The Problem of Sin- Genesis 3:1-13

Introduction

Prayer

Alright, 2nd—5th graders you guys are free to dismiss. And as a reminder, parents you can pick those children up at the Wetlands Building, and if you need any help finding where that is, don’t hesitate to ask someone with a lanyard.

For the rest of you, please turn with me to Genesis 3.

If you’re new with us my name is Andrew McClure, and I’m one of the Pastor’s here, and this week we will begin our descent of this summer series by addressing the Problem of Sin.

School is so close to beginning again, and although I’ve loved having my kids at home it’s beginning to approach that time where we all realize… its time.

It hit me just the other day.

It had been a long day, and after dinner and dishes I sat down in my chair, kicked my shoes off, and did a little reading.

Well the kids were upstairs playing, and I heard almost like a stutter in our upstairs water pipe. Like somebody had turned the toilet water off, but not completely…

It stopped pretty quickly so I didn’t think too much about it.

Well a few minutes later, my boys in their most frantic voice start yelling

“Dad! Hurry. G]et up here. There’s water coming out of the bathroom!”

I’m in my socks, and almost wipe out because I jumped up so quick, but I safely turn the corner, and bound up the stairs like 3 at a time, and when I get to the upstairs bathroom I find…

Individual bottles of water… lined up from the bathroom to the hallway.

They got me.

I was so frustrated, but I had to admit that they got me.

Little deceivers… so its just time for school.

Kids are crafty aren’t they.

But their ability to deceive and trick pales in comparison to what we will find in our text today.

Because the consequence of the water bottle bathroom trick was just an elevated heart rate and a good laugh, but the consequences of Genesis 3 is UNIVERSAL DISTORTION OF GOD’S DESIGNS.

The craftiness and deceit of Genesis 3 leads to a shattering of God’s Very Good Created Order.

And we all know it.

Like if we paused long enough to actually reflect, we’d all acknowledge that everything is broken.

Our physical bodies, our relationships, our emotions, our psychology, our marriages, our families, our jobs… everything.

And Genesis 3 tells us why.

But Genesis 3 isn’t merely informative, if you can lean in this morning it can actually be highly transformative.

You see, in today’s text we will be introduced to Satan and listen very carefully…

His tactics are effective, but they are not particularly creative.

The strategy he employed in the Garden of Eden to introduce sin into our world is the same strategy he uses over and over and over again to introduce sin into your life.

So if you are tired of sin robbing you of the life promised by God’s Good Designs, then listen and learn as we discuss the Problem of Sin.

And there are 3 points I’ll be addressing.

First, The Serpent.

Second, The Strategy

Third, The Sin

So let’s read our texts in their entirety, and then we’ll unpack it together.

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.”

Genesis 2:25 ESV

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

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.”

The Serpent.

The Serpent

Creation is complete.

God’s Designs have been delivered, and the outcome is that Adam and Eve are living and reigning and cultivating with complete openness, trust, harmony, and innocence.

That’s what 2:25 alludes to. No shame. No guilt. Nothing to cover. Nothing to hide. Perfect Openness and Peace.

Until we are introduced to the Serpent.

So who is this serpent!?

Well, first and foremost we must see that he was a creature, made by God.

Genesis 3:1 “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

God had made him, he is a creature just like any other animal, and he owes his existence to the Great Creator God.

But he’s described as crafty.

And that doesn’t inherently imply evil,

Remember Jesus told his disciples to be wise as serpents. And of course Jesus wasn’t advising us to be sinful.

So crafty isn’t evil… it just means shrude, or discerning.

So it’s just a serpent, a regular old creature made by a good God to enjoy a Good Garden.

But as you read other Scriptures, we learn that apparently this Serpent was under the control of none other than SATAN.

Now, I won’t spend a lot of time here, because Genesis 3 is not intended to tell us the origins of evil, instead the narrative is all about the origins of human sin.

It isn’t about evil invading, but of creatures rebelling.

Not about the Serpent, but primarily about our sin.

But we still need a basic understanding of the Serpent.

And Scripture makes it clear, that he is satan.

Satan

Revelation 12:9 “And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world...

Revelation 20:2 “And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan,

The Ancient Serpent of Eden is the devil, Satan, the deceiver of the whole world.

But how did he get there!? Like where did he come from!?

There are 2 OT passages that help us understand who Satan is.

The first is Ezekiel 28.

