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alright let’s get started today welcome to Sunday school thank you for being here today we move on to the next of the seven C’s of history we spent eight lessons looking at creation and now we take a look at the second see corruption sin enters the world now this see corruption is one of the most important events in the history of the universe think about all the pain the sorrow the frustration of the world today from the sniffly nose that keeps you from going to sleep at night two instances of mass genocide they have their origin in the fall when our progenitors the first man and woman Adam and Eve about six thousand years ago change their mind about God and disobeyed him and not only was the world forever altered but so was mankind man became a doomed race condemned to eternal punishment under the holy wrath of God unless a savior came to transfer men out of the line of Adam and into a new holy race this event this history is critical for us to understand but could you imagine if we didn’t know about this if God never told us about the fall how hopelessly lost we would be we would be constantly searching moving from explanation to explanation for why the world is so corrupt why we have this terrible reality in our universe and in our human condition but we’d never be able to find the answer and what we think we found the answer we would just be deluding ourselves and in fact we can observe this in the world today they’re trying to explain why the world day is the way it is and they’re hopelessly lost but God and his compassion has given us a trust for the account of this important historical moment so this is profoundly important for us to acknowledge and understand if we are to act wisely in the world today and respond rightly to the now as we go along our investigation of this next of the seven seas I’ll try to answer many of the common questions that come up about this event as recorded in the passages and/or the passage in Genesis but I just want to warn you now a lot of times the answers to these kinds of questions is going to be I don’t know the Bible doesn’t tell us but that’s okay because coming to that answer is actually a good opportunity for me to emphasize and re-emphasize an important principle of hermeneutics of interpreting the Bible and that is if there’s not enough evidence in the passage to make a strong conclusion about something don’t make a strong conclusion don’t be dogmatic might speculate a little bit but you have to hold your hypothesis very loosely because there’s just not enough information now there’s a lot to say about the fall and we’re going to examine the fall and its effect over the next couple lessons here’s what we’re going to accomplish here’s what we want to accomplish today just going to look at the first part of the fall we’re gonna read them examine Genesis 3:1 2:7 we’re gonna wait two weeks to talk about the aftermath and as we talk about the fall we’re gonna zero in on the strategy that the serpent uses against e we’re going to see that that strategy is not too different from what we see today I will also preview how the gospel actually shows up in the midst of this tragedy and let’s pray before we go on a great God thank you so much for telling us about this event it’s so important for us to know about how many be able to explain clearly and help the people to be able to appreciate both the horror of what happened but also the wonder of what you were accomplishing even through it in Jesus name Amen let’s start our examination the fall by reading the account of the fall the first part of it in Genesis 3:1 to 7 so please open your Bibles to Genesis chapter 3 remember the previous chapter it concludes with the creation of man and woman and the creation of marriage and a description of that first marriage but now in verse one chap three the following with me as I read and versed now the serpent wasn’t was more crafty than any beast of the field which Yahweh God had made and he said to the woman indeed has God said you shall not eat from any tree of the garden that 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 the serpent said to the woman you surely will not die for God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God knowing good and evil when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes and that the tree was desirable to make one wise she took from its fruit and ate and she gave also 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 loin coverings oh all right as always when we study a biblical passage we want to start by just making simple observations and even from these seven verses there’s a lot to observe and then a lot to interpret based on those observations so let’s make some observations notice how the serpent is described it’s more crafty than any other beast of the field it be crafting needs to be intelligently manipulative or a clever at achieving one’s aims by indirect or deceitful means notice whom the serpent approaches not Adam but the woman notice how the Serpent’s initial question compares to the command God gives Adam in Genesis 2 verses 16 to 17 if you just glanced back at the previous chapter God says to Adam after he creates an ax Genesis 2:16 17 Yahweh God commanded the man saying 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 that’s why I said in the previous chapter I notice what the serpent says to the woman Genesis 3:1 and he said to the woman indeed has God said you shall not eat from any tree of the garden very very similar statements the very important differences consider the tone of the serpent as he makes this question and this comes out even more when we compare some of the Bible translations major Bible translations of this first nasbe as we read says indeed has God said you should not eat from any tree of the garden yes V says did God actually say you shall not eat from any tree of the garden NIV – God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden and the New