WHEN SIN ENTERED IN-I—Genesis 3:1-24
Attention:
“Sin is any personal lack of conformity to the moral character of God, or the law of God. Then sin is a disposition of the heart, it is a bent.”....“It is...any violation of the character or law of God, the moral character or the law of God.”.... “it’s ignoring God’s law, it’s violating God’s law.”
Rom. 14:23 tells us that “...whatever is not from faith is sin.” so that anything that you do that isn’t is not a direct act of faith in God is sin.”
“You study the Bible & you’re going to find out what God commands us to do & not to do, you’re going to find out the essential elements of God’s nature. And whenever we violate those, we sin.”.... “....there is no external cause of sin....It’s just choice.”— John MacArthur
Need:
Genesis 3 explains human difficulties/problems, the seemingly endless frustrations we face thruout our lives.
“All the problems of the universe have their origin in the events of this historic account....physical problems, spiritual problems, moral problems, social problems, economic problems, political problems, all the problems in the universe have their origin in the events of this historic account.”—John MacArthur
Genesis chapter 3 precisely documented the original appearance of sin.
The original appearance of sin is precisely documented in God’s word.
*What is significant about the entrance of sin?
*How is the entrance of sin to be regarded or how is it significant?
21 considerations regarding the entrance of sin.
Section I
:1-8
Sin’s APPEARANCE
1— Sin entered in with ...
CUNNING(:1a)
Explanation:(:1)
:1—“Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?””
There was a creation of God which was “cunning.” This does not necessarily imply that there would have been degrees of cunning among the animals(“beast of the field”)/creation(Wenham per Hengstenberg). This particular animal/beast?(a “serpent”) was “more cunning than any” of the animals. YaHoVeH God had “made” these animals(Gen. 1:24-25).
There is no hint of demonic possession here. The animal itself is cursed, not the demonic entity who abuses it. “The serpent” appears to simply be a particular animal of God’s creation. There is no hint that this animal is itself Satan. *However, there is no question that Rev. 12:9 & 20:2 directly identifies “the serpent” in the Garden with Satan himself.
Rev. 12:9—“So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil & Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, & his angels were cast out with him.”
Rev. 20:2—“He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil & Satan, & bound him for a thousand years;”
Satan is indeed compared to & called a serpent thruout Scripture. This insight would highlight Satan’s self-seeking, treacherous & destructively cunning nature.
There is also the fact that “the serpent” is given attention, voice & responses which are nowhere else afforded any being other than mankind & angelic beings. The physical serpent is nowhere else problematic except when variously attached to or identified with Satan.
“This...this particular animal knows about God. This particular animal has a personality. This particular animal speaks with intelligence. This particular animal has a devious, malevolent, evil mind.”... “But this is a crafty, subtle, malevolent, evil, wicked individual animal because it is being used by a superhuman intelligence to lead Eve & Adam into a choice for evil...a choice that this personality already made. And listen carefully, this personality inside that animal knew the effect of the choice Adam & Eve were going to make, Adam & Eve had no clue.”...“Snakes don’t have moral thoughts, reptiles don’t have moral thoughts, they can’t make moral judgments.”—John MacArthur
Mwre(“Cunning”)itself is a neutral word—neither positive nor negative except determined by the context. Used here negatively presupposing a self-advancement/preferment that will overstep others & thus take a propriety to achieve its ends. What we might call ‘survival of the fittest’ or a built-in naturalistic bent toward self-advancement/preferment/protection.
This “serpent” could speak & spoke directly to the “woman.” There seems to be no surprise/oddity(at least as presented), to the woman(her innocence & experience) that an animal should be able to speak.
“Serpent”—vxn naw-khawsh’—Serpent, snake. Strong—A snake (from its hiss):-- Serpent. From—vxn naw-khash’— properly, To hiss, i.e. Whisper a (magic) spell; generally, to Prognosticate:-- X certainly, divine, enchanter,(use) X enchantment, learn by experience, X indeed, diligently observe.
“Cunning/Subtile/Crafty”—Mwre aw-room’—Subtle, shrewd, crafty, sly, sensible. Strong—Cunning (usually in a bad sense):-- Crafty, prudent, subtil.
Used 1X in Genesis. Used 2X in Job negatively. Frequently in Proverbs in a commendable sense contrasted with the fool &/or simpleton.
English:
Cunning—Having or showing skill in achieving one’s ends by deceit or evasion.
Subtle—So delicate or precise as to be difficult to analyze or describe. Making use of clever & indirect methods to achieve something.
Shrewd—1 Having or showing sharp powers of judgment; astute.
Crafty—lever at achieving one’s aims by indirect or deceitful methods.
Sly—Having or showing a cunning & deceitful nature.
Sensible—Chosen in accordance with wisdom or prudence; likely to be of benefit.
