The Dangerous Effects of Sin

Genesis 3:1-24

Every person should avoid sin because of the affects it has on our lives.

Introduction:

One day my mother asked me to make some banana bread while she was gone. Typically when my mom gave me something to do and she gave me a recipe to follow I was able to do it. I followed the directions very carefully, or at least I thought I did. When we tried to eat the bread it was obvious that something was not right.

When we went back and examined the recipe more closely we discovered that instead of baking powder I used backing soda. When I made the bread it seemed to me that soda and powder were close enough that I did not need to worry about which one I added for the recipe, but the outcome was not the same.

Even though I thought the two should be the same they certainly were not. Many times in life we do little things that we think will have little or no effect. These little things can have a big impact.

When Adam rebelled against God, it might have sounded like a little thing. It had a huge impact on the world for all time.

Effect I. Shame

A. In the last verse of chapter 2 it says, “The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.” But then as we get to chapter three another character enters the picture. It is the serpent. We are told that he was craftier than any of the wild animals. This serpent is there to tempt Adam and Eve to break the one thing that God had forbidden them from doing. They were not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. After he convinces them that they can eat from this tree they take the fruit and eat it, and they notice that they are naked. In v. 7 there is something that changes in them. So they make clothing for themselves from leaves to cover themselves. When God comes into the garden they hide. In the past they had walked with God in the garden, but this time they hide.

B. The beautiful perfect relationship they had with God and with each other are destroyed by sin. The perfection they experienced had been marred by the sin that was brought into their lives. They were ashamed of themselves because they were naked. They were ashamed of allowing God to see them, since they were naked. The bigger issue is they had broken the one rule God told them not to break. Where there had been no shame there was now shame.

C. Sin has the same effect on us today. When someone is involved in sin they like to hide. They hide from other people, because they don’t want others to know they have sinned. They hide from God, because they don’t want God to know they have broken his law. A person can go from a good healthy relationship with God and with others to one where they want to be unnoticed, because of the sin. We don’t have to go and literally hide, but we do things to keep people from asking about our sin, or avoid those topics. Sin brings shame into our relationships and causes them to break down.

Effect II. Fear

A. When God comes into the garden, Adam and Eve hear him and they hide from him. When God draws near to the man, Adam says, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." Up until the time of Adam and Eve’s sin there was no reason for them to be ashamed. They did not realize they were naked. It did not matter that they were naked. Since Adam had not sinned there was no reason for him to be afraid. After the sin they realize they are naked and they are afraid.

B. Fear was probably not a part of their vocabulary before sin. They had nothing to be afraid of. They had nothing that was a threat to them. These are all things that come as a result of sin. “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” (1Jo 4:18 NIVUS) Perfect love and a perfect relationship with God do not have room for fear. Fear has to do with punishment. Look at v. 11, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" God knew that Adam’s fear was the result of disobedience.

C. Before sin there was no fear. When sin enters the picture fear can become so large that it takes over everything. As Christians we should not be overrun with fear. Sin is like the tool that makes fear. When we allow sin into our life we allow fear to be created within us. Without sin there is no fear. Probably because of the sin of Adam and Eve there will be some fear that always has a grip on us, but it does not need to be controlling. It should be something we can keep under control.

Effect III. Blame

A. When God discovers Adam and Eve and what they had done he asks them two questions, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" Maybe you noticed that Adam did not answer either one of God’s questions. He immediately places the blame on Eve’s shoulders. He says, "The woman you put here with me— she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." Adam quickly points his finger at Eve. So God turns to Eve, "What is this you have done?" Eve fails to answer the question also. She does the same thing that Adam had done; she pointed the finger at the serpent. "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

B. No one wanted to accept responsibility for the sin that had been committed. Instead they placed blame on others. Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent. No one was willing to say it was my fault. As a consequence the blame gets shifted from one place to another. Before the first sin there had not been this problem. Now blame is a consequence of the sin that Adam and Eve had committed.

