Sin Enters the World

"TEMPTED TO SIN"

I. THE TEMPTER.

A. Satan revealed in scripture as.

1. Deceiver (angel of light).

2. Opposer of God.

3. Liar "liar from the beginning..."

4. The true enemy of the believer "for we wrestle not against flesh and blood..."

II. THE FORM OF TEMPTATION.

A. Questioning God's Word "hath God said?"

1. Still attacking God's Word today.

a. Doubt the accuracy.

b. Doubt the authenticity.

B. Contradicting God's Word "Ye shall not surely die."

2. He only questions to open doors for contradiction

3. The truth-"In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" The lie- "Ye shall surely die."

C. Giving his own word which is a contradiction to all truth. "For God knows in the day..."

1. Questioned the justice of God.

2. Questioned the love of God.

III. THE APPEAL OF THE TEMPTATION.

A. Lust of the flesh "Good for food."

1. Lust - abnormal appetite.

B. Lust Of the eyes "Pleasant to the eye."

C. Pride of life "desired to make one wise."

IV. THE UNNECESSARY RESULT OF TEMPTATION "SHE TOOK THE FRUIT THEREOF & DID EAT."

A. We all are faced with many temptations.

1. Satan works incessantly.

B. It is not necessary to yield to temptation.

1 Cor 10:13 "There is no temptation taken you but is common to all men & God will, with the temptation, provide a way of escape."

C. Christ our great help in temptation.

1. We have a great high priest.

V. THE NECESSARY RESULT OF YIELDING.

A. Separation from God which is death.

VI. THE INEVITABLE ATTEMPT OF MAN.

A. To cover his wrong, his sin "they sewed fig..."

1. Mans incurable self-righteous.

VII. THE ONLY TRUE COVERING FOR SIN.

I. THE BEGINNING OF SIN BROUGHT BEGINNING OF SORROW.

A. Satan seeks to associate sin with pleasure.

1. With Eve.

a. Good for food.

b. Pleasant.

c. Desirable.

2. First reaction to sin often positive.

a. You seek to draw others to join you.

b. Eve gave to Adam and he ate.

3. Things have not changed from the beginning.

a. Sin still seems fun at the beginning.

b. It appears to be desirable.

c. The end result is still sorrow.

B. God associates sin with sorrow.

1. As God explained the consequence of sin three times He mentioned sorrow.

2. Though sin may give pleasure for a season, its net reaction is sorrow forever.

3. The sorrow in the world today bears testimony against sin.

a. Not a single sorrow we experience that if traced back we find its roots in sin.

1. Sorrow of death.

4. One of the marks of heaven, no sorrow.

a. With the absence of sin the absence of sorrow.

II. THE FIG LEAF APRONS WERE THE BEGINNING OF MAN'S ATTEMPTS TO COVER HIS GUILT.

A. Looking at man today, it would be amusing if it weren't so tragic.

1. Shave heads, put on white robes, dance on the corners to the noise of finger symbols.

2. Sit in grotesque positions or stand on their heads and chant.

B. Some shrewd hucksters, realizing man's innate desire to atone for his guilt make merchandisers of these people.

1. Send them in airports pinning flowers on unwary people for a donation.

2. Send them in parking lots selling peanuts.

3. Send them door to door to peddle magazines.

4. Charge them $100 bucks for series of lessons.

C. How does God view all these self efforts of being better?

1. Your righteousness is as filthy rags.

2. Today we either are trusting in our works or God's work.

D. Fig leaves sewed together, what a shabby way to cover your naked body.

1. Surely they can't last long before they dry and fall off.

2. You'll soon need something else.

III. GOD GAVE UNTO THEM COATS OF SKINS OR FUR COATS.

A. What a contrast when God covers man's nakedness, and man endeavors to cover his own.

1. God gave it to him.

a. It was a gift from God.

b. Man's first cover-up was his own work. It wouldn't do.

2. Today we either are trusting in our works or God's work.

B. Coats of skins.

1. That meant that God had to kill the animals.

a. Perhaps they watched as God killed the lambs and took their furs.

b. Herein was born the concept of the necessity of a sacrifice to cover sin.

C. This all looked forward to God's perfect sacrifice who once and for all would provide the perfect covering for all our sin.

I. MAN, A SPECIAL CREATION.

A. Rest of creation spoken into existence.

1. God formed man's body out of dust.

2. God breathed into man life.

B. Man has a special relationship to God above all other creators. Made in image of God.

1. A touch of God in every man.

2. The capacity to know God.

3. The capacity for fellowship with God.

a. Something beautiful about their hearing God's voice as He walked in the garden.

b. Something tragic as they tried to hide from God.

