In this lesson, Pastor Dave Capoccia examines the Fall account in Genesis 3:1-7 to uncover what really happened at the Fall, what the Serpent’s fundamental mode of deception is (even today), and how the hope-giving gospel appeared immediately after man’s sin.
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good morning and welcome to Sunday school I anticipate some other people will be arriving shortly but thank you for being here on time let me open with a word of prayer heavenly father thank you for your word thank you Lord even for this word about a tragedy Lord that took place at the beginning of the world yet Lord one that in a mysterious and in a way that only shows your glory and wisdom this tragedy results ultimately in the greatest good for mankind Lord I pray that you would help me to be able to explain this well today in Jesus name amen okay well last week we started our new series on the consequences of sin corruption catastrophe and confusion and last week we did our first lesson on the Seven Seas of history that is an outline from Answers in Genesis of the history of the world and really of the Gospel now let’s see if you remember can anyone give me well let’s do it as a class what are the seven seas of History starting with Number One Creation number two corruption number three catastrophe number four confusion number five Christ and then number six cross and then number seven consummation you guys know that pretty well that’s great now today we are looking at the first SE of our Sunday school series which is not the first SE in the outline that’s creation but we’re going to the second one in that outline the first first one in our subtitle and that is our series subtitle and that’s corruption sin enters the world now this sea corruption even as we saw a little bit last week it is one of the most important events in the history of the universe all of the pain and I said this last week a version of it all the pain the sorrow the frustration in our world today from the sniffly nose that keeps you up at night to instances of mass genocide in the world it is because of this event it is because of the Fall it is because our progenitors about 6,000 years ago the first man and woman they changed their minds about God and they disobeyed him Not only was the world forever altered but so fundamentally was mankind Man became a doomed race condemned to Eternal punishment under the holy wrath of God unless a savior would come to transfer men and women out of the line of Adam and into a new holy race the event of corruption therefore is critical history for us to understand but could you imagine if we didn’t know about it if God never told us how hopelessly lost we would be in the world today we would be stumbling from explanation to explanation as to why the world is like this and why people are the way that they are but we would never come to the answers we would just be deluding ourselves and this is really what we see among those in the world today with the the new theories from scientific experts oh this is why you do what you do and this is why the world is the way that it is they are diluting themselves and we would be too except for the fact that God told us God told us what happened and he told us in his reliable World our reliable word he’s given us a trustworthy accounts of this extremely important ancient event now this is going to be of course profoundly important history for acting wisely and godly in the world today and also responding rightly to the gospel so it’s good that we take some time to go through it now as we go along this morning I’m going to try to answer some of the common questions that come up with this passage and its meaning but just to give you a heads up right now a lot of times the answer is going to be when there’s a particular question on the passage the Bible doesn’t tell us but that’s okay it’s don’t feel too bad about me saying that because that’s a good opportunity for me to emphasize what is an important principle of hermeneutics of Bible interpretation and that is that if there’s not enough evidence in the passage to make a conclusion about something well then don’t hold to your position on that dogmatically hold to any conclusion you have Loosely we don’t want to go beyond what the text actually says and in any way that is not just now there is a lot to say about the fall and we’re only going to do the first part of the account today we’ll spend a few lessons on the fall and its effects so our agenda for today will be simply to read an examine Genesis 31-7 we’re going to zero in on the Serpent’s method of Deceit against the woman and then we’ll briefly preview how the gospel shows up amid this tragedy so let’s start start by reading Genesis 3 1-7 so open your Bibles right to the very beginning of the Bible page three if you’re using the Pew Bible remember that the previous chapter Genesis 2 it concluded with the creation of man and woman and a description of the first marriage that God arranged and we go right from that into chapter 3: one the previous verse said and the man and his wife are both naked and were not ashamed and then we have our count Read With Me Now The Serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the which the Lord that is Yahweh Yahweh God had made and he said to the woman indeed has God said You shall not eat from any tree of the garden 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 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 Al 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 now anytime we study a Biblical passage especially in this Sunday school class and and the ones that we come back to in this curriculum we want to follow the inductive Bible study method the inductive Bible study method is simple three steps observe interpret and apply this really is the way that you ought to study any text but it’s particularly important when you come to the Bible many people get tripped up in their study and application of the Bible when they move