Themes of the Bible: The Fall (Genesis 3)

         

As I was getting this message ready, I came across a testimony from a believer of when they were growing up. They said,

“We always went to church on two Sundays out of the year, Easter and Christmas. My parents, if you ask them, would say that they believed in Jesus, but it was more of this amorphous belief in a grander good, rather than anything resembling an actual person who lived a actual human life, died a natural death, and actually rules now. From their view, two Sundays each year was sufficient to re-center them. Plus, it worked out that the two Sundays were fairly well spaced out, it was almost as though God planned it that way. So, we had our winter realignment at Christmas, and a summer tune up at Easter, but what that meant for all of us was that we heard essentially the same two messages every year. We read the same two passages of scripture every year. It became folksy to me much more than anything remotely meaningful. After all this, I came to faith in Christ years later, and it dawned on me that every year I would be told that God came to Earth as a baby and that God then raised Jesus from the dead later on. But, for all those years I never once heard what happened in between. I never knew why this baby became a man that everyone wanted to kill or why God let him die or why he needed to or how him coming back to life had any real significance for me.”

 

Well, that's something that if that's you today, hopefully this message will provide some answers to you. This is just the second week of a series where we're going through the Bible that we know we can trust is God's word and seeing the major themes and the major ideas that God is trying to communicate to mankind. Last week we were in Genesis 1, and this week we’ll be in Genesis 3, and your assignment is to read Genesis 6 for next week.

Last week, where we left off in chapter 1, God has created everything, and he is called it very good. That's the phrase that he uses to say that this can't get any better. Its perfection. We have an idea of what heaven is because its absent of all the bad, and that's what God has created on Earth. It was a Heaven on Earth with no pain, no sickness, no disease, no hunger, no discomfort, no injustice, no death, none of it. That's what God has created on Earth and it is in perfect alignment with him, the perfect Creator. That's what we have at the end of Genesis 1. But, is that the world you're living in? Obviously not. Just think about our own community. We have poverty, disability, addiction, broken heartedness, loneliness, and much more. Just in the past few weeks we’ve had war between Israel and Hamas, the terror organization that control the Gaza Strip, several mass shootings here in the United States, Islamic militants kidnapping starving children in Africa from their schools, and in no way is what's happening in the world consistent with what God created for us. So, something has obviously happened between the idyllic Garden of Eden and now. If you have your Bible, you can flip it open to Genesis chapter 3. We’ll start in verse 1, [Read Genesis 3:1]. Let’s stop there for just a second. Just so we're all clear on this, this is not a talking snake. This is where skeptics criticize Christians and so you believe in the Christian’s understand that snakes don’t talk. We're fully aware of that, and that is not what is happening here with a snake. What we are being introduced to is like what we were introduced to last week, this eternal, everlasting, supernatural God. Now, we're being introduced to another supernatural character. We know by natural laws that animals don't talk, so, these are beings that exist outside of the realm of our understanding, outside of the limits of ordinary nature, which we would call “super-natural.” Here, Satan either takes the form of a snake or serpent or he dwells in one, but it's the supernatural being that is doing the talking. And when he began to speak, Satan through this serpent, we understand that he is the essence of rebellion against God. That's who and what Satan is.

This approach isn't just here as a story in Genesis that has no impact on all of us. Notice what Satan does when he approaches Eve. He comes up and his first move is not to come up and deny who God is, it’s not to criticize God, it's to lead with a question. He always does that. Are you really sure that God really said that? This passage is so instructive for every single one of us because it perfectly encapsulates the strategy that Satan use then and still uses today. I's exactly what he always does. He begins with a question, but this isn't an innocent question. Satan isn't actually curious about what God said. Satan is attempting to do something here with his question, and he's attempting to introduce doubt in Eve’s mind. Let me suggest to you that that's exactly what he's doing today. He poses this question, has God really said he. . .” in an effort to get us to doubt the promises and word of God.

