We’re doing a series on God’s Big Story where we are tracing the central storyline of the Bible. The Bible isn’t a mass of unconnected stories. Instead, it is one story. And that is exactly the aim of this series – to see the big picture of the Bible. I want you to see the Bible is a single story. And throughout our time, I want to offer a bird’s eye view, if you will. Throughout the 7 weeks together, it will be my aim to unpack these four sentences carefully.
God made the world.
We rebelled against our ruler.
God reentered the world to redeem us.
And God will remake the world.
So climb on top of the observation deck with me and let’s get a better perspective of the bible before us.
Sermon Preview
Today’s sermon is really a continuation of our message from a week ago. Like last week, we are still in the Garden of Eden. And again, just as a week ago, our two main characters are Adam and his wife, Eve. Turn in your Bibles to Genesis 3 and bookmark Romans 16. The New Testament takes the story of Adam and Eve as factual and historical. This is no myth.
Today’s Scripture Passage
25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. 1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So 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 to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
8 And 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. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (Genesis 2:25-3:13)
14 The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.
22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 2:25-3:15, 21-24)
The story of what happened in the Garden of Eden is important – powerfully important. And I want to make you aware at the outset, that this is not just the story of the wrongdoings of two people. No, it’s the story of how the first two people’s wrongdoing effects you and me. It promises to explain nothing less than what is wrong in every cancer ward, in every traumatic domestic abuse incident, in all wars, as well as what happens behind the yellow crime scene tapes in every hamlet and village. It’s the story of a hunter who sees a “No Hunting” sign and in an act of rebellion fires at each letter. It’s the story of the young men who mark the sides of railroad cars with graffiti. The hunter and the graffiti artist do their acts of vandalism for no other reason for the sheer pleasure of rebellion. It’s the story of sin’s emergence into human history. Indeed, this is a powerful story.
Now, there four main characters: the serpent, Eve, Adam, and lastly, God Himself. It is the story of a pristinely beautiful garden where the first two humans lived in the happiness of their Creator. Everything was the way it was supposed to be until…
1. The Descent of Us
Now, verses 1 - 5 we see the conversation between Eve and the serpent, and in verses 6-7, we see the first couple sink into the pit of despair itself. And their sinking is our sinking. There are at least two elements to their conversation.
1.1 A Sneer from the Heart
Everything turns on a sneer from the heart. Let me explain why. You need to know that God made a specific command: “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17) And as you probably know, the snake is more than a snake; it’s the very presence of Satan Himself in the Garden. I said everything turned on a sneer as you can see in verse 1: He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1) Again, the fall of the human race begins with a sneer: “Did God actually say…” The New Testament identifies the tempter as Satan (Revelation 12:9) and refers in passing to angels who left their position (Jude 1:6) and fell under God's judgment (2 Peter 2:4).
And immediately, we want to know, “Where Did Satan Come From?” When we encounter this evil, lying tempter in the Garden of Eden, not a word is said about where this serpent comes from. We are not told where he comes from, how he got into the Garden, or what he did to become evil. Instead, this story is to explain how we got to be the way we are rather than how he got to be the way he was. And what does Satan do to us… what does he do to Eve? He calls into question the goodness and the love and the grace of God behind each one of His decrees. It’s a sneer that essentially says, “You cannot trust God.” Not only a sneer from the heart but it’s also…
1.2 A Lie for the Mind
“So 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 to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.” (Genesis 3:6)
What was this great horrible action? Now, nowhere does it say that the tree was an apple tree – so God doesn’t hate apples. In fact, it is wrong to think there was something magical with the tree. Nothing about this tree flipped a chemical switch in the brain where you suddenly were evil. What is this thing that Adam and Eve did to ruin the human race? They ate of the tree? What was so wrong with that? You can see why stealing could be bad, and you can see why killing can be bad, you can see why adultery can be bad, but not eating from a tree? What was the big deal about the tree?
Look with me at the logic behind the prohibition. God says, “You can do anything. It’s paradise. But you can’t eat from that tree.” Here’s what’s so bad about that. What if God had actually given Adam and Eve an explanation? You can see Adam and Eve walking up to the tree and saying, “What’s so bad about eating from this tree?” and God saying, “Well, if you eat from the tree, there will be infinite suffering and misery and death for the rest of human history.” They would have gone, “Never mind. We didn’t realize our actions would impact everyone down through history. There are all of these other trees we can eat from.” The reason God didn’t give them the explanation is crucial to why this decree was so important. If he had given them the explanation and they had said, “Oh, I’m not going to eat from the tree … It’s not worth it.” Why? Because cost-benefit analysis. Is that really obedience when you’re still in the driver’s seat. Here’s what’s going on. The serpent’s temptation was nothing more than an invitation to break a rule. God was saying to Adam and Eve, “My children, I am God, & your life is a gift to you. I want you to live as if I’m God and you are living by My power.” “I want you to see your lives are a gift from me and not yours where you can do with any way you want.” “Therefore, don’t eat from that tree. This is your chance. You can either choose to treat me as God and to treat your life and the world as if it belongs to me … or you can put yourself in the place of God.” This was lie for Adam & Eve’s mind. All sin is putting ourselves in the place of God. It’s taking upon yourself prerogatives and rights only God has.
1. The Descent of Us
2. The Result of Sin
You see three results of sin in the story.
2.1 Our Relationship with Ourselves
“And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” (Genesis 2:25)
“Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.” (Genesis 3:7)
Naked isn’t just being naked. Instead, knowing they were naked is the sense of guilt that comes when I do something wrong.