to interpretation or they move to application too soon they haven’t spent enough time actually observing actually seeing what is in the text we don’t want to make that mistake so always and we’re going to do this in just a moment with this passage we want to First simp simply just take time to observe the details of the text what do we see what is there second we take time to ask questions and form conclusions based on the details that are there in the text what does it mean we start with what do I see then we go to what does it mean and then third and we don’t want to forget this step we want to take time to ask how the passage should change the way that we think and change the way that we act today because this is a word meant to transform not merely inform so we ask how does it work itself out in my life there’s always a way that it should work out how does it work out itself in my life so we’re going to do that with this passage we start with just simple observations of these ver verses notice notice how the serpent is described at the beginning of this passage it is more crafty than any other beast of the field that Yahweh God has made now to be crafty depending on the context that can be a good or a bad thing in the Proverbs You Can Be Clever in a way that is good but many times this word is used more in the sense of wiy or crafty this is a negative thing this is a person who’s full of guile who’s full of skill in in being able to intelligently manipulate others he’s clever in the way that he achieves his aims by indirect or deceitful means and the serpent is said to be like that now notice from the passage whom the serpent approaches not the man but the woman and notice how the Serpent’s initial question compares to What God Says to Adam in Genesis 2:16-17 if you just look back at the previous chapter Genesis 2:16-17 before God makes the woman God says to the man Adam 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 and then we look again at chapter 3: one The Serpent’s question indeed has God said You shall not eat from any tree of the garden now consider the tone of the serpent in this verse the tone comes out even more when we compare other major translations of this verse we have here in The New American Standard 95 indeed has God said you shall not eat from any tree of the garden the ESV says did God actually say you shall not eat from any tree of the garden and Ivy says did 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 of every tree of the garden so what would you say is the Serpent’s tone in this question yeah this it seems inconceivable that God would say that I heard somebody saying something else over here Glenda okay we’ll get more into what the Serpent’s trying to do in a little bit but certainly seems like he’s incredulous about this he’s even maybe seeking to plant doubt Judy what were you going to say incredulous yes there’s some surprise in this statement maybe even shock the serpent seems a little bit skeptical that this could really be the situation indeed really actually did God say this to you now notice how the woman’s response to the serpent compares to God’s original command we just read it she states the distinction God told them to make with the garden’s trees but curiously she adds that we cannot touch it either God didn’t say that at least in Genesis 26- 17 the woman also mentions the penalty for eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil it is death and reply notice three remarks that the serpent makes he says you will surely not die that is a very emphatic declaration he also says for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be open and for you will become like God knowing Good and Evil now think about those three statements are they true in a certain way yes they are true but not in the sense that Eve thinks or that the serpent leads Eve to think that they might be true Adam and Eve do not die immediately after they eat their eyes are opened after they eat verse 7 says that explicitly and they do the pair does gain knowledge of Good and Evil but do they become like God no they don’t they become very unlike God because they become stained with evil they learn evil experientially which God never does yet this is how deceit is usually most effective right you mix the truth with faled notice the Curious word in the Serpent’s response he does say four verse five for God knows in the day you eat of it this will be the case we’ll come back to that just remember that four indicates a reason for what was just being said and when the serpent finishes speaking notice what three observations does the woman make about the fruit it’s good for food it’s pretty to the eyes and it’s desirable to make one wise many have connected these three observations with a certain New Testament verse describing man’s sinful desires 1 John 21:16 1 John 216 says for all that is in the world the lust of the flesh 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 where’s the man where’s Adam during all of this it’s a little hard to answer because we don’t see him involved at all until the woman eats the fruit but when she does at that point the text says that she gave to some to her husband who was with her at the end of verse six she gave also to her husband with her and he ate Adam appears to take the fruit from her without a word but notice quickly verse 17 of chapter 3 for What specifically does God rebuke Adam okay yeah so we’ll say more a little bit about Adam culpability in just a second but your translation says he hearkened to his wife or the new American s95 says because you have listened to the voice of your wife which seems to suggest that there was something sad there was some sort of communication between the woman and the man now we don’t hear any dialogue between Adam and the woman but apparently there was some communication even some conversation in between her in and her offering it to Adam because for that reason God says this is something wrong that you did Adam and when their