As Christians, we know that the Bible is the infallible word of God and that after making all of the created order, God called it good. But just look at all the suffering around us. How can God be good? Do you really think God loves you? He's going to let you go through what you're going through?! That is introducing doubt into your mind. That’s Satan’s greatest weapon against God’s people. He does the same strategy in this case. He is saying ‘did God really say don't eat the fruit?’ But what is he say to us, since we're not worried about eating fruit? Does the Bible really have a list of words somewhere that you can't say? I don't see that written down in the Bible, so why shouldn’t we say them? What about pornography? Does the Bible even speak about pornography?  It’s just pictures, so you're just admiring a form that he created, right? Well, Jesus never talked to a homosexual, are we really sure that’s not ok. Why would the word of God prevent two people from just loving one another? Our God is love, right? That’s what 1 John says. . .

That's exactly what he did in the Garden of Eden. Satan will always start by introducing doubts to the human mind. So, he says here, ‘did God really say not to eat any fruit?’ That's not what God said at all, he said, Genesis 2:16-17, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” Here God is demonstrating his goodness and what we should be concentrating on is all that we can eat from, all of that stuff growing from the multitude of trees, but she's looking at the one thing she’s told she can't have. She isn't dwelling on all that God has given her, she's looking at the one thing that we're told we can’t have.

This is a story of God wanting to provide for us and protect us, but Eve is interpreting this as God ruining my fun. The one thing that I want he's telling me I can't look at it, I can't touch it. And let’s not bash Eve too much right here. She’s interested, Satan has her attention, but she responds with relaying, for the most part, what God told he and her husband. Look how Eve responds, the woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” Once Satan sees that there’s a little doubt, a little uncertainty with what God actually said, he goes for the jugular. He says, verse 4, “You surely will not die!” Now, he's just going to contradict God. ‘No, you're not going to die if you eat this.’

He’s told his lie, but now he has to have an explanation as to why God has told them something that isn't true. So, he says, verse 5, “for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God.” He's slandering God's motive. His lie is saying that God is the one lying, and I’m trying to help you and give you the truth.

Remember, God has told them not to eat from the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil because what is that? That's moral and ethical discernment. You'll know right from wrong and good from bad. God wants them to know that, because they already have it in its perfect form. God says, if you will rely on me and trust me, I will never mislead. If you listen to me, I will tell you what you can, and I can tell you where you should be. Just trust me and you will live forever in perfection. So, by warning them not to eat from the tree, God's protecting them, asking them to rely on his understanding rather than their own. But Satan is spinning it as this power trip that God's on. Saying that he wants to control you and if there's one thing human beings don't like it's to be told it’s what to do.

So, what's the result? Verse 6-7, [Read Genesis 3:6-7].

Before this, God has not told them that they need to cover up, and they have no knowledge of that, but now that they're aware of this, they feel shame. That's one of the first things that sin brings, shame.

In 1st John, John explains the causes of sin for everything in the world to be, lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. This sin comes from the world, not from the Father, and those three things are going to be at the heart of all of our sins. Right here in verse 6 we can look at that, the lust of the eye. Eve saw that the fruit looked good, so she wanted it, and took it. The lust of the flesh she saw that it was good for food, and it tasted good, and she saw that it was good for gaining wisdom, she thought that she would be like God if she ate it. That final portion, that's the pride. All three of these major causes of sin right there in the Garden of Eden.

Start thinking through your own sin, whatever it is. We all struggle with sin, and you will see that they're all driven by the same thing. We desire things that we see that looks good, even if we've been told this is appropriate or bad for us, things we think are going to feel good so we want it, and so we do it knowing that it's not supposed to be ours, knowing we shouldn't be doing it. And so we pretend that we're gods of our own little universe, where we are the ones that get to determine right and wrong. We make ourselves god and do what we want, we crave the lust of the eye, lust of the flesh, the pride of life, and it's always the same thing. Satan hasn't gotten any craftier. He does the exact same stuff and yet man hasn't gotten any wiser.

