Fall and Result
- Sermon By: William Subash
- Categories: Fall, Result, Redemption, and Restoration
Bible Passage: Genesis 3: 1-15
I. Preliminary considerations:
1. God formed man from dust, breathed “the breath of life” into his nostrils, the man became a living being (2:7), and then God put him in the garden which was replete with provisions (verse 8)
2. God provided man with everything to thrive in this garden
a. “You may freely eat fruit from every tree of the orchard” (2:16)
b. “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die” (verse 17)
c. Man had life within God’s permitted boundary
d. Man would die and experience expulsion from the garden if he transgressed
e. Within the parameters that God had set, man had life and death
b. “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die” (verse 17)
c. Man had life within God’s permitted boundary
d. Man would die and experience expulsion from the garden if he transgressed
e. Within the parameters that God had set, man had life and death
i. Life refers to enjoyment of God’s blessings within the garden in His presence
ii. Death refers to expulsion from the garden and outside of His presence
ii. Death refers to expulsion from the garden and outside of His presence
f. To thrive further in the garden, God gave man his wife and facilitated their wedding (2:18-23)
3. The order of authority in the garden is: God, man, and woman
4. Adam and Eve had a friendly relationship with God in the garden, and they had an uninterrupted access to Him
5. Adam and Eve, the first family, were on the mission of God,
6. Everything was going to change when a new character, hitherto unknown, sneaks into the garden—the order changed quickly: Satan, woman, and man
4. Adam and Eve had a friendly relationship with God in the garden, and they had an uninterrupted access to Him
5. Adam and Eve, the first family, were on the mission of God,
6. Everything was going to change when a new character, hitherto unknown, sneaks into the garden—the order changed quickly: Satan, woman, and man
II. Gen 3:1 introduces a new character, “the serpent”
1. The serpent speaks to the woman
2. Satan, who is opposed to God, disguised as the serpent with an objective to hurt God’s mission through Adam and Eve
3. Satan’s technique was to twist God’s Word
4. Rev 12:9 says “the ancient serpent who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world”
2. Satan, who is opposed to God, disguised as the serpent with an objective to hurt God’s mission through Adam and Eve
3. Satan’s technique was to twist God’s Word
4. Rev 12:9 says “the ancient serpent who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world”
a. Rev 20:2-3 God seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended
b. Satan’s mission is to divert man and woman from God by questioning God’s command thereby insinuate/imply God as a liar and as someone who does not give the best to His people
b. Satan’s mission is to divert man and woman from God by questioning God’s command thereby insinuate/imply God as a liar and as someone who does not give the best to His people
III. Twisting God’s Word
1. Satan asked the woman “Is it really true that God said, ‘You must not eat from any tree of the orchard’?” (verse 3)
a. Satan tries to turn the Word of God into a topic of debate (is it really true!?)
b. His intention was not clarity on what God said, but to make her become skeptical about God
c. Satan would like to show that God was not fully committed to the welfare of the man and woman
b. His intention was not clarity on what God said, but to make her become skeptical about God
c. Satan would like to show that God was not fully committed to the welfare of the man and woman
2. The woman said, “We may eat of the fruit from the trees of the orchard; but concerning the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the orchard God said, ‘You must not eat from it, and you must not touch it, or else you will die.’” (3:2-3)
a. God had said, “You may freely eat fruit from every tree of the orchard, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die” (Gen 2:16-17)
b. The woman did not present God’s prohibition accurately, added more either to make it dramatic or to express displeasure towards God’s specific prohibition
b. The woman did not present God’s prohibition accurately, added more either to make it dramatic or to express displeasure towards God’s specific prohibition
i. Added “or even touch it” (3:2-3)
ii. “or else you will die” instead of “you shall surely die”
iii. The woman minimized the privileges—Gen 2:16-17 says “you may freely eat” but the woman missed the word “freely” (cf. 3:3)
ii. “or else you will die” instead of “you shall surely die”
iii. The woman minimized the privileges—Gen 2:16-17 says “you may freely eat” but the woman missed the word “freely” (cf. 3:3)
c. Satan used this vulnerability, i.e., incomplete representation God’s prohibition, as her weak point
d. Satan ignored what God had abundantly provided for the man and woman, but he focused on what He had prohibited to look God’s commandment unreasonable
d. Satan ignored what God had abundantly provided for the man and woman, but he focused on what He had prohibited to look God’s commandment unreasonable
IV. Satan told Eve, “… certainly you will not die!”
1. Satan contradicts God’s Word (3:4)—Satan is a liar from the beginning (cf. John 8:44)
2. To the woman, God’s prohibition begins to appear unreasonable
3. Satan implies that God has not been generous with them
4. Satan seems to suggest that they can do much better if they are “like God
5. The very thing God did not want for Adam and Eve, Satan wanted for them
6. Satan presents God in a bad light and questions God’s character
2. To the woman, God’s prohibition begins to appear unreasonable
3. Satan implies that God has not been generous with them
4. Satan seems to suggest that they can do much better if they are “like God
5. The very thing God did not want for Adam and Eve, Satan wanted for them
6. Satan presents God in a bad light and questions God’s character
V. Conversation with the wrong person and entertaining his thoughts over God’s word moved the woman one step away from God
1. In verse 6, the word “desire/covet” is used (same word in Exod 20:17 “you must not covet”)
2. The woman coveted: the alleged promise of the fruit lured her towards breaking God’s prohibition
3. Eve yielded to the temptation “she took … and ate it. The she gave some to her husband”
4. Adam kept silent—He allows his wife to transgress God’s commandment, and then he transgresses it himself—“Adam was with her, and he ate it, too”
2. The woman coveted: the alleged promise of the fruit lured her towards breaking God’s prohibition
3. Eve yielded to the temptation “she took … and ate it. The she gave some to her husband”
4. Adam kept silent—He allows his wife to transgress God’s commandment, and then he transgresses it himself—“Adam was with her, and he ate it, too”
VI. Result
1. Death—Gen 2:17 “… you will certainly die”
2. Alienation
2. Alienation
a. In the place of walking along with God, they hid from God (verse 8)
b. They were alienated from God—this alienation is the death (2:17; cf. Eph 2:1)
b. They were alienated from God—this alienation is the death (2:17; cf. Eph 2:1)
i. death is separation
ii. spiritual death is separation from God
ii. spiritual death is separation from God
3. Communion with the Lord of life has been broken
4. This is called “the Fall”
4. This is called “the Fall”
VII. The LORD called Adam: God-man-woman
1. Curse
2. God curses the serpent but punishes the woman and the man (verse 15)
3. Adam and Eve forfeited their place in the garden of God
4. Verses 15 is the hope, which is protoevangelium, the first Gospel—I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel
2. God curses the serpent but punishes the woman and the man (verse 15)
3. Adam and Eve forfeited their place in the garden of God
4. Verses 15 is the hope, which is protoevangelium, the first Gospel—I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel
VIII. Jesus the Seed of the woman withstands the temptation of Satan (Matt 4:1-10)
1. When Satan tempted Jesus, he twisted God’s Word, but Jesus trusted God’s Word
2. Jesus defeated Satan with God’s Word at the temptation and then on the Cross
3. Satan was (future) thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur (Rev 20:10)
4. Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates (Rev 22:14)
5. Through Jesus, the mission of God continues
2. Jesus defeated Satan with God’s Word at the temptation and then on the Cross
3. Satan was (future) thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur (Rev 20:10)
4. Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates (Rev 22:14)
5. Through Jesus, the mission of God continues
Takeaway:
Believe God’s Word unwaveringly by avoiding listening to interpretations from sources that twist God’s Word