eyes are opened observe in verse 7 what men and women immediately notice that they are naked and they respond to this realization by making loin coverings for themselves out of fig leaves now these are just simple observations let’s now build on that as we move into the interpretation step and we’ve got a number of questions to ask and try to answer Skeptics might mock this passage for its description of a talking snake but who is the serpent really this is Satan but how do we know that right so from this passage there’s not more given about the identity of this serpent but as we move through the scriptures we do see Satan introduced and explained and even connected to this passage certain is certainly or Satan is certainly the opponent of mankind mentioned in different places in the Old Testament like first Chronicles and job and Zechariah but the Book of Revelation explicitly identifies the ancient serpent as Satan so Revelation 129 Revelation 129 says and the Great Dragon was thrown down the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan who deceives the whole world he was thrown down to the Earth and his angels were thrown down with him so the identity of the serpent is not great clarified In this passage but it is as we move to the scriptures now from where did Satan come and why is he seeking to deceive man and woman and particularly the woman well recall that Satan is a fallen angel and that the Angels were created some time during the creation week probably day one or three Satan was a glorious Angel apparently but he rebelled against God and he enlisted other angels in the Rebellion now you’ve probably heard that before but again we might ask what’s the biblical support for that notion one place we can go to again is the Book of Revelation actually the same passage I quoted to you chap 12 Revelation 12: 3: 4 we read this Revelation 12 3:4 then another sign appeared in heaven and behold a great red dragon having seven heads and 10 horns and on its heads and on his heads were seven diadems and his tail Swept Away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to to the earth and the dragon stood before the woman and was about to give birth so that when she gave birth he might devour her child now the dragon in that context of Revelation 12 as we just saw is identified as Satan and as this is a sign this is a metaphorical passage the stars are to be interpreted as Heavenly followers even fellow Angels who rebelled with Satan and who we call demons today other passages people often point to to explain Satan’s background are Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 where God rebukes Earthly self-absorbed rulers but many interpreters seeing some of the descriptions in those passages as being too exalted to Simply refer to Earthly rulers they say that God is also or actually speaking about Satan so he was this glorious Angelic being who rebelled and brought other angels with him in Rebellion when did this happen well we’re not told specifically in the Bible but it’s likely shortly before the account that we read here in Genesis 3 now why do I say that well since God pronounced all creation including his angels to be very good at the end of day six and since the seventh day was blessed as a holy day of rest by God it’s likely the Angelic Rebellion didn’t take place in the creation week but took place shortly thereafter Angelic Rebellion probably took place sometime after the seventh day and the rebellious Satan was cast down to earth and full of rage against God and all that is good he immediately sets out to deceive and in a sense murder mankind sat would have no reason to waste any time so when does this encounter with Satan and the woman take place now again we’re not told specifically in the Bible but two clues in the Bible suggest that this was very soon after the close of the creation week first Adam and Eve apparently have not conceived yet even though God had commanded them to be fruitful and multiply also we read later on in chapter 3 that one of God’s concerns is that the postf fall man and woman might take from the fruit of the tree of life and live forever now there’s a lot of questions to how the fruit of the tree of life actually works but from a basic understanding of God’s statement there about eat and live forever it sounds like you eat it once you’re going to live forever apparently Adam and Eve hadn’t done that or the man and woman she’s not called Eve yet but the man and woman hadn’t apparently taken of the fruit of the tree of life that suggest that not very much time has gone by since they were created and set in the garden so even though we don’t get an answer spe specifically this conversation and thus the fall of mankind it probably takes place very soon after the end of creation maybe just a few days a few weeks later or maybe even the eighth day now we noted that the serpent approaches the woman and not the man why now there’s another question that’s kind of hard to answer but we should pay attention to an important verse in the New Testament and then we’ll summarize a few interpretation options 1 Timothy 22-14 1 Timothy 22- 14 Paul writes when he’s giving directions for how the church is to be run he says 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 deceived but the woman being deceived fell into transgression okay keeping that verse in mind coming back to this question why did Satan go after the woman well one answer that has been offered historically is that the reason Satan went after the woman is because she as a woman is spiritually weaker she was the more vulnerable one because she’s spiritually inferior however the New Testament while emphasizing perhaps you’re thinking of 1 Peter 3:7 while emphasizing the special care that husbands ought to have for their wives like one cares for a physically weaker but precious vessel though the New Testament acknowledges that reality it knows nothing of essential spiritual inferiority or superiority in Christ though men and women