Satan hasn't changed his plan because it worked on Eve, and it still works on us. We need to take responsibility for ourselves ahead of time. Stop playing the blame game. Look at Adam, verse 12 [Read Genesis 3:12]. What's his move? To say, ‘well, God, it’s kind of your fault for giving me Eve as a wife. It’s at least her fault for giving me the fruit, but it certainly isn’t my fault. I’m just the victim here.’ How does Eve respond? The exact same way, verse 13, “Then the Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ And the woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate.’” God can’t be fooled though. Our lies and manipulation won’t work on him. No matter who we blame, there are still real consequences. Let's look at them, verse 14. [Read Genesis 3:14-19]. These are the consequences of sin.

These things bring shame into the world, something God never intended, all the thorns and thistles, the sweat and the toil, pains and painful childbirth, none of that was part of the original design. We were invited to live in perfect paradise, and we brought upon ourselves the promise of punishment and a curse. If you eat this, you will die. Death is the punishment for sin, and now sin enters the world and separation from God, who is completely holy and cannot be around anything that is not holy has to be a consequence. The moment that humanity shows our own pursuit of right and wrong and rebelled against God, God separated himself from humanity. God intended to dwell with them forever as a loving family in eternal fellowship, and now he's separated from them. And because he is separated, the first part of the curse comes on the land. Now that God has been removed from the creation that he made, what he previously called “good” is now under the influence and, in a sense, dominion of the devil. That's why, when you read the temptation of Jesus and Satan has him up on a mountain and promises Jesus saying bow down and worship me, and I'll give you all the kingdoms of the world.

We see all of these terrible consequences of this separation, this curse, and yet, it’s kind of buried among all this bad news, is some really good news. Verse 15, this is the first Messianic prophecy in all of scripture, also called the protoevangelium. “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. . .” Let’s stop there for just a second. For people that say the Bible was just made up, just think about it. Moses, who penned this book, had no idea of the idea of a virgin birth, so, why does this say that this is going to be from the seed of a woman, instead of the seed of a man? Everything in that culture would have been masculine leaning, but here we’re told this person will be born through the seed of a woman, which points us to the virgin birth. No human man involved.

Let’s continue on and see what this person will do. “. . .He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.” So, that is the first Messianic prophecy. Just a hint, or a shadow as the writer of Hebrews explains it, that would turn into a type, then a picture, then finally realized in the Christ, God finally dwelling among His creation, albeit among sinners and not the paradise we’ll enjoy with him into eternity.  

God is perfection and he intended that we experience that. His desire was to dwell with us, as bearers of his image, for all eternity. Yet, sin, rebellion, imperfection, and falling short of the glory of God, the moment you listen to the deceiver and follow the path that you thought was best because it looks good it felt good, and you are the one that gets to decide right and wrong, you rebelled against God. And once you have rebelled against him, you're separated from him for eternity.

But here's what Genesis 3 teaches. Even though we rebelled and went our own way. As the master chess player, God is always many moves ahead of us. He says, in essence, ‘I'm giving these people free will and no matter what they choose, I have a plan to respond to whatever it is that they do.” That’s why Revelation 13:8 refers to Jesus as “the lamb who was slain from the creation of the world (KJV only).

From the beginning of time, God had a plan for us in exactly how he would redeem us. From the moment this all falls apart, when the very first sin enters the world, the plan is already in motion for how God would redeem his creation. That’s why 1 Corinthians 15:21-22 says, “For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.”

To close, one of the most famous verses from the whole Bible, Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus, who came to him in the dead of night so that the other pharisees won’t know he was talking to Jesus. And Nicodemus asks him about the new birth, and part of his response is to tell him about this rescue plan for humanity, God’s plan of redemption. He says, in John 3:16-18, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

God made us a perfect paradise, a perfect world and we messed it up. The whole point of Jesus coming and dying for those who believe in Him is that they are not condemned. But whoever does not believe, you're condemned already because you've chosen the path of Adam. Chosen to go your own way, reject God, and determine right and wrong for yourself. So, it's already announced. If you chose to rebel but now want to be made right with God, to regain the paradise he intended for us from the very beginning, God provided redemption for those who believe. So, my question to you today is, do you believe?

            Let’s pray.