Title: A Shameful Walk
Text: Genesis 3
Subject: Disobedience; Temptation
Series: The Walk Series; #1
Introduction: Before cars, before roller skates, before bicycles, before boats, and even before people rode animals, people walked places. Thousands of years later, walking is still very popular today. It’s a very efficient and enjoyable mode of transportation. When Kelly and I were dating, that was one of the main ways we spent time together. We’d meet and go for a long walk. There were a lot of walks but there are several that stand out in my mind. Our very first walk together, the short walk we took out over the Mississippi River as I proposed to her, and the very first walk we took as husband and wife as we walked back down the aisle of the church we got married in. All of these were walks that I can never forget.
As we read through the Bible we come across a lot of walks. Some were joyous while others terrible. Yet in both the good and bad walks we can learn something. Today I want to start a series looking at a variety of different walks in the Bible. We begin with a couple known as Adam and Eve. Many of us know the story. In the beginning God created everything that we can see. In the midst of this creation was a beautiful garden. The final culmination of God’s creation was man. God had designed a perfect world for Adam with one simple rule. Let’s open to Genesis 2:15-17.
The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die. NIV (Keep your Bibles open to chapter three).
God also created woman to be Adam’s helper and companion in the garden. Things were wonderful, abundant food, soft grass, and fellowship with God. One day though, that was all going to change.
I. Eve walked close to the tree.
The Bible doesn’t record how long Adam and Eve cared for the garden. What appears as just a few lines in the Bible could have been years and years. However long it was, there was a time in which Adam and Eve did exactly what God had designed them to do, care for the garden. It was a wonderful thing. It must have been like King Midas where everything they touched turned to gold. A little pruning on one tree and the next day it’s full of fruit. There were no thorns to worry about and no fears of some insect coming and destroying the trees. They worked hard to care for every tree except the one. It was unwritten rule that they wouldn’t even go close to it. One day Eve was out for a walk. She wasn’t headed anywhere in particular. Eventually she found herself in the general area of the forbidden tree. She turned her gaze and stared at it for a few minutes. Surely it wouldn’t hurt to walk past the tree. As she turned and began heading toward it a small voice inside encouraged her to turn around. Eve wasn’t listening as she walked right up to the tree. This was what all the fuss had been about. This was the forbidden tree. It looked like all the others and Eve began to examine it more closely.
Thousands of years later you would think that the people of God would be beyond the mistake that Eve made, but so often we see that we’re not. It’s a very simple thing. Many people in our churches today like to walk close to sin. It used to be different. In the past the goal for various holiness movements was to get as far as way from all evil as possible. To this extent it was believed that Christians could never visit a theater or attend a play. Woman had better be in a long dress down to the ankles with hair almost as equally long. Women, don’t even think about wearing pants. These were things to make sure people stayed holy and close to God. While some bordered on legalism and the extreme, it seems to be a complete reversal in this day and age. Often today, Christians want to see how far they can go enjoying this world while still remaining Christians. A common topic in some youth group discussions is how far a guy and a girl can go physically before God considers it sin. They want to know not so they can stay away from it, but so they can get as close to it as possible.
We are making the same mistake as Eve did. We’re walking close to sin. Did Eve sin when she walked up to the tree? No, but she put herself in a place were sin was likely. We shouldn’t be like this. We must judge our actions and our walk on a daily basis. We can ask ourselves questions like these. Is my frustration with my fellow believer out of a desire for their growth or simply because I don’t love them? Is passing on this information I acquired necessary or is it just because I like to gossip? Am I walking up to the forbidden tree because I want to look at it or because I might want to take a bite?
The lesson from Eve is simple. Stay away! Don’t even walk close to sin. Don’t even turn your head and look in its direction. Keep your eyes focused on the tasks the Lord has given you.
II. Instead of walking, she listened to talking
Let’s enter back into the text of Genesis for this. Start with me in verse 1 of chapter 3.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, ’You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?" 2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ’You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’" 4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 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 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. (Genesis 3:1-6) NIV
Eve is out examining the tree when a snake begins speaking to her. Different theologians have argued that animals could speak before the fall and so it wasn’t an unusual situation for Eve to be in. Since I wasn’t in the Garden, I can’t tell you for sure but I think I have a reasonable idea. Eve was already looking at the fruit. The snake was just expressing what Eve was already feeling inside. Even Eve’s comment about what God has said seems half-hearted. “God has told us not to eat the fruit of this tree.” While she says it you can almost envision her taste buds beginning to fire. Instead of high tailing it out of there, Eve stays to listen and winds up believing the snake. “You know, that fruit really does look good. What’s one little bite going to do to me?” One bite and that’s it. As she reaches out to pull it off the tree, her heart begins beating faster. Her heart has never beat fast like this before. It’s exciting. She clasps the fruit in her hand and jerks it free. Nothing as happened yet. Her heart beats a little faster. A small voice inside is telling her to walk away but all Eve chooses to hear is the snake whispering for her to eat and the pounding of her own heart. She lifts it to her mouth and takes a big bite. It’s sweet and the juices run down her throat. Her husband is nearby and she gives some to him and ignoring that small voice inside, he chooses to eat it too. They finish the entire piece. If you could have been there, you would have noticed a serpent behind them with a wicked smile on its face.
