Lessons From Adam

Genesis 3:1-24 "Lessons From Adam"

Here are some serious mistakes Adam made in his relationship with God and Eve and how God dealt with him.

I. He was passive (vs 1-6)

Basically, he ignored her!

He ignored the fact that Satan was there.

He ignored the fact that Satan was talking to her

He ignored the fact that she was being told that it was O.K. to do something that God had specifically said "Don’t do."

You have to wonder here: did Adam even tell Eve what God said?

Did he communicate with the wife God gave him?

He allowed her to lie: (vs 3) God didn’t say they couldn’t touch the tree. He said they couldn’t eat from it.

He didn’t try to stop her from eating that forbidden fruit.

As a matter of fact, he ate some himself.

Relate: Men are still passive today.

Illustrate: Would you stand by and let your wife buy drugs from a drug dealer?

II. He hid from God (7-11)

Now Adam takes the lead.

After their eyes were opened and they knew they were naked, Adam says, "Oh, Oh, We’re naked.

Better get dressed."

He probably had Eve sew those fig leaves together.

Then, he hears the voice of God calling him in the garden and says, Eve, we are in serious trouble. Let’s hide."

Verse 8 says they hid from the Lord among the trees of the garden.

Adam knew that he was no longer worthy to stand in the presence of God.

God knew where they were-and he knew what they had done.

So God calls to Adam, "Adam, where are you?"

Adam comes clean-he confesses that he was afraid because he was naked.

Now, you have to understand that Adam was ashamed.

Not only because he was physically naked, but his eyes were opened to see his sin.

He knew what God had said, and he was afraid of what was coming from God.

Relate: How do we hide from God today? Drugs, alcohol, sex, denial of God’s existence, some get involved in church work.

Now God starts His interrogation: "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"

His judgement and punishment were swift, but Adam is looking for a way out.

III. He refused to take responsibility (vs 12-13)

He says in verse 12, "The woman you put here with me-- she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."

We look at this passage and immediately think he blamed Eve for all his trouble, but the fact is, he only blamed her a little bit.

He blamed God a lot.

In Chapter 2:21-24, God gives Adam a helper.

She comes on the scene and Adam thinks it is the greatest thing in the world.

But when we get here, his attitude changes.

All of a sudden she is "That woman you put here with me."

How many men do you know who have that attitude?

A man who has a distorted view of biblical submission of women has that view.

Let’s be realistic.

Adam wanted to eat that fruit just as much as Eve did.

He heard everything Satan was telling Eve.

It sounded just as appealing to him.

The problem is that he didn’t want to take responsibility for his own actions.

By the way, men, he was also held accountable for what Eve did.

Verse 17 says that because he listened to his wife and because he disobeyed he was in trouble.

Now, before you go off and say you don’t have to listen to your wives let’s clarify this.

The passage doesn’t say don’t listen to your wife.

It says that you need to develop a discerning spirit so that when your wife falls into temptation you can help her through it and keep yourself from sinning as well.

Well, we know what happed next.

Adam blames God and Eve, Eve blames the serpent, and the serpent...well, nobody to blame!

Relate: Men still refuse to take responsibility. If you blame others for your failures, do you credit others for your successes?

Illustrate: Checkbook illustration: If your wife pays the bills, do you blame her when you run out of money? If you pay the bills, who do you blame when there is no money?

IV. God dealt with the sin

The serpent got it first.

He became a belly-crawling reptile with a big mouth that eats dust.

Maybe you’ve heard that expression, "eat my dust."

Race car drivers use it a lot.

It’s an expression of total defeat.

Satan was defeated through Jesus Christ’s victory on the cross.

Then Eve got it. Pain during childbirth.

What began as a joyful blessing became a reminder of the rebellion that led to sin.