01-18 The Fall of Man--Pt 2

Genesis 3:1-7

Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 5729 Moody’s “Saints” Stayed in Church

5729 Moody’s “Saints” Stayed In Church

At a church where D. L. Moody was invited to preach, he was warned that some of the congregation usually left before the end of the sermon.

When Mr. Moody rose to begin his sermon, he announced, “I am going to speak to two classes of people this morning: first to the sinners, and then to the saints.”

He proceeded to address the “sinners” for awhile, then said they could leave. For once every member of the congregation stayed to the end of the sermon.

Romans 3:23 NASB95

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

That is built on the previous vv of ch 3…[explain universal condemnation vv9ff]

How did this condition come upon the entirety of the human race? We have to go back to Genesis 3 to an event that explains the next 1185 chapters of the Bible. It gives explanation why the humanity is the way it is, why the world is the way it is, why there is evil and suffering, pain and sorrow, disease and death. It explains the need for reconciliation to the Creator God and why we can’t do that ourselves (why we can’t save ourselves from our condition and the judgment of God), Gen 3 is the introduction into God’s provision for man—what man can’t do for himself God does in marvelous grace…it is the preface to the gospel of God’s grace and previews what will be played out on the stage of redemption, leading to the death and resurrection of LJC. All of this begins with Gen 3—one of the most important chapters in the Bible (if we can say 1 part of revelation is elevated above the others)…to misunderstand this chapter is the miss the entire message of God’s Word.

We began last time looking at a dialog between the serpent (discovered from NT the identity of this creature is Satan—the Adversary) and Eve—not even named yet. This is the 1st conversation about God recorded among God’s creation and it did not go well.

This portion of Scripture is very instructive for us today since it reveals the manner in which Satan plays the adversarial role. How does Satan go about attacking God and God’s people? What he does in Gen 3, he still does today.

I. The Tempter

A. His Identity

B. His Rebellion

C. His Character

II. The Tactic

A. Satan Creates Doubt

The question Satan asks Eve is designed to do just that…and in a very subtle manner He attacks:

The authority of God’s Word—Did “God” really say?

The accuracy of God’s Word— note the wording of Satan’s question any/every

Victor Hamilton observes:

The Book of Genesis, Chapters 1–17 1. The Tempter’s Methods (3:1–7)

He grossly exaggerates God’s prohibition, claiming that God did not allow them access to any of the orchard trees. Apart from this claim being unadulterated distortion, it is an attempt to create in the woman’s mind the impression that God is spiteful, mean, obsessively jealous, and self-protective.

Now, Eve quickly takes up the position of defending God’s instruction but in doing so engages in exaggeration of her own. Eve does 3 things:

Diminished God’s Word—by minimizing the privileges that God had made for the man and woman. Remember God’s instruction (2:16-17). “any, freely”

Added to God’s Word— “or touch it...”

(perhaps most serious) Softened God’s Word—God said “you will surely die” Eve simply responded “you will die.”

Ross Allen “That this failure to preserve the exact words of God was at the heart of the temptation is clear from the response of the serpent, for when he heard what she said, he replied, “You won’t die!”

Ross, A., & Oswalt, J. N. (2008). Cornerstone biblical commentary: Genesis, Exodus (Vol. 1, p. 51). Tyndale House Publishers.

When Satan seeks to undermine the faith today—this is where he goes—to attack God’s Word, creating doubt in our minds as to the authority and accuracy of what God revealed.

B. Satan Denies God’s Word

Up to now, Satan has simply sown seeds of doubt in Eve’s mind. He never fully comes out and speaks the lie but begins with half truths which lead to outright denial of God’s Word.

Look at what Satan said to the woman Vs 4

2 ways to translate—not clear: “you will not certainly die” or “you certainly will not die” This is more evidence of his cunning ability. Either way, there is a denial of what God said… “in the day you eat…you will surely die”

Here’s the tactic of Satan: the prince of death must minimize death. He has to minimize the consequences of sin if it is to look appetizing. And how does he do that? By attacking the very judgment of God. And yet every death today proves the accuracy and authority of God’s Word and proves Satan to be a liar.

