The Original Sin Series

GENESIS 3:1-8; 2:16-17

THE ORIGINAL SIN

[Romans 5:12-19 & 1 Timothy 2:8-15]

Man was created as a perfect sinless entity of God. He was created as a perfect spiritual, physical, intellectual, and moral being. He had no taint or tendency to sin but was righteous with a love for holiness and inclined to follow God or chose rightly. He was not created equal to God in the sense that God is all-knowing, all powerful and unchanging, but he was created in the image of God. He was a rational or reasoning being with the ability to understand and the responsibility to mature in god-likeness through a daily relationship with God. God wanted this relationship to be founded in mutual love. God formed man so that He was inclined to love God but was not forced to love God. Man was inclined to listen and obey God, but was not forced to listen and obey God. God expected and still expects man to obey Him out of love for Him.

The love of God for man and God’s intimate relationship with man made man a target of another of God’s creations. The Bible gives us no explanation for the existence of Satan and evil before the fall of man, though it does tell us that Satan’s sin was pride. The anointed Cherub thought he understood better, could do better, and lead better than God Almighty. Therefore God cast Lucifer down. When? I’m unsure. Some theologians maintain that it was after the creation of man, though it is generally agreed that the fall of the angels preceded the creation of man (Gen 6:2; Isa. 14:12ff; Job 4:18; Prov. 2:24; Ezek. 28:14f, Jude 6; 2 Pet. 2:4; Mt. 25:41; Lk. 10:18; Rev. 12:7-9).

I. THE SERPENT, 1a.

II. THE STRATEGY, 1b-4.

III. THE ORIGINAL SIN, 5.

IV. THE TRAGEDY, 6-8.

A new character is introduced in chapter three verse 1. Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.

The serpent is call the craftiest beast of the field. It is a direct parallel to Satan the craftiest creature of creation. The serpent soon shows himself to be an enemy of God and a subverter of the human race. Scripture attests that this serpent is Satan: Jn. 8:44; 2 Cor. 11:3-4; Rom. 16:20; Rev. 12:9, 20:2.

Satan has been caricatured so much by writers, artists, actors, and comedians that most people don’t believe the devil really exists; or if they do believe he exists, they don’t take him seriously. Although we don’t understand much about his origin, we know that Satan is real, Satan is an enemy, and Satan is dangerous. Here in Genesis 3, Satan is compared to a serpent, an image that’s repeated in 2 Corinthians 11:3. In Revelation 12, he’s called a dragon; and both names are combined in 20:2. But Satan is not only a serpent who deceives, he’s also a roaring lion who devours (1 Peter 5:8). Among his names are "Abaddon" and Apollyon" which mean "destroyer" (Rev. 9:11); "Satan" which means "adversary"; and "devil" which means "slanderer."

In John 8:44, Jesus called Satan a murderer and "the father of lies." He also called him "the evil one" (Mt. 13:19) and "the prince of this world" (John 12:31). Paul and John also called the devil "the evil one" (1 Thess. 3:3; 1 John 3:12), and Paul said Satan was "the god of this age" (2 Cor. 4:4), the ruler of the world system (Eph. 2:2), and the leader of demonic forces of evil (Eph. 6:10-12). He is the great deceiver who will eventually deceive the whole world into believing his lies.

Satan is a subverter of the way and will of God. He is deceptive and cunningly powerful and God’s people must be careful not to give him a foothold in their lives (Eph. 4:27). That’s why we’re study and apply God’s Word so we will not fall into Satan’s traps. Let look at the strategy Satan (2 Cor. 2:11) used against Eve.

II. THE STRATEGY, 1b-4.

The first thing this real serpent which has been perverted and indwelt by the spirit of Satan does is open up a conversation with the weaker vessel Eve. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”

[A temptation is an opportunity to accomplish a good thing in a bad way. It’s a good thing to pass a school examination but a bad thing to do it by cheating. It’s a good thing to pay your bills but a bad thing to steal the money for the payments. In essence, Satan said to Eve: "I can give you something that you need and want you can have it now and enjoy it; and best of all, there won’t be any painful consequences. What an opportunity.] [Wiersbe, Be Basic, 59-60] Note Satan’s approach in mankind’s seduction into sin.