Where it all went Wrong
Genesis 2:15–17 NKJV
Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 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 3:1–7 NKJV
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’?”
And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 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.’ ”
Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 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 coverings.
We now come to the First Sunday in Lent, a forty day period of spiritual reflection and repentance. Traditionally, the season of Lent begins with the imposition of ashes on what is called Ash Wednesday. These ashes come from the burning of last years palms from Palm Sunday, which is the end of the season of Lent and the beginning of Holy Week in which we remember that Jesus came into Jerusalem with great accolades from the crowd who believed Jesus was the promised Messiah-King who would overthrow the Romans and set up a new Israeli Kingdom. He did come to establish a new Israel, but not in the way they had imagined. He would be rejected by the leaders of Israel and then the people. He was crucified, dead, and buried. The entire drama ends with Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.
I mentioned that Lent is a season of reflection. The 40 days of Lent also remind us of a 40 day period at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in which he endured great temptation from Satan in the desert. This was a period of preparation for His public ministry. So, we can see Lent as a time of preparation for us to fulfill our ministry as Jesus’ disciples, remembering that the Christian life requires patience and endurance. We are called to carry our own crosses and follow Him.
I also mentioned that Lent is a time of repentance. In one aspect, our honest self-evaluation leads us to the conclusion that we are all sinners. This is a contradiction to who we are as Christians, but nevertheless, we find that we have not been obedient either as individuals or a church. We do reflect upon what things we have done right, but it is also necessary to repent of our failures as well with he intention of better service to the LORD in the future. This is a hopeful reflection because we remember that Jesus died for our sins and has promised to perfect us. Repentance comes from a Greek term, “metanoia” which has the idea of transforming one’s thinking to line up to the Christian worldview rather than that of the worlds.
In this morning’s sermon, we are going to reflect on where it went wrong and its implications. We know from the beginning of the Bible that God created us in His image and placed us in the palace garden of Eden where He communed with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day. Of all God’s creations, He was most pleased with His creation of man.
Since we were created perfect, what went wrong? Why are we sinners in need of God’s grace? Why did Christ have to come? Why do we have all this misery and wars? Why do we grow old and die? These things make us cry out: “Is there any hope?” Come back tonight and find out (“Where it all went Right”).
In Genesis 2:15-17, we learn that the LORD called Adam and Eve to tend the Garden. Their wages was that they could eat of all the delectable fruit on the trees, except one, the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” There was also a tree of life which Adam and Eve were unaware of (Genesis 3:22). So long as they obeyed this solitary commandment, all would be well. There would have been no need for them to partake the tree of life as they would not have known death. God solemnly warned them of the consequences of disobedience. If they ate from this tree, they would surely die. They might not have fully understood what “death” was, but it was certainly unpleasant and to be avoided. God spoke this command, so it carried all legal authority.
In chapter 3, we are introduced to a fly in the ointment, the clever serpent. A serpent is a poisonous snake, and his words that he spoke were the most venomous words ever spoken, This serpent’s bite did not just poison Adam and Eve, but the entire human race. He was originally created with legs, as a snake’s skeleton even today has vestiges of arms and legs. We are not told of the events of the rebellion of Satan in heaven in relation to this temptation, Did this fall in heaven happen before or after man’s fall, or at the same time? It is the source of speculation, but not to discuss here. What is important is that the serpent approached Eve with a question. The woman was asked whether God had indeed said that they should not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Good and evil are opposites. Good and evil are moral qualities. So there were two poisons in this statement. The first was to question the goodness and authority of God over His creation. God alone had the right to determine right and wrong. The serpent’s reply that if they ate of the tree that their eyes would be opened and that they would be able to determine what was good or evil for themselves. They did not need God to tell them what to do, This was the second venom.
Eve’s response to the devil’s temptation showed she know that God had told them they were not to eat of the tree. She adds that they were not to even touch it. Some have made issue of the addition, but the mistake here is that she engaged the serpent rather than simply affirming that God had said it and nothing else. Letting your yes be yes and your no be no is often the best policy in dealing with those who would lead you astray. By making a reply, she opened the door to the followup.
The serpent, though he was the most clever of the creatures other than man, made a statement which he was in no position to know. At this point, there was no death. If we realize that Satan, also a creature, was speaking through the serpent, then the fall of Satan can be linked to this passage. By, answering, she opened herself to the deadly follow-up. (We must remember that Adam was with her and did nothing to stop this. It was to Adam that the commandment was given, yet it was Eve who responded.)
The serpent went on to accuse God of lying. He was lying about His death threat. The serpent claimed that God was withholding something from them instead. They could become gods themselves if they would just partake of the tree. As we previously mentioned, they could determine what was good or evil for themselves. they could be free moral agents and have free will over their destiny. The taking of this poison was the most deadly as it has killed billions with a single bite. It is at this point that everything went wrong. Eve should have responded by telling the serpent to get behind her. Adam should have protected her. the hook was baited and cast before them.
Adam and Eve now took the fatal poison. By listening to the serpent, they desired to be wise. Were they not already wise. Does not the LORD say that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” The fruit of the tree also looked more luscious than the other fruit. They took the fruit and ate. there eyes were “opened.” The first new thing they learned is that they were “naked.” without sin, there would be no shame in bodily nakedness. However, there was a greater nakedness which was spiritual. they realized they were sinners. They tried to cover their nakedness with fig leaves, but no fig leaf could cover their shame. They also learned of the wrath of God who said that if they took of the fruit, they would surely die.
Not only did they try to cover their physical nakedness, they tried to hide their spiritual nakedness from God. they hid themselves. However, God found them out. He knows everything, even that which is done in secret. God confronts them when He comes “searching” for them in the cool of the day. of course, He knew where to find them, just as He knows where to find us. The LORD had the right to destroy them then and there. And He would have been perfectly righteousness to have done so. He could have started out with a new Adam and Eve. But He didn’t. They would face physical death, but not right away. They were cursed and cast out from Eden. they would face the thorns and briers. The work they would do would no loner be joyful but laborious. There was going to be a great slide downhill. Their son, Cain would murder his brother Abel. Death, murder, robbery, perversion, and slavery would follow and come to all men. We have recently been introduced to the Epstein files and all the claimed and I would guess for the most part sordid acts committed by those who consider themselves morally superior to everyone else. This is nothing new. the Bible shows that these things happened in the ancient world as well. There is nothing new under the sun. Even people who claim to be His people do the same things. Sometimes, I wish this stuff had not been revealed as it does damage to the hearers. It is better not to know everything, especially what sin and death is. Yet, this is the world we live in. It has all gone wrong. We are all poisoned.
We also realize that the spiritual death they, and all mankind suffered in Adam and Eve and have ratified in their own rebellion, was not the end of the matter. God also gave them a promise in His cursing of the serpent that a woman would have a son who would put the final death wound upon the serpent. It has all gone wrong. We all wallow in the pigsty. We cannot make it right. Only God can do what we think impossible. Come tonight and learn how it was all made right.
?
