The Fall
Notes
Transcript
Good morning everyone, and welcome to those of you that are joining us online. I want to thank you for the opportunity to join you in your home this morning as we start December together and really begin to dive into the Christmas season. You will notice the large Nativity scene behind me. That is there because that is the reason for Christmas. That is the reason for the season as so many before me have said. You will also notice that it is currently an empty stable at this time. That is because Jesus has not yet come down. This is the hope we are looking too, but as of yet…that hope is not there.
The reason I say that is not because Jesus has not physically been born yet, but because we are not at that point in the story. You see last week we started the story by looking to creation and learning about the hope that was born through man. We saw that God created everything and said it was good. Then he created man and woman and said it was very good! We saw that God created us in his image, not as some offshoot of another creature like a monkey or a chimpanzee. We see that God did not simply change the structure of something else, he created a brand new creation in his image in order to be the visible representation of the invisible God.
There was such hope as God’s creation was very good and he walked with Adam through the garden. This was the original intention of the Earth. There was only one thing that God told Adam to leave alone. You see, there was a tree in the garden. This tree was named the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. We see this in
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.”
The interesting thing here is that this actually occured prior to the creation of woman. God is speaking with Adam and gives Adam the job of naming everything and then told him not to eat of this tree, and then God created woman as a helper. Probably because God knew that there was no way Adam was going to keep track of all of creation without the help of a good woman. I think, men, we can all agree with that assessment. The reason that is important though is because it is Adams job to care for all of creation. It is Adams job to care for Eve and protect her from this tree as well. However, something happened. One day Adam and Eve were out for a stroll, or maybe they were caring for the garden or picking some fruits and vegetables to eat. Actually, they probably weren’t eating vegetables because this is pre-sin and we all know that vegetable eating is a result of sin itself, so…Anyway, whatever they were doing doesn't really matter, because something really important and really impactful happened.
You see they were walking and then there was a serpent that began to have a conversation with Eve. This conversation really was...
Temptation
Temptation
You see, the serpent didn’t exactly care for the Adam or Eve. The serpent had a specific goal, a specific end result of this conversation. the serpent wanted Adam and Eve to eat from the 1 tree that God told Adam to leave alone. The one thing out of all of the amazing things in creation, there was one thing that God said, “leave this alone”. That is the one thing that the serpent really wants to entice them to eat. Now, there is something somewhat interesting here and so I would like to ask a question…Who is the Serpent talking to? You see typically, for those that have grown up in Sunday School it is taught that the Serpent is talking to Eve and that there was a conversation between just those two. You see, the Serpent began talking to Eve specifically and began to question her. However, even though the Serpent is speaking to Eve, it is speaking about both Adam and Eve. You see, the words that are used whenever either the Serpent or Eve speaks is a plural “you”. So Who is the Serpent talking about? The serpent is bringing into view that this tree is good for both her and Adam. Listen to the interaction between these two.
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.”
First of all we know that The Serpent is crafty, That means that Eve would notice something different about this particular serpent. Something a bit unusual and intriguing to talk to. This is the first part of being tempted. Can you imagine for a moment what happened here. You have Adam and Eve walking around and there is a Serpent thats like, “Hey, hey you. Come here I have a question for you.” Eve responds something like, “What! you are a serpent and you are talking? Well that’s weird…What’s up?” Then of course the serpent says, Did God REALLY say “You shall not eat of any tree in the Garden?” You see what the serpent did there. The serpent started with a premise that was false…God did not say that they cannot eat of ANY tree of the garden, but that they cannot eat of 1 particular tree. The serpent is crafty and is engaging in a way to be a little confusing here. So, Eve responds with, “Well, we can actually eat of the trees in the Garden. But, God did say, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst (or middle) of the garden, you can’t even touch it, otherwise you will die.” Woah, woah, woah,” says the Serpent. “You will NOT surely die. You know what, God knows that if you eat it, well, when you eat it that your eyes will be opened and you will be like God knowing both good and evil.”
Basically the Serpent laid the ground work for Eve to make the decision for herself. The Serpent did not force, but he invited sin. The serpent tempted Eve to make a decision to sin. Eve, contemplated this and Eve was confused while the Serpent makes 3 claims.
You will not die! (and this is a big one)
Your eyes will be opened. (opened eyes are a metaphor for knowledge which is typically recieved from divine assistance.)
You will have what is God’s (knowing good and evil)
Basically God is holding back from you what you deserve to have. Have you ever heard that, or maybe even had a moment of that thought. Like, I should have that, why isn’t God giving that to me. I deserve it....Im a good person, I pay my tithe (as if that is some sort of spiritual dues). God owes this to me. Of course you don’t start out with that thought do you…Typically it starts with a “That won’t really happen”, then “I could manage that”, finally “I deserve that”. You can place any desire, any sin that you have commited and likely it will fit into this type of pattern of temptation prior to the sin. This is kind of the justification to sin…Well, like I said this comes before the...
