The woman you gave to be with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate.” 13 So the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Here we see that God commanded that they admit and confess their sins.

Brothers and sisters, healing cannot begin until you understand what you are being treated for.

You must confess your sin to Lord before there is forgiveness.

1 John 1:9–10 (CSB)

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Moving on to

- The Curse

Genesis 3:14–15 (CSB)

14 So the Lord God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, you are cursed more than any livestock and more than any wild animal. You will move on your belly and eat dust all the days of your life. 15 I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.

Here we are the very first prophecy in the Bible.

God promised a defeat of the devil.

The devil will always try to get us to fall, but God promised victory right here.

Genesis 3:16 (CSB)

16 He said to the woman: I will intensify your labor pains; you will bear children with painful effort. Your desire will be for your husband, yet he will rule over you.

This is where pain in child birth, and the emotional attachment for your husband comes from.

Now the word used here for rule over you is the Hebrew word “Ma-shal” which is defined as :

to rule; make someone lord; dominion

(Faithlife, LLC. “משׁל 2.” Logos Bible Study, Computer software. Logos Bible Study Factbook. Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, LLC, January 18, 2024. https://ref.ly/logos4/Factbook?ref=lemma.lbs.he.%D7%9E%D7%A9%D7%81%D7%9C.2.)

Genesis 3:17–19 (CSB)

17 And he said to the man, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘Do not eat from it’: The ground is cursed because of you. You will eat from it by means of painful labor all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow until you return to the ground, since you were taken from it. For you are dust, and you will return to dust.”

Have you ever wondered why on earth Adam would have eaten from this tree knowing full well he was disobeying God?

I did. Then I got married,

It was through the love I have for my wife that I fully understood how Adam probably came to disobey the direct command of the Lord,

Now, not that is was a valid excuse, because there is never a valid excuse to disobey the Lord, ever!

But being married I can see it.

Adam was intelligent, he was created perfect.

Despite what modern science would like us to believe, that man is getting smarter over time with inventions etc.

Adam was perfectly intelligent, very wise, we as modern man through sin are getting dumber and dumber over time

Want an example?

Modern science teaches us in our schools, all over the world, that in the beginning there was nothing

Then it exploded into everything.

Hows that for ridiculous?

But Adam was definitely smart enough to know what he was doing.

But because He loved his wife, when he saw that she has fallen and was going to be punished,

In order that she not go through it alone, out of love, he joined her in her sin.

That’s why God said, “Because you listened to your wife,

Basically saying something akin to, since you wanted to protect her from being alone etc, you will now provide for her, protect her, live for her

And that’s exactly what good men do to this day for their wives and family, even thought the ground is cursed, and we sweat blood and tears while we do it.

We’ve also learned that man is a created being, created form the dust of the earth.

- The Covering

This is where our earthly bodies will ultimately return when our soul departs the body.

Genesis 3:20–24 (CSB)

20 The man named his wife Eve because she was the mother of all the living. 21 The Lord God made clothing from skins for the man and his wife, and he clothed them.

22 The Lord God said, “Since the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he must not reach out, take from the tree of life, eat, and live forever.” 23 So the Lord God sent him away from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove the man out and stationed the cherubim and the flaming, whirling sword east of the garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life.

And Death entered the world through sin.

It was because of this event in world history, that death entered into creation.

Because Fig leaves would not hold up in a world now cursed with thorns and thistles to tear and rip with the leaves with every brush against it

God provided a covering of skins from an innocent animal that had absolutely nothing to do with the sin.

An innocent animal shed its blood to cover the sin of Adam and Eve the first couple

This act laid the underpinning of the institution of sacrifice for every culture in every part of the world.

Until the coming of our ultimate Sacrifice, The Lord Jesus.

The Lamb of God

Because our relationship was severed with God, He sent Jesus to die as a sacrifice to cover our sins.

Yours and mine.

Invitation