1. There is always a cover-up (7)
2. There is always conviction (8-11)
3. There is always culpability (12-13)
4. There is always a curse (14-19)
5. There is always a cure (15)
GENESIS 3:7-19
A week ago Saturday, when I got home from prayer meeting here at the church, I went home and changed all the clocks in the house. I moved them forward one hour just like I was supposed to. Well, I tried to get all of them—but I missed a few. I not only missed a few, but I was a few minutes off on most of the clocks. Well, it got to the point, I wasn’t certain what time it was. I readjusted clocks all week to get them right. To get them right so I would know for certain what time it was. I might have spent a few days not being certain exactly what time it was, but there is something we can know for certain. We can know for certain what happens when we sin. Last week we looked at the first temptation. We saw how we can recognize temptation when it’s coming and know that God has provided a way of escape. But we don’t always take that way of escape, do we? Sometimes we sin. And the results of sin are awful. Our passage tonight outlines the details of the Fall. The awful results of Adam and Eve’s first sin. By looking at the results of their sin, we can see a pattern for what sin does in our own lives. Tonight, as we look at the horrible results of sin, I want each of us to leave here even more determined to avoid it. Avoid it by taking the way of escape that God has provided for us. To do that, we’re going to look at five certainties of sin. The first certainty of sin is that there is always a cover-up.
GENESIS 3:7
After sin, there is always a cover-up. OK, it’s confession time. When I was little, I broke something of my mother’s. I don’t remember what it was—it was either a hairbrush or a mirror. I think it was a hairbrush. Anyway, after I broke it, I stuck it up in the medicine cabinet. But I did it in such a way that it would fall out when she opened the door. It did, and when it fell out, she thought she broke it. That sounds funny, but what I was doing was what we all do when we sin. I tried to cover it up. That’s exactly what Adam and Eve did. Their eyes were ripped open to the awfulness of what they had done and they were ashamed. Their consciences were laid bare and they felt something God never intended for them to feel. They felt shame. They felt guilt. So, what did they do? They tried to cover it up. They took pieces of God’s creation and tried to fabricate something to cover up their shame. Our society has done a pretty good job of trying to reason away guilt. Everything from Oprah and Dr. Phil to psychiatrists to mood-altering drugs have been used to quiet that God-given voice of guilt and shame that results from sin. Now, don’t get me wrong, there are cases where psychiatrists and counselors are necessary. And there are times when psychotropic medication is a blessing from God. But many times it is just like Adam and Eve’s fig leaves. Something that man has created to cover up our guilt and shame. But our attempts at covering up our sin don’t even have to get to that extreme. Most of the time it’s by telling a lie. Or another lie. Or we cover it up by trying to justify it. “Well, it’s OK, everybody else is doing it.” “Well, she did it to me first.” “I can’t help it, that’s just how God made me.” Justifying our sin is probably our most used fig leaf. And it doesn’t cover up a thing. Think how silly Adam and Eve probably looked grabbing leaves and sewing them together. Like that was going to cover up anything. All they did was hid themselves from themselves. It wasn’t like a few leaves could hide their sin from God Almighty—the One who created them. That’s almost as silly as thinking our pitiful little justifications will cover up our sin and hide it from God. Do we think we’ll convince Him it wasn’t sin? Anytime we sin, we try to cover it up. And it’s always as ineffective as Adam and Eve’s fig leaves. We’re still naked and ashamed in our sin. That is certain. It is also a certainty of sin that there is always conviction.