It’s the sense of shame that I feel. This is a story that shows that sin is deeper than our behavior. Indeed, sin is a power. And it’s here that we see the addicting power of sin itself.
Jonathan Edwards says sin turns the heart into a fire. Just as there has never been a fire that said, “Enough fuel, I’m fine now,” so there has never been a sinful heart that said, “I have had enough success… I’ve had enough love, enough approval, enough comfort…” The more fuel you put into the fire, the hotter it burns, and the hotter it burns, the more it needs, the more oxygen it is sucking and the more fuel it requires. Beware the addicting power of sin. Sin only generates more sin.
Our Relationship with Ourselves
2.2 Our Relationship with Others
You see it right away in verse 12: The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:12) As soon as God shows up and asks what went wrong, the man says, “She made me do it; send her to hell; give me another wife.” And just to show you, by the way, the man is not more sinful than the woman, when God turns to the woman and says, “What do you have to say for yourself?” she says, “The Serpent did it.”
Take note of the Horizontal Impact of Sin…
Sin is willing to throw anyone under the bus to serve your purposes. Sin says, “Your life for mine” where love says, “My life for yours.”
At about 3:20 am on March 13, 1964, Kitty Genovese, a 28-year-old manager at a bar in Queens, returned to her neighborhood parking lot. Parking her car, she approached her building where a man at the far end of the lot walked toward her. As he reached her, she screamed, “Oh, my God, he stabbed me! Please help me! Please help me!” Lights went on in a nearby apartment building each time Kitty was stabbed. In fact, one man opened his window and cried out, “Let that girl alone!” only to close his window and do nothing else. In each of the 3 times, this young girl was stabbed, dozens of self-respecting citizens saw or heard the noise but did nothing. Eventually, Kitty was killed inside her apartment building, just in front of her stairs. In fact, her assailant at one point, got in his car drove off, only to come back and finish her off. More than thirty people heard her cries but no one called 911 until after her death. Why? One said, “I didn’t want to get involved. Another said they were too tired and went back to bed while others didn’t know why they didn’t help.
The Christian doctrine of original sin is that we are hardwired for selfishness and cruelty. How else do you explain this fact: abused children often grow up to abuse their children. It’s not just a problem of we have bad examples or bad environments. Instead, we’re hardwired for it. And this is the importance of this story of the first couple for their sin becomes something each one of us inherits: “…sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned…” (Romans 5:12) Adam and Eve represented all of us and each one of us. You inherited guilt from Adam and Eve but you also inherited a profound corruption as well. Even when we attempt to play the right notes with our lives, we lack an ear to even know what the right notes are.
Our Relationship with Ourselves
Our Relationship with Others
And lastly…
2.3 Our Relationship with God
“And 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.” (Genesis 3:8)
Just as naked was naked so walking isn’t walking. Walking is the friendship where God and Adam and Eve were together. God came to man looking to have a relationship with him. And yet, when sin enters into the picture, we run from God who wants to relationship. And why don’t we want a relationship with him? Because we want relationships where we control it… where we’re god. Before the first couple decided to break God’s rules, God promised them they would die: “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:17)
What kind of death? First, we are dead spiritually but second we’re going to die physically. There’s was no way back. In fact, God came along after they had sown the fig leaves up to cover themselves and gave them more permanent covering – animal’s skins. It’s noteworthy that God didn’t say: “I can fix this. Take those fig leaves off. I’ll show you how to live happily ever after again.” It’s important to know that animal’s lives had to be taken as a result of sin. Remember, we are talking about all of us: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” (Romans 3:23)
1. The Descent of Us
2. The Result of Sin
3. The Heart of God
Watch carefully God’s actions in the story: “And 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. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, ‘Where are you?’” (Genesis 3:8-9)
We hide but God seeks. It’s our nature to hide but it’s in His nature to seek. God comes back saying, “Where are you?” In love, he’s coming after them. Anyone who knows Christ says this, “You must have come after me; I never would have come after you.” Anybody who ever finds faith with God feels like this.
The sin you cover, God will one day uncover in judgment. Yet, the sin you uncover, God will cover in grace.
God made the world.
We rebelled against our ruler.
God reentered the world to redeem us.
And God will remake the world.
Closing
Scattered among the things God declared was this statement to Satan: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15)
Did you see Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of the Christ? The opening scene shows Jesus in agony as He prays in the Garden of Gethsemane and it is truly memorable. As Jesus is praying, a snake starts crawling over one of his limbs. Jesus stands up and suddenly slams his foot down on the snake’s head. The symbolism is right out of Genesis 3. By going to the cross, Jesus will ultimately destroy this serpent, the devil, who holds people captive under sin, shame, and guilt. He will crush the serpent's head by taking their guilt and shame on himself.
“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” (Romans 16:20)
Closing Prayer
God, I am sorry for my sin. My sin hurt you, my sin has hurt those around who I love, and my sin has hurt me. I am so sorry for what I have done.
I thank you for your love for us. I thank you for coming to find us when we hide from you. I have run and rebelled again you and yet, you find me. We thank you for your grace.
Thank you for sending your Son, Jesus, to die on a cross for our sins. Thank you for crushing the head of the serpent. And thank you for showing us mercy on the cross.
We long to see your face and to enjoy your presence as Adam and Eve did so many years ago. Bless us with your presence and remove from us the sin that so easily hurts us. Walk with us again through your Son, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