Hebrews 9:27 NASB95

27 And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,

There were only 2 reprieves in human history (Enoch and Elijah). Even the LJC (God) was subjected to death.

Now, when God says “you will surely die” what did He mean? There are 3 kinds of death revealed in Scripture:

Spiritual Death

Spiritual death is a state of spiritual alienation from God. Resulting from Adam’s sin all people are born in this condition being spiritually dead:

Ephesians 2:1 NASB95

1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,

This condition renders every person unresponsive to spiritual truth and demands divine initiative to awaken this person by means of he miracle of regeneration.

1 Corinthians 2:14 NASB95

14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.

2 Corinthians 4:4 NASB95

4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Physical Death

Physical death would become the consequence of transgression (even if not immediate). When Adam and Eve were removed from the Garden and tree that would be the source of life for them…they would eventually die physically.

Eternal Death

Eternal death is what awaits those who physically die in the condition of being spiritually dead. In Rev 20:6 this is called the “second death” the state of existence being everlasting ruin, torment and punishment for sin.

We know that what God was speaking about was something other than physical death. B/c Adam lived 930 years. So what death? God was principally concerned with man’s relationship with the Creator. Adam and Eve enjoyed free, perfect and open communion with the Lord God without hindrances. Though we don’t know how long this condition lasted (hours, days, weeks?) We know from the aftermath of the original sin that spiritual death has fallen upon all men. Even physical death was not certain until God physically removed Adam and Eve from the garden or they could have taken from the tree of life and lived in their fallen condition forever.

God would tell Adam:

Genesis 3:19 NASB95

19 By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”

Now, what Satan was talking about was not spiritual death but physical death. So his argument was to some extent vindicated—since they did not die that very day. How the enemy love half-truths. They are an effective tactic of the enemy.

C. Satan Denigrates God’s Character

As he denies God’s word, Satan promises that there are no consequences to rebellion/disobedience.

He begins to argue that the reason God has so restricted their liberty is due to an ulterior motive—and in doing so, Satan moves from attacking God’s Word to attacking God’s character. God is evil, He is selfish, authoritarian, unjust…God is not good and gracious; he is selfish and deceptive, preventing the man and woman from achieving the same position as “Elohim”

Satan attacks God’s truth, then he attacks God’s person.

“God has been so cruelly repressive b/c He knows that if you eat from this tree you will become like him. At this point Eve should have asked “who are you?” “where did you come from?” “how do you know about God’s command?” Last time we saw the rebellion of Satan in Ezekiel and Isaiah and it was the fault inside of himself that Satan thought he was like God. Then he convinced a 1/3 of the angels that they were like God. Satan deceives Eve into thinking she too can be—if she would eat and become what God didn’t what to share.

His suggestion was that God doesn’t love you or He wouldn’t place this condition/restriction keeping you from becoming a god yourself.

Of course, Satan was also attacking God’s majesty. He implied that God could be equaled. That the glory of God could be shared among those created. So he impugned the majesty of God’s character and began to sprinkle Eve’s mind with deceptive lies.

Isaiah 42:8 "I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images.

Exodus 15:11 "Who is like Thee among the gods, O LORD? Who is like Thee, majestic in holiness, Awesome in praises, working wonders?

Psalm 93:1 The LORD reigns, He is clothed with majesty; The LORD has clothed and girded Himself with strength; Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved.

This is where the conversation with the serpent ends. Eve now begins an internal debate.

III. The Tragedy

I would contend that even before Eve took from the tree, she had already fallen.

Leupold “We strongly maintain that the taking of the fruit was not the fall into sin. The fall occurred before that act. The taking of the fruit was an incidental bit of evidence of the fact that man had already fallen. However, the fall as such was nothing less in character than an entirely inexcusable piece of rebellion against a very gracious Father, who not only had withheld nothing good from man, but had even bestowed such an overwhelming wealth of good things that revolt against such a One must, in the very nature of the case, be a sin of the deepest hue. Yes, even the one great sin in the history of the human race.”

Eve contemplated 3 features of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil that had already taken her down the path toward outward sin—the evil act of eating. what she contemplated was the argument Satan had already made that caused her to be driven by her own self-interest and self-satisfaction. Self-fulfillment was now Eve’s goal which means the sin was already conceived in her heart.

