Spiritual Warfare - 4
Genesis 3:1-13
October 31, 2021
For the past few weeks we’ve been talking about spiritual warfare. I believe it’s real and it’s all around us. Just look at the news and you can see that we are in a spiritual battle. Is the world coming to an end? Yes, it is. When? I have no clue. Paul thought it was going to happen in his time, but we’re still here over 2000 years later.
The hope in this series has been to help us see that satan is real. That he’s out to get us as much as possible. As Jesus put it . . . his purpose is to STEAL, KILL and DESTROY us. That’s his one and only mission.
We’ve looked at the fact that satan was thrown out of heaven. That he rebelled against God, wanting to be God. But God always wins. And that’s great news!
Two weeks ago we started looking at the scene from Genesis 3 and today we’re going to conclude looking at this story and keep moving forward. Let me just say this . . . I told you that snakes are all around us. We don’t always see them, but they’re around. Now, I’ve always believed God has a sense of humor. And I believe it was directed at me two weeks ago.
As I was walking back to my office, I saw this - - -
PICTURE OF SNAKE
Now, I’m not a hero when it comes to snakes. I avoid them. I looked at it, and it didn’t move. I thought someone was playing a joke on me, but I still went and got a stick and when I came back it had moved. Suffice it to say, The stick touched the snake, has now been burned and the snake is outside somewhere. Moving on -
satan came tempting Eve and Adam. Remember, Adam was with her, but didn’t do anything about the temptation. I believe that’s why Paul said in 1 Corinthians 16:13 - - - Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
When satan approached Eve it may have seemed a little playful, even questioning banter about who God is. Asking her in Genesis 3:1 - - - Did God really tell you, you can’t eat of any tree in the garden?
He ultimately followed it up in verse 4 basically saying ‘you won’t die! God’s not going to kill you. Come on, get real, girl. You’re His creation, He wouldn’t kill you. No, He’s really just protecting His kingdom because if you eat from that tree, you’ll be just like Him . . . and He doesn’t like the competition.’
I’m expanding the story a bit, but that’s where he was going with Eve, and we know, Eve and Adam ate from the tree and sin had now entered the world.
We need to understand that the Bible is all about correcting the effects of this one event. This is the event that ultimately leads to the cross of Christ. This is about God making everything right. In Romans 5, Paul tells us - - -
18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all.
19 For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.
Do you see that? Through the sin in the garden, we were all made sinners, but through the grace of God, the cross of Christ, we are now made righteous in the eyes of God. That’s the great news.
Last point of review is this . . . I believe satan tempts us in 4 ways . . .
1. We want control over all of life. We want to be god.
2. In 1 John 2:16 - -
For all that is in the world—the lusts of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and pride of life — is not from the Father but is from the world.
Now, let’s keep moving, after they ate the fruit, Genesis 3:7 tells us - - -
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. - Genesis 3:7
Do you know what the last verse of Genesis 2 is?
25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
Do you see the difference? In the beginning, Adam and Eve were walking around naked, not having a care in the world. In fact, they didn’t even know they were naked. They just did what they were created to do. They were naked and could care less.
Now, that they’ve ate from the tree, they immediately knew they were naked. Isn’t that interesting? I really believe, and I’m not going into detail on this one, but I believe this is where we find so many sexual issues in our world today. It’s the result of sin. I could go on and on about this, but that’s not the purpose.
They were naked before one another and God, and now they go and sew fig leaves together to cover up their bodies. In 2:25, we read that they had no shame. That’s such a huge word, because there is so much shame that comes across this world when it comes to our bodies. You’re too big, too small, you’re too this or too that
There’s no perfect body in our eyes, yet according to God, we’re all created perfectly, because we’re created in His image. And that is always, always great!!
So, they had no guilt when it came to who they were, but now there is guilt and shame. I mean, you shouldn’t feel shame about your body with your spouse. Maybe your body’s changed, but it’s your spouse, and the love should be there no matter what’s happened, for better or worse.
Yet, we feel humiliated, vulnerable, self-disgust, and guilt. OK, enough on that.
They were not only naked before one another, but before God as well. The writer of Hebrews spells that out even more in Hebrews 4, telling us - - -
13 And no creature is hidden from His sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
Sometimes our biggest fear is what if people really know about me. What I think and feel, or if they really knew my past – – they would hate me and never talk to me. Yet, God knows and He still sent His Son - - - not to condemn you, but to offer you life.
So, we have all this going on back then, and still in our world today.