King James Version says has God indeed said you shall not eat from every tree of the garden we describe the Serpent’s tone here to the woman what would you say yes he is he’s questioning questioning yes but I think we could say more because questioning has the idea of asking a question but what’s his attitude even as you ask the question sceptical question yes or surprised or incredulous really indeed actually he said that this is important for us to notice notice how the women’s response compares to God’s original command she does state the distinction that God gave to Adam about the trees the garden but she curiously adds that they are not to touch it either and that was not part of God’s original prohibition the woman also mentions that the penalty for eating in the fruit of the tree of knowledge of the good and evil of good and evil is death the new reply noticed the three remarks the serpent makes he says you will surely not die and notice how emphatic that is you will surely not die and then he says for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and for you will become like God knowing good and evil these are the three assertions now are these three statements true about what will happen you won’t die when you eat it your eyes will be open and you will know good and evil like God are they true not in the way that Eve thinks that they will be true it will actually be quite startling that many of these things would be true in a way Adam and Eve do not die immediately when they eat their eyes are open after they eat and they do gain a knowledge of good and evil but do they become like God not at all they actually become very unlike God because they become stained with evil and God is only good moreover even as they learn what evil is they learn it experientially which God never does and yet we can see a little bit here of why and how deceit is so effective it always mixes the truth with falsehood some ways what the serpent was saying was true but not the way that Eve expected and notice a curious word in the Serpent’s response a couple times he says or one time he says for you not surely die for remember for indicates a reason for what was just said we’re explored that reasoning a little bit more just a moment when the serpent finishes speaking notice what three observations the woman makes about the fruit she looks at the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil – you notices it’s good for food it’s pretty to the eyes and it’s desirable to make one wise and many have connected these three observations with a certain New Testament verse describing man’s sinful desires and that’s first John 2:16 first John 2:16 says for all that is in the world the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life is not from the father but is from the world the woman chooses to eat the fruit but what is Adam in all of this that questions a little hard to answer we certainly don’t see him involved at all until the woman actually eats the fruit at that point he is said to be with her because she gives him some to eat and he does Adam appears to take the fruit from her without a word but clicks down to chapter 3 verse 17 notice this is where God is actually buting and offering curses notice specifically for what God rebukes Adam he says for listening to the voice of your wife now we didn’t hear any dialogue between Adam and Eve between the man and the woman but apparently there was some conversation that was just not recorded now when their eyes are open observe what man and women men and women immediately notice that they are naked and they respond to this realization by making Lewin coverings than themselves out of big leaves with these observations let’s move to the interpretation step skeptics might mock this passage for its description of a talking snake but who is the serpent really this is this is the devil but how do we know that it’s not mentioned here okay the clearest place we can go to is the book of Revelation without the book of Revelation though certainly as the Bible unfolds we see that Satan the devil is identified as the opponent of mankind and he is mentioned elsewhere in the Old Testament first Chronicles the book of Job the book of Zechariah but revelation gives us the clearest identification revelation 12:9 describing various things but it mentions revelation 12:9 and the Great Dragon was thrown down the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan who deceives the whole world they identified specifically that serpent of old that’s the dragon that’s the devil that’s see this is not just a snake this is the evil one the devil speaking through their servant now where did Satan come from and why is he seeking to deceive Eve I don’t have this as a separate question so how’s that just a second but recall that Satan is a fallen angel angels created some time – in creation we probably day one or day three talk about that in previous lesson Satan was a glorious angel that rebelled against God and enlisted other angels in his rebellion now I know you’ve heard many of you have heard that before but again where’s the biblical support for this notion well again we can actually go to the same place in Revelation revelation chapter 12 where gives us more description about what the devil has done in the past Revelation chapter 12 verses 3 to 4 this is just though about five verses or so earlier than the one I just quoted revelation 12 verses three to four says this then another sign appeared in heaven and behold a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns and on his head were seven diadem’s and his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth and the dragon excuse me stood before the woman who was about to give birth so that when she gave birth he might devour the child now that passage is identifying things that are already taking place in history in the context that as we’ve already seen the dragon is identified as Satan and through these metaphors that stars are to be interpreted