The first sin Genesis 3:1-7
Last week I made a comment about who was responsible for the very first sin and the Pastor asked me to deal with this issue before I moved on to the rest of John eleven. And so this is what I’m going to do but first I want to set the stage so you’ll see that the doctrine of sin’s beginning is explained clearly in the scripture but it’s not that easy to just sum it all up in a sentence or two. And so, before I get to how sin entered this world you’ll have to bear with me, as I try to explain the origin of sin and then how the first couple sinned and then how that sin has affected the rest of us. And if you have any questions at all when I’m finished, then please feel free to see the Pastor before church.
Now, before God created the world we know that He created the angelic world and we also know that there were millions of them because in Revelation 5:11 John says, “I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.” And to really understand this verse you have to know that in the Greek language the number ten thousand was the largest number that ever existed. O.K, so the highest you could count to was ten thousand and John says that there were ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands and thousands. So, basically he’s saying that the number of angels that were and will be worshipping God in heaven are innumerable as far as we’re concerned. And from the original group we are told that a third of them left heaven in rebellion when Satan did. Now, I’ll get to them in a minute but of the angels that are around the throne there are several different levels of authority among them and this is described for us in different parts of scripture.
For instance, there are the archangels and these are the chief of staff and then we have the cherubim and we are told in Ezekiel 28:14 that this was Satan’s position before the fall. And then we have the seraphim who are in charge of the worship of heaven according to Isaiah 6 and then there is a category who are simply called the sons of God and these are mentioned in Genesis 6 and Job 38 but we have no idea what they do and then finally we have the angels and these are mentioned 268 times in scripture. And all of these were and are in heaven. And Job which is the oldest book of the Old Testament says “When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” And I think here he is describing a time before the rebellion of Satan and his followers. Heaven was filled with shouting and singing.
And then if we were to take the time we could go to Isaiah 14 and we could study the fall of Satan and find out where the first sin began in heaven as we’d see the intention of his heart which was to exalt himself above God Himself. And then after the fall he was thrown out of heaven and was followed by a third of the angels and then both he and the fallen angels seemed to organize themselves and the apostle Paul gives us a description of what he calls the ranks of wickedness over in Ephesians 6.
Now, Satan whose name means adversary is the head of the whole group and he’s the adversary or enemy of both God and man and throughout scripture he’s called by many names such as the deceiver, the devil, the destroyer and several other titles and here in Ephesians 6 we have a list of those who are under him. Now, some of them are referred to as the principalities and these would be the five star generals and by this title we would assume that under Satan they are basically in charge of everything. And then there are what are called the powers and these are the ones who are supposed to carry out the commands of the principalities by ordering those under them to do what has to be done in order to disrupt and destroy everything that belongs to God. And then we have the world rulers and these are in charge of government influence and we have some insight as to how this happens in the book of Daniel. And then finally we have the demons and these are simply called spiritual wickedness which tells us they do everything and anything to cause disorder and destruction among the human race. And there are many who believe that the selfishness and self-centeredness among this evil crowd stops them from ever really getting anywhere. And yet, in spite of their incompetence they can still cause a lot of grief and at the end of time they’ll get more organized and they’ll really cause a lot of grief for everyone.
So, this is the world of the angels both the good and the bad and they all existed before creation itself and we are told that when Satan rebelled against God he took a third of them with him but two thirds stayed behind and remained faithful to God.
So, we could say that the first sin was committed by the devil and this was his act of rebellion and then his sinfulness was passed on to the demons in the sense that they followed his lead as each of them rebelled against God. And when Lucifer made that first choice, he said, I want to be like God but he soon found out that he became as much unlike God as it’s possible to be. God is holy but Lucifer became absolutely wretched and wicked. And when he said to Eve that the reason God doesn’t want you to eat this fruit is because you’ll become like God, he was lying through his teeth because he was taking them through the same scenario that he went through.
You see, Satan hates God and everything that represents God. And we are created in the image of God which we are told puts us above the angels in terms of the line of creation. As the writer of Hebrews says, “What know ye not that ye shall judge angels?” So Satan wanted to make sure that man didn’t do the things he was created to do.
So, Satan sinned and was thrown out of heaven and a third of the angelic force went with him and that was the very first sin that ever took place and now we’ll look at the first sin in the human race and hopefully we see whose fault it was. And we begin at Genesis 3 and the first problem we have is that we have no timeline. Nobody had a calendar.
So, we really have no indication of how long they were in the garden before they sinned. Some have said they may have been there a hundred years while others say it could have been less than a month. And it’s all speculation because we simply don’t know. But those who go for the shorter time base this on the woman’s monthly cycle because if she had a baby or even conceived one before she sinned, the baby would be free of a sin nature. And the problem with that line of thinking is that she may have undergone physical changes as a result of the curse of sin. So, we simply don’t know how long they were there before the temptation took place.