1 John 2:15–16 NASB95

15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

James 1:13–17 NASB95

13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. 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 accomplished, it brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

Eve didn’t turn to Adam who was with her, to her spiritual head, her authority and security. She didn’t turn to God for reaffirmation of His command and the goodness of His provision. She looked at her own appetite—3 features she contemplated:

1) Physical Appetite

It was good for food. This tree’s fruit was not all that different from the others. It would be the provision of a greater variety of food. She appealed to her senses and saw how that fruit could meet the demands of hunger—but it was not even a legitimate hunger b/c she had every other tree for food. The lust in her heart was provoked by discontent and doubting the provision of God.

2) Emotional Appetite

It was a delight to the eyes: This was an appeal to desire, emotions which have their root in the soul. She was excited by the fruit’s beauty and the passion that was ignited in her heart grew a covetous desire.

3) Intellectual Appetite

It was desirable to make one wise. This was an appeal to her intelligence. She desired the knowledge that Satan said God was keeping her from—knowing good and evil.

The act of disobedience didn’t just happen when their mouths touched the fruit. As soon as they believed that God was not good and that He had some ulterior motive restricting them from becoming like Himself, the fall had already taken place. At that point, the senses, soul, understanding of Eve had already been subjected to depravity meaning that the lust in her heart would take her down the path to sin.

Temptation usually focuses on one of these appetites-lust of the flesh, eyes, pride of life (not a sin to be tempted—even Jesus).

She Saw, She Took, She Ate

Eve gave into the temptation—the process of James 1 was at play and they would quickly come to realize that when “sin is accomplished it brings forth death”. Now, apparently Adam was with Eve during the recorded conversation she had with the serpent. We are told Adam was “with her” which doesn’t in itself prove he was listening to the dialog. What does is the language: in vv 1-5 when Satan is addressing Eve he uses the plural “you” implying he was speaking to both of them.

Adam was not deceived by nonetheless disobeyed b/c of other reasons. Paul notes:

1 Timothy 2:14 NASB95

14 And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.

Genesis—Beginning and Blessing (The Descent (vv. 6, 7)) Kent Hughes

Adam sinned willfully, eyes wide-open, without hesitation. His sin was freighted with sinful self-interest. He had watched Eve take the fruit, and nothing happened to her. He sinned willfully, assuming there would be no consequences. Everything was upside-down. Eve followed the snake, Adam followed Eve, and no one followed God.

Let me briefly comment on the results:

1) Sight—1st result. Their eyes were opened. This doesn’t mean they were blind but they had a new experience. For the first time they had experienced evil. They saw something they had never before seen.

Satan’s deception was partly true. They would come to know good and evil thru experience which was utterly unlike God who never knows evil from an experiential stand point. They didn’t have the divine vision that Satan promised.

I have to think back and wonder about the supreme disappointment Adam and Eve shared when they ate from the tree. They had willfully violated God’s command and immediately suffered catastrophic consequences just as God had promised.

2) Shame—2nd result

They knew they were naked (a condition that brought no shame until this point (2:25)). But now the thought process, desires, emotion and will have been rendered dead and wickedness has come upon them. Shame is always brought on by guilt, and guilt the result of sin.

3) Shifting-blame 3rd result

Since the fall, man has tried to offset the enormous offense his sin has been against God by shifting the blame to someone or something else.

Instead of falling upon God’s mercy, repenting of His sin, and accepting the consequences, man tried to cover his shame, hide from the presence of God and blame his wife and God for his rebellion.

Rom 5:12, 17-19

The one glimmer of hope in this account is God’s grace. God allowed man to eat of the fruit, for Satan to deceive Eve and for the entire human race to be plunged into the deepest abyss of sin and death. Yet the triumphs of God’s grace are manifest in every generation as sinners are made righteous thru the sacrifice of the LJC. Vs 21—“even so…”

It is the offer that is available to all who recognize their condition of spiritual death—alienation from God and long for the forgiveness of sin…the promise of God’s grace is that you will have it as you repent and trust in LJC for eternal life.