as heavenly followers fellow angels who rebelled with Satan and settle with him we call those fallen angels demons today the other passages people often point to to explain Satan’s background are isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 those passages God is rebuking earthly self-absorbed rulers many interpreters seeing the descriptions given in those passages see those descriptions as being too exalted as simply describing earthly rulers to talk about someone being a morning star or ascending to heaven or wanting to be like God and so some interpreters are sure these things must be talking about Satan rather than earthly rulers but certainly we see that Satan was a glorious angelic being and he rebelled against God when did he do this though when did this satanic rebellion happen we’re not told specifically in the Bible it’s likely shortly before the account here in Genesis 3 now why would I say that well since God pronounced all of creation to be very good at the end of day six it’s likely their rebellion died not taking place before that and the seventh day was blessed as a holy day of rest before God said the angelic rebellion probably didn’t take place then hide it there’s certainly not during the creation week probably sometime after seventh day whenever this took place the rebellious Satan was cast down the earth full of rage against God and all that is good and he immediately set out to deceive and murder mankind save and have no reason to waste any time as he hates God and as he hates God’s plans so here’s the second question on my PowerPoint when does this encounter with Eve and Satan take place when does the fall happen Oh once again we’re not told specifically but due to two clues of the Bible we can say it was likely very soon after the close of the creation week what are the two clues well first Adam and Eve had not conceived yet even though God had commanded them to be fruitful and multiply you think what a perfect creation that conception wouldn’t take very long though it’s possible that the mechanisms worked a little bit differently before the fall but a second clue is the pair had apparently not taken hold yet of the tree of life or its fruit because we see later on in Chapter three one of the reasons they’re banished from the garden is God says lest they take hold of the tree of lights apparently they hadn’t done that and you think they would if they had been there for some time therefore from these two Clues it’s unlikely that much time at all had gone by since the end of creation this is probably just a few days or a few weeks after the first Sabbath just kind of sad when you think about it didn’t live mankind didn’t live in his innocent perfect existence for very long and noted that the serpent approached Eve and not Adam now I keep sometimes I’m saying Eve though technically that’s not her name until after these things take place we see why she’s called Eve later on but you know what I’m talking about Eve the woman why does Satan approach Eve and not Adam this is another hard to answer question but let me even mention an important verse and then summarize a few options and try and answer this question the verse it is 1st Timothy 2 verses 12 to first Timothy 2:12 2:14 says this in comment on the fall it’s Paul speaking but I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man but to remain quiet for it was Adam who was first created and then Eve and it was not Adam who was to see but the woman being deceived fell into transgression now that verse tells us some things but but I still need to think through it why did Satan go after the woman but one answer has been positive many times historically is that they say you went out to eat because she as a woman was just spiritually weaker there’s more vulnerable women are just inherently spiritually weaker however while the New Testament does emphasize the special care that husbands ought to have for their wives like one cares for a fragile vessel doesn’t necessarily say anything about woman but just the way that the man used to care for her husband is to care for his wife nevertheless the New Testament knows nothing of essential spiritual superiority or inferiority in Christ the men and women clearly have different roles in the family at church which is what Paul is talking about first Timothy two they are spiritually equal in Christ which is what Galatians three emphasizes so another answer that people might give so why Satan went after the woman was that while not spiritually weaker than Adam Eve was mentally different in a way that made her more vulnerable to Satan’s temptation that is to say for example as psychologists and anecdotal evidence suggests women are just made differently they’re generally more relational emotional more empathetic than men and these differences are not imperfections they are actually part of God’s design for the complementarity of man and woman but Satan sought to use the woman’s natural strength against her and against Adam by getting her to listen to him Satan and then using her strength as a communicator to ensnare her beloved a third answer would be for why Satan went after Eve is that Eve’s phoner ability didn’t have to do with her being a woman but with her receiving knowledge secondhand now this is based on some evarin inference because remember when we hear the command of God regarding the tree of knowledge in Genesis 2:16 2:17 it is there given to Adam only it’s possible that God never gave the command directly to eat but relied on Adam to lead his wife as her head when it came to obeying his command this would explain potentially why Eve does not quote God’s words exactly when questioned by the serpent she may have just reported what Adam told her Satan then if this is the case saw that he could more easily plant doubt in the one who did not hear directly from God furthermore his temptation would tempt Eve to pride she could get her own superior source of knowledge and even instruct her husband not simply submit