I Regardless of the time, verse 1 opens up with Satan approaching Eve. It says, “Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman. Yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” Let’s stop right there for a minute.
Now, we all know that serpents don’t talk but there are a couple of possibilities to explain what happens here. One, if this is early in creation she may not have seen all the animals yet. Don’t forget that Adam named them all before she was created. Since this was the first time that any of them spoke but she might have thought it was possible. After all, certain birds mimic speech and God allowed her and Adam to speak, so why couldn’t He do the same for a snake or any of the other animals for that matter.
And then second, there is a situation in Numbers 22 where God speaks to Balaam through his donkey and Balaam argues with the donkey like it was human and I think it’s obvious that God somehow blinded him to the fact that he was talking to an animal. And the same thing could have happened to Eve.
When we think of a serpent most of us see a long slimy, slithering, hissing animal that is nothing less than repulsive and scary to most of us. But we have to keep in mind that this is the garden of Eden where everything is good and there is nothing ugly or hideous looking. And not only that but according to the curse God placed on the snake, there was a change that took place in it’s appearance and it was to crawl on it’s belly and eat dust all it’s life and that indicates that this was something it didn’t do before.
So, not only was it as attractive as any other animal but this verse says, “It was subtle.” And the word subtle means the same as being crafty or cunning. And the fact that Satan was using this snake is what made it so subtle. I mean, after all, without his power and personality behind it this would just be another snake.
So, he comes up to the woman and we don’t assume that it was because it was a woman that he was successful because he could have started with the man and had the same result but obviously he thought for some reason that he stood a better chance with her. And he begins the conversation by asking her a question, he says, “Hath God said.” And it’s like he’s asking her a simple meaningless question. It’s like, hey, did God really say that? And right from the get go, his question is asked with the intention of making her to question the authority of the word of God. And her immediate response should have been, Yes, He did say that and if you want to know any more then why don’t you go ask him for yourself. And that would have been the end of the story. Right?
And it’s interesting to note that this is the first time in scripture where we see the term God being used alone because once you get past the creation account the term ‘Lord God’ is always used. You see, the term Lord is what puts the emphasis on His sovereignty. And Satan leaves that out because he hates the fact that God is sovereign or in charge.
But he asks a question and his question was meant to put Eve on the pathway that would lead her away from God. You see, the question is asked with the assumption that what God said was somehow subject to her judgment, her evaluation and her assessment. And this question takes her from questioning God to doubting God, to distrusting God and then to disobeying God. And it all began when she entertained the question.
And you see, when he asks his question, he isn’t just questioning God’s word but he’s questioning God’s goodness because basically he says, what do you mean, you can’t eat from every tree? And what he’s doing is focusing not on the abundant provision of God but on the restriction they had not to eat from that one tree.
And yet, critics of Christianity do the same thing today. “Oh, you’re a Baptist. That means you can’t drink or smoke.” And they’re always hung up on the things they don’t think we can do. I always say, “No, God loves me so much He wants to spare me from lung cancer and cirrhosis of the liver.” You see, we have to get the point across that it’s not that we’re not free to sin but we’re free not to sin. Like the song says, “He breaks the power of cancelled sin and sets the prisoner free.” And she should have focused on God’s abundant provision rather than His limited restriction.
I mean, just think about it. She wasn’t sitting on the ground holding her side suffering from hunger pains. She had more than anyone could ever want. And the implication of this question was that somehow she was missing out on something really good. That somehow God was holding back all the good stuff for Himself and He really wants to hold back all the good stuff that life has to offer because deep down inside God isn’t all that good. Listen, she didn’t eat the forbidden fruit because she needed anything but because she wanted to see what she was missing but I’m getting ahead of myself.
And then we see her response in verse 2 when it says, “And the woman said unto the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.”
And what we see here is that after Satan questions the wisdom of the word of God she distorts God’s word by adding, “Neither shall ye touch it.” Now, not touching it would be a good idea but God didn’t say that and when we add to what He said we weaken the things He really said. And she also said, “Lest ye die.” And you know what she’s saying, she’s saying, there’s always that possibly that something might get caught in her throat or some other sort of accident because I think the very thought of God doing anything to her or Adam as punishment simply never crossed her mind. But God had told them, “that they would surely die.”
And Satan said in verse 4 and 5, “Ye shall not surely die. For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Satan said, hey, you’re not going to die. God lied to you. You think you’ve got it good here but you don’t know half the things that are available. God is holding back all the good stuff. And what the snake is doing is suggesting that he’s more committed to Eve’s best interest than God is.
II The sin.
