The Progenitor of Sin

Introduction

Michael Lipske wrote an article for Smithsonian magazine about carnivorous plants. The Venous Fly Trap is the most famous insect eating plant, but did you know that there are many others? For example, the Pitcher Plant uses a sneaky method to attract its prey, a method that reminds us of the methods of Satan.

This brightly colored plant mimics a nectar producing flower. Often a trail of nectar-secreting glands starts at ground level and leads up the outside of the leaf, leading ants from the ground to the trap above. Lipske says:

“The hungry ant or other potential meal is lured to the mouth of the trumpet, so crowded with nectar glands it may be wet. But below this mother lode of sugar, the interior of the pitcher tube is waxy and slick. This is the start of the plant’s slippery slope, where victims lose their footing and slide into the increasingly narrow tube. Down inside, the inner wall of the leaf is lined with glands that secrete digestive enzymes, which trickle down and collect in the bottom of the trap. The insect slips lower, to where the surrounding wall is lined with downward-pointing hairs that discourage exit. In some species, the bottom fluid contains an ingredient to stun the struggling captive. There may even be a wetting agent that helps soak and drown the victim.”

Satan is the master deceiver. He sugarcoats sin with illicit pleasure. Once a person falls into the trap, Satan makes it extremely hard to escape.

There is an old saying, “Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.”

In Genesis 1-2 we learned about creation and we ended chapter 2 with man and woman in the garden with only one command, they could eat of any tree in the garden, except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve was in a perfect environment, they lived in an age of innocence, like children who had no concept of evil. They had food, fellowship and freedom, but all that is about to change. In 6 short verses everything changes, everything that man had in the beginning is broken in these first 6 verses. No longer will he be able to walk up to a tree and gather food, after these 6 short verses man will gather food by the sweat of this brow. His fellowship will be broken, not only will there be a brokenness in his fellowship with other men, but his fellowship with God will be broken. And his freedom will be broken, man will become a slave to sin. It all began with a thought and a look.

J. Vernon McGee writes,

“Dr. Griffith Thomas called chapter 3 the pivot of the Bible. If you doubt that, read chapters 1 and 2 of Genesis, omit chapter 3, and then read chapters 4-11. Your will find that there is a tremendous vacuum that needs to be filled, that something has happened.”

In Genesis 2 we see man’s innocence, but in Genesis 4 we see the manifestation of sin. What happened between chapter 2 and chapter 4? Where did sin start? What happened to man to take him from a man who is blessed to a murderer with a curse? That is what our lesson today is all about, The Fall of Man.

Sin’s origin (Genesis 3:1-6)

We ended last weeks lesson with man in a perfect garden paradise and everything which God had made was very good. Now, we begin Chapter 3 with someone entering the garden with the intent of corrupting God’s perfect creation.

At some point between creation and the fall there was another fall, the fall of Satan and since he had failed in his quest to set his throne above the throne of God in heaven, his desire now is to take control of God’s creation, to be the god of this world and that is just what man allowed to happen in the fall.

Let’s consider:

The tempter (Genesis 3:1a)

Who was this one who entered God's perfect paradise and corrupted all of mankind? He is known by many names in Scripture, that old serpent, the devil, Satan, Lucifer, and the dragon just to name a few. We are told that he was a liar from the beginning and it was Satan who used the body of the serpent in the garden to trick Eve.

We are told in this beginning verse that the Serpent was the most subtil of all of God’s creatures. The word subtil means cunning or clever, it is used in this sense only two other times in the Word of God. In Proverbs 7:10 we read, And, behold, there met him a woman With the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart. (Emphasis added) Here we see the cunning work of the harlot as she lures the simple to her bed.

Then in 2 Samuel 13 we read of David’s son Amnon. Amnon was in love, or actually lusted after, his half sister Tamar. It was Amnon’s friend, Jonadab, who came up with the perverted plan in which Amnon would pretend to be sick in-order to lure Tamar into his bed chamber where he would rape her. 2 Samuel 13:3 says of Jonadab, Jonadab was a very subtil man.

So from these two verses we see that the word subtil, as it is used here, means cunning in an evil way. it gives the idea of using deception and trickery to cause another to sin.

Is this not what the tempter, our adversary, the devil does? Just as our illustration at the beginning of this lesson, Satan will lure us with the pleasures of sin, but soon the tempted will realize that the trap has been sprung, they have gone farther than they wanted to go, stayed longer then they wanted to stay, and paid more than they wanted to pay.