clearly have different roles in the family and church they are spiritually equal in Christ there’s no reason to say oh women are spiritually inferior they’re spiritually weaker you just got to keep watch over them because they’re always prone to sin this is something something that’s been said throughout the history of the church but it’s not accurate according to the scriptures but that is one answer that’s one way of answering this question why did the serpent approach the woman and not the man a second answer might be while she is not spiritually weaker than Adam the woman was mentally different in a way that made her more vulnerable to Satan’s Temptation let me explain some psychologists say some scientists say today an anecdotal evidence seems to support the idea that women are generally more relational more emotional and more empathetic than men or than men I should say now these differences are not imperfections but it’s part of the design complimentarity of man and woman however in coming after the woman Satan would be using the woman’s natural strength against her by getting her to listen to him and then using her strength as a communicator to ensnare her beloved that could be what Satan’s attempting to do here a third answer might be this doesn’t really have to do with Eve being a woman Eve’s vulnerability is about her receiving knowledge secondhand because as we notice when we hear the command of God regarding the tree of knowledge in Genesis 2:16-17 to whom is that command given just Adam just the man the woman wasn’t created yet so it’s possible that God never gave the command directly to the woman but relied on Adam to lead his wife as her head and help her obey this command that he received from God this might explain why the woman does not quote God’s words exactly when she’s questioned by the serpent Satan seeing that he could more easily plant doubt in the one who did not hear directly from God May decided to come after the woman and furthermore this would be an extra Temptation towards pride in the woman because she would be getting potentially her own Superior source of knowledge outside of her man and she could even instruct him not simply submit to his instruction this is possible but it’s also possible that Eve did hear the command from God himself in another section or in another in instance and the Bible simply doesn’t record it we don’t hear everything that happened between God and man and woman in in the first days so this is possible but couldn’t be certain about it so there are three reasons or there are reasons to hesitate with these three answers I lean towards the second answer but one thing is clear and assuredly is part of Satan’s scheme he desires in coming after the woman he desires to contradict the marriage order that God has designed this is why passages in the New Testament like Ephesians 5 they reassert God’s originally created roles for man and woman the man is created first the woman is created as a helper to the man but Satan in his viciousness towards God and all that is good he wants to upend God’s design Satan says to himself 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 to the leadership of her husband I’ll make her the leader in sin and instead of helping her husband I’ll cause her to do him the greatest injury imaginable Satan loves to destroy and corrupt to take everything that is good about God and what he has made and twist it certainly he was doing that whatever else he might have been designing by coming after the woman let’s see if we can now more specifically break down Satan’s means of deception towards the woman the serpent first asks the woman indeed has God said You shall not eat from any tree of the garden now the Hebrew word for any here it literally means the whole but it can be translated any every or all this is also the same word used by God in Genesis 21:16 therefore we could take this question from the serpent in the beginning of chapter 3 in two different ways Eve did God really say okay she’s not Eve just a you know she’s a woman at this point Eve did God really say that you shall not eat from any of the Trees of the garden at all that is you’re not allowed to have a single tree total prohibition what would be the answer to that question the God say they’re not allowed to from any of the trees at all no that’s such a clear contradiction of what God Said and it would be very unle right did God really say this uh no he didn’t but there’s another way we can understand the question and I believe that this is what Satan was actually communicating Eve did God really say that you shall not eat from every tree of the garden without exception that is there was a Nuance prohibition from God and what he’s provided for you what’s the answer to that question the answer is yes though that’s not the way God put it right not exactly we might want to say no because we’re thinking of how God presents it in Genesis 2:16 as a abundant provision he says from any tree of the garden you may eat freely oh but there is one exception verse 17 except for one tree but look what all I provided for you any tree that you want except this one but if you take out that expression of abundance and he just focused on verse 17 as Satan does well then the answer to Satan’s question is yes we were told that we shall not eat from every tree we can’t eat from any tree that we want there is an exception this is significant in God’s provision he emphasizes the abundance but in Satan’s question he doesn’t mention God’s abundance at all he instead focuses on the restriction and this is subtle isn’t it that’s why I believe this is what Satan’s really going for here Satan seeks to isue the woman’s mind from God’s generous provision and instead focus on the restriction and we noted earlier that the Serpent’s tone is one of surprise incredulity confusion shock what does this surprise from the serpent communicate about God’s choice to restrict Adam and Eve from this one tree doesn’t make sense that’s unexpected from