But God, the fall
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction
Introduction
Dashboard lights meant to show correct information.
Then, there is the check engine light.
In Genesis 3:1-7, we read of the fall of mankind. Now, in order to help everyone get home for lunch, I’m going to cover the content of Genesis 1:1-Genesis 3:7.
There is ongoing debate about how we are to interpret these chapters and verses. You won’t get an exact answer from me here, but it is apparent that this text is divinely inspired, filled with historical facts, and deep with symbolism.
God created the universe and it was good. It was on purpose, it was beautiful, and it was a sanctuary where one could fully experience God.
God created mankind in Him image and it is in the Garden of Eden that we are introduced to another character in the story - the serpent. The serpent is pictured as the instrument of temptation, and he is more cunning or subtle than any other animal.
In 3:1 he introduces doubt which becomes the beachhead from which Satan will wage his war against God and his creation.
In 3:4 he introduces distortion and deceit, clearly displaying he thinks very little of God and Satan attempts to make God out to be selfish, as if he was hiding something.
In 3:5 he introduces disobedience by encouraging Eve to eat from the tree of knowledge which God commanded Adam not to eat.
In verse 6, we see the partaking of the food from the forbidden tree by Eve and then by Adam. This act is in act of disobedience that we call sin and in this moment they became aware of sin’s cost. Adam and Eve are punished for acting against what they knew to be right, not for “not knowing.” Sin has consequences.
The Result of Sin
The Result of Sin
The immediate results of sin are internal and external. The first result, shame, is demonstrated in verse 7 - “so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.” Their sense of inner shame is manifested externally. They tried to cover up their shame with fig leaves.
In verse 8, we see that they were afraid. They walked with God everyday in the garden and they were familiar with Him. But today, when they heard God walking in the garden, they hid among the trees - again, we see the internal sense of fear manifested in an external action.
They are clear about their fear in Genesis 3:10 - “And he said, “I heard You in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.”” In the Hebrew, the word for hide is translated to mean “out of fear of death.” It stands to reason that Adam recalled God’s promise of death in Genesis 2:17
but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”
Adam is scared to death.
We can’t jump ahead though, because in verse 9, we see the truest and deepest picture of the result of sin -
Genesis 3:9 “So the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, “Where are you?””
Being lost wasn’t known until now. There is a significant theological picture in verse 9 -
Externally, humans are alienated from God and internally they lost divine grace.
Satan was right - their eyes were opened, but the knowledge they now possessed was not focused on exalting God, but it now pulled them away from Him. In Hebrew, the word for knowledge is also the word for experience.
Adam and Eve now knew evil experientially and practically, and left behind the glory of divine holiness.
They forfeited their right to an intimate relationship with God, in which they had experienced God’s voice. But not, at the sound of God’s voice came guilt, shame, and fear.
We try to get rid of these things. They are uncomfortable, and in some cases, disturbing. The check engine light was on for Adam and Eve. Unfortunately, they lacked the wisdom, resources, and ability to do anything about their situation. So they tried covering it up, they tried masking their sin, they tried to adapt. In their adaptation, they react.
The Reaction to Sin Nature
The Reaction to Sin Nature
In verses 9- 13, Adam and Eve demonstrate the reactive nature of their sin nature. God seeks the truth about the fall by asking a series of questions.
The check engine light in Adam and Eve’s world is on, and God runs diagnostics.
Moving from 9 to 10, Adam never answers God’s question - “where are you?”
In verse 10, Adam explained the reason for his hiding, but couldn’t explain where he actually was.
And he said, “I heard You in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.”
God’s asks two diagnostic questions -
Who told you that you were naked?
Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?
Sin brought shame and fear, but it also brought guilt, which created a reactionary tone in Adam’s relationship with God.
Adam’s reaction to God’s very personal, pointed question about what had happened demonstrated Adam’s refusal to face his personal responsibility for the fall. He feels guilt for his inaction during the interaction between the serpent and Eve, so he blamed his sin on “the woman You gave to be with me.”
She did it, she gave me the fruit. But he also throws God under the blame bus - the woman YOU gave me. You drove the car last! When I drove the car, that light wasn’t on! It wasn’t me! Now, Adam does confess that he ate from the tree, but not without his blame-game reaction.
Again, we see Adam running and hiding from God.
