Untitled Sermon

Date:

June 1st, 2025

Scripture:

Genesis 3:1-24

Page 5-6 of the pew Bible

Sermon Title:

The First Fall: How Paradise Was Lost and Humanity Changed Forever

Hymn Suggestions:

Opening Praise Song- 209 This is the day

2nd Hymn- 591 Have Thine Own Way Lord

3rdHymn- 486 Come Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy

Closing Hymn- 343 Amazing Grace

Sermon:

Good Morning Church, Family.

It’s so good to be with everyone today.

Well, truth be told, any day that we can come together and worship our Lord, it’s a good day.

Back in 1985 the country music group “The Judds” had a hit country song titled “Grandpa, Tell Me About The Good Old Days”

Some of the lyrics of that song say…

Grandpa, tell me 'bout the good old days

Sometimes it feels like this world's gone crazy

Grandpa, take me back to yesterday

When the line between right and wrong didn't seem so hazy

Was a promise really something people kept, Not just something they would say

Did families really bow their heads to pray? Did daddies really never go away?

Grandpa, everything is changing fast, we call it progress, but I just don't know

The Judds are suggesting in their song that the days in the past are better than the days we are living in now.

Now, that’s an idea that some of may agree with, and perhaps some of us disagree with, it probably depends on who you ask.

And I too can remember talking to my parents, and them telling me how different the world is today from the days in which they were children, and for the most part, seem like a much safer, simpler time, although I can’t be sure.

But what I can be sure of is the way the world is today, the way the world was yesterday, in my parent’s days, grandparents’ day, or any days in fact is not the way it was intended to be.

Let’s think of all the types of evil in the world. we can even name some of them.

· Violence and murders

· School shootings

· Drug and addictions

· Raceisim, sexism, and all of the other “isms” you can think of

· Human trafficking

· Wars

· Abuse to women and children

And we could spend the rest of the morning naming evil that is found in this world, couldn’t we? With the few we mentioned, we just scratched the surface.

However, the truth is…that’s not the way it always was.

that’s not how it was intended to be.

That’s not what God had in mind.

Creation, the Garden, and Humans were perfect.

Now this morning, marks our third week in our “From the Pew to the Pulpit sermon series, and the scripture that was submitted this week is:

3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers, he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

Now there are several tings to consider before we just jump into this verse with both feet.

First, we need to do what is commonly referred to as exegeses, which basically means providing a critical explanation or interpretation of scripture, and often we do that through ensuring we read the whole text and not just one piece of it.

This is why we are looking at all the verses that surround verse 15, so we fully understand what verse 15 is referring to.

Today’s scripture comes from Genesis 3:1-24 and can be found on page 5-6 of the pew Bible if you would like to follow along.

Starting with verse 1:

3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

3:2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,

3:3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

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

3:5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

3:6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

3:7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

3:8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

3:9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

3:10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

3:11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

3:12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

3:13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

3:14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly, and you will eat dust all the days of your life.

3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers, he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

3:16 To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”

3:17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.

3:18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.

3:19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

3:20 Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.

3:21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

3:22 And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”

3:23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.

3:24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Today’s passage reveals the naked truth about The First Fall, and how paradise was lost and humanity changed forever.

Verses 1-6 highlights The First Temptation and Sin and Man’s Fall from Perfection.

What I would like to draw our attention to is not so much the man and women’s fall, but rather the serpent described in this early part of Genesis.

In determining just who or what the serpent was, there are a few facts need to be noted about the Scripture regarding the serpent.

It is often well accepted that the serpent, when first created, apparently walked upright and was a most magnificent creature.

Verse 14 says, So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly, and you will eat dust all the days of your life.

Which would imply that prior to this the serpent did not crawl,

Next, we read that the craftiness of the serpent is compared to the craftiness of the beast of the field.

Scripture says the serpent was more subtle, crafty, clever, and shrewd, than any of the animals upon earth.

Now there are two trains of thought regarding this,

This is either a comparison of Satan’s craftiness to the craftiness of the animals,

Or

of the craftiness of one animal to the craftiness of the other animals.

Now the couple facts might paint a slightly different picture than we already have in our heads.

Scripture gives examples where Satan had the power to use people to advance his agenda. Sometimes that’s hard for us to grasp.

And finally, All creation was created perfectly by God and are you ready for this…even the serpent.

If we say that the serpent was a literal serpent used as an evil tool by Satan, then we have a problem explaining how creation was perfect:

How could an animal be used as an evil tool in a world of perfect animals?

This is the reason some interpreters say that Satan actually transformed or clothed himself as a serpent.

And now that we have leaned into the serpent a little bit… let’s look at satin himself.

Let’s look at where he come from?

Revelation 12:7-9

12:7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.

12:8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven.