God why would he do that God really said you can’t eat from every tree that sure is strange why would he say that why would he restrict you like that doesn’t make sense to me are you sure you heard him right Eve with such a question Satan plants an idea into Eve’s mind not merely oh did you hear him correctly but if you did hear him correctly maybe God’s commands aren’t good maybe his restrictions are holding you back from something that’s actually really good for you something really enjoyable something you need maybe you can’t trust God to have your good in mind if this is what he commands and in response Eve repeats God’s command to the serpent with that strange addition or touch it we shall not eat or touch it why does she add this extra part now some have said this was an extra warning that she heard from Adam God didn’t say this but Adam added that he’s like let’s just not even touch it or some say that this was Eve already giving into doubt about God’s goodness in her own mind God didn’t say this but she’s like yeah we’re not allowed to eat of it or touch it she she impunes God’s character by adding that part but there’s not enough evidence to say for sure we don’t know why she adds or touch it but certainly something is off Eve does reaffirm God’s provision about God’s warning regarding death if you eat it you will die it’s at this mention of death that Satan seeks to S to plant a second kind of doubt into Eve’s mind he’s already suggested that God is perhaps too restrictive that his laws are not good and that God is not completely trustworthy but now Satan plants doubt regarding God’s holiness and his judgment Satan flatly contradicts God’s statement that there are consequences for sin you shall not surely die the serpent says even though God used those exact same words minus the word not in Genesis 21:17 God says you will definitely die but the serpent says I’m here to tell you that you will definitely not die not only is God restricting you needlessly not only is he holding you back from things that are really going to benefit you and 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 tells the woman God is bluffing he’s not as holy as you think he is or that you’ve heard he is he’s just trying to scare you he not really going to punish you this provokes a natural question why why would God lie about this judgment why would he pretend there are consequences for going after sin when there really aren’t why would God do that and that’s exactly where Satan goes next in his explanation to the woman I’ll tell you why God pretends that there is a judgment why he’s trying to scare you for I told you that word was important Satan is providing a reason what is the reason the serpent provides for Why God is lying about death what would you say what you’ll be like God and so if God is trying to uh PR me that what does that say about God yeah he doesn’t want you to have what he has he’s selfish he’s Petty he’s jealous he doesn’t like competition he doesn’t want you to be like him and this is the final element of Satan’s scheme he first plants doubt about the goodness of God towards the woman in God’s laws then plants doubt about the Judgment of God against sin and then he plants doubt about the core worthiness of God God doesn’t want you to become like him he has all the glory he has all the pleasure he has all the wisdom but he doesn’t want to share any of it with you he only wants to give you second best and that’s why he’s trying to scare you by talking about death God does whatever he wants but he doesn’t want to let you do whatever you want really God is petty selfish full of Envy he gets happiness out of preventing other people from having happiness he’s a 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 so cruel he is a miser he’s a tyrant the serpent is saying all this as if he really has the woman’s good in mind well God doesn’t I want what’s best for you that’s why I feel so grieved that God has put these restrictions on you now this is vicious blasphemy against God but you know what the worst part of it is it takes especially with this last one it takes a true aspect of God’s character and mutilates it so that God appears to be the villain because is God jealous he is and he’s not ashamed to say that God isn’t indeed jealous he is determined that no one will be like him or take from him his glory but it’s because he rightly deserves it this is not part of God’s character because he is evil this is actually part of God’s goodness we know from other scriptures that God is too good to let us be satisfied with anything less than his full glory god demands exclusive worship because he is generous because only he is soul satisfying he freely and fully gives himself to all who come to him he is no Miser at all he says I don’t want you to settle for second best therefore come to me find your satisfaction in me God’s jealousy you could say even his selfishness that’s weird term to use with God but there’s a Sanctified way God’s jealousy is actually a most wonderful and beautiful quality it means that God will always do the greatest good to all of his creatures as first or 2 Timothy 21:13 says 2 Timothy 2:13 God cannot deny himself he will never deny his own worthiness to be sought after to be worshiped and to be enjoyed so how Wicked of Satan to take the very source of God’s goodness and turn it to what looks like the greatest source of evil he’s a jealous God that’s why you shouldn’t listen to him yet this is hardly surprising from one who exper exp erience the holy jealousy of God himself Satan the rebel Angel thrown out of heaven for seeking to glorify himself instead of the one who truly deserves it the Triune God so this is Satan’s strategy get Eve to doubt the goodness of God and his law get her to doubt the Holiness of God in his judgment and then get her to doubt the worthiness of God and his jealousy and does that sound familiar thank God application with me for a second isn’t this the same fundamental strategy that Satan