But not only Adam. Eve, in verse 13 -
So the Lord God asked the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “It was the serpent. He deceived me, and I ate.”
Her reaction is to blame the serpent. Eve also refused personal responsibility by blaming “the serpent.” We do see that she admits she ate from the tree.
You’ll notice:
No mention is made of the serpent’s attempt to avoid responsibility.
God doesn’t address the serpent in the same manner as He had Adam and Eve.
Verse 14 marks God’s prominence in the story and His power over the enemy.
Then the Lord God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, you are cursed more than any livestock and more than any wild animal. You will move on your belly and eat dust all the days of your life.
While the serpent started this sequence earlier in chapter 3, God, beginning here, demonstrates that He has the final word.
There are questions surrounding the nature of verse 14 - is it literal? Is it figurative? Is it poetic? The answer is yes.
The serpent is cursed and commanded to crawl on his belly. The word for cursed means to experience an absence of blessing. We don’t know if Satan was standing prior to this command to move on your belly, but we can infer that moving on your belly is a picture of Satan crawling away from this encounter defeated.
God’s Remedy: A Loving Response
God’s Remedy: A Loving Response
But in the very moment of judgment, the sovereignty and the grace of God were clearly revealed.
Haines, Lee. “The Book of Genesis.” Genesis-Deuteronomy, vol. 1:1, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1967, p. 38.
Can you picture God standing in the Garden making his declaration of the final piece of Satan’s curse as Satan crawls away defeated?
I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.
As Lt. Amanda shared last week - we are engaged with a spiritual war with an enemy who already acknowledged his ultimate defeat, but he is going to fight on. There is nothing but hostility between the seed of Satan, that is the evil of the world, and the seed of Eve, that is the goodness of God.
The enemy has no response to the truth of God’s declaration -
God reveals that HE holds the power to transform the story.
He reveals that HE will provide the ultimate transformational portion, the seed of Eve, which is Jesus Christ.
This is why there is not mention of Adam in God’s declaration of the ‘seed.’ There is nothing inside Adam and Eve, or us, that can bring transformation. We are totally depraved, without hope and without light.
In Ephesians 1:4 and Titus 1:2 we read that the plan to transform and restore humanity to it’s created purpose was present with God in eternity - before the foundations of the world.
God’s transformative love was never absent for Adam and it is never absent for us today. God’s immediate response to the sinful condition of humanity is the offering of His son. The word ‘seed’ is singular and the personal pronoun that accompanies it is ‘he.’
Brothers and sisters, this verse is known as the
PROTOEVANGELIUM - πρωτοευαγγέλιο
PROTO - First
EVANGELIUM - Good News/Gospel
While Adam and Eve made themselves coverings in reaction to their sinful disobedience, God’s grace is further revealed when he replaces their inadequate coverings with skin - introducing the concept of a blood sacrifice. A blood sacrifice is man’s only hope for access to God - and it is in Jesus’ sacrifice that our ultimate transformation comes - salvation.
The only covering for shame and guilt, the only hope for forgiveness and transformative restoration must come through God and the remedy which He devises and provides. Thus, in man’s darkest hour, when sin had marred the divine image in him, when judgment had been pronounced upon him, when his whole world was changing, even then God’s grace and mercy were revealed as in veiled promise and symbolic act He foretold the coming Savior and His redemptive work.
Haines, Lee. “The Book of Genesis.” Genesis-Deuteronomy, vol. 1:1, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1967, p. 38.
The transformative power of God’s grace and love is never far away and it is meant to grow in each one of us who call Him Lord.
The ultimate victory was His, and He crushed the head of Satan, removing forever his rule over man. The power of Christ would destroy Satan and all his principalities and powers, confound all his schemes, and ruin all his works. The power of the cross and Christ’s resurrection would crush Satan’s whole empire, strip him of his authority (particularly his power over death), and his tyranny over the bodies and souls of men.
Our closing song begins with a picture of what took place in the Garden -
How deep the Father's love for us
How vast beyond all measure - God’s intentional creation and walking in the garden expressed his ultimate desire for a relationship for humanity.
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure - What love it takes to transform broken humanity into treasure to be kept - by the giving of His Son.
Strength - do you need God’s transformative strength today?
End of the line
Situation - are you in need of a transformed situation?
Story - are you seeking a transformed story?
have your resolutions already been cast aside?