Was this the pinnacle of God’s creation dooming the rest of mankind because of a piece of fruit? The fruit has played an important part in what I’ll call the mythology of the fall of man. It’s been portrayed as an apple again and again even though the text no where describes it as such. Was it some special fruit that held within it the powers of good and evil? No. It was just a simple piece of fruit. It was the act of disobedience on Adam and Eve’s part that led to the knowledge and the fall. Another lesson is learned from this. Many of the sins that we are tempted with are for lack of a better description, simple sins. Most of us here haven’t committed murder, adultery, etc. The sins that we consider big. But each of us has probably lied, cheated, hated, lusted, and so on. Sins that are considered simple and not as bad. That fruit looked like a simple piece of fruit, but when it was taken it broke God’s direct command. Any sin that we commit breaks God commands. It doesn’t matter how big or how or how small, it still leads us away from God. We need to be on guard for the simple sins. The sins that society accepts. The little white lies that are still lies and sinful.
III. God wanted to walk, but Adam and Eve balked.
Starting again from verse 7.
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"
10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid (Genesis 3:7-10 NIV).
The Bible doesn’t describe it as anything unusual that God was walking in the Garden. It must have been a common practice. As Adam and Eve cowered in the bushes, they heard God coming closer. The unmistakable voice of God called out, “Adam, where are you.” Adam and Eve’s hearts were racing not out of excitement but out of fear. They had disobeyed their Creator. The fruit that had tasted so sweet going down had now soured their stomach. They were ashamed. In a moment’s time they had gained the knowledge of good and evil. The problem was that they realized they were the ones that were evil and a righteous holy God was looking for them. Adam and Eve whispered to each other. Should we speak up? Why did they feel this way? They had never been afraid of God before. “Adam? Eve? It’s evening and I thought we could all go for a walk together.” Adam’s voiced cracked as he replied, “I heard you God, but I was afraid.” The sad thing for Adam is that God already knew what had happened. God had watched it all. God had even been that small voice reminding them of the truth but they had ignored it. It was with a heavy heart that God was coming not just to take a walk, but to enforce justice.
God wants to walk with us. Every day he wants to spend time with us. When we sin though, it can’t happen. Sin cannot survive in the presence of God. No man or woman can walk with God if sin is in their life. They may try to follow God, but they cannot walk with Him.
Transition: The sad truth of Adam and Eve is the reality of their last walk in the Garden.
IV. The shameful walk
Genesis 3:23-24.
3 So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. NIV
Adam and Eve’s heads were hanging low. They were wicked and they knew it in their hearts. Every step brought them closer to the gate they were going to walk out. Adam glanced over. One of the creatures that he had named tiger was looking at him. It had always been one of Adam’s favorites. It was such a gentle creature. As he passed by the tiger bared is teeth and let out a long growl before turning and running away. Things were different now. Eve looked down and noticed the skins of clothing God had provided. It was kindness, but Eve was still ashamed. They both questioned themselves. How could they have given in so easily? They had had everything. The gate was right in front of them. They both stole one last look at the Garden before walking out the gate.
The world may love sin, but it leads to nothing but shame. We need to realize this ourselves and tell others. Sin leads to nothing but shame and separation from God. It may taste sweet for a brief moment of time, but then the bitterness comes.
Conclusion: Each one of us has taken this walk. Each one of has walked up to the tree and chosen the sin of our choosing and bit into it. Each one of us by our own choice has chosen to be expelled from paradise. God didn’t let it remain that way. Yes, we’ve all had to take a shameful walk away from God, but it is God that made the way back. God sent a second Adam to earth, his son Jesus, to set things right. All that believe in Jesus have been made right with God. Christ’s blood can make even the foulest sinner clean. There is no reason to be ashamed anymore if you walk in Jesus and obey God.
