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.
First, Satan disguised himself (v. 1a). Satan didn’t want to be seen for who he really is. He’s a clever imitator who disguises his true character. If necessary, he can even masquerade as an angel of light (2 Cor.11:14). [When he came into the Garden, Satan used the body of a serpent whom God had previously pronounced "good" (Gen. 1:31).] Eve didn’t seems disturbed by the serpent’s presence or its notice anything threatening about the encounter. [Perhaps Eve hadn’t been introduced to this species and concluded that it had the ability to speak.]
Satan still works today as the great impersonator. He has produced a counterfeit righteousness that comes only by faith in the Savior (Rom. 9:30-10:13). Satan has false ministers (2 Cor. 11. 13-16) who preach a false gospel (Gal. 1:6-10), and he has false brothers (and sisters) who oppose the true Gospel (2 Cor. 11:26). The devil has gathered his counterfeit Christians into false churches that God calls "synagogues of Satan" (Rev. 2:9); and in these assemblies, Satan’s "deep secrets" are taught (2:24).
Second, Satan questions God’s Word (v. lb). Satan strategy begins by casting doubt upon the divine Word of God. He suggests that God could not possibly mean what He said. “Did God really say?” Does God know what He is doing?
2 Corinthians 11:3 makes it clear that Satan’s target was Eve’s mind and that his weapon was deception. By questioning what God said, Satan raised doubts in Eve’s mind concerning the truthfulness of God’s Word and the goodness of God’s intentions. "Did He really mean that you can’t eat from every tree?" was the implication of the subtle question. "If God really loved you, if He was really wanting what was best for you, He would be much more generous. He’s holding out on you!"
Next Satan distorts what God said. “You shall not eat from any tree of the garden.” God had said you can eat from all but one. Satan wanted Eve to forget that God had told Adam (who had told her) that they could eat freely of the trees of the Garden. For their own good, there was a prohibition: they didn’t dare eat from the forbidden tree in the "middle of the Garden” (Gen. 2:15-17).
The serpent thus baits the woman to draw her into dialogue with him. She is lured into thinking about what Satan wants her to think about. Satan sets her up so she thinks she knows and understands better that the serpent, that she has the upper hand. Thus the women thinks she can deal with the serpent because she can out smart it.
She will enter into conversation with the serpent in verses 2 & 3 so she can show off her superior intelligence and knowledge. The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; (3) but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’ ”
Eve’s reply showed that she was already following Satan’s example and altering the very Word of God. Compare 3:2-3 with 2: 16-17 and you’ll see that she omitted the words "freely" and “surely,” and added the phrase “or touch it” (NASB). She also failed to note that God had “commanded” them to obey. Eve actually took from God’s Word, added to God’s Word, and changed God’s Word, which are serious offenses indeed (Deut 4:2; 12:32; Prov.30:6; Rev. 22:19). She was starting to doubt God’s goodness and truthfulness. [Wiesrbe, Be Basic, 61]
And history continues to repeat itself. Everywhere today people add to, alter and omit God’s Word usually to fit themself. The will of God is resisted, the Word of God is rejected and the way of God is deserted.
Fourth, Satan denied God’s Word. In verse 4 Satan substitutes his word for God’s Word. The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!
This statement is a direct contradiction to God’s Word in 2:17 which is “You will surely die.” Satan is a liar (Jn. 8:44). God is the God of truth (Deut. 32:4). Our response to what God says should be, "Therefore all Your precepts concerning all things I consider to be right" (Ps 119: l27). At this point, Eve should have reminded herself of God’s Word, believed it, left the serpent, and found her husband. It’s when we linger in the place of temptation that we get into trouble, especially when we know what we’re thinking is contrary to God’s truth. God’s truth our sword and shield (Eph 6:16, Ps. 91:4) but it protects us only if we take refuge in it.