In Ephesians 6:11 Paul tells us to Put on the whole armour of God, why? that ye might be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Webster defines Wile as “A trick or stratagem practiced for ensnaring or deception.” It means to deceive or beguile. Satan uses the same tricks and tactics on us today that he used on Eve in the beginning. This is why we are told in 2 Corinthians 2:11 that we are not ignorant of his devices. We can know how Satan works and knowledge is power. We are no match for the devil and his devices on our own, but with the help of the Holy Spirit we can win the battles of temptation. But knowing how he works, gives us the ability to see temptation and the tricks of Satan for what they are.

The tempted (Genesis 3:1b)

It was Eve that Satan approached, not Adam. There are many theories as to why Satan approached the Woman first, but I believe it may have been because he saw her as the most vulnerable. It was Adam that God gave the command of not eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and it was Adam who told the command to Eve. Since Eve had gotten the information second hand, Satan may have seen her as the weaker of the two. In 1 Peter 5:8 we are told, Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. (emphasis mine). This is one thing we know, Satan is looking for his next victim and if he can find a weakness, he will exploit it.

Where was Adam at this time? From the text it appears that Adam was with Eve because after Eve eats of the fruit, she give it to her husband. We do not find Eve calling Adam to come eat, or is there reference to Eve leaving the serpent to go find Adam, most likely Adam was present for the entire conversation, which makes him all the more guilty.

The Bible Guide tells us,

“In the New Testament, Paul points out that ‘it was the woman who was deceived’ - as though the man, left to himself would have known better. If he did know better, then his disobedience was all the more willful. He defied God with the full intent of a clear head and a rebellious heart.”

2 Corinthians 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. (emphasis mine)

1 Timothy 2:14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

The trickery (Genesis 3:1c-5)

Satan’s tricks, his wiles, have not changed. He still uses the same general tactics today as he did with Eve in the garden. Notice that all Satan did was to plant a thought in Eve’s mind, he got her to look. Satan did not make Eve eat, he simply put a seed, a suggestion in her mind and her lust did the rest. While Satan can not control our thoughts, he can influence them. Have you ever had a vile thought enter your mind and you wonder “where in the world did that come from?” The answer is, it came from Satan putting the thought in your mind. Satan can not control our thoughts, but he can influence them, and we can not control every thought that enters our mind, but we can decide what we do with them. The sin is not in the thought coming into our mind, the sin is on meditating on it. Eve’;s first mistake was to begin a conversation with the devil. Now, you may say, “I would have never done that.” But, how many times a day do we do exactly that. A sinful thought enters our mind and we begin to think on it and justify it, what you may see as an internal conversation with your conscience is actually a conversation with Satan.

Satan always uses man’s lustful nature to tempt us. The lust of the flesh, Eve saw the fruit that it was good for food. The lust of the eyes, a tree to be desired, and the pride of life, to be desired to make one wise. This is the same tactic that Satan used on Jesus in Matthew 4, Turn stones into bread, the lust of the flesh; showed Him the kingdoms of the world, the lust of the eyes; the angels will rescue Him, the pride of life. This is also how Satan tempts you and I today, but we are not ignorant of his devices.

In his conversation with Eve Satan Satan began by casting doubt in Eve’s mind about what God said, Gen 1:1 Yea, hath God said… Again, Eve’s big mistake was to continue this conversation with Satan. When Satan cast doubt on God’s word it was time to move on, time to run from the temptation. Yea, hath God said. Remember that the original command was given to Adam by God, and it was Adam who had conveyed it to Eve. When Satan planted this seed of doubt into Eve’s mind the conversation began. Genesis 3:2-3 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. (emphasis mine). Eve’s first mistake was to have a conversation with the devil, her second mistake was to misquote God’s command, God never said that they could not touch the tree. Adam Clarke writes,

“Some of the Jewish writers… state that as soon as the woman had asserted this, the serpent pushed her against the tree and said, ‘see, thou hast touched it, and art still alive; thou mayest therefore safely eat of the fruit, for thou shalt not die.”

Satan then cast doubt on God's character and motive: Genesis 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. Is this not the same deceptive tricks that Satan still uses today? First he will cast doubt on God’s word, “did God really mean what He said? Is that really how God meant that?” Then Satan cast doubt on God’s motives, “Why would God withhold that from you? God is being unfair and unreasonable.”