GENESIS 3:8-11
After sin, there is always conviction. Can’t you just see Adam and Eve there in their ridiculous fig leaf aprons? OK, here He comes. Act natural. Act like nothing’s going on. Maybe He won’t notice us if we hide in these bushes over here. And what did God do? God is so amazing in the way He deals with us. He knows that we are but a vapor. He knows that we fade and wither like the grass. But, look how patient He is with us. Look how patient He was with Adam. He was patient enough that He asked Him a question. Now, remember that God knows everything. He always has and He always will. He was watching as the serpent was tempting Eve. He was watching as she took of the fruit. He was watching as she took it to Adam. And He was watching as Adam ate it too. He watched them sewing leaves together in a panic. And He saw them hide in the bushes. Since He saw all that, why did He ask Adam where he was? For the same reason He asks us questions when we sin. He doesn’t ask seeking information. He asks seeking confession. He asked Adam three questions. With each one came more and more conviction. And with each one, Adam had the opportunity to confess and repent. First, God asked, “Where art thou?” That question showed Adam how utterly useless it is to hide from God. Even the best cover up we can manage is no match for God’s omniscience. Look with me in Psalm 139:
PSALM 139:1-12
There is no hiding from God. And with sin comes conviction. But He doesn’t bring it. He let’s us convict ourselves. He asked Adam, “Where art thou?” Adam busted himself. So God asked him a second question. “Who told thee that thou was naked?” This time God didn’t give him an opportunity to say something stupid. He just asked him a final question. “Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?” After giving Adam two convicting questions as an opportunity to confess, He lowered the boom. He asked him directly about the sin. “Did you do it Adam?” Whenever we sin, rest assured that God will confront it. And He will confront it just like He did with Adam. He confronts it by convicting us of the situation. He confronts it by pointing out the natural consequences we’re suffering because of it. And finally, if those confrontations haven’t made us confess and repent, He hits us with the 2 by 4. He confronts us directly with the conviction. God brings His conviction in order that we will confess of our sin and repent from it. But that would be the easy way. Most of the time we’re just like Adam. When we don’t confess our sin, there is always culpability.
GENESIS 3:12-13
After sin, there is always culpability. Someone is always responsible, but no one wants to take the blame. Do you remember the old Family Circus cartoons? Toys would be scattered all over the place and the Dad would say, “Who made this mess?” The kids would all be heading out of the room saying, “Not me!” Of course they were followed by a little ghost named “Not me.” First, Adam and Eve tried to cover up their sin. Then, when they saw that didn’t work and they saw they were caught, they tried to blame it on somebody else. Once again, God asked convicting questions. And then, instead of confessing, Adam blamed it all on Eve. Or did he? Look at it closer—“The woman whom THOU gavest me.” So who was he blaming it on? On the surface, he was blaming Eve. But in reality, he was blaming God. At least Eve had enough sense to blame her sin on Satan. How often do we blame God for our sin? “Well, I blew up and lost my temper because that’s just the way I am.” Just because you might have a predisposition to sinful behavior doesn’t give you an excuse. That’s no better than the person who practices homosexual behavior blaming it on his genetics. “I can’t talk to other people about Jesus. I’m just too shy.” Don’t you think God knows you’re shy? Do you think He needs a reminder? Does your shyness change His command to spread the gospel? Or do you think maybe that’s why He said that we can do all things through Christ which strengthens us? Adrian Rogers once said that an excuse is just the skin of a reason stuffed with a lie. And that’s what Eve offered. She tried to excuse her sin by blaming Satan. And that’s what Adam offered. He tried to excuse his sin by blaming Eve and ultimately by blaming God. But the fact is, they were each culpable for their own sin. Later on in Genesis, when Adam’s firstborn son was jealous of his brother’s offering, God warned him about personal responsibility and sin. Just a couple of pages over in Genesis 4:7, God tells Cain, “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door and unto thee shall be his desire and thou shalt rule over him.” When we choose the wrong path. When we choose not to take the escape from temptation that God provides us, sin lies at our door. In other words, our sin is our fault. It’s not God’s fault. It’s not the devil’s fault. It’s not anybody else’s fault but our own. We are responsible. We are culpable. Nobody can make you lose your temper. Nobody can make you jealous. Nobody can make you depressed or lose heart. You choose those things. Others can influence you, but nobody makes you sin. Sin is a choice. It is a choice to succumb to temptation rather than take God’s provided way of escape. The immediate instinct to blame everybody and everything else doesn’t take away from our culpability. Adam and Eve were culpable for their actions. We are always culpable for our actions. And because we’re culpable for our actions, actions have consequences. Sin always brings with it a curse.