III. THE ORIGINAL SIN, 5.
In verse 5 Satan suggest that God is holding back something very important and very good from her. “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Satan substitutes his own lie again. "You will be like God” meaning you can decide what is right and wrong for your own self (2:17) just like God is doing for you now. “God has given us the power to decide for ourselves has always been the rallying cry of those who reject the biblical revelation. It does not matter whether they espouse godless humanism, materialism, or the so-called New Age religion. [Actually, the philosophy of the New Agers isn’t new at all. It’s as old as Gen. 3.” Wiesrbe, Be Basic, 61]
When Satan wants to gain control over us as he did Eve he often entices us to doubt God’s integrity. He told Eve, in the day you eat from it [forbidden fruit] your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. Satan sets the direction he wanted Eve to go and whispers secret fantasies and powers.
Satan was implying that God is not out for your best interests. But if you decide what is right and wrong for yourself you can do better for yourselves. God has a hidden agenda and you need to watch out for yourselves. The devil knew that once Eve doubted the goodness of God, he could deceive her into thinking his way, all the while thinking she was thinking it was her way.
We may not think we doubt God. But when we doubt His word we are doubting Him. Events happen in our life and Satan tells us God doesn’t have our best interests in mind. We seldom stop believing in God, but we stop believing that His word is best for us. We begin following our own thinking, instead of trusting God’s word. When we do Satan has poisoned our faith, poisoned our relationship with God.
Never doubt God’s goodness. Even when our trials seem beyond our understanding we can trust God to use them for our eternal good (Rom. 8:28; Jas. 1:17). Don’t put a question mark where God has put a period.
The establishing of RIGHT AND WRONG is God’s dominion alone. Satan was telling Eve you should decide what is right & wrong for yourselves. He still tells us the same thing. Trying to be the god of our own life is deciding what is right & wrong for our life. God must be God. We cannot serve ourselves & God. The original sin which caused the fall of mankind is trying to be the god of our own life by deciding what is right & wrong for our life instead of letting God be God of our life. Rebellion against God’s right to decide what is right & wrong is the very heart of the fall of man kind. It is the central issue of the original sin.
Satan told her go ahead make your own decisions for what is right and wrong for you. It does not matter what God has said. “You certainly will not die.” It is your right. But deciding the right and wrong of moral actions is not a God given right.
For thousands of years the Enemy has repeated that strategy. He doesn’t care if you believe in the authority of the Bible as a whole, as long as he can get you to disbelieve that God has the right to be the God of your life, he can stand between you and God.
"You will not surely die," we are told. That is the theme of so many modern novels. The hero and heroine live in disobedience to God but suffer no consequences. In TV shows and movies the characters rebel against the moral laws of God but live happily ever after.
There is even a perfume called "My Sin." It’s a fragrance "so alluring, so charming, so exciting," the ads tell us, "we could only call it ’My Sin.’" You would never guess that sin is a stench in the nostrils of God.
The temptation we face each day, is we choose to believe Satan’s lie, or will we obey God’s word?
Do you see the two lies? You will cheat your self out of good by not doing it and it will do you no harm.
[Romans 1:18-32 describes how Gentile civilization from the time of Cain rejected the truth of God and turned to foolishness and lies. They "exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator" (v... 25, NKJV). Speaking about Satan, Jesus said "for he is a liar and the father of lies (Jn. 8:44). In defiance of God, humans exchanged God’s truth for "the"lie" (note the singular), and followed Satan who is the father of "it" (note the singular again).
What is "the lie" (singular) that has ruled civilization since the fall of man? Ifs the belief that men and women can be their own god and live for the creation and not the Creator and not suffer any consequences. [Wiersbe, 62] Believing this, they refuse to submit to God’s truth but prefer to believe and “alterative truth” Which no matter how you phase it is no more that accepting Satan’s lies which ultimately leads to following his diabolical plan for their destruction. They don’t realize that Satan is their master (Eph. 2:1-3) and the lake of fire is their destiny (Mt. 7:13-23; Rev. 20:10-15).
