The Fruit of Disobedience

Introduction

HEAR - Highlight, Explain, Apply, Respond

What verses in your Bible reading this week have been highlighted?

The Foundations of a Christian Worldview

Tomorrow is inauguration, and though the Republicans won (convincingly?), the country is still divided:

Abortion

Gun control

Climate change

Healthcare

Educational curriculum

For some of these issues there is a clear Biblical viewpoint (abortion); for others such a viewpoint influences the debate.

Perhaps once as a country we were less divided because we shared a common worldview. The Bible was a standard; or if not a standard, at least a moral compass, cultural touchstone, or a source of inspiration.

Today we have many who have no knowledge what the Bible says, let alone an adherence to its teaching. The only way to communicate truth to these people is to know for ourselves the nature of God and man that we find revealed to us in Genesis. This is told through a series of beginnings:

1. The Beginning of the Universe and Creation

2. The Beginning of Humanity

3. The Beginning of Work and Purpose

4. The Beginning of Marriage and Family

5. The Beginning of Sin and Brokenness

6. The Beginning of Redemption

7. The Beginning of Civilization

8. The Beginning of God's Covenant Relationship with Israel

9. The Beginning of Nations

10. The Beginning of Worship and Sacrifice

Today’s lesson touches on three of these beginnings: the Universe and Creation; Sin and Brokenness; and Redemption

1. God’s Perfect Design

Genesis 1:1–5 CSB

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” There was an evening, and there was a morning: one day.

What does this tell us about creation?

v.1 God initiated, performed creation. This verse likely forms a summary of all God’s created work.

v.2 Not only God, but God’s Spirit

Not only God and God’s Spirit, but also Christ:

Hebrews 1:2 “2 In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him.”

There were six “days” of creation; each ended with “an evening and a morning”; each is described as “good,” except for this sixth day when man was created, which is described as “very good.”

Conclusions:

The Biblical account of creation is not compatible with evolution, theistic or otherwise.

God created the birds, sea creatures, land animals "according to their kind”

God created man out of the dust of the ground

God created woman from man

The days of creation need not have been 24-hour days

The word for “day” (yom) is used in several different senses in Gen 1-2.

If the sun was created on day 4, what did the “evening and morning” look like on day 1?

Many events happen on day 6 - perhaps too many to expect in a 24 (12?) hour day

The focus of the lesson is not on the conclusions; it is on the perfect design of God’s creation. It was good; indeed, very good.

2. Sin Breaks God’s Design

Genesis 3:1–7 CSB

1 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’ ” 4 “No! You will certainly not die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

v.1 “the serpent” - apparently animals talking was no big deal?

Rev 12:9 - “that ancient serpent” called the Devil

Satan tempts Jesus (the 2nd Adam) in Matthew, as he did Adam and Eve

v.2 Satan’s methods

Casting Doubt on God’s Word

Distorting and Misrepresenting God's Word

Denying God’s Truth

Appealing to Pride and the Desire for Autonomy

Exploiting Human Desires - “good for food,” “a delight to the eyes”

Isolating the Victim (Satan went to Eve only)

Suggesting God Is Withholding Good

v.6 “her husband, who was with her” ?

Genesis 1–11:26 (2) The Man and Woman Sin (3:6–8)

Although “with her” does not in itself demand that he is present since the serpent speaks “to the woman,” nevertheless, the action of the verse implies that Adam is a witness to the dialogue. “You” at each place in 3:1–5 is plural and thus suggests his presence. However, there is no indication that he too is deceived by the serpent

So why is Adam culpable?

Adam ate as well

As the one who received God’s command directly (Genesis 2:16-17), Adam bore primary responsibility to obey and lead. His failure to protect or correct Eve is a key aspect of the Fall.

Paul says in Rom 5:12 that "Sin came into the world through one man."

Paul says in 1 Tim 2:14 that "Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor." This highlights that Adam’s sin was a willful act rather than one born of deception.

3. Redemption is Promised

Genesis 3:14–19 CSB

14 So the Lord God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, you are cursed more than any livestock and more than any wild animal. You will move on your belly and eat dust all the days of your life. 15 I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel. 16 He said to the woman: I will intensify your labor pains; you will bear children with painful effort. Your desire will be for your husband, yet he will rule over you. 17 And he said to the man, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘Do not eat from it’: The ground is cursed because of you. You will eat from it by means of painful labor all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow until you return to the ground, since you were taken from it. For you are dust, and you will return to dust.”

The Serpent

v.14 “you are cursed” - While it was Satan who tempted Eve, the serpent acted as the physical vehicle through which Satan carried out his deception. The serpent was an instrument of Satan’s plan and became associated with the evil act.

Do animals bear responsibility for their actions? Are they not “only animals”?

Genesis 9:5 “5 And I will require a penalty for your lifeblood; I will require it from any animal and from any human; if someone murders a fellow human, I will require that person’s life.”

Exodus 21:28 “28 “When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox must be stoned, and its meat may not be eaten, but the ox’s owner is innocent.”

v.15 “your offspring and her offspring” (lit “seed”), which comes from the man. This is why the virgin birth matters.

Theologians refer to this as the Protoevangelium (“first” + “good news”)

"He will strike your head” - a death blow

“you will strike his heal” - while Satan will be defeated, he will cause harm or injury in the process (as in the crucifixion)

So in reality - both the serpent and Satan are cursed!

The Woman

v.16 “intense labor pains”

“your desire will be for your husband” - punishment will fit the crime (remember Jacob); submission will be hard. The woman will now have a natural, “psychological desire to dominate and control her husband”

“he will rule over you” - in a fallen world, women will be unfairly dominated by men. “The man will seek to exercise mastery and control over the woman” - a power struggle.

“the ideal, however, was they were to rule together, with final authority and responsibility resting with the man”

The Man

v.17 “painful labor all the days of your life”

v.19 “until you return to the ground”

Satan - “you shall not surely die”

God - physical death is coming; spiritual death is here

Application

Understand the seriousness of sin

Understand the brokenness of the world

Why wildfires in CA? Why a hurricane here? Why death and disease?

Trust in God’s Plan

Share the good news with others