And then verse 6 says, “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.”
I have a plaque on my office wall that says, “Someone once asked the Buddha, ‘How do you escape the burning heat of the desert?’ ‘It’s easy’ he said, ‘Just jump into a roaring fire.’” Now listen, there was no burning heat driving Eve on, so she just jumped.
Look at that verse again because we can see here how he appealed to the flesh. She saw that it was good for food, pleasant to the eyes and desired to make one wise. And do you know what’s interesting about her perspective, it didn’t look like she was actually doing anything wrong. I mean, what was wrong with her eating a piece of fruit? I’m sure she did it all the time. She didn’t boil it down and made booze out of it and she certainly didn’t try to smoke it. And she didn’t steal it in the sense that someone else lived in the garden and it belonged to them but they were simply told not to eat it and it belonged to God.
It’s interesting to see that before Jesus began his ministry in Israel we are told in Matthew 4 that He was tempted by the devil. And His temptation parallels the temptation that took place in the garden. It says Satan tempted Him after He fasted for forty days to turn the stones into bread because he said they would be good for food. And then he tempted Him to jump off the temple and said that would be pleasant to the eyes. I mean, think of the sight as you were flying over the edge of the city and in a position to admire both heaven and earth. And then He was told if He was to worship the devil He could have all the kingdoms of the world. And just like Adam and Eve, there were no morals temptations.
And listen to this, we as believers are warned about these very kinds of temptations over in I John 2:15 where he says, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” Now listen, Satan appealed to Eve’s flesh, he appealed to Jesus’ flesh and now he appeals to ours. Now, why does he keep using the same temptations over and over again, because they work two times out of three.
And then verse 7 says, “And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.” Immediately, they were filled with shame and were aware of the fact that they were naked and they tried to cover themselves up. And we might wonder, why weren’t they ashamed before? I mean, they were just as naked. But before, they didn’t have a negative or an evil thought about anything. There was never any thought of pride or selfishness. And all this came about as soon as sin entered the world.
I think they started having evil thoughts about their bodies which is something they never had before and they also wanted to run away from and avoid God which is also something they never wanted to do before. And as time goes on we see the effects of sin and the curse that followed on every page of the Bible and in every one of our lives.
Now, here’s where I want to answer the question that began this message. Who was guilty of this sin? And I think it’s a simple answer because they both were. Look at the last part of verse 6. It says, “She took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.” Now, we don’t know if he was listening to the entire conversation with the devil or if he just came in when she was eating the fruit but whatever he heard and whenever he joined them no one had to coerce him to participate. She was deceived by the devil but he sinned willingly. And in both cases both of them rebelled against God and rejected His word.
It’s hard to tell where the sin occurred. Some say it was when she took the first bite of the fruit and others say it was when she stopped believing that God was good and only good.
I’ve heard of a case being made that Eve’s sin was caused by her being out from under her husband’s authority but the fact was, he was right there when she took of the fruit and then he helped her eat it.
So, Satan was guilty for enticing them, Eve was guilty for ignoring God’s word and then Adam was guilty of simple disobedience. So, who was at fault? The answers simple, they all were.
And there were obvious consequences of their sin. And by this I’m not referring to the judgments God gave each of them later in the chapter but what naturally happened as a result of their sin. First, they lost the moral likeness of God. They became different than what God had created them to be. It says their eyes were opened and we know that was more than just sight because they saw everything differently. Before everything was right and now they were in a world of right and wrong. It was like their conscience which was present before woke up and they knew they were naked. Before that, they were just as naked but it didn’t bother them. And basically, they had a sense of moral discernment that wasn’t necessary before because there was nothing wrong.
Years ago I worked for Galco Foods in Toronto and one of our major products was turkey rolls. These are the ten pound processed turkey meat that they make for sandwiches. And when they made a turkey roll they would add a 14% emulsion which is a combination of bread, spices, and binder to the meat. And the binder is the stuff that holds it all together. But, when they add more than 14% they have to call it a turkey loaf. Before I knew that I’d just enjoy my sandwich but now that I know I’m interested because of what I know about the process. And sin is the same way. Sin gets us interested in sin. Why? Because our moral compass is off.
And then second, we’ve experienced what’s known as total depravity. I know in saying that there are those who will say, “Well, I’m not that bad.” And maybe you aren’t as far as the surface is concerned. But, all of us, given time and circumstances each of us is capable of committing the most horrible of sins.
Listen to how God described the human race in Genesis 6:5 where it says, “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” And so from God’s perspective all of our hearts are constantly and continually evil. And it’s amazing how sin hides is so deceptive. We’ll be doing something for God and really feel good about ourselves and then think, why doesn’t so and so do something around here and all of a sudden we become the devil’s critic.