When you review the sequence, you can better understand how Satan leads people to the place of disobedience. Once we start to question, God’s Word, we’re prepared to deny His Word and believe Satan’s lies. Then it’s just a short step to believing Satan’s promises and disobeying God’s commands. When our Lord was tempted (Mt. 4:1-11), He answered Satan’s lies with God’s truth and three times affirmed, "It is written!" Satan wants to deceive our minds (2 Cor. 11:3), but we defeat him by using the spiritual weapons God provides (Eph. 6:10-18; 2 Cor.12:4-5).
IV. THE TRAGEDY, 6-8.
Verse 6 shows the one who is lead astray now leads others astray. When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.
Eve sinned because she was attracted to the fruit of the forbidden tree. She was walking by sight and not by faith in God’s Word. Genesis 3:6 parallels 1 John 2:16: "good for food"with "the lust of the flesh"; "pleasant to the eyes" with "the lust of the eyes"; "desirable to make one wise” with"the pride of life." These are the things that motivate the people of the world today; and when God’s people start thinking like the world, they start living like the world.
Adam made a choice, the wrong choice, and humanity has suffered ever since. The bite of sin leaves far more than a bitter aftertaste.
Sometimes I wonder why God didn’t make the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden bear ugly fruit? Why not surround it by a chain-link fence with barbed wire at the top? Why did, God even create the tree in the first place? A possible answer is that temptation to do disobey brought Adam and Eve face to face with the ultimate moral question: Would they believe God? Would they trust God and show confidence in their Creator and lovingly obey Him with all their heart?
We face similar tests in our everyday choices. What are we going to do? Will we trust God? Or will we flunk the test of obedience, even if think we are right? Life is not a test of how wise we become but how obedient we become.
Along life’s road are obstacles our choice becomes a test;
Help us, 0 Lord, to know Your way that we may choose what’s best.
Sin opened up a whole new world, a whole new reality to them. Milton calls it “Paradise Lost.” Verse 7, Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.
Satan promised that they would "be like God" and know good and evil but they become like him and not like the one true God. Adam and Eve lost their innocence and for the first time had a personal realization what it meant to sin. It wasn’t necessary for their happiness that they have this knowledge, and it would have been far better had they obeyed grown to become more like God (Jn. 7:17).
[Why did our Lord Jesus curse the fig true (Mk. 11:13-21)? Why are we told that Adam and Eve sewed figs together to hid their condition. The fig tree was the only thing our Lord cursed upon the earth. Could Jesus been portraying that what man uses to hide his shame instead of confessing it is directly under the Lord’s curse? The exercises we do to cover our broken relationship with God do us no eternal benefit.]
In verse 8 we find God still seeking relationship fallen man. They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
Humans are so constructed that they must believe something; if they don’t believe the truth, then they’ll eventually believe lies (2 Thess. 2:10). But if they believe lies, they will have to suffer the consequences that always come when people reject God’s truth.
When we decide to make our own decisions of right and wrong for our own lives and even for life itself we have willfully separated ourselves from God and we hide from Him. They knew they were naked before God.
Because of what they had done (disobey God), they begin making their own choices and because of their sinfulness choose to hide from God. They no longer wanted to enjoy their evening fellowship with the Lord in the Garden. Adam admitted, "I was afraid" (v. 10). Trying to hide from the Lord is certainly a futile endeavor (Ps. 139:1-12), and yet guilty sinners still attempt the impossible, because they are uncomfortable in the presence of a personable, sinless, all-knowing, always right, God, who wants the best for those with whom He fellowships.
CONCLUSION / TIME OF RESPONSE
Yes, sin and death are reigning in this world, but grace and righteousness are also reigning through Christ (Rom. 5:14,17,21). Faith in Jesus Christ moves us out of Adam and into Christ, and we are accepted in His righteousness.
The result of sin is a hiding from God because you are no longer comfortable with Him deciding what is right and wrong for you for your life. As long as we are deciding what is right and wrong for our life, or trying to be the god of our own life, instead of letting God be God of our life, we will separate our self from God we will hide our self from His fellowship and presence. Message by Dennis M. Davidson