uses against people today even us does God really say has God really said 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 fulfilled that you’re merely confined to one marriage bed or Worse singleness he said you can’t pity yourself or be angry for not having all the material Goods that you want to deserve huh how strange how strange for a God who claims to be good you know what go for that Idol anyways God’s not going to punish you for it the whole judgment thing is an illusion no one will find out about your sin why would God punish you for simply giving yourself what you deserve for seeking your own happiness God wants you to be happy why would he punish you for that don’t worry about the consequences after all you can always repent later 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 want you to seek your own good I seek your good Satan says I want you to be free I want to give you everything that you really want so just come follow me instead of God it’s the same old strategy but it’s very effective the question I ask yourselves is do you buy into Satan’s lies like the woman ends up doing you cannot be ignorant of Satan’s schemes he always tells the Hal truths right he always takes the good things of God that God has given or the good aspects of God and who he is and he twists it we must be ready to stand against these things we must branish the full panoply of God as Ephesians 6 says the shield of Faith the belt of Truth the helmet of salvation the breastplate of righteousness the sword of the spirit the Shing of the gospel of peace so that we don’t become deceived and then experience in a similar way the painful consequences of sin well we see in this chapter man Mankind’s first woman buys into the deception it is a very um that’s what it is a very seductive thing to think you can be as great as free you can be like God but not in the way that God intended Eve Falls to this she changes her mind about God she decides she doesn’t need God or God’s wisdom after all she can decide for herself what is wise what is good thank you very much she decides she will live and think autonomously independently from God even though this goes exactly against the way that God made her and made the universe you cannot go against God’s design and win you were designed to depend on God she thinks she can do that so with this newly broken mind she studies the trees’s fruit she comes to the opposite conclusions from what God had previously imparted God said the fruit is lethal the woman concludes it’s good for food look beautiful God said the wise ways to not eat of the tree fruit the woman concludes the tree is the way to True wisdom the fruit is the way to True wisdom Eve’s decision to eat the fruit then is just outward evidence of a new inward condition what kind of fruit is the fruit of the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil we don’t know probably none of the fruits we have today if you’re curious I have an interesting story about why we call why many people think it was an apple it’s not stated like that in the scriptures but there’s a funny historical story as to why that is but it probably isn’t any of the fruits that we had today yet don’t misunderstand the fruit itself doesn’t have some magical quality to it that imparts a curse imparts a sinful nature eating the fruit is simply emblematic of a spiritual heart transformation that has already taken place truly you could say the woman’s fall took place before she ever tasted the fruit but the actual act provided clear evidence of what had taken place of her now corrupted heart the act of sin and the Heart corruption they were occurring more or less at the same time but what about Adam how does he fall now we’ve already alluded to this in some of what you you have said earlier he was with her when she ate he may have been with her the whole time a lot of people think that he was but the New Testament says that Adam was not deceived he was not deceived by the snake so then why does he also eat again we don’t know specifically though the woman plays a role because as we noted God rebukes Adam later for listening to his wife the woman may have told Adam that or what she had learned from the serpent or what she had learned from studying the fruit she may have told him how delicious the fruit is she may have remarked about how look I’m still alive there’s no judgment of God on me what the S what the serpent said is true assur assuredly she intreated her husband to join her perhaps then Adam idolized his wife over God perhaps he was only persuaded by the Serpent’s arguments when they came from the mouth of the woman he loved for whatever reason he eats too and it’s only after they both eat that their eyes are open to what they had done and this is always the way it is with sin isn’t it during that moment of anger or coveting or lust we often don’t hear the truth we don’t feel the pangs of guilt but just a short time later sometimes right after you commit the act of sin you feel the full darkness of what you have done you feel the regret you feel the grief you feel the pain you feel the suffering if only we would take up the armor of God and not wait for that moment of regret not so viciously wound ourselves we see it happening in them just as it does for all of us but why do they suddenly feel naked they were naked before why do they feel naked why do they know that they’re naked well clearly they feel the shame of their sin it’s not that nakedness itself is sinful or shameful Adam and Eve felt no shame being naked before the fall but post fall nakedness is a symbol of the desolation of sin yet the shame of nakedness is not just symbolic it’s also practical with their minds corrupted Adam and Eve suddenly are able to imagine all sorts of sin and each knows that the other as well as any other humans that now appear on the earth they will be capable of all kinds of perversions against Adam and Eve and each person feels vulnerable to the sinfulness of others and so he makes