Once the seed of doubt concerning God’s word and God’s motive was placed in Eve’s mind, the serpent simply stood back and let lust do the rest. We see this in:

Sin’s Progression (Genesis 3:6a)

Sin never “just happens,” there is always a progression to sin. In James one, James writes, James 1:14-15 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. There is no where in scripture where this progression of sin is illustrated better than in Genesis 3. The word enticed in James one means to incite or instigate to evil. It carries the idea of being seduced by promises or persuasions, as by outside forces. We will see the enticement of Satan and the lust of Eve in this narrative, a story which ends in spiritual and eventually physical death because of Adam and Eve’s sin.

She saw

As soon as the serpent’s discourse was ended and the seeds of doubt was in her mind, Eve turned her eyes from the serpent to the tree. We are told that when the woman saw the tree… just an innocent look, she saw the tree. But suddenly that innocent look turns into more than just a look, and that it was pleasant to the eyes… There are some things we just don’t need to look at. We will see in just a moment how a seemingly innocent look can become lust quickly.

Rick Green writes:

A former policeman with whom I stayed on a choir tour told me about being on duty during an ice storm. The ice was a half-inch thick on every tree in the area. He was called to a site where the ice and falling branches had caused a power line to come down; his duty was to keep people away from the area.

“There was a small tree near the fallen power line,” he said, “the kind with a short trunk and lots of long thin branches. While that fallen power line was crackling and popping with electricity, it was throwing out sparks through the branches of that small tree. The sparks would reflect off the ice-covered branches sending out a rainbow of glimmering colors. I stood there and watched, and wondered how anything so beautiful could be so deadly.

I was reminded of the power of sin. We see something that seems beautiful, but when we reach out to touch, it becomes death to us.

I watch men, and women, as they look at those of the opposite sex when they walk by. I thank God that I have very poor eye sight, when I go to the pool, I take my glasses off, not so they don’t get wet, but so I can’t see. I do not want the temptation of looking at things I shouldn’t look at. But the temptation to look is not confined to when you are out in public. What about the television or the computer. What about Facebook or magazines. Sometimes the looking is in our imaginations as books are read and images enter our mind.

I remember the little song we used to sing about “the Father up above is looking down in love so be careful...” One chorus said, “O, be careful little eyes what you see, for the Father up above is looking down in love, so be careful little eyes what you see.” A good test is to ask yourself, “would I want Jesus to look at this?” If you would not want what you are seeing to be playing on television or be on your computer screen or in your mind if your Lord were to suddenly walk in, then you shouldn’t be watching it at all.

The first step of sin was Eve looked. Next:

She desired

We are told that when Eve looked at the tree and saw how pleasant it was to the eyes that she saw that it was a tree to be desired… What began as a seemingly innocent look now becomes lust. Sometimes you can’t help what comes in front of your eyes, a commercial, a magazine cover at the counter of the store, someone who passes in front of you, but what you can help is where your eyes go when you do see it. There are two choices, keep looking and start lusting or turn away. Eve chose the first, she continued looking and began desiring. She saw, then she desired, a look that turned to lust.

I remember in our use of force training at the police department the criteria for using deadly force. There had to be three things present in order to justify the use of deadly force and it one was missing then it was not justified. First there had to ability, does the person that I am about to use deadly force on have the ability to cause death or great bodily harm to me or another. Next is opportunity, does the person, at this time, have the opportunity to cause death or great bodily harm to me or another. the last element is jeopardy, do I feel that my life or the life of another is in jeopardy at this time. If any of those elements are missing then use of deadly force is not an option.

The same is try of the act of sin, there are two things that must be present, lust and opportunity. There are times when lust is present but there is no opportunity, and other times when opportunity is there but there is no lust. But, God forbid when lust and opportunity meet. What do I mean? We all know the story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife. While the opportunity for Joseph to sin was there, the lust was not. The same is true for a man who is lusting after a woman by looking at her in a lustful way, but there is no opportunity to go from the sin of lust to the very act of adultery.

But in Eve’s case both the lust, she looked and she desired, and the opportunity, she was standing at the tree, were present and so:

She took

The next natural step in the progression of sin is the taking of that which is forbidden. She saw, she desired, she took. What started as a conversation, a debate if you will, concerning God’s word and God’s character, turned into a seemingly innocent glance at the forbidden thing. That innocent glace tuned into lust and suddenly, sin had taken Eve farther than she had intended to go.