to his instruction maybe that’s why Satan went after her however it is possible that Eve did hear the command from God himself it’s just not recorded in Genesis obviously not everything that happened is recorded in Genesis I’m sure there might be other answers we might offer and there are reasons to hesitate even with these answers but one thing is clear and this surely was part of Satan’s scheme for going after women Satan desired to contradict the creation and marriage order that God had designed this is why we have passages in the New Testament that reassert God’s originally created roles for a man and woman in marriage Satan and his viciousness toward God and all that’s good he wanted to up end God’s design saying to himself something like this the husband is supposed to be the head leading and serving his wife I’ll make him the follower who lets himself and his wife be swept away by a terrible decision the wife is supposed to be the helper who submits I’ll make her the leader in sin instead of helping her I’ll cause her to do him the greatest injury imaginable Satan loves to corrupt and destroy it take everything good about God and about what he’s made and twisted and shortly that had much to do with why he went after the one let’s see if we can break down now more specifically Satan’s means of deception what was his strategy notice again back in verse one the serpent first asks Eve indeed has God said you shall not eat from any tree of the garden the hebrew word here for any literally means the whole and can be translated any every or all this is also the word used by God in Genesis 2:16 we says from any tree of the garden you may freely eat now based on this word we could take the meaning of the Serpent’s question in two different ways you could be asking did God really say you shall not eat from any of the trees the garden at all that is a total prohibition you can’t have any single one of them well it be the answer to that question no clearly this would not be a very unsubtle but this would not be a very subtle contradiction of what God said but there is another way that we can understand satan’s question and I think this is what he was really communicating the other way to understand this question would be to say it would be – it would be the following – God really say you shall not eat from every tree of the garden that is to say a nuance prohibition are you not allowed to have every tree that you want now what’s the answer that question the answer is yes actually they’re not allowed to have every tree that they want even though Genesis 2:16 does say you may eat freely of any tree you want it’s then followed by an exception in verse 17 except from the tree that’s in the midst of the garden if you take out that explanation at verse 17 in chapter 2 as Satan does then the answer to Satan’s question to Eve is technically yeah we were told we shall not eat from every tree we can’t just go up to any old tree in the garden and just eat its root we have to make a distinction now what’s so subtle about this is that Satan’s question doesn’t mention or emphasize God’s abundance at all because that’s what we see in Genesis 2 right from any tree of the garden you may freely eat this is abundant provision this is generosity from God that’s not what Satan draws attention to instead what is Satan’s what to Satan’s question focus on the restriction not the abundance let’s talk about the restriction and that is so I believe this is a sense of Satan’s question Satan seeks to eschew Eve’s all of God’s generous provisions and instead focus on the restriction and we noted earlier that the Serpent’s tone is one of surprise incredulity confusion now what does this surprise from the serpent communicate about God’s choice to restrict Adam and Eve in their choice of fruit suggests that this doesn’t make any sense this is unexpected God really said you can’t eat from every tree that’s strange why would God say that why would he restrict you like that doesn’t make sense to me are you sure you heard him right Eve ever so subtly Satan wants to plant an idea into Eve’s mind maybe God’s commands aren’t good maybe his restrictions or holding you back from something that’s actually really good for you something really enjoyable maybe you can’t trust God to have your good in mind maybe you can’t trust God’s law God’s commands to have your good in law in response Eve repeats God’s command into the serpent with the strange addition or touch it may not eat it or touch it now why does she add this extra part some have said this is an extra warning she heard from Adam or that this perhaps was Eve giving in already to Satan suggestions that God is not really good yeah he won’t even let us touch it but there’s not enough evidence to say for sure certainly something seems off the original listeners should have noticed that this is a different of what God actually said Eve does reaffirm God provision she does also mention God’s warning about death it’s this mention of death to which Satan seeks to plant a second kind of doubt yeah suggested that God is too restrictive those laws are not good God is not completely trustworthy but his second mode of deception mister plant doubt about God’s holiness God’s judgment Satan flatly contradicts God’s statement that there are consequences for sin Satan says the serpent says you shall not surely die even though God said the exact same thing in opposite you shall surely die in Genesis 2:17 God says you’ll definitely not die but I’m here certain tells you there’s certain says to tell you that you definitely will not die not only is God restricting you needlessly Nautilus you holding you back from the things that really benefit you or bring you joy but he’s lying to you about the consequences of going after those things you don’t have to worry you can go after whatever you want without fear God won’t judge you God won’t destroy you really the serpent is telling Eve that God is just bluffing he’s not as holy as you think he is he