Sin (The Fall)
Sin (The Fall)
This is when Eve and Adam make the choice to “become like Gods” You see there is something really importnat here when we look at the sin that is commited here. This is not a forced sin. Just like when we sin today it is not forced. No one is forcing you to sin, yet you still sin...I still sin…We go through this period of temptation and then we end up just like Eve in
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.
Eve thought about this, and decided that this was worth it. That the serpent, who she just met was right, and that God who she has interacted with was wrong to withhold from her. You see, Eve found the justification for what she wanted…Have you ever experienced that? Have you ever thought about something that you wanted, and then justified how you would go about getting it? I know I have. Justified that even though you are wrong, that it was ok because you deserved it…or maybe everyone else has it/does it/knows it…Therefore its ok if I do this. Eve made an emotional decision and Adam was right there with her the whole time. Did you catch that Eve gave some to her husband who was with her!
Now, I want to be really clear about something here. Eve ate the fruit first, however Scripture teaches us that sin entered the world through Adam…How is that? Why didn’t sin enter the world through Eve? After all, she ate first, right? Well, do you remember that when God created Adam he commanded Adam to rule over and care for the earth and all creations…including his helper Eve. Adam was right there and he allowed this conversation to happen. Adam was right there with her and he allowed her to lead him. Adam was right there with Eve and he allowed Eve to remain confused instead of correcting her wrong thinking. Adam sinned prior to Eve, because God commanded Adam, not Eve.
This was the moment that everything changed. The moment of the fall is when they fell to temptation. That is the same for us today isn’t it. The moment we sin is when we fall to temptation, not when we are tempted. Here’s the bad news though....Sin has--
What are the consequences of this sin? Well, think about it…immediately their eyes were opened. Immediately they knew right from wrong, good from evil. In a way , they got what they wanted, right. Again, thats pretty much the same as us. We get what we want when we sin. Well, at least for a moment. You see, Adam and Eve immediately had their eyes opened and they realized they were naked. This has the significance of physically being naked, but also the loss of their innocence before God. They immediately ran to hide and make clothes to hide their nakedness.
Later God comes down to walk with them in the relationship that they had with him. They hide from God, look at
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
So they are hiding from their creator. Adam is hiding from the one that gave him life, and a wife, or helper. There has to be something pretty big for them to hide from God. The thing is that they felt the consequence of their sin. They knew they had done wrong immediately. Actually in Gen 3:7 it says,
Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
Did you see that? There eyes were opened....They knew what they did was wrong, immediately. Not, later that day, or the following week. No, “then” meaning right then the consequence of their sin began. They realized their shame and they tried to hide. Then look at their response to God and what the ultimate consequence is.
And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Adam attempted to hide from his sin. Does that sound familiar to you? You see what typically happens is that you and I sin, and many times immediately we regret what we just did or said because we know it was sinful. That is what happened here. Adam immediately knew what he did was wrong, and so he tried to hide. Then after he hid, Adam tried to shift the blame to others. Adam is spiraling down as his sin takes away his hope.
This continues as God spells out the consequences in
Each of the three above recieved consequences of their actions. Starting with the serpent and ending with Adam. Ending with the most hopeless words of God. “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.” All hope is lost as Adam and Eve face the reality of the death that they have caused.
However, there is a...
Hope Reborn
Hope Reborn
Look at
And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.
Did you see what just happened? This is really important everyone. I want you all to see that immediately after having lost all hope, God returns hope to us. Right here we have the very first sacrifice of all time. At this moment blood was shed. In order for there to be redemption, there must be blood. We see that in
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The price for sin is death. Adam and Eve experienced that before anyone else. They experienced death in a way that none others have. But thats not it, look at this
Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
There had to be death, there has to be blood shed in order to bring a new hope. Without the shedding of blood there is no hope. Immediately after all hope was lost, hope was reborn. The hope that God gives to Adam through the sacrifice of the animal to make clothes for Adam and Eve is a picture of the hope you and I have.
This is the promise that you and I have today…The moment that we feel all hope is lost, The moment that our eyes are opened to our sin...There is a brand new hope offered to us through the blood of Jesus Christ.
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
This morning I want to ask you to realize your need for the Hope of Christ. Whether you are a believer or you are questioning your need, or maybe aren’t really interested. I want to ask you to look at your life with the hopelessness of sin, and The Hope of Christ.
—prayer—