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Sin enters God's perfect world

We don't know how long Adam and his wife Eve were able to live happily in the Garden of Eden before things turned sour for them. The Lord isn't interested in telling us that sort of detail. What He does want us to see is just what happened to that wonderful world He had created. And this chapter shows us what happened to the human race as represented by Adam. As the chapter opens Adam and Eve are still in this delightful "garden of the Lord" where they could enjoyed unsullied fellowship with their Maker but by the time the chapter ends they are driven out and away from His presence because of their sinful rebellion.

And so this evening we will need to take a closer look at how sin entered the world of men. We will need to look at:

1.       Sin is contemplated

2.       Sin is committed

3.       Sin brings consequences

i.                        direct consequences upon man

ii.                     Divine reaction that sin calls forth from the LORD God.

As we do this we must bear in mind that we are dealing with real events that took place in history. We are not in the realm of myths or legends or instructive story-telling. Stories may well be entertaining but or all too easily pushed to one side if their moral begins to get a bit too close to home. We dare not push historical fact and reality to one side lest we ourselves live/continue to live our lives in a little fantasy world of our own imagining!

When Moses wrote Genesis for the people of Israel they knew that animals don't usually talk. They knew too from bitter experience in the wilderness that serpents and snakes constituted a real danger to them. Becoming impatient they had grumbled against Moses and more significantly they had found fault with God. As a result God had sent fiery serpents amongst them as a punishment.