Notice that Adam and Eve could eat of any tree or plant in the garden, only one tree was forbidden. Satan got Eve focused on what she could not have and caused her to forget what she did have. Is this not how Satan works today? Instead of focusing on what we do have and how blessed we are, Satan tries to get our minds focused on what we do not or can not have.

Keep in mind that the emphasis in this narrative is not what the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was or what it imparted to Adam and Eve, but rather on their disobedience from eating the forbidden fruit. This is why in Romans 5:19 we read, For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. We could debate all day as to what the tree was or was not and what it imparted to the pair, but the emphasis, the great theological truth is that by disobeying God and eating of the forbidden fruit, sin entered the world of man.

Our narrative of the fall began with the enticement of the enemy, Satan planted the seed of doubt and a suggestion in the mind of Eve. That was all he done, once the doubt had been placed in her mind, Satan left Eve to her lust. Eve first looked at the forbidden thing, then she desired the forbidden thing, and when lust and opportunity had their way, Eve took the forbidden thing, but sin was not finished, because after Eve sinned:

She shared

Have you ever noticed that sin loves company. Think about how someone who does drugs wants to introduce their friends to their sin. Teenagers who drink alcohol will pressure their friends into drinking with them. But this idea of peer pressure does not stop with our children, it is prevalent in our work place, in our home, among our friends, even in our Church. A coworker looking at another coworker in a lustful way or looking at a vulgar picture on the internet and they try to get others to join in their sin. Sin loves company and the very first thing Eve did after she sinned was give unto her husband with her… (Genesis 3:6). Proverbs 16:29-30 tells us, A violent man enticeth his neighbour, and leadeth him into the way that is not good. He shutteth his eyes to devise froward things: moving his lips he bringeth evil to pass. (emphasis added)

Since the Bible does not tell us that Eve had to go find Adam, we are left to assume that Adam was there the whole time. But what the Bible does tell us in 1 Timothy 2:14 is And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. While Eve’s sin came about because of deception, Adam sinned willfully. On Adam’s part, it was a voluntary, willful act of disobedience to the Lord, Adam knew exactly what he was doing and what the cost would be.

Be careful of those around you who are living in sin, we are to love them, but we can’t hang out with them. There is an old adage that says, “if you lay down with dogs, you will get up with fleas.” Psalm one begins, Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. Sin loves company and if you hang out with those who love sin, you are only one step away from partaking in their sin. Notice the progression of Psalm one, there is the listening, or the enticing, Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly (emphasis mine). Then there is the stopping to stare at sin, nor standeth in the way of sinners, First there is the simple walking with and listening to the ungodly. Then there is the stopping and staring at the sin of the ungodly, and finally there is the sitting with and partaking in the sin of the ungodly, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. The Psalmist said that the man who does not listen to the sins of the ungodly, stare at the sin of the ungodly or partake in the sin of the ungodly is a blessed man.

Sin loves company and it does not care who that company is. But we began this section on sin’s progression we read James 1:15, Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. We have seen the temptation or enticement of lust, and the conception of lust as we looked at Sin’s origin and Sin’s progression, Satan is the tempter but lust is in the heart of man, and when lust and opportunity meet, sin is not far behind. James said that lust conceives sin and when sin is finished that it brings death, let’s consider next:

Conclusion

In this first part of our lesson on the fall of man we started by looking at Sin’s Origin. We saw the tempter, he is our enemy, our adversary, the devil and he is walking about this earth seeking whom he may devour.

Next we saw the tempted. There is no concrete answer to the question of why Satan chose Eve, but we can be sure of this one thing, no one is immune to temptation. For Eve, the enticement to sin came from the serpent, for Adam it came from his wife.

We also saw the trickery, the wiles or devices of Satan. It begins with a seed of doubt or a suggestive thought that inflames the lust that is already in our heart. Maybe the reason Satan came to Eve was because she had already been looking at the forbidden fruit. All Satan had to do was plant a seed, a suggestion in Eve’s mind; lust did the rest.

We then looked at Sin’s Progression. Eve saw, Eve desired, Eve took, and then Eve shared. This is how sin progresses in any one who dares to begin the slippery slope of sin. Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. (James 1:14-15).

The best defense against sin is as Proverbs 4:23 states, Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. The word heart in this verse is talking about your mind or thought life. We are to keep our minds, to guard our mind and what we allow to linger in them, because as Proverbs 23:7 tells us, as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

Adrian Rogers once said that you are not what you think you are, but what you think, you are.

In our next lesson we will look at Sin’s Effect and Sin’s Curse as we consider Sin’s problem.