Ezekiel is prophesying against the King of Tyre, but as with most prophecy there is an underlying message and most agree it addresses not just a human king, but Satan.

And it reads, Ezekiel 28:12–13 “ Thus says the Lord God: “You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God;

Alright, so right away we can acknowledge that it’s not the King of Tyre that was in Eden. So he’s talking about someone else.

So it goes on.

Ezekiel 28:15–17 “You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you. In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground…”

Alright, so apparently instead of the King of Tyre, Ezekiel is prophesying about a cherub, a lofty angel, who was created by God, and at one point blameless… until he became proud. And he sinned against God, so God cast him out of the heavens to the earth.

Isaiah 14 supports this prophecy reading

Isaiah 14:12–15 ““How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit.”

So what we see in these OT Prophecies, is that Satan was an angel that fell from heaven, and is bound to earth because of the sin of pride.

Discontent with being a servant of God, he sought to become like God. saying in his heart, “I will make myself like the Most High.” And due to his pride, he fell, and God banished him to the earth.

And there’s a lot we could say about demonology, but we know from Scripture that many other angels fell with him. And Satan has an army still determined to deflect Glory from God.

He hates God. And there’s one creature… that everytime he looks at them, he’s reminded of God. Because they were made to reflect God, to image him… that’s right. Mankind.

So Satan hates Mankind, and just as he wanted to distort God, he wants to distort God’s image with sin.

And apparently, he can influence or take possession of various creatures. Like this serpent.

And one time during Jesus’ ministry, Jesus encountered a man who was possessed by a legion of demons, but by the power of His word Jesus cast them out… but do you remember where those demons went?

PIGS.

And the first time this took place was in Eden, through the Serpent.

So our text opens with the Serpent, and Scripture affirms that it was Satan working through this Serpent.

But now let’s look at his strategy.

Because again, it is highly effective, but not creative. And the same strategy he employed in Eden is the same strategy employed against your everyday life.

The Strategy

Doubting God’s Word

First, all sin begins with doubting God’s Word.

Genesis 3:1 “ He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘

God’s Word was the creative force of all creation. He spoke and all things came to be, and today God still upholds the universe by the word of his power.

God’s Word was responsible for everything Eve enjoyed.

The day and night, the sun, moon and stars, the blue sky, the flowers, trees, and rivers of the garden, her husband Adam…

all Eve enjoyed, all that was Very Good was a result of God’s Word.

And Satan’s first attack, was so crafty… because he did not directly deny or contradict God’s word… instead he just submitted a seemingly innocent question in an effort to get Eve to doubt God’s word.

Commentator Philip Bethancourt beautifully writes, “Forbidden fruit is tempting firstly because of forgotten faith.”

Up to this point, Eve had avoided the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, she had lived by faith and obedience in alignment with God’s Word… but with a simple question, Eve is now facing a dilemma.

She can accept God’s Word for what it is… or she can put herself in a position to judge, and evaluate God’s Word.

Do you see that. Did you hear that?

When we begin to question… “Did God really say, or did God really mean…” Who is now the final authority or arbiter of God’s Word? We are…

And Eve’s sin began right then and right there…

She doubted God’s word.

And this strategy was effective, because Eve in her answer to the Serpent, actually revised God’s Word.

She misinterpreted it. She misquoted it. She got it wrong.

Genesis 3:2–3 “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.’ ””

And there are 3 evidences that Eve revised God’s word.

First, she Diminished God’s Word…

She said, we may eat of the fruit of the tress… but what God actually said,

Genesis 2:16 “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden,”

Eve diminished God’s Word.

Secondly, she Added to God’s word.

She said, “neither shall you touch it…”

But Genesis 2:17 “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 didn’t say anything about touching it.

Thirdly, she Softened God’s Word.

Genesis 3… lest you die.

Genesis 2… you shall surely die.

She left out surely, removing the certitude of death.

So Satan imparts a suggestion, intended to sow doubt. And instead of remaining confident and sure in the Word of God, eve revised it.

She diminished it, added to it, and softened it.

Church, sin takes hold when we begin to doubt God’s word, or diminish, add to, or soften God’s Word.

Listen, Psalm 119:11 “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”

The Word of God is the Sword of the Spirit, and the only way we can fend off Satan’s schemes and strategies.

Yet, too often today we doubt God’s word. Or frankly we don’t know God’s word.

I meet with so many people who are frustrated and grieved because sin has infiltrated their lives and is wreaking havoc on their relationships, and yet many of them can’t remember the last time they read the Bible.

