The Fall of Self-Reliance: From Shame to Grace

Introduction

We need to talk about it, and we have been talking about it, and it has been uncomfortable for all of us. But there is not gospel if there is no sin. And we must talk about sin.

Last week we dealt with how instinctively all people know that they are sinful. They attempt to deny it, they attempt to ignore it, they attempt to shift blame around to separate themselves from if. People do not understand what is it but they wear the burden without having a full grasp of what the burden is

The change the names of things, they come up with altering realities and definitions so they can continue in their sin while minimizing the guilt but, no matter how much make up you put on a pig, it will still be a pig and it will continue to do pig things. The whole world knows its sinful.

John 16:7–8 LSB

7 “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8 “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment;

It is the primary role of the Holy Spirit to convict of sin. And He has done so, and continues to do so. And humanity continues to try to look for ways to get out from under that conviction through the many sin-eating methods we discussed last week.

But once the conviction sets in—once people feel that weight—what do they do with it? That’s where we’re going today. People don’t run to God; they run from Him. They don’t confess; they cover. They don’t repent; they try to repair. Ever since the garden, humanity has been trying to deal with sin on its own terms—hiding, blaming, covering, justifying. But here’s the truth: sin can’t be fixed by self-reliance. Self-reliance must die. This is what we will be talking about as we examine Gen 3:7-13.

In Genesis 3:1–6, we saw the serpent — Satan — approach Eve with deception. He twisted God’s words, questioned God’s goodness, and enticed her to take what God had forbidden. Eve took the fruit, ate it, and gave some to Adam, who was right there with her — silent, passive, and complicit. In that moment, sin entered the world. The very first act of rebellion against God — not just eating a fruit, but a deliberate choice to disobey and dethrone God’s authority.

Now we will take the narrative from verse 7 to vs 13 which was already read in your hearing. The fall of self-reliance as we transition from shame to grace (pray)

I. The Instinct to Cover (vv. 7-8)

As soon as sin enters, shame follows. And what do Adam and Eve do? They grab the nearest leaves and try to fix it themselves. It’s the first human attempt at self-righteousness — literally a "cover-up." But fig leaves don’t solve the problem. They only make them feel like they've done something about the shame.

Genesis 3:7–8 LSB

7 And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. 8 Then they heard the sound of Yahweh God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God in the midst of the trees of the garden.

BTW lying is another way to cover. No one wants to suffer shame, your sin being exposed is the same as walking around naked. There is an instant instinct to cover our shame, cover our nakedness. Lying is but a type of leaves.

And then, when they hear God walking in the garden? They hide. The tone of this passage seems to indicate that God coming down to fellowship with man was habitual. That’s how deep the damage is. Sin doesn’t just break the rules — it breaks the relationship. And rather than move toward the only One who could fix it, they run.

Anything for our sin not to be exposed. We try to cover ourselves with good deeds, religious routines, social media filters, career success, even ministry work. But shame isn’t something we can dress up and manage — it has to be dealt with at the root.

Poor Adam and poor Eve, instead of knowing good and evil, what they found out was that they were naked; not the knowledge they had bargained for. What was formerly understood as a sign of a healthy relationship “complete and total transparency” between the man and the woman was now something unpleasant and filled with shame.

Adam used the word naked, a word he should have never know. Nakedness in the Scripture often symbolizes vulnerability, guilt, and exposure.

Revelation 3:17 LSB

17 ‘Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and pitiable and poor and blind and naked.

Having committed the sin themselves and living in the midst of its consequences, the couple attempted to alleviate the problem themselves, rather than driving them back to God, their guilt leads them into a self-atoning, self-protecting procedure, they must cover themselves. We hide, we all do. And it proves how sin has messed up our ability to even reason. What exactly were the first couple thinking they would hide from God?

Hebrews 4:13 LSB

13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are uncovered and laid bare to the eyes of Him to whom we have an account to give.

Yet hide is what they did. At least Adam was hiding. He was the one called and then the blaming game began.

Rather than cry out to God, they tried to fix it — sewing fig leaves as coverings. This is the first recorded act of religion without relationship — an attempt to cover sin by human effort. What should they have done? what should we do when we are in that situation?

Psalm 32:3–5 LSB

3 When I kept silent about my sin, my bones wasted away Through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the heat of summer. Selah. 5 I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not cover up; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to Yahweh;” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

Sin leads us to cover and hide, but no amount of fig leaves — no amount of human effort — can make us right with God. Shame exposes the limits of self-reliance.