C. Can you imagine a world free from blame? That is what it would have looked like prior to Adam’s sin. There would not have been blame in the world. We have the issue of blame in our world because of sin. The more sin that is committed, the more blame gets tossed around. If we can eliminate sin, then we will be able to eliminate blame. In the real world this will probably never happen, but it can certainly help things.

Effect IV. Death

A. There is a message in this passage that indicates that life would take a dramatic turn in the days ahead. In v. 19 God said to Adam, “for dust you are and to dust you will return." While living in the garden death was not going to be a part of what man experienced. But, because of Adam’s sin death was introduced into the world. In v. 21 we are told that God made clothes for Adam and Eve. This required the death of an animal. So not just people, but animals also experienced death. Then finally in v. 22 man is banished from the Garden so the he will not eat from the tree of life. God says if he eats from the tree of life he will live forever.

B. Prior to sin there appears to have been no death, but following sin there is death in the world. In a more recent example of this King David had an adulterous affair with Bathsheba, he tried to cover it up, he murdered her husband, and he lied about it. In the end the child Bathsheba conceived because of the sin died. Our sin and trying to cover our sin can lead to deadly consequences. We need to be upright and honest in our dealings.

C. Perhaps no one will die because of your sin or my sin, or maybe they will. We need to realize that death is something we experienced because of the first sin. It is something that can come and get us still. We need to be careful that we don’t allow sin to be a part of our lives. We need to do everything we can to avoid sin.

Effect V. Survival

A. When God planted the garden he put Adam in the garden and we read in chapter 2 that Adam worked in the garden. Some people have tried to make us think that work was not a part of life before sin entered the world. We know that Adam worked in the garden, but after Adam sinned it seems like his work takes on a different dimension. God talks about thorns and that will choke out the plants and survival by the sweat of your brow. The work before sin sounds like something that was pleasant, and maybe it did not matter if it got done or not. After sin Adam has to work hard to make sure he has food to eat and to make sure that his family has everything they need.

B. In my opinion it was kind of like this. Before sin entered the world and Adam was still in the garden it was like walking through someone’s garden or orchard and taking what you want. That can really be an enjoyable exercise. It can be enjoyable to work in your own garden when things are going well. If you have to struggle to maintain a garden it can be very challenging. It tends to lose some of its allure. Before sin entered the world Adam was able to enjoy the fruits of someone else’s labor. After sin he had to do all of the work.

C. In our society work is not the result of sin, but work for the sake of survival is the result of sin. Without sin there would probably be little need to work in order to survive. All of the good stuff was taken away when sin came into the world. Now we work in order to survive. That makes work a chore rather than a part of God’s plan.

Effect VI. Separation

A. After Adam disobeyed God and sinned, God banished him from the Garden. He threw him out of the garden because after his sin Adam could not be allowed to take fruit from the tree of life. So, Adam was kicked out and there was a guard placed at the entrance to the garden. Not only was Adam banished from the garden, but I believe that has eternally effected the connection that man has with God. In the garden, Adam would walk with God. Never again do we see such a casual relationship between God and man.

B. The closest anyone has come since that time is probably Moses. When Moses met with God, God sat with his back to Moses and after their meetings Moses would cover his face. Even in that setting, Moses’ meeting with God lacked the dynamic and the connection that Adam was able to have with God prior to his sin. Ever since then God has become separated from man. It is a radically different life.

C. We are probably always going to feel the effects of sin separating us from God. In our own lives as well, when a person commits a sin they affect their relationship with God. Not only that, but it can affect their relationship with others. If they have committed a sin that somehow impacts another person. We might convince ourselves that we can sin and it won’t hurt anyone, as a matter of fact no one will ever find out about it. The truth is God always knows, and we know that God knows. It will do damage to our relationship with God. Adam just got the ball rolling for us. When we sin we have the ability to make things worse.

Conclusion:

We might justify the things we do because it won’t have a big impact on our world. Our actions and especially our sin can have a huge impact on our lives and on our world. We need to stay clear of sin and we need to make sure we don’t assume our sin is so small it won’t hurt.