coverings for himself they both make coverings for themselves and aren’t these things still true for our world today the fact that we wear clothes is a testimony to the fall yes clothes serve an additional practical function for us in terms of keeping us comfortable in various environments and there are groups that have tried to overcome the innate stigma of nakedness with their flaunting nudity but we too feel the vulnerable wickedness of ourselves and of our fellow humans and all of is a testimony to how we as a race have rebelled against our God though it is interesting in the New Testament we don’t in the final consummation we don’t return to nakedness we’re clothed we’re clothed with the perfect clothing Forever indeed it is this idea of covering oneself that begins to show us a picture of the Gospel we’re going to talk more about this next week but just less preview this morning so it’s not all dark and sad in verses 8 and N Adam and Eve hide from God but what does God do he goes after them and he speaks to them he goes looking for them and he calls them and this is amazing because no sinner seeks for God the other scriptures say that’s true in the beginning too but what does God in Mercy do he seeks them over Genesis 3:15 in Genesis 3:15 God makes a promise to the serpent he says the descendant of the woman will be the one to come one day and defeat you defeat you Satan and deliver man from the effects of Satan’s deceit namely death and this is moments after Man’s first Great Rebellion against God already God is giving good news of Hope and salvation and then if you just glance down 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 of the man and woman to be inadequate for them actually this came up up in our conference yesterday as soon as you pluck fig leaves from their stalks what’s going to happen to them they’re going to start withering they’re going to start dying you’re going to have to keep on making clothes I mean those clothes aren’t great covering to begin with even though figes are somewhat large compared to other plants that’s not good covering and it’s not going to last they need something better and God provides them with animal skins yet what does that act seem to imply where did these skins come from probably God killed an innocent animal that they might be covered now the text doesn’t say that but it would be weird a little bit weird for God to just create animal skins out of nowhere likely this is the beginning of something that we see through the rest of the scriptures this idea that the shame and Corruption of man sin needs covering God is the only one who can provide it but it comes by a blameless sacrifice Old Testament sacrificial system will make this abundantly clear but the Fulfillment of the one of the seed of woman Jesus Christ would make this even more clear he is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world and he’s the one he’s the only one who could provide the true covering that man needs so immediately despite this heinous Rebellion this repudiation of God God responds not with fire and brimstone but with kindness with Grace in the midst of overwhelming Despair and yes even the promulgation of judgment God gives hope and why is that because he is a worthy God it is his nature as a holy God to be a savior to be the only savior to be full of mercy and of course that is true today too the same gospel hope held out in the beginning of man’s Rebellion is still being held out today that anyone might be saved from the Eternal penalty of their sins if they will by repentance of their sin and faith in the promised savior and covering the Lord Jesus Christ turn to God but some may still ask if God is so holy and good all powerful why did he allow the fall couldn’t we have just avoided this whole mess why would a good god do that the answer may surprise you it’s actually because God is so good holy and all powerful that he ordained the fall now to fully to explain that answer would take more time than we have but make no mistake the fall of Man was no surprise to God it was part of his Sovereign plan to enjoy his ultimate glory and accomplish the ultimate good of those he has chosen for himself even for the whole universe acts 2:23 and 1 Peter 1:20-21 say that Christ was forn as the saving sacrifice for sin before the foundation of the world Revelation 138 further reveals that we too as Believers we were elected in the slain Lamb of God before the world was created though God hates sin he’s wholly good he never leads tempts anyone into sin nevertheless the fall was part of God’s good plan how can that be well consider Paul’s explanation in Romans 9:22 to 23 which I’m just going to paraphrase we often sing or talk about the depths of the wonders of God and creating us and saving us in spite of our ugly sin and Rebellion yet without the fall without the fall of Man and without the later salvation work of Christ delivering us from Death From Hell from sin how little we would know about the true depths of the glory of God this is why Augustine the fame fourth Century Church Father he coined a strange yet accurate term when speaking of the fall of Man Felix Kula which means Happy fall or or lucky fall now that is not to say that everything that resulted from the fall is happy or without pain far from even when we think about eternal punishment that is coming on vessels of Wrath that is a reality that we cannot even comprehend in its horror nevertheless the Bible reveals that the fall of Adam if Romans 8:23 is correct then the fall of Adam is included that ultimately this would be good for those in Jesus Christ those called according to God’s purpose and that is because we as recipients of God’s undeserved and abundant kindness we get to experience the full glory of God on mag in magnificent display in Christ forever and that’s something we can’t necessarily fully wrap our minds around but a good God he did not betray his goodness in allowing or ordaining the all no that was actually part of his goodness