But trying to cover our sin is just the beginning of the downward spiral. Once self-reliance fails to silence shame, the next instinct kicks in — and it's just as ancient: we shift the blame. Instead of owning our guilt, we point the finger somewhere else — at our circumstances, at other people, even at God.

II. The Pattern of Blame (vv. 9-12)

Genesis 3:9–12 LSB

9 Yahweh God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” 11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 And the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave to me from the tree, and I ate.”

God does not approach with wrath, indignation, anger, not even with disappointment but with a question. This is an invitation to confess. This was not at all inquiry for the sake of information. It is an open door. As a parent I have often spoken like this to my children and I got this from my own father. God draws him rather than drives him out of hiding.

Adam does not answer the question directly but talks about fear and nakedness. Concepts for which he should not even had had a vocabulary. He avoids the actual sin.

God has to press further, “who told you you were naked. Rather than to waiting for an answer God follows up with a second questions. Still, these questions allow for the man to just face up and confess his crime.

The Lord has not issued not a condemning word so far. Then Adam finally confesses after blaming his wife and in a round about way also blames God “you gave her to me” …. “I didn’t even ask for her” really, if you think about it this is your fault. Through rationalization the criminal becomes the victim. This approach is totally contrary to wisdom

Proverbs 28:13 LSB

13 He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, But he who confesses and forsakes them will receive compassion.

James 1:14–15 LSB

14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully matured, it brings forth death.

This is a complete contradiction to Adam’s deflection. He wanted to lay blame at God’s feet. Had she not been there I would not have eaten. had the tree not been there I would not had eaten… how far you want to take this and make it an error in judgement on God’s part.

As we blame others, blame circumstances are we not indirectly blaming the God who created others?

When we blame others, even subtly, we cut ourselves off from grace. God doesn’t call us to explain our sin — He calls us to confess it. Confession is the doorway to restoration. But blame is the barrier that keeps us in self-reliance.

So far, we've seen the pattern — sin leads to hiding, and shame leads to blaming. But here's the good news: God doesn't leave us there. He doesn’t walk away when we cover or blame. He moves toward us — not to crush us, but to confront us. And that confrontation is a gift, not a punishment.

III. The Gift of Confrontation

Genesis 3:13 LSB

13 Then Yahweh God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

God turns to Eve and asks, “What is this you have done?” — not because He needs to know, but because He wants her to see it. This question is personal and direct. God confronts Eve with the truth — not to shame her, but to invite her out of deception.

Eve’s response mirrors Adam’s — she admits her action but leads with blame: “The serpent deceived me.” It’s honest, but not yet full ownership.

Confrontation is needed. There is no grace without confrontation.

And yet… notice what God does next (v.14–15, beyond our text): He doesn’t destroy them. Instead, He announces the gospel — the seed of the woman will crush the serpent's head. This means that even confrontation is grace when it comes from God.

David sins with Bathsheba tries to hide the sin by attempting to con her husband into sleeping with her so that he can pond his child on Uriah, when that does not work then he murders the man. Nathan the prophet is sent to confront the sinful king.

2 Samuel 12:7 LSB

7 Nathan then said to David, “You are the man! Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘It is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul.

2 Samuel 12:9–13 LSB

9 ‘Why have you despised the word of Yahweh by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. 10 ‘So now, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 11 “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household; I will even take your wives from before your sight and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12 ‘Indeed you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.’” 13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against Yahweh.” And Nathan said to David, “Yahweh also has taken away your sin; you shall not die.

Hebrews 12:5–6 LSB

5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, Nor faint when you are reproved by Him; 6 For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He flogs every son whom He receives.”

God’s confrontation is not condemnation — it’s invitation. He confronts not to crush us under guilt, but to turn us toward grace.

Adam and Eve’s story is our story. We sin, we hide, we blame. And left to ourselves, we would stay wrapped in fig leaves of self-effort, trying to fix what only God can restore. But the beauty of this passage is not in what Adam and Eve did — it’s in what God did.

He came looking for them. He confronted them — not to shame them further, but to show them the truth about themselves. And more than that, to show them the beginning of grace.

The same God who asked, “Where are you?” in the garden still comes seeking sinners today. And He doesn’t expect us to bring our fig leaves or our excuses — only our brokenness.

Stop trying to fix yourself. Stop hiding in good deeds, blaming your past, or pretending it’s not your fault. The gospel doesn’t call us to patch up our failures with religion. It calls us to lay them down at the feet of Jesus.