GENESIS 3:14-19
After sin, there is always a curse. Remember what God told Adam would happen if he ate of the fruit. He told him that he would die. Literally, He told him, “Dying you shall surely die.” He told Adam that there would be dire consequences if he rebelled. And there were. When God pronounced the curse, He spoke to each person who was involved. He spoke to Satan, Eve and Adam. He gave each of them a different aspect of His curse. They weren’t three separate curses. It was one curse that pronounced three distinct separations. The first separation was that man was separated from creation. Up until that point, Adam and Eve lived in perfect harmony with all of creation. Every tree was there for their food and enjoyment. They worked to tend the garden, but their work was completely fulfilling. Productivity without hindrance, roadblocks, or interruptions. Now, the curse provided a rift between man and creation. The ground became an adversary. Work became a burden. Time was wasted. Sweat and labor and frustration became an everyday part of life. Fear and hatred and enmity were introduced between man and one of the creatures—the serpent that Satan used as his mouthpiece. But not only was man separated from creation, man was separated from himself. Man—God’s crowning act of creation was now marred with sin. As a result, the joy of reproduction was tempered with the agony of labor. The sorrow and emotional pain of rebellious children was introduced. And so was the battle of the sexes. Husbands who shirk their responsibilities and women who usurp theirs. Ultimately, man was separated from himself in death. God created man to be an everlasting being. But from the point of the curse, man began to physically die. Our bodies begin to deteriorate as soon as they’re grown. And they continue to deteriorate until they completely turn to dust in the grave. No amount of botox or cosmetic surgery will reverse the curse of death. Man was separated from creation, man was separated from himself, but worst of all, man was separated from God. Adam’s sin placed an impassible gulf between man and God. God is holy and perfect and cannot tolerate anything less than His holiness and perfection in His presence. So, when Adam sinned, his only possibility was eternal damnation in the form of complete separation from God. But although the gulf was impassible, nothing is impossible with God. Sin always comes with a curse. A curse of death and impassible separation from God. But, in His infinite mercy and grace, God provides a cure.
GENESIS 3:15
After sin, there is always a cure. The gulf is impassible. The curse laid it out pretty clear. When God told Adam not to take of the fruit, He made him a promise. He said that if you eat of it, you shall surely die. Actions have consequences and the consequence of violating God’s command was death. Romans 3:23 says that the wages of sin is death. As sure as you are living and breathing, if you commit the very smallest act of sin you can possibly think of, you deserve to die. God said, dying you shall surely die. God had Moses write it that way in the original language to bring out three points about sin’s consequences. First, spiritual death is immediate. From the instant Adam and Eve rebelled against God, they were immediately spiritually dead. Second, death is continual. From the original moment of sin, physical death became a continual ongoing part of human existence. In some ways dying begins the moment we’re born, because we’re born into sin. Adam and Eve began physically dying from the moment they sinned. Third, it says that death is guaranteed and final. Ben Franklin said that only two things are guaranteed in life—death and taxes. Probably the only thing more guaranteed than taxes is death. The Bible says that it is appointed unto man once to die, and after that the judgment. That is the impassible gulf that Adam created and passed down to us. So, where is the hope? It can’t come from Adam and Eve—they’re now spiritually dead and physically dying. It can’t come from creation—it is now an adversary. So, it can only come from God. It is in this awful moment… in the darkest day of human history. It is then that God showed his grace for the first time. In the middle of pronouncing a curse of separation between man and creation, man and himself, and man and God… God provided a cure. Just like He always provides a cure. If you look at the curse as a courtroom, God promised a Savior in the middle of sentencing. It was a veiled promise. Adam and Eve didn’t fully understand it. But somehow they knew that their salvation from sin would come from Eve’s seed. That’s what Satan thought too. That’s why he worked so hard to destroy Cain and Abel. But of course that wasn’t the seed God was pointing to. He was pointing to the seed of the woman—the One born to a woman without the seed of a man. He was pointing to His only begotten Son—Jesus Christ. He would be the One to crush Satan’s head, even as Satan bruised His heel on the cross of Calvary. As God was laying out the curse, He also laid out the cure. He graciously previewed His plan for a Savior. A Savior who would pay the wages of sin. And by paying the wages of sin would be the gift of God. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” We all sin. There is no escaping that fact. But how you react to the sin in your life will tell you whether you have received the cure or whether you’re still under the curse. Do you cover your sin up or do you confess it? Are you convicted by the sin in your life or are you too busy dodging God’s questions? Do you accept culpability and responsibility for your sin or are you always trying to pass the buck and blame it on something or someone else? Have you accepted the cure for your sin by confessing it to God and repenting before Him? Make sure you’ve accepted His cure tonight.