12:9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

Ezekiel 28:12-19

28:12 “Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “‘You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

28:13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: carnelian, chrysolite and emerald, topaz, onyx and jasper, lapis lazuli, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared.

28:14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones.

28:15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you.

28:16 Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So, I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones.

28:17 Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So, I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.

28:18 By your many sins and dishonest trade you have desecrated your sanctuaries. So, I made a fire come out from you, and it consumed you, and I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching.

28:19 All the nations who knew you are appalled at you; you have come to a horrible end and will be no more.’”

So satan was a high angel who because of his beauty and how much he thought of himself, had a vision to gain higher authority than God Almighty.

He was cast from Hevan, along with his fallen angels to earth where he resides still to this day.

Church family, before we go any further, let’s make no mistake about it.

Far too often we think of satin, being in hell, residing in the lake of fire with his daemons.

Nowhere in scripture does it say that…

If that is what you think, than you are sadly mistaken… and allowing this thought process, only allows him to more easily achieve his agenda.

And that agenda is, to steel, kill, and destroy.

Remember a few minutes ago when we said that satan had the power to use people to advance his agenda.

Church family, satan still has that same power, that’s hard for us to comprehend, isn’t it?

It’s true.

Job 1:6-7: Satan tells the Lord that he has been "going to and from on the earth, and from walking up and down on it".

Revelation 12:7-17: Satan is thrown down to Earth along with his angels.

1 Peter 5:8: Satan is described as "a roaring lion" that walks about the Earth, seeking whom he may devour.

1 John 5:19: "We know that we originate with God, but the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one"

Church family and friends, we better wake up and take this seriously.

You know something, I don’t like snakes very much.

Not for any biblical reason, but mostly because usually when I see a snake, it has usually found me first, and by the time I see it, I am already vaurnable.

They usually catch me off guard and take me by surprise.

Brothers and Sisters, this is how satan works,

He lurks in the dark places, out of site and out of mind waiting for someone to come along unexpctently.

Although his appearance may change, his tricks and warfare does not.

Rather than a serpent, he may appear in the form of a drink or substance,

Perhaps in the form of something we shouldn’t be watching or listening to, maybe in the form of unforgiveness and hard feelings towards someone in our life,

Yes, church family, the forms are many, but the result is always the same. And that is sin that gets in the way of our relationship with the Lord Almighty.

And along with that sin also comes consequences.

Throughout this chapter in Genesis, we read of seven consequences of sin.

In verse 7, we have shame.

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

In verse 8, Guilt and fear,

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Verse 9 Alienation from God,

But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

Verses 10-13, Division, and disturbed relationships,

He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so, I hid.” And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Verses 14-19, Judgment and death,

So, the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly, and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

And finally, verses 22-24 Separation and expulsion from perfection.

So, the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Church family, make no mistake about it, this this progression of sin and consequence is just as relevant for us as it was for Adam and Eve.

When we chose to fall into sin there is consequences,

We will experience the same shame, guilt and fear that was felt in the garden.

Inevitably our sin will alienate us from God, and our relationships will be affected.

And the end result is a separation from the perfection God has for us.

But also remember this…

Man isn’t the only one who experienced consequences and still faces consequences.

When Adam and Eve sinned, they immediately suffered terrible consequences.

Now comes the judgment upon sin.

Sin is to be judged, and justice is to be executed.

It was true in the beginning with Adam; it will be true with us in the final judgment of all men.

This passage covers the first judgment ever pronounced upon earth.

It covers The First Judgment upon Sin, Judgment upon the Tempter, That Old Serpent, Called the Devil, Satan Himself.

He was cursed above all creatures.

He was to crawl upon his belly: to be detested, degraded, and miserable, always and forever.

He was to eat dust, to be defeated and humiliated.

Which leads us to verse 15, now that we have the full story…

3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers, he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

We understand the rest of the consequences that satan endured but what about this one?

What does it mean that he was to be the object of enmity; and that enmity was to be waged between him and the woman and her seed?

Enmity meaning the state or feeling of being actively opposed or hostile towards someone or something.

A state of hostility and a feeling of hatred.

See, in the Bible enmity was always used to conflict and animosity between people, not animals.

Because of this we can see the judgment pointing to the devil and not just a serpent.

Gods hand was at work through all of this…

It is God who puts enmity between the serpent and man.

It is God who stirs man to oppose evil.

It is God who says, “I will put enmity.”

Enmity is usually sinful, but enmity against evil is a virtue.

See church family, Believers are to always be angry at sin and stand against all evil

But far too often, when we sin, we often find that we like the sin but want to escape sin’s consequences.

We would like to destroy ourselves in comfort,

Friends, scripture says there is always to be enmity between the seed or the offspring of satan and the seed of the woman. And who is the offspring of the serpent?

The serpent’s seed could not be all the snakes of future generations; this just makes no sense.