in a Transcendent way being manifest to the universe because he says this I’m going to bring such good out of this it’d be it’s better for this to happen than for it to not happen at all that is part of the Transcendent wisdom of God now I’m going to stop there and give a little bit of time for questions questions about what you’ve heard today yes Steve I don’t know feel find judge Jud that’s an interesting thought Steve so just mentioning well how can we really correctly characterize their motives in eating the fruit because the Brokenness of sin changes everything so does even that verse from the New Testament about the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes the boastful pride of life does it really apply certainly I think you are right to have some caution about trying to figure out what precisely they were thinking and I’ve tried to illustrate that in this lesson because the Bible doesn’t tell us a whole lot though it’s in the Act of deciding to eat the fruit that the Brokenness is occurring so the introduction of sin into their minds it doesn’t come by the eating of the fruit it comes by ultimately evees believing The Serpent and Adam choosing to side with Eve now that certainly is going to involve things that later are characteristic of the broken mind coveting at a basic level now whe whether we want to use those three specific terms of the New Testament maybe maybe not but to sin it had to be something that started in the heart which means they were thinking wrongly they already had a broken mind when they chose to eat the fruit so I guess what I’m saying is we should be cautious and trying to figure it out totally and yet we do know fundamentally they’re experiencing aversion and yielding to a version of the same temptations that we deal with even today Mike of that is thought that b tells us that God is God we are not we are a created separ not and so in order for Jesus Christ himself as theed L God this is just we are we manifested ourselves we came to Earth sin we are that’s why okay so to um categorize the things you just said a little bit we know that we were not created as Sinners human nature was corrupted so that when we think about what does it mean to be human now we would I think many times just think of it as oh to be Sinners but Jesus does give us a new nature so that to be a sinner to be human does not necessarily mean to be a sinner because otherwise Jesus is not really human though to come back to something you said we were created to be dependent that was manifested as soon as we were created in the fall in the thoughts of the Mind manifested in the action of taking the fruit man declared independence from God and that we certainly see basically being manifested all over the world today I mean lgbtq movement that’s so popular in our society it’s just another way of man saying I’m independent from God and I’m allowed to choose the way that I want to live on my own and I can even choose to be a different gender than what God created me to be because I’m My Own God but to Circle back to the last thing you said though we were created innocent and corrupted for those in Christ we were always in Christ though it became manifest at a certain point which is one of the mysterious truths of the scriptures when it comes to Union with Christ we were chosen in him before the foundation of the world so in one sense we were always assigned we were always designated as the redeemed ones though in our experience of History there’s a certain point where we cross over into that redemption in one sense the Lamb of God who always was has always had us in him I don’t have time for any other questions or comments but yeah but I’m sure there yeah there’s definitely definitely mystery but wondrous mystery oh one other thing I got to address why was it that Eve was not weirded out by a talking snake well first of all everything is new so maybe she was not weirded out by talking snake because she’s just like oh I guess that’s part of this world too okay or maybe she was weirded out by it but she just went along with it I mean think about this if a snake started talking to you would you just ignore it I mean I’d certainly be freaked out but if he’s like hey why’d you do that are you just GNA be like I’m out of here you might be like um why are you asking me know he probably talked to it too but anyways we don’t know fully but that it itself is not like well you can’t believe the Bible because it’s a talking snake look everything was new in the beginning and maybe she thought it was weird but she just went along with it but anyways if you have other questions or comments come talk with me afterwards send me an email but that’s it for this week next week we look at the effects of the Fall as demonstrated by our first parents and as announced by God let me close this in prayer Lord thank you for your word and Lord this is kind of hard to Fathom that as terrible as the fall is and as terrible as all the effects of the Fall are that we see today ultimately in your Sovereign purpose this was going to bring about good the greatest good in all the universe the display of the glory of God God in Jesus Christ we love Jesus Lord you do save us from all the things that came about as a result of this ancient rebellion and that was not deserved Lord no sinner seeks for God but you sought us you sought Us in the beginning and in Grace you sought us individually in our lives and you brought us to Jesus Lord thank you for that I pray God that you’d keep us close to you that we would not say oh how terrible to yield to that Temptation and then we do the very same we have a new head and we have a new example we don’t follow Adam and we fall anymore we follow the last Adam and he stood Against The Temptations in the wilderness and he showed us that we can too by the power of the spirit and by the promises of God so I pray God that you would help us to do that and help us to encourage one another in that Jesus name amen thank you everyone okay