The Fall of Man - Gen. 3
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Intro:
Intro:
Good morning.
As we continue in our study of Genesis this morning, and as you turn to Genesis chapter three, I want you to ask yourself these questions:
Have you ever walked through a briar patch and thought, “Thanks a lot Adam!” :D
Or maybe had a very difficult day at work, in the heat and sweat of the day, and said, “We can chalk that up to Adam, too?!” :D
Pain in childbirth - “Thanks Eve!”
Or, and this one isn’t one to chuckle at because it’s really sad — But have you ever looked at death the same way?
If so, you’re not alone.
We’ve probably all had similar thoughts as this at one time or another.
But as we begin this morning and we are thinking along these lines, let’s not be too hard on ole Adam and Eve.
Let’s not blame THEM solely for problems entering the world.
Have you ever wondered what would have happened if Adam and Eve had NOT sinned?
I have!
One of the things that has always stuck with me that my dad has said on this subject — I tend to agree with him — Is that if Adam and Eve somehow had NOT sinned … Somebody eventually would have!
And that is due to the fact that we do have free will like we talked about last week, and Satan would have eventually gotten somebody!
And you know what — He gets all of us at various points in our lives, doesn’t he?
Rom. 3:23
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 6:23 tells us that death is the penalty for that, as we are also going to readily see here in Genesis chapter 3 …
BUT … Rom. 6:23 goes on to say that the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord!
And Genesis chapter 3 is going to have something to say about that as well!
So let’s get into our study of this pivotal chapter of Genesis this morning.
The First Sin:
The First Sin:
First, we are introduced to the enemy — the adversary — that old serpent, the devil in verse one, and then we find out the serpent’s line of attack!
Gen. 3:1-3
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”
Notice, Eve cannot claim ignorance here — She knew exactly what God had said!
Notice now Satan’s line of attack — He gets Eve to doubt the Word of God!
He’s already introduced the doubt when he said in verse 1 - “HAS GOD INDEED SAID, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’”
So he gets her to questioning what God had plainly said.
And then … he flat out LIES in the next verse, just changing what God had said by ONE WORD:
Gen. 3:4-5
Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Yes, Satan was a liar from the beginning!
And he’s certainly an ADVERSARY (an enemy)!
He was on the prowl, and ready to pounce!
5 words that changed human history - “You will NOT surely die.”
And only ONE of those words added to what God said — NOT!
“The NOT in Satan’s tale,” as I’ve often heard it said, and the biggest lie ever told!
And he’s been telling lies ever since!
Lies that essentially say, “Ignore the consequences!”
“Don’t trust what God said!” “Do this! It’ll be fun!”
Enticing the forbidden fruit before us, always over-promising and always under-delivering!
And I’ve often heard it said this way too — Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay!”
EVERY TIME!
And yet what do we as human beings inevitably end up doing? (SINNING!)
Satan’s tactic was to get Eve to doubt God — And he wants us to doubt God, too!
What if Satan can get us to doubt, say, these first eleven chapters of Genesis? (Hmmm)
Could he not also get us to doubt the rest of the Scriptures, too?
Notice that Satan uses Eve’s pride to tempt her, as well:
“You will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Pride!
Gen. 3:6 — The fall!
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
Again, the Devil likes to make sin look ENTICING, make it look GLAMOROUS, make it look like its POPULAR (and it IS popular) …
But that doesn’t make it good!
Isa. 5:20
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Woe to the Devil! Because he’s the originator of calling evil good!!
Gen. 3:7
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 coverings.
What happens next is going to be their “sin finding them out,” we might say!
God is going to ask some questions here:
Is God having to ask to gain information?
(No, God is omniscient — All-knowing)!
God doesn’t ask these things to gain the information.
Rather, He essentially asks these questions rhetorically, or as conversation starters, essentially, to pronounce judgment upon Adam and Eve.
Gen. 3:8-9
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
Gen. 3:10-11
So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”
Gen. 3:12
Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
Notice here — What is Adam doing?!
Is he not shifting the blame?!
Same thing we read about King Saul doing not too long ago in another sermon — “The PEOPLE took the best of the animals to offer as sacrifices,” when God had said kill it all! (Remember?)
Adam says, “The WOMAN you gave me! It’s her fault!”
Now, it’s technically true that she was the first one to partake …
But where WERE you Adam?!
Why weren’t you watching out for her?
Sometimes as a man, you’ve got to MAN UP and say, “NO SATAN!”
“You’re not getting MY family!”
THAT’S what Adam should have done … But he didn’t. :(
Gen. 3:13 - Notice, Eve shifts the blame too.
And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
“The devil made me do it!”
(No, he didn’t. You CHOSE [through free will] to disobey God]).
Well, let’s move on to …
The Punishment Laid Out:
The Punishment Laid Out:
Before we get to the punishment itself here, I think it would be wise for us to remember here:
Our society has conditioned us the last few decades to think — Punishment — Bad.
But punishment is actually needed.
Punishment was ordained by God.
Punishment, when administered correctly, has a refining effect.
Let us not fall for the lies of modern-day pop psychology which says you should never punish. (Where has that gotten us?)
Listen to Hebrews 12:5-13 (Read in Bible).
Gen. 3:14
So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life.
Gen. 3:15 (We’re just going to read this for now, and comment briefly about how this is a punishment for the Serpent, but this is also going to be the verse for our last main point, so we’ll come back to it).
And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”
Essentially, you are going to be at odds with mankind …
And we will talk much more about this at the end of the sermon this morning.
Gen. 3:16
To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.”
We’re familiar with this, and we know it is true.
Mind you that 1 Tim. 2:15 says “she shall be saved in childbearing,” though!
Also, this last part - “Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”
The Bible’s teaching on headship of man is very clear, but the feminists have been fighting it ever since. (Just as God warned it would be the case in this verse.)
Gen. 3:17
Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life.
Gen. 3:18-19
Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”
As we said last week, Adam’s punishment was NOT that he had to work …
God had already put him to work tending and keeping the garden!
But his penalty is that his work got a lot harder!
“Thorns and thistles!”
Just about every time I go hunting, I find these little sand burs on my pants — Sometimes I track them in the house, and one time Lindsey said: “If I find ONE MORE of those things!”
And my reply? “Thorns and thistles!” (So thanks Adam for that!)
God also tells Adam that in the sweat of his face he will earn his bread — Work is a lot harder now because of sin.
And then also don’t miss here that God says mankind will return to the dust from which he was formed (of course a reference to the penalty of death).
Gen. 3:20-21
And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.
Just a couple of brief points here - Notice a term of endearment here: “The Mother of all Living.”
Notice also that the fig leaves were not enough to cover their nakedness, so God takes animal skin and covers them further.
Gen. 3:22-23
Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.
Gen. 3:24
So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
This is sometimes referred to poetically as “Paradise Lost.”
They were cast out of this beautiful garden Paradise, and life is about to get a lot harder (as we will see in Chapter 4 next week).
Finally this morning, let’s notice …
The First Promise of a Messiah:
The First Promise of a Messiah:
This is where we’re going to come back to verse 15, where this main point is found …
Gen. 3:15
And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”
This is the first prophecy of Jesus Christ.
The same Seed promise that you will eventually read in Genesis chapter 12 (through the Seed of Abraham) is described here as “the Seed of Woman.”
What is God saying here?
(Explain this verse).
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
Genesis chapter 3 is one of the most critical chapters in the entire Bible.
It introduces us to the primary PROBLEM described in the Bible — the problem of sin!
But it also introduces us to the SOLUTION of the problem — Jesus Christ!
Genesis chapters 1-11 … are pretty important!