The Fall

TRUTH

Have you ever witnessed something that was good become bad?

Really good movie be ruined by a bad sequel

A friendship that was amazing then ruined in one fight or misunderstanding

Team was once really good and now they are bad

Patriots

All of us have seen this happen in some form or fashion…

TENSION

Last week in the creation account we saw God create all thing and declare them as good

“Very Good” after creating man

Tonight we are going to see how what God declared as good turns bad

TRUTH

Genesis 2 Summary

vv. 7-9

God makes Adam and places him in the garden of Eden

2 Trees in this garden

life

knowledge of good and evil

Genesis 2:15–17 (ESV)

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 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.”

vv. 15-17

Gives man a command

Obedient = Life

Disobedient = Death

vv. 21-23

Adam names all of the animals but can’t find a helper that fits him

God creates Eve the first woman

As chapter 2 ends all is good

Life in Eden

God’s people, in paradise, with God present

So what happens?

Genesis 3:1–7 (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.

Satan Attacks

Satan understands that he doesn’t have the power to defeat God so he chooses to attacked God’s prized creation

Adam and Eve are not perfect

they are not robots who perfectly obey

they have the ability to obey or disobey

they have the ability to believe that God’s word is true or Satan’s word is true

They choose to disobey

Eyes are open

to their nakedness and they they did something wrong

we know this because they hide when God is coming

The Blame Game

Adam blames Eve

Eve blames Satan

But it doesn’t matter who gets the most blame… the reality is that they have disobeyed God and now have to face their punishment

Genesis 3:14–19 (ESV)

The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,

cursed are you above all livestock

and above all beasts of the field;

on your belly you shall go,

and dust you shall eat

all the days of your life.

I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel.”

To the woman he said,

“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;

in pain you shall bring forth children.

Your desire shall be contrary to your husband,

but he shall rule over you.”

And to Adam he said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife

and have eaten of the tree

of which I commanded you,

‘You shall not eat of it,’

cursed is the ground because of you;

in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;

thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;

and you shall eat the plants of the field.

By the sweat of your face

you shall eat bread,

till you return to the ground,

for out of it you were taken;

for you are dust,

and to dust you shall return.”

Sin enters the world and it affects all of Eden…

God’s People

Childbirth is now painful

Fighting between husband and wives

Paradise

Ground is cursed

Thorns and weeds

It will no longer be easy to grow crops and plants

God’s Presence

Genesis 3:22–23 (ESV)

Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.

Adam and Eve are kicked out of the Garden

no longer able to be in God’s presence

At first read this chapter seems to show God as being very mean and hard on Adam and Eve

Isn’t this the same God that we know the forgives and calls us to forgive?

While it may seem that God doesn’t show any grace or mercy to Adam and Eve at first glance

the reality is that this chapter displays God’s grace and mercy more than we can ever understand

Grace

God’s first at of grace is that he doesn’t strike Adam and Eve dead on the spot for eating the fruit

God clearly said that if you eat of the fruit you shall surely die

They ate the fruit and now deserve to die

But instead of killing them he just kicks them out of the garden

and even gives them clothing to cover their shame

Promise

Genesis 3:15 (ESV)

I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel.”

God promises to send a seed of Eve

this seed will come and defeat the serpent

this seed will make all things right

God doesn’t just let Adam and Eve receive their consequences and go on with their life

he promises to fix it

not by their own doing but through His doing

But why does this matter to us?

It matters because Adams sin affects us

sin is hereditary / passed down through birth

Romans 5:12 (ESV)

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

because of Adam all of us are guilty of sin

are guiltiness separates us from God and makes us also deserving of death

Is there hope for us?

Our hope is the same hope that Adam and Eve had

the seed that would come and make all things right

unlike Adam and Eve who looked forward to the promised seed we look back

we know who it is…. Jesus!!

Jesus was miraculously conceived by the HS and born of a virgin which means He was born without Adam’s genes

Jesus was born without sin

Jesus was able to sin or not to sin just like Adam and Eve

And even though He was tempted in every way we are He didn’t sin

Hebrews 4:15 (ESV)

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Jesus lived the sinless/perfect life you and I couldn’t, yet He died a sinner’s death

And He did this for you and I…

even though Jesus lived a sinless life when He was put on the cross to die He took the punishment and paid the price for our sins

2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV)

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Jesus being without sin took on ours and died so that we could be freed from it

But Jesus didn’t just die on the cross for us and stay dead…

No, He rose from the dead!

Proving He was who He said He was and can do all that He said He can do

But also, His resurrection was Him crushing the head of Satan because He now has the final victory of sin and death

Romans 5:18–19 ESV

For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

BOTTOM LINE: Jesus is the promised seed

APPLICATION

What does this mean for us? What do we learn from this?

Jesus was always the plan

Last week we learned that Jesus is on the first page of your bible

tonight we learned that Jesus was always the plan

The fall didn’t take God by surprise

God wasn’t left not knowing what to do

As we read through scripture we don’t see plan after plan failing

Jesus isn’t plan B,C,D, or Z

Jesus was plan A

What’s so cool about this is that just as God had a plan to redeem humanity before the Fall

He has a plan for your life, even in the midst of challenges or sin

You can trust that He is in control and working for your good

Romans 8:28 (ESV)

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

But not only was Jesus always the plan…

2. Jesus fulfilled the plan

As we saw in Romans Chist through Christ obedience we are made righteous

He made it possible for our sins to be forgiven

through his perfect life

Death on the cross

And resurrection

This means we can stop trying to earn our salvation

Jesus has completed the work of redemption on the cross

So instead of trying to earn God's favor you can est in the finished work of the cross and live in the freedom of grace

3. Jesus will complete the plan

See the story of redemption doesn’t just end with salvation

it culminates in Jesus’ return

When God’s people are fully restored to paradise in His presence

This is Eden redeemed and perfected, forever

Read Slow!! (not on the screen/Just think about this moment)

Revelation 21:1–4 (ESV)

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

This is what we look forward to

Eden restored

God’s people, in paradise, with God present for forever

Adam and Eve looked back at creation and forward to a Savior

We look back at our Savior and forward to a new creation

RESPONSE

Believer:

This is our hope

This is what we hold on to

This is why we sign loudly and with grateful hearts

despite our circumstances

Because

Jesus was always the plan

He fulfilled the plan

He will complete the plan

Unbeliever:

If you have never put your faith and trust in Jesus

the reality for you is that when Jesus comes back to gather his people you will not be a part of that group

you will be apart of the group that spend eternity in a place called hell that is eternal punishment for your sins

But tonight that can change

by acknowledging that you are a sinner and because of your sin you have been separated from the father and are deserving of death

but the Jesus was always the plan

and through His perfect life, death, and resurrection you can be forgiven of your sins

by simply confessing this truth from your mouth and believing in your heart, you too can be apart of God’s people

You too can look forward to the completion of the plan in which we will be God’s people, in paradise, with God present forever