Church… Sin begins when we doubt God’s Word.

So I can’t encourage you enough… be students of God’s Word. Memorize it. Pray it. Sing it.

But within this exchange, we also see Satan sowing Doubt about God’s Character.

Doubting God’s Character

We see this first in the name used for God.

Did God really say, satan here employs God’s name Elohim.

And if you remember, Elohim refers to God’s transcendence. His creative power and wisdom. His otherness.

But all throughout Genesis 2, Adam and Eve refer to God as YHWH, Elohim.

And Satan, intentionally omits the name YHWH, because YHWH refers to God’s relational nearness and intimacy. It’s his covenantal, approachable name.

He is other, and transcendent and far and distant…He is Elohim. But he is also Father, and Near, and Personal… He is YHWH.

And with the omission of YHWH… Satan is wanting Eve to dwell on God’s distance.

And it was effective, because Eve’s response in vs 3… utilizes the name Elohim as well.

So instead of Eve thinking, meditating, and remembering that God is near, ever present, ever available… she’s thinking of him as distant alone.

A sowing of doubt regarding God’s Character.

But we also wee this in his question.

Genesis 3:1 “ “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?””

Now we already know that is not what God said, God actually said YOU MAY SURELY EAT OF EVERY TREE… EXCEPT ONE.

But you see Satan’s deceit here… Did God say, you can’t eat of any tree.

Church, God’s command to eat of every tree screams of God’s Goodness and abundant provision.

Yet, Satan’s question is phrased in such a way that it makes God seem restrictive. Like he’s holding back on Eve.

And when Eve misquotes God, we see her addition, “Neither shall you touch it.”

Has she bought into the lie that God is restrictive. That he’s too strict. Too harsh. Too demanding?

It’s clear… In this brief interchange, Satan has sowed doubt in God’s Word and Doubt in God’s character.

And church once you start to doubt God’s goodness, His generosity, His love, grace, mercy, patience, steadfastness, or any other aspect of His character… sin is knocking on your door.

Yet even as these doubts bombard poor eve, she hasn’t sinned yet.

But the pathway is paved… in the blink of an eye she has begun to doubt God’s Word and God’s Character. And once doubt is sown, Satan upts the ante and comes with a direct attack.

Directly Attacks God’s Word

With the foundation laid, Satan is emboldened and directly attacks God’s Word.

Genesis 3:4 “But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.”

But God had clearly stated, Genesis 2:17 “ for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.””

Satan has now directly juxtaposed His Word against God’s Word.

Church, its the same strategy today.

Whose voice are you listening to?

God is speaking. He spoke in Genesis, He speaks today.

John 10:4 “When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.”

And his voice is the voice of love. It is gentle and lowly. His words revive the soul, make wise the simple, rejoices the heart, enlightens the eyes, and are righteous altogether (Ps 19).

But Satan speaks to.

But when he speaks he speaks lies, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

He also speaks accusations, as he is the accuser of the brethren.

“You’re worthless. You’re a sinner. You’re pitiful. Dirty. Unclean. Unworthy of love. You deserve this. Nobody loves you. If they really knew you, they’d never accept you…”

How many of you are familiar with that voice…?

It’s laced with accusation, hate, and lies.

Church whose voice are you listening to?

We must fill our minds with the voice of God.

Satan directly attacks the Word of God.

Yet he also directly attacks God’s Character

Directly Attacks God’s Character

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.””

Here Satan is whispering… “You see, God is actually holding out on you. There’s more for you… instead of being restricted, you can eat of this tree and actually be limitless. You can be like God. You can know all that he knows.”

God is holding out on you.

Satan has cast doubt that God is either not true… or he is simply not good.

This is why we must be in the Word, so that we may know what is true, but the purpose of Scripture reading isn’t simply cognitive knowledge, but growing in our knowledge of the character of God.

When we come to Scripture, we come to learn who God is, what he is really like. And when you have faith in the character God, driven by a knowledge of the word of God… you can resist the devil and he will flee from you.

So that’s the strategy… To doubt God’s Word and to Doubt God’s Character.

But at this point… Eve hasn’t yet sinned. She hasn’t yet reached out her hand. So let’s now look at the sin.

The Sin

Genesis 3:6 “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…

With Doubt working a divide between Eve and her God… Satan tempts.

And his temptations are effective, but they are not creative.