or as you as you’ve heard he is it’s just trying to scare you you won’t really punish you but this is provokes a natural question why why would God do that why would God lie without judgment why would he pretend that there are consequences for going after sin when there really aren’t and this this exactly where Satan goes next I’ll tell you why God pretends judgment Satan says why he’s just trying to scare you and this is where we come back to the word for that we knew it earlier what is the reason that the serpent provides for why God lies about death ultimately we could say it is because this is a Satan’s argument because God is jealous and selfish it doesn’t want you to be like him Satan says for God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be open and you will be like God knowing good and evil and this is the final element of Satan’s scheme first plant doubt about the goodness of God toward Eve in his laws then plant doubt about God’s judgement against sin and now plant doubt about the core worthiness of God God doesn’t want you to be like him he has all the glory he has all the pleasure he has all the wisdom but doesn’t want to share any of it with you that’s why I tries to scare you by talking about death God does whatever he wants he doesn’t want to let you do whatever you want really God is petty and selfish he’s full of envy he actually gets happiness out of preventing other people from having happiness I borrow a phrase from John MacArthur typifying Satan’s argument God is the cosmic killjoy this fruit can make you as wise and knowledgeable as God why would he want to deny you that it’s because he’s such a miser God is really a tyrant circumstances this all this as if he Satan really has Eve’s ultimate good in mind well clearly God doesn’t know oh this of course is vicious blasphemy against God but you know what the worst part of it is it takes a true aspect of God’s character and mutilates it so that God appears as a villain I mean think about it is God jealous he is but not in the way that Satan’s characterizing him God Cindy jealous that no one be like him or take from him the glory he rightly deserts but this is not because God is evil or cruel it is because God is good we know this from other scriptures God is too good to let us be satisfied with anything less than the best which is his full glory God demands exclusive worship but this is a generous demand because only God is soul satisfying he freely and fully gives himself to all who come to him he is no miser you could say that God’s jealousy or even God’s selfishness is actually one of his most wonderful and beautiful qualities because what that means is that God will always do the greatest good to all his creatures 2nd Timothy 2:13 says God cannot deny himself he will never deny his own worthiness to be sought after worshipped and enjoy in that sense God is jealous how wicked of Satan to take the very source of God’s goodness and turn it into what looks like the greatest source of evil but this is hardly surprising from the one who experienced the holy jet holy jealousy of God firsthand Satan the rebel angel was thrown out of heaven for seeking to glorify himself instead of the one who deserved it they’re trying God so I believe this is Satan’s strategy get Eve to doubt the goodness of God in his law get Eve to doubt the holiness of God in his judgment and then get her to doubt the worthiness of God in his jealousy now does this sound familiar think about application with me for a second isn’t this the same fundamental strategy that Satan uses with people even today even us we can hear these same words being spoken to our hearts and our minds does God really say you can’t have that idol you crave God says you can’t give that person who insulted you what he deserves God says you can’t have all your sexual fantasies it’s you’re merely confined to a marriage bed or worse singleness how restrictive he says you can’t pity yourself or be angry for not having all the material goods you want and deserve huh that’s strange for a guy claiming to be good you know what go for the idol anyway same says God it’s not gonna punish you for it now whole judgment thing is illusion no one will find out your sin I would God punish you forgiving yourself but you deserve don’t worry about the consequences after all you can always repent later in fact you know why God wants to scare you from going after what you deserve it’s because he’s jealous of all those who are free really God’s kind of messed up inside he’s a control freak doesn’t seek your good I seek your good I want you to be free and I will give you everything you want if you just follow after me say it says so think for a moment have you encountered those temptations if you live in the world I know you have so do you buy into Satan’s lies like II did you ask yourself do I believe these lies do I believe these seductive deceits let us not be ignorant of Satan’s schemes he is crafty like a serpent but he uses the same tactics across the millennia there’s nothing new Under the Sun not even Satan schemes will repackage him but it’s the same deceits again and again let us not be ignorant of Satan’s schemes the less instead brandish the full panoply of God as Ephesians 6s shield of faith breastplate of righteousness belt of truth helmet of salvation we see in this chapter in it Genesis 3 that the first woman does buy into the deception of Satan she does change her mind about God and she decides she doesn’t need God or his wisdom after all she can decide for herself what is wise and good thank you very much she decides she will live and think autonomously from God so now with a broken mind she studies the trees fruit and she comes to the opposite conclusions from what God had previously instructed God said the food is lethal Eve concludes it’s good and good for food and looks beautiful God said the wise way is not to eat of that trees fruit Eve concludes the tree is the true way to wisdom use decision to eat the fruit then is