They’ve made little outfits for themselves, I guess Eve wore the first bikini and Adam had the first speedo.
Now, they’re freaking out. They know they’ve done wrong. They don’t know what to do, so they do what every little kid does, the hide and blame others.
In verse 8 we read - -
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. - Genesis 3:8
You see, Adam and Eve would hang out with God in the garden. They would enjoy one another’s company. There was no shame. It was amazing! There was joy in their community together.
Now, look at what happens. They go and hide. One moment they wanted to be like God, now they’re running from the One they wanted to be like. They’re afraid to talk to Him. They feel overwhelming shame at what they’ve done. They’ve let God down and how do they repair this relationship? How do they simply admit their guilt.
Ever been there? Ever let someone you love down? You feel guilt, remorse, shame . . . and more. You don’t want to face the person, you want to run and hide and hope it magically goes away. That’s where Adam and Eve are at this point.
God calls them on their sudden disappearance. I really think it’s one of those rhetorical questions filled with irony. It would be comedic if it weren’t tragic - -
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.”
God couldn’t find Adam and Eve. Really?! Of course God knew where they were, but God wanted Adam to respond. He called on Adam for a response. But they’re hiding in shame. They realize they’re naked before God and they try to duck away.
But we know that we can’t run and hide from God. God is always with us. That’s the great news and that’s the struggle. We love that God’s always with us. We hold to the promise that He will never fail us or forsake us. That’s comforting. Yet, at the same time, there is nowhere I can go and hide, because of the same reason, God is always with me. He sees the good and the bad.
We try to hide but God continues to seek us. It’s in our nature to hide. Especially when we know we’ve blown it. BUT . . . the cool part is that it’s in God’s nature to seek us. God’s love is overpowering and consuming. God is coming after them, just as He comes after us. Again, not to condemn us, but to love us and give us the gift of reconciliation, hope, mercy, grace, love and strength.
We try to hide our sin, we cover it up with fig leaves, yet the sinfulness we try to cover up, God will uncover - - - - BUT He won’t cast us away, but will cover that sin and shame with His grace.
But the problems with Adam and Eve continued in their conversation with God. God continues questioning Adam - -
11 “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”
Of course God knows the answer. It’s like the parent who asks the kid whose face is covered in chocolate and they of course, say, “nope, not me!”
The answer is obvious. We know it, Adam knows it, Eve knows it and nothing catches God by surprise, so He knows it. Sometimes, it’s to find out what your made of. What’s your character. Are you just going to admit it, or try to squirm your way out of it.
Adam and Eve give priceless answers. Warning - - - don’t imitate them!!!
12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”
Notice that Adam does 2 things. Firstly, he blames God. That woman you gave to be with me. That woman, whom I’ve really enjoyed having with me, yup, God, the one you gave me. Can you give me a less defective model. Maybe one who doesn’t talk to snakes.
Then he blames the woman. ‘She gave me the fruit and I ate it. I didn’t do anything wrong God. I was watching some tik tok videos and you know God, I’m a man, I can’t multi-task. I can’t watch and listen at the same time.’
Now, the scene shifts to Eve - - -
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.”
Of course, nobody’s going to take responsibility. Eve blames the serpent, Adam blames God and Eve and the serpent tries to slither away to do it again and again and again.
Understand the impact of sin. When Adam exclaimed, “She gave me the fruit. I always obey Eve.’ And then Eve says the serpent deceived her, we can see the effects of sin. We see how it impacts our relationships.
Too often when we sin, we’re willing to throw anyone under the bus in order to save ourselves, to justify our sin. We’ll lie, slander, cheat, murder, do just about anything to get away with it.
Sin says, “Your life to enhance mine,” and not my life to enhance yours. I will suck you dry in order to make myself feel good.
When we meet in 2 weeks, even though there’s more to talk about, I’m going to end the series since and advent series on spiritual warfare isn’t too uplifting, and I want us to prepare for the joy of Christ’s birth as well.
For now, I want to end with this - - -
As God told Adam and Eve the consequences of their sin, the message to satan was that he will bruise the heel of her offspring, which is Jesus, but the good news is that Jesus still overcame this bruising because God said He will bruise your head! In other words, He will destroy you.
From the movie the Passion of the Christ, we see this scene in the garden of Gethsemane. It didn’t happen, but I love it anyways, because it’s what Jesus did for us in defeating sin and death!
VIDEO - show scene from Passion of the Christ in Garden of Gethsemane.
Prayer