1 John 2:16 “For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.”

Here John says that every temptation consists of these 3 elements.

Desires of the Flesh— things are physical bodies, our flesh craves.

Desires of the Eyes— things are sensual appetite's crave.. Things we see, and then begin to desire.

Pride of Life- to think more highly of ourselves than we ought.

And these are the exact temptations Satan utilized to get Eve to sin.

She saw the Tree was Good for Good—- A desire of the Flesh.

She saw the tree was a delight to her eyes—- a desire of her eyes.

And was desired to make one wise—- the pride of life.

And with the doubt already lodged her in faith… she didn’t have what she needed to withstand temptation.

So she took and ate… but she also gave some to Adam and he ate!

Where was he!? Apparently he was there the whole time, just watching this situation unfold.

He was passive! Instead of taking the Word of God given to HIM in Genesis 2:16-17, and being the spiritual covering to Eve in protection of the serpent… he sat idle, and did nothing.

There is no excuse for sin, but at least Eve was legitimately deceived… but what’s Adam’s excuse.

No, he sinned willfully.

And the consequences of their sin, were immediate and devastating.

1st… What Satan said, came true… well sort of.

Satan only spoke of what would be gained, not what would be lost in the process.

He said they wouldn’t die—- which they didn’t immediately.

He said their eyes would be opened—- which they were, but all they saw was their own nakedness and shame.

He said they’d obtain knowledge—- which they did, the knowledge of sin.

You see, half truth’s are still lies.

Satan will only tempt you with what can be gained… he won’t fill you in on the whole story of what could be lost.

Like the young man in Proverbs 7… a young adultress approcahes him and begins enchanting him with all that could be theirs.

But the writer says, Proverbs 7:21–23 “With much seductive speech she persuades him; with her smooth talk she compels him. All at once he follows her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a stag is caught fast till an arrow pierces its liver; as a bird rushes into a snare; he does not know that it will cost him his life.”

It cost them… and how did they respond to the cost of their sin.

Second, they Hid

Genesis 3:8 “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.”

Genesis 3:10 “And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.””

They hid from God. Their fig leaves weren’t enough, they sought to conceal themselves further from the presence of God.

And as God asks Adam, if he had transgressed… what did he do!?

Then they blamed.

Genesis 3:12 “The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.””

I can just see Eve’s face here… “Like so much for the whole bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh poem…”

Yea, Adam actually blames Eve. And eve what does she do? She blames the Serpent.

But did you notice who Adam actually blames here.

“The woman.. YOU GAVE ME.”

Adam, unwilling to accept responsibility, plays the victim

First he’s a victim of Eve.

And deeper he’s a victim of God.

I believe at the root of so much of the mess in our society today is our unwillingness to take responsibility for our sin, while simultaneously blaming everybody else for our lives, especially God.

It’s my upbringings fault, it’s my parents fault, it’s my spouses fault, it’s my kids, it’s my job, well God just hasn’t helped. and on and on we go.

We spin this narrative of Victim. WHY!? Well follow the digression.

We are victims, and we blame everybody else unwilling to accept responsibility.

Becuase we are so ashamed and afraid of being seen for who we really are.

Because we gave way to temptation after temptation.

Because we doubt God’s character, and we doubt God’s Word.

Church, don’t you see this pattern in our world? Don’t you see it in your own lives.

but let me close with a necessary reminder for us all

Conclusion

When Adam and Eve sinned… God knew.

No matter what we do to conceal ourselves from God, it’s futile. He sees.

But the gaze of our God, even when we are neck deep in our sin, is one of grace and kindness.

You see, God saw… he saw Adam hide, and what did God do… He came to find him.

And when he found him, instead of smiting Adam, or verbally abusing him… he asks a question, “Where are you?”

Like a gentle, and loving Father… he’s not asking literally. He knows. When my kids mess up, and their instinct is to hide under the bed… because of sin and shame, I go to them and I try (well on my best day) I try to coax them out… “Where are you bud…”

That’s our gentle and gracious God.

He then asks a second question…

Who told you that you were naked… Have you eaten…

He then asks a 3rd question…

what is this that you have done…”

Y0u see in each of these 3 questions, there are no accusations… instead the questions are actually invitations for them to accept their responsibility, confess their sin, and be restored to God.

There is more mercy in God, than sin in us.

To celebrate that truth we are going to take communion.

if you’re serving go ahead and begin passing out the elements

Let’s pray.