just outward evidence of her new inward condition now a question you might have what kind of fruit is the fruit of the tree of knowledge good indeed we don’t know probably it’s not any of the fruits that we have today but don’t misunderstand the fruit itself did not magically or supernaturally impart a cursed and sinful nature eating the fruit was simply emblematic of a spiritual heart transformation truly you can say that Eve’s fault took place before Eve even tasted different her heart had already changed the actual act however of eating the food provided clear evidence of her changed heart of her corruption it’s as if the act of sin in the heart corruption were occurring at the same time so we don’t know what the fruit was it probably was not an apple even though that’s the way it’s popularly depicted but it’s emblematic of what was going on in the change of heart in Maine and woman speaking of man what about Adam how does he fall he was with her when she ate but the New Testament also says as you might remember me quoting earlier Adam was not deceived by the snake so then why does he also then eat he wasn’t deceived again we don’t know Bible doesn’t tell us specifically though Eve surely plays a role because God rebukes Adam for listening to his wife Eve may have told Adam what she learned from the serpent or what she learned from stating the fruit she may have told him how delicious the fruit was she may have remarked that hey I’m still alive there’s no judgment from God after all assuredly Eve entreated her husband to join her perhaps Adam idolized Eve over God perhaps he was persuaded by the Serpent’s arguments when they came from the mouth with a woman he loved for whatever reason and there was no justification he too eats of the fruit it’s only after they both eat that their eyes are open to what they had done and isn’t this always the way of sin again we can see direct parallels to our own experience during the moment of anger coveting or lust we don’t we don’t often hear truth or feel the pangs of guilt but only a short time later we see and know the full darkness of what we have done again this is why we must take up the armor of God so that we do not viciously wound ourselves and subject ourselves to the chastening and judgment of God why do the pair suddenly feel naked after all they’ve been naked the whole time well clearly this has something to do with the effect of sin the shame of sin we noted previously throughout the Bible that nakedness is associated with the shame of sin it’s not that nakedness itself is sinful or shameful Adam and Eve felt no shame and being naked before the fall but post-fall nakedness is a symbol for the desolation of sin and it’s not just symbolic it’s also practical with their minds corrupted Adam and Eve are suddenly able to imagine all sorts of sin and each knows that the other as well as any children that they might have are capable of all kinds of perversions they suddenly realize I’m not safe in this world with other sinners each person therefore feels vulnerable and so they make loin coverings for themselves I can’t help her they know how simple other people are by considering their own sinfulness and again aren’t these things still true for our world today the fact that we wear clothes is a testimony to the fall it’s true clothes also serve additional practical functions for us today keep us warm as such and there are groups that have work to overcome the stigma the innate stigma of nakedness the we to feel the vulnerable wickedness of ourselves and our fellow humans and this is a testimony of the truthfulness of this account that we have all rebelled against our Creator God but this idea of covering it’s actually going to give us a picture of the gospel and we can only explore this in preview today now in two weeks time we’ll talk more specifically about the consequences of the fall and more fully how the gospel is put on display in this chapter but let’s preview that briefly just now it’s amazing but right as men commits the greatest rebellion and atrocity against go God responds immediately with the unfathomable kindness of the gospel just glance down a little bit to what comes after our first seven verses verses 8 and 9 Adam and Eve hide from God what does God do he goes after them he goes looking for them he calls after them what says Shoeless no sinner seeks God we see this throughout the Bible it was true in the beginning but what does God and mercy do he seeks them sinners don’t seek God but God seeks sentence over genesis 3:15 and we’ll have much to say about this when we come back to it God makes a promise to the serpent he says a descendant of the woman will come one day to defeat you and deliver man for the effects of Satan’s deceit and this is moments after man’s great rebellion against God but what his daughter already doing he’s giving man the good news of hope and salvation he promises the saving seed and then finally look at Genesis 3:21 Genesis 3:21 says Yahweh God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them God judged the self-made fig leaves Adam and and woman to be inadequate covering for them they needed something better and God closed them with animal skins but what does this act seem to imply happen that an animal was killed for them an intimate an innocent animal that they might be covered here also we see the gospel in a preview form the shame and corruption of man sin needs covering but man cannot cover himself God must do it but even the covering that God provides is not without a blameless sacrifice you know the Old Testament sacrificial system will also picture this but the fulfillment of this picture will be the seed of the woman to come Jesus Christ son of God the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world now we’re only outlining this preview gospel but behold the kindness of God in the midst of overwhelming judgment sin and despair God gives hope and why because it is his nature as the holy but merciful saving God he is the