Sin & Rebellion

Introduction

Read Genesis 3

Genesis 3:1–13 ESV

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 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.’ ” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 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, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. And 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. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of 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 fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 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.”

What went wrong?

That’s the question we have to ask after reading the first two chapters of Genesis.

We see God’s good work of creation and how everything was good and then we look around and wonder, where has all the goodness gone?

This is one of the big questions of life. In fact, it is this question, the existence of evil and the lack of goodness we see that causes many to question and doubt the existence of God.

But thankfully, the Bible actually gives us an answer to that question that we will be looking at over the next couple weeks.

The simple answer is that we have sinned against our All Good and Holy God.

Sin is Not a Mistake

Now, before we get into looking at what has occurred because of sin, we have to talk about what sin is and how it takes root in the human heart.

First, we must say at the start, sin is not simply a mistake or a stumble.

Shari went to a biblical theology workshop last weekend to hear Nancy Guthrie teach women on how to read and see the themes of Scripture developed throughout the entire Bible. She talked about how she does not like using the word “Fall” to describe this event. It makes it feel like they simply messed up and that it was all an accident. But sin, on the contrary, is not an accident.

Sin is willful rebellion against our good and holy God. When the Bible says that all have sinned, we have to acknowledge that we have all willfully rebelled against our Creator and King of the Universe.

Sometimes when we think of sin, we have an image of an infant learning how to walk and how they stumble and fall as they are learning how to walk. We wonder, how could God punish us for simply stumbling and falling.

Our sin comes from our willful disobedience and rebellion against God and God is not only just to punish us for our willful disobedience, He is also infinitely gracious for not doing so immediately and judiciously.

When it comes to the question of evil, evil exists because we brought it in, and God has chosen not to eliminate all those who have willfully sinned against Him. The presence of evil is actually the proof of God’s grace and patience towards us that He is still in the process of saving sinful humanity!

Sin Starts by Unbelief in God

So, how did sin get its start in a good and perfect world?

Sin comes from unbelief.

The question for us has always been what are we going to believe and trust in?

Adam and Eve, even though they were able to walk and talk with God in the garden, they got to experience life in His presence, still had to have faith that He is good and that all He spoke was true.

Faith is required for us to be saved just as it was required for them to remain in a right relationship with God. Sin came as a result of unbelief.

Unbelief in God’s Word

In verse 1, we see Satan planting the seeds of unbelief in Eve.

I want to be sure to call this unbelief and not doubt. There is sinful doubt, but there is also good doubt that actually bolsters our faith.

Good doubt will get us to seek out the truth. Good doubt should have cause Eve to question what the serpent was saying. But it was not doubt that got Eve, it was unbelief.

So Satan gets her to question God’s Word. He is trying to make her see God in a tyrannical light, has God really denied you all these good things? Can you not eat of any of these trees?

Changing God’s Word

And the trap has been set, because she begins to change God’s Word.

Here’s what God told Adam:

Genesis 2:16–17 ESV

And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 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 gives grace and freedom to man in this new garden by giving him access to every tree of the garden except for one. These are not the words of an oppressive tyrant, but of a loving King and Shepherd.

But instead she leaves off the freedom God has given to them. She plays down God’s gracious gift to her and Adam.

She also becomes legalistic by adding to God’s Word. Even with the best of motives, anytime we try to manipulate God’s Word by adding to it, we are saying God’s Word is not sufficient in itself. We begin to think that God’s Word needs our help to make it better than what it is.

So although God says simply not to eat, she has put a hedge around God’s Word by including the command not to touch the fruit. She feels like she needs to put in her own effort to keep the harsh and demanding law of God and by her own external effort, she is actually going to end up disobeying the one rule God had given to humanity.

Contradicting God’s Word

But the unbelief does not just come from changing and adding to God’s Word.

Unbelief takes root as we begin to contradict God’s Word.

The serpent lies to her by telling her she will not surely die, but rather she can become her own god, able to make her own decisions about what is right and wrong. He is telling her that truth is subjective and she needs to live her own truth rather than submit herself to the good and freeing truth that God Himself has established for all creation.

Sin takes root in our hearts as we disbelieve God’s Word and we pick and choose the things we want to hear and get rid of the things we do not want to hear.

There are some hard things in Scripture that are not always comfortable. But everything in Scripture comes from God and is for our good and it is for our flourishing to believe God and His Word exactly as He has given it to us, not as we would add or take away from it.

This is why there are such dire warnings against changing the Scriptures to meet our own whims.

Unbelief in God’s Goodness

Sin Grows by Misplaced Desires

Sin has now taken root in her heart as she has listened and believed the voice of the serpent. And what we see is a fundamental shift in her heart.

Genesis 3:6 ESV

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

James 1:13–15 ESV

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

Pride - A Desire to Keep Glory Rather Than Give It to the One Who Deserves It

Keep Guard Over Your Heart

Proverbs 4:23–27 ESV

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you. Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.

Be Mindful of What You Say

Focus on What is Worthy

Watch Where You Go

Fix Your Eyes Upon Jesus

Sin Brings Forth Death

The Death of Innocence

The Separation from God

The Separation from One Another