The prophet Jeremiah 17:9 said, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” And then David wrote in Psalm 51:5, “Behold, I was shaped in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me.” And then we have the words of Paul in Romans 3:9-18 where he said, “What then? Are we better than they? (He’s talking about the Gentiles here) No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; as it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: their feet are swift to shed blood: destruction and misery are in their ways: and the way of peace they have not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes.” And that’s the bottom line, they don’t care what God thinks or what He threatens to do. His word has no effect on them whatsoever. Why not? They don’t care because their sin nature has warped their view of reality.
I’ve heard people say, “Wait unto I get to heaven, I’m really going to let Adam and Eve know how stupid they were. Why didn’t they just trust God?” And there are two things to consider. One, is the idea that Adam and Eve were what’s known as our federal headship and that means that they did what each and everyone else would have done in their situation. And with that idea in mind then you and I would have done the same thing whether it took a little longer or we do it a lot sooner. And the second thing to consider is this: who knows if they’re going to be in heaven? If someone can show me from the Bible where Adam and Eve repented of their sin and trusted God to save them, I’d like to see it.
It’s interesting to go through this passage on what we refer to as the first sin because we find there’s no mention of the word sin. And yet, we know that this is where sin entered the human race not only because it’s referred to elsewhere but because everything went from being very good to being very bad as a result of their actions. And did you also notice that there’s no mention of Satan by name because he’s just referred to in this passage as the snake but as we get over to Revelation 12:7-9 it says, “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” And there is no mention of the eternal consequences of sin in terms of hell or punishment but all these things are explained as time goes by and as the scripture opens up.
But, in this passage, there are three things I want you to see. First, there’s the tempter. Satan’s goal right from the beginning was to destroy those who were made in the image of God and he’s still trying to do that today and I don’t think he’s changed his attitude or his approach in the last several thousand years. He’s still keeping people from God by appealing to their weak view of God. He says, do this and you’ll have fun, no one will ever know, it won’t hurt anyone and don’t worry about God, He’s too busy doing important things to bother about that. And then when you sin he says, you’re not as bad as people say you are. You’ve got nothing to worry about. When you stand before God not only will all your good works will out weigh the bad but He’ll reward you for all the suffering you’ve gone through. And if you’re a believer he’ll continue to remind you what you did and tell you that God is holy and He doesn’t use trash like you. I think he also does everything he can to keep any believer from being effective for God. And so he says, you don’t have to read the Bible after all, that’s what you pay the Pastor for. Or, what’s the sense in reading that old book, you won’t understand it and you’ll probably forget every thing you read anyway. Just try to do your best and it’ll all work out in the end.
You see, he tells us this because he knows if we spend time in the word we’ll have a burden for the lost and a desire to be involved in God’s program. Listen, I believe that spending time in the word of God has to be a priority for every one of us. And if you don’t believe me then ask yourself a simple question, why does the devil spend so much time keeping you away from it?
So, first there’s a tempter and second, there’s a temptation. And like Adam and Eve he’s always tempting us to do our own thing, to go our own way and live independent from God. But listen, God knows us better than we know ourselves, He understands our needs and He is the answer to the deepest longings of our hearts. So, as the scripture tells us, we are to draw near to Him that He may draw near to us.
So, we do have a tempter that does everything he can to keep us away from God and his word so he can rob us of all the blessings He wants us to have and then we have a temptation to go our own way and in the end we give up everything He wants us to have and in the end we face a tragedy. When we listen to Satan and ignore the word of God our relationship with God becomes clouded by the things of this world and our relationships with others are always short of what God meant them to be.
We see three important but simple lessons from the fall. One, God is not the author of sin. He doesn’t lead anybody into it but gave His Son so we could be delivered from it. Two, sin came from without and not from within the nature of man. So, we can’t assume that Adam and Eve were born with some kind of fault. And three, the foundation of sin is man’s desire and determination to be independent from God. He simply wants to do his own thing. And fourth, and listen to this because it’s really important. Satan can’t make you sin. Did you notice with Eve, he didn’t force her to do anything, did he? All he does is point out all the marvelous benefits of sin which we soon find out are a lie.
We have all the so called smart people in the world trying to fix everything but they either don’t know what the problem is or won’t face it because it has personal consequences. And the problem is sin and sin permeates our entire lives. The thought life is corrupt, the emotions are corrupt, the will is corrupt and the behavior is corrupt. Sin is like the stain that won’t come out. I was reading in Heloise’s Hints one day that someone had written in to ask her how to get a coffee stain out of a silk blouse. She wrote, “Take a pair of very sharp scissors and cut out the piece of material with the stain.” Listen, “Nothing takes away my sin, nothing but the blood of Jesus.”