only Savior and the same is true today the gospel hope that is held out to this first sinning payer is held off throughout the Scriptures and is still being held out to each person even to each one of us that we might be saved from the eternal penalty of sin more will be explained about this as we go through the scriptures but it’s true from the beginning as it is true today by repentance from your sin and faith in God your Savior the Lord Jesus Christ it will be saved as a new testament says you will not die or though you die you will live again because the one who is the resurrection and the life becomes your Savior now some may ask if God is so good and holy and so powerful why did he allow the fall couldn’t we just have avoided this whole tragedy if you’re so good God why’d you let this happen did you want this to happen you hate sin why did you let it happen actually the answer this question may surprise you it’s actually because God is so good so holy and all-powerful that he ordained the fall how that is an incident will take much longer to explain and to give you all the all the particulars into that but make no mistake the fall was no surprise to God in fact it was part of his sovereign plan to enjoy his ultimate glory and accomplish ultimate good for his own acts 2:23 says in 1st Peter 1:20 verses 21 says that Christ was for known as the saving sacrifice for sin before the foundation of the world so this is no plan B oh man they messed up what are we gonna do now no this was always part of God’s sovereign plan revelation 13:8 further reveals that we too as believers were elected in the slain lamb of God before the world was created so though God does hate sin and he is wholly good the fall was always part of God’s plan he ordained it how can this be how can a good God do that well consider Paul’s explanation in Romans 9 verses 22 to 23 I’ll paraphrase we often sing or talk about the depths of the wonders of God creating us saving us in spite of our ugly sin and rebellion yet without the fall of Adam without the corruption of sin and without the later salvation work of Christ delivering us from death and sin and hell how little would we know about the true depths of the glory of God how little will we know about his power to save his unfailing love his undeserved grace this is why Augustine famed fourth century church father he coined the strange yet accurate term for speaking of the fall the term is Felix culpa which means happy fall or lucky fall this is not to say that everything that resulted from the fall is happy or without pain indeed the eternal punishment that comes upon vessels of Wrath because of the fall is something overwhelming that we are not able to fully comprehend in this life nevertheless the Bible reveals that the fall of Adam was ultimately good for all of those in Christ Jesus that is those called according to God’s purpose as Romans 8:28 sets because for those for us as recipients of God’s undeserved and abundant kindness we get to experience the full glory of God unlike did on magnificent display in Christ our Savior forever now I should probably notice we’re broaching the question of the problem of evil and there’s much more we could say about that but the ultimate answer is that God is able to without being responsible for sin you sin even the fall of man to accomplish an ultimate good that is justified Wow so that’s a lot and we probably touched the first seven verses of the fall account what are some questions that you have based on today’s lesson for this text yes he hopefully assistant too controversial so you had mentioned in first John it talks about the lust of the flesh lust of the eyes in the side of life I when I hear people say that because you’re talking about lust and pride before the actual fall so you know how can how can how can you have lust and pride before you’ve actually even sinned because those things are sins and of themselves or is that possibly the sin is the questions to you so referring to that New Testament passage that talks about unless the flesh lusts the eyes and boastful pride of life how could those things have taken place before Eve and actually fallen or had taken the fruit and this is something that maybe does become a little bit of a slog a long debate when did the fall actually take place did it take place when she ate the fruit did it take place before she ate the fruit I think as I as I mentioned earlier in the lesson I think it actually took place before and the eating of the fruit was just emblematic of that because when she’s making these judgments about the fruit and its desirability to her and how it’s gonna make her why she’s already not thinking according to God’s according to God’s Way and I don’t think there’s something magical in the fruit that brings this new this new corruption I think it’s the change of heart where she decided to not believe God and she decided to believe the serpent so again I think the fruit is just emblematic of the change that took place shortly before that so why can we say the fall took place with the eating of the fruit because it’s so close it’s kind of like well you know the Bible has a lot of emphasis on deeds God does look at the heart but we are judged according to our deeds and I think the reason for that is that deeds cannot be argued now God is the omniscient God he can always say I know it’s in your heart so don’t don’t give me your deeds but again and again there’s a return to deeds in the Bible saying this is proof this is proof of what you really are in fact I’m just thinking now of Genesis 22 and the sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham God at the very end of that and says now I know that you fear God because you’ve not withheld for me your only son what God didn’t you know that already you can look to his heart well he did but he wanted that to be displayed to all by a clear deed of faith I think that’s the same thing we had happening here in the fall now I’m sure not every Christian