“Beast/Wild animals”(Gen. 1:21, 24, 25, 30— “living/beast”)—yx khah’-ee—adj—1) Living, alive; n m—2) Relatives; 3) Life (abstract emphatic); n f—4) living thing, animal; 5) Community.
“Field”—hds saw-deh’—1) Field, land—1a) Cultivated field, 1b) Of home of wild beasts, 1c) Plain (opposed to mountain), 1d) Land (opposed to sea)Strong—from an unused root meaning to spread out; A field (as flat):-- Country, field, ground, land, soil, X wild.
Argumentation:
Gen. 4:6-7—“So the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.””
Dan. 11:21—of the Antichrist—““And in his place shall arise a vile person, to whom they will not give the honor of royalty; but he shall come in peaceably, & seize the kingdom by intrigue.”
2Sam. 11—David’s murder of Uriah the husband of Bathsehba—David first tried to make Uriah(a soldier under David’s command) make a conjugal visit so David could come in afterward undetected. Then when that didn’t work, he had Uriah purposely left unprotected in a heated battle so that he was killed.
Eph 4:14-15—“....we should no longer be children, tossed to & fro & carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ--”
Php 3:17-20—“Brethren, join in following my example, & note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, & now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, & whose glory is in their shame--who set their mind on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,”
Illustration:
Bernard Madoff/Founded Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC in 1960/Stock broker & Investment advisor & served as chairman of the Nasdaq stock market/2008 his massive ponzi scheme uncovered— ‘fraud in which belief in the success of a nonexistent enterprise is fostered by the payment of quick returns to the first investors from money invested by later investors.’ Among the world’s biggest banking institutions—Britain’s HSBC Holdings , Royal Bank of Scotland, Spain’s Grupo Sanander, France’s BNP Paribas & Japan’s Nomura Holdings all reported that they had fallen victim to Madoff’s $50 billion Ponzi scheme.
Application:
?You considered the wages of Sin’s CUNNING?
?Has Sin Entered In to your life?
2— Sin entered in with...
IMPLICATION(:1b)
Explanation:(:1) Defamation/Intrigue/Criminalizing God/God is Conniving
:1—“Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?””
The serpent turns God’s blessing—freely eating of every tree of the garden—into a lie. He does this by highlighting one aspect of the statement—“Every tree”—without taking it in its proper context.
All the references directed to the woman are directed to both her & her husband....Plurals—easily seen in KJV as “ye.” Thus softening the woman’s responsibility.
Regarding the woman—To what gulliblilities does our gracious intelligence (of God) take us?
Thereby we consider, if we cannot have all of the garden, then we want to know ‘why?’ And in our asking why?, we may have set up a barrier to further communication by being personally offended.
The offense is—on a personal level—not having been personally chosen for particular knowledge(which, in reality, we cannot handle. There must be something unacceptable about us. We must have failed. OR surmise that the One making the choice is mean-spirited. We turn parental love around to make it the parent’s fault—God’s fault. Teenage drama queen scenario.
Seeing its own benefit & purposes in view, the “serpent” thus openly & directly plants a question in the woman’s (“Eve”—:20) mind & heart as to the wisdom of God’s judgment. This ‘serpent’ is well aware of man’s prohibition from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil(2:17), yet it also knows of the provision for man’s well-being to “freely eat” “of every tree of the garden”(:2:16). The serpent takes the original expression of God’s gracious provision & distorts it to present a concept that YaHoVeH God is a mean, spiteful tyrant & ruiner of personal joy. How sick & twisted this is.
When personal trusts are questioned, we have a tendency, to... 1)Suppose they are somewhat inconsequential, 2)Ignore them continuing to believe as we have, or 3)Make a decision based on feeling formed thru ‘fed’ information.
“Indeed/Really”—Pa ’aph—1) Also, yea, though, so much the more—adv.; 2) Furthermore, indeed.
Argumentation:
Mat. 13:22—““Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, & the cares of this world & the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, & he becomes unfruitful.”
Mat. 24:21-28—““For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. “And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened. Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs & false prophets will rise & show great signs & wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. “Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east & flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. “For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.”
Eph. 5:6—“Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.”
Col. 2:8-15—“Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy & empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, & not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; & you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality & power. In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses & the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities & powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”
Illustration:
Our neighbors have at least four vehicles/ One is a vintage 1950’s Ford Pickup in pristine condition/Dad forbids use of the Pickup without his presence/But suppose his son(a teen) has a friend who convinces him that he’s just as able to drive the truck as his father/Dad is treating him like a baby!/Tempts him to drive/IMPLICATIONS-DEFAMATION
This scenario is all too familiar isn’t it? & its exactly what we do when we go against ‘the known will of God.’
A farmer giving his son or daughter free reign over all the farm machinery—except the combine/Child can assume(in his own mind) the father is keeping something for himself—is being unfair/IMPLICATION
Application:
?You considered the wages of Sin’s IMPLICATION?