As we talked about a few minutes ago, the word enmity always refers to hostility between persons, not creatures.

It is also very doubtful, that the serpent’s seed would be referring to the demons who serve under Satan.

Satan does not bear demons as offspring: demons are not increasing in numbers. They were all created by God as angelic beings and fell from their exalted position when Satan fell.

Who then is the seed or offspring of “that old serpent, called the Devil?”

Who are the children and descendants of the devil? Scripture tells us: the seed or offspring of the devil are …

Persons who live after the lusts of the flesh

John 8:44…

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

People who are enemies of God,

those who deny,

curse,

neglect,

and ignore God

people who are adulterers, James 4:4, You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God

people who commit sin…

John 3:8

He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinned from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil”

People who are unrighteous and do not love others

John 3:10

In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother”

The offspring of the devil refers to the ungodly men and women upon earth,

and the seed of the woman refers to the godly men and women of earth.

Those who follow after righteousness and those who follow after unrighteousness.

Those who follow after the way of God and those who follow after the way of self and the devil.

Those who follow after the good of God and those who follow after the sin and evil of the devil.

Those who follow after God Himself and those who follow after the devil himself.

Genesis 3:15—is a prophecy of human history. History is to be a great struggle between good and evil among men and nations

the tempter was to be crushed by one particular seed or descendant of the woman. This is a glorious promise: some descendant of the woman was to destroy the serpent. The serpent would strike the descendant’s heel and bruise him, but the descendant would strike the final and fatal blow. The descendant would crush the serpent’s head. This is definitely a promise of the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Note: this is the first promise of the Savior in the Bible, and the promise is unconditional: the Savior would come and He would destroy the serpent (tempter) in order to reconcile man with God. This is what is known as the Adamic covenant, God’s unconditional promise to Adam and man, the unconditional promise to send the Savior to deliver man.

Verse fifteen is also known as the Protevangelium, which means the very first declaration of the gospel. Note several facts.

The promised seed is said to be the seed of the woman, not of the man. This points toward the virgin birth—the incarnation—of Christ.

The devil—from this point on—would try to destroy the seed of the woman. But note: God never said which woman would bear the seed. Satan was always left guessing. In fact, Satan has tried from the very beginning to destroy the seed of the woman. He has been waging war against the Seed of God, the Savior of the world, ever since God promised to save the world.

This is how Satan has attempted to hurt God, by doing all he could to devour the woman and her godly descendants down through the centuries. He did all he could to keep the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, from being born. Now that Christ has come, Satan does all he can to turn people away from repentance and from following the Lord. Even when people do repent and turn to follow Christ, Satan does all he can to turn the followers of the Lord away from Him.

The promised seed of the woman, the Lord Jesus Christ, was to crush the head of the serpent. Jesus Christ crushed Satan when He died upon the cross.

Christ crushed Satan’s head by never giving in to the devil’s temptations and by never sinning. Christ lived a perfect life;

he was perfectly righteous.

Therefore, He became the Perfect Man, the Ideal Man, the Ideal Righteousness …

whom all men are to trust

whom all men are to follow

whom all men are to use as the pattern for their lives.

Christ crushed Satan’s head by dying for man, by bearing all of man’s guilt and punishment for sin. In behalf of man,

Christ took all of man’s sins upon Himself and bore the judgment of God against sin.

He is the Ideal Man, so His death becomes the Ideal Death. Just as His Ideal Righteousness stands for and covers every man, so His Ideal Death stands for and covers every man.

Consequently, the penalty and punishment for sins has now been paid. Man no longer has to die and be separated from God. The way to live forever in the presence of God is now open. Satan’s power is broken and destroyed.

Christ crushed Satan’s head by being raised from the dead. Death could not hold perfection, for death is the result of sin. Christ, being perfect, was bound to arise.

When Christ arose, He triumphed over Satan, openly showing that death is the work of Satan.

Death is not to be the natural experience of man.

Death was never the purpose of God.

life is the purpose of God. The resurrection of Christ openly shows this.

Christ crushed Satan’s head by His Incarnation, that is, by coming into the world and being revealed as the Son of God. Think about it: the fact that the Son of God came into the world destroys the works of the devil. As soon as the Son of God appeared on the scene, His coming meant that the works of the devil were to be destroyed.

Christ crushed Satan’s power to charge men with sin. Satan’s power to charge men with sin is now “cast out.”

Men now have the power to escape the penalty of sin. Christ took the sins of men upon Himself and paid the penalty for their sin. He died for the sins of the world.

Church family, once and for Jesus Christ will destroy satan forever, and it just drives satan crazy knowing it’s coming.

Verse 15 says:

he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

We can also look at Romans 16:20 as a supporting verse…

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

This is a clear illustration and in Genesis a clear prophesy of when Jesus will return and crush the evil one once and for all.