theologian would agree with that but at least you can see my way of thinking honest that’s a good question other questions yes the difference between good and evil do you think that it’s possible that a part of their nature was not that they didn’t know good or evil is that they were just following the commands of God but there was still something about human nature once exposed to the option of good and evil that they would always choose sin without that being imperfection in their design is just how God created them that’s a good question let me see if I can restate in brief so was there something about the the nature of man has created that one presented with the option of of sin were presented with the option of evil versus good that they will always choose evil not sure I’m not sure that I would say that it is interesting to consider what what was their knowledge of evil before certainly they didn’t have to know what evil was experientially to know what evil was and they were able to obey and yet we are aware at the same time that the fall was ordained by God and for any of us to say oh if I was there I wouldn’t have done that it’s just not true we all would have done the same thing I don’t know if I go so far as to say is that one presented with the option of evil to always choose that I’m also thinking just thinking on the fly here when we think about why some angels fell and some did not you think the angels were presented with basically the same predicament obey God or not obey God and some chose to not obey and they fell why didn’t the others fall if it were something due to the angelic nature then all of them should have fallen but some didn’t and I think their way to answer that question is to say that God elected God sovereignly ordained that some would not fall he protected them so I’m not sure if I can explore or able to prepare to explore the facets of angelic nature human nature that would cause them to fall or not fall that’s a lot of things that we’re just not really sure about but it is it is an interesting question other questions guys give me some nice two easy ones I’m skipping any other questions right well we’ve just broached the subject of the fall we’ve talked about the first seven verses and they have not really talked about the consequences of the fall we’ve talked about them a little bit but we’re gonna see that next time when we come back to this passage we’re gonna talk about the curses that come about as a result and we’ll also talk more at length of how the gospel is put on display here now next time though we’re not returning to this passage specifically next time it is a review day as you know with our review days needle sending school class we do different things sometimes we do review sometimes we explore topic more in depth sometimes I do a Q&A sometimes to watch a video and discuss it I’m working through some different options what we’re gonna do next week has some things that we can we can explore more specifically but I also like to take the opportunity to answer your questions that you have do some more Q&A not just about the fall or even creation but really anything related to the Bible I think it’s useful for us to take time to think about the questions that are on your mind if you have a question that’s possibly in other people’s minds both about the Bible or about theology or about application to the Christian life please send me your questions via email send them to me this week by Friday and that way I can prepare an answer and we can have it feature as part of our Sunday School lesson for next week so again if you have a question please send me a question based on whatever we’ve talked about or something that’s just on your mind related to the Bible and the Christian life I if I can I’d like to be able to answer that question and edify the whole body as they also consider the question if you don’t send me any questions that’s fine too we’ll have plenty of other things to talk about but I’d love to receive your questions in time for next week review or uh-huh as always if you have a question about this lesson you can send me that too and I can answer you via email or we can talk about it next week in the city school lesson but that’s all for today let’s pose and word of Prayer the Lord God there’s so many so many things God that are just so hard to think about when it comes to fall there’s the the horror of what happened there’s the wonder of your grace even in the midst of it all how you did not destroy man immediately but instead you gave him a word of hope and you began to outline that gospel that saves that’s because you are a kind saving guy the guy we also know that will bring in your sovereignty over all of this and the nature of man and man’s responsibility this does begin to look get a little hard to comprehend but we know what your word says that we are always responsible for sin none of the blame goes to you and yet you’re in total control you are in total control you love the fall and we accept those things except those things by faith God we can’t I can’t fully unravel those but God I think of what we are to do today this is not mere information for us this is meant to change us this is the cause people do run to you in mercy because you are the only saving God this is the cost people to think about how they to follow the same source of deceptions as the serpent gave the woman and man in beginning but I pray that we would not be deceived the same way that we would not be ignorant of Satan’s schemes that we would arm ourselves by faith whether you’re arming with your equipment so we can stand against the devil in the evil day and we can reap the rewards of obedience that we can enjoy you just as we were meant to from the beginning but everything you do is wondrous I pray that that would be more on the minds that both the people today is to think about even in the worst calamity you were working ultimate good in Jesus name all right thank you all see you next week send me questions