II. WHY DID THEY ATTEMPT TO HIDE FROM THE PRESENCE OF GOD? THAT'S NEUROTIC BEHAVIOR.

A. Because they had guilty conscience.

1. Even today most neurotic behavior stems from a guilt complex.

B. How foolish to try to hide from God.

1. David said Where can I flee from Thy presence?

C. Many today trying to hide from God.

1. They stay away from church.

2. They try to avoid their Christian friends.

3. What folly, to try to hide from God.

III. WHAT CAUSED THE GUILT COMPLEX? DlSOBEDIENCE!

A. They disobeyed God's commandment.

1. God's commandment was for their best welfare.

a. God knew the poison in that tree.

b. They were convinced they knew better than God.

c. God knew they would die.

d. They thought God was unable to let them die.

2. God's commandments are always for our best welfare.

a. How foolish when we think we know better than God.

IV. GOD'S CRY TO ADAM, "WHERE ART THOU?"

A. Not the call of an arresting officer, but the sob of a heart-broken father

B. Adam knew where he was.

1. It is wrong to assume that a man doesn't know the truth about himself.

2. We try so hard to hide the truth from others. Some are so clever at deception they begin to deceive themselves.

a. Deep down inside we know.

b. The truth has a way of surfacing.

C. God's cry comes to you today, "Where art thou?"

1. You can only be in one of two places.

a. In full fellowship with Him.

b. Out of full fellowship with Him.

2. God desires, yearns, for that full fellowship with Him.

a. That you might have His life.

b. That you might share His glory.

3. Sin always interferes with your fellowship.

a. "God's hand is not short..."

4. God has made provision for your sin, that fellowship may be restored.

That which Adam lost through sin, may be restored to you through faith.

I. THE NEED OF REDEMPTION.

A. Man had sinned, he ate the fruit of the tree that God commanded he should not eat.

1. God had declared that if he ate of the tree, he would surely die.

2. The consequence of the action of Adam and Eve was death.

B. By his action, Adam had become a slave of Satan, in the kingdom of death and darkness.

1. There was nothing that Adam could do to set himself free.

2. His action was irreversible, having once sinned, he could never make himself innocent again.

3. He may strive the rest of his life to be good, but he could not undo what he had done.

C. One of the results of his transgression was the loss of his innocence, he thus became aware of his nakedness.

1. He was now body conscious.

2. That is a sad byproduct of sin, this body awareness.

D. His spirit now dead, the body ruled over his mind.

1. The lusts of his flesh now began to rule his life.

2. He was now living like the beasts, he was living on the animal plane of existence.

II. ADAM'S ATTEMPT TO COVER HIS SIN.

A. Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves together to try to cover their nakedness.

1. Have you ever felt a fig leaf? They are sort of scratchy.

2. When you pick off a fig leaf, a white sap oozes out the stem that is sort of like a sticky glue.

3. I am certain that their covering was not the most pleasant in the world.

B. This is where we read in our text, that God made them coats of skins.

1. God gave them fur coats.

2. This necessitated the death of an animal.

3. This is the beginning of animal sacrifices to make a covering for sin.

4. The Hebrew word is Kophar, which means covering, and is translated in the Old Testament as atonement.

C. By making a covering for their nakedness with coats of skins, God was indicating that man needed to sacrifice an animal to cover the guilt of his sin.

1. The consequence of sin was death.

2. An animal could be substituted for the guilty sinner.

D. Very early in the history of man, the sacrifices of animals to the Lord was begun to be practiced as a covering for the guilt of sin.

E. Both of laws come into play in the redemption provided by Jesus.

1. First He became a man that he might be next of kin.

2. He came to redeem the world from Satan.

a. Satan knew this and offered Him the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them if Jesus would just bow down and worship him.

b. In the kingdom parables Jesus said, "The kingdom of heaven is like a man going through a field and discovering a treasure, and with joy he goes out and sells everything that He might buy that field so as to obtain the treasure."

c. In parables what is the field? "Now the field is the world." Who gave up everything He had in order to purchase this world? Jesus

3. He came to redeem man from the bondage for sin.

a. Again the law of God must be fulfilled that required death for the transgressor.

b. Jesus took our sins upon Himself, and paid for our sins by dying in our place.

c. "All we like sheep had gone astray, we had turned everyone of us to our own way, but God laid on Him the iniquities of us all."

d. "God made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God through Him."

e. Unlike the animal sacrifices that could only cover our sins, by the death of Jesus, the Son of God, our sins have been put away.

f. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.

g. Jesus said;

JOHN 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (redeemed)

JOHN 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

JOHN 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

JOHN 3:20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.