?Has Sin Entered In to your life?
3— Sin entered in with...
Self-PROTECTION(:2-3)
Explanation:(:2-3) Fear of displeasing God
:2—“And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;”
The woman taking the serpent’s question seriously, responds with her knowledge that God had given them permission to eat of all the trees within the garden....
:3—“but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’””
The woman knew very well that they were neither to eat nor touch the tree in the midst of the garden. The man had informed her of both the blessing & prohibition as he was told this prior to God’s making the woman.
The prohibition to “touch” is an embellishment which the woman has added to the original prohibition. This works better for her personally to prevent her from crossing the line.
This is exactly what the Jews did in preparing the Mishna...their elaborate system of rules to keep them from transgressing the law God had given them. Sort of a law overkill just to keep them honest.
The problem with this is one adds to the word of God in order to keep the word of God, so that one ends up putting words in God’s mouth which He never intended to say.
The woman informed the serpent that the consequence of such behavior would mean their certain death at God’s allowance.
“Touch”—egn naw-gah’—1) To touch, reach, strike. Strong—properly, To touch, i.e. Lay the hand upon (for any purpose; euphem., to lie with a woman); by implication, To reach(figuratively, To arrive, acquire); violently, To strike (punish, defeat, destroy, etc.).
“Die”—twm mooth—1) To die, kill, have one executed. Strong—To die (literally or figuratively); causatively, to kill.
Translated by LXX as apoyaneisye(“Die”) An emphatic used twice in the NT(Jn. 8:21, 24) both in reference to dying in one’s sins.
This also relates directly to causing one’s brother to stumble in the NT.
Argumentation:
1Cor. 8:4-12—“Therefore concerning the eating of things offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, & that there is no other God but one. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods & many lords), yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, & we for Him; & one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, & through whom we live. However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some, with consciousness of the idol, until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; & their conscience, being weak, is defiled. But food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse. But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? But when you thus sin against the brethren, & wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.”
Rom. 14:13-23—“Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way. I know & am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of God is not eating & drinking, but righteousness & peace & joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God & approved by men. Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace & the things by which one may edify another. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense. It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak. Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.”
Most Baptists have a deep-seated moral aversion to alcohol in any form. However it is never condemned outright in the Bible, while its abuse is frequently condemned. How would the pastor’s having a glass of wine with his meal effect you? Would you be tempted to allow the same at your home...even though its acceptance would not be “from faith?” In one act, that pastor both “condemned himself by what he approved & caused his brother to stumble.
Illustration:
Our 2000 Plymouth Voyager/Key chime won’t work/Always left my keys in the ingition/Locked myself out so many times that I had a spare key made/Keep it in my wallet/Self-PROTECTION
Granny’s Yellow Bell(Forsythia) gift/We planted it near the corner of our property/Neighbors mowed it down on our property!/We replaced it & placed large rocks in a circle around it/No more mowing problems/Self-PROTECTION
Application:
?You considered the wages of Sin’s Self-PROTECTION?
?Has Sin Entered In to your life?
4— Sin entered in with a...
BLATANT UNDERSTATEMENT(:4)
Explanation:(:4) Exaggeration Minimizing Lie
:4—“Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.”
After hearing the woman’s commitment to God’s command, the serpent then not only attempts to mislead, but now openly twists the truth.
The serpent informs the woman that neither she nor her husband(plural) would “surely die” as God had said they would, again calling into question God’s goodness & judgment. In essence, the serpent is saying, God is hiding something from you both.
“Surely die”—Nwtmt twm— Lit.=‘dying you shall die’—Same as 2:17.
God’s statement is about the certainty of death & not the time/immediacy of death. The time is what the serpent played upon.
Argumentation:
1Jn. 1:9-10—“If we confess our sins, He is faithful & just to forgive us our sins & to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, & His word is not in us.”
1Jn. 5:10-12—“He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, & this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
Rev. 21:7-8—““He who overcomes shall inherit all things, & I will be his God & he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, & all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire & brimstone, which is the second death.””
Heb. 3:12-13—“Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”
1Pet. 2:20-22—“For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good & suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: “Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth”;”
Illustration:
Used car salesman/This car was driven by a little old lady who only drove it to church on Sundays/Conveniently ’forgets’ to mention that the little old lady’s great grandson street raced it & drove it off-road every other day of the week!/BLATANT UNDERSTATEMENT
Application:
?You considered the wages of Sin’s BLATANT UNDERSTATEMENT?
?Has Sin Entered In to your life?
CONCLUSION:
Action:
Sin entered in with ...
1—CUNNING(:1a)
2—IMPLICATIONS(:1b)
3—Self-PROTECTION(:2-3)
4—BLATANT UNDERSTATEMENT(:4)
Presented 12/05/2010am to:
Needmore Baptist Church
1620 Mt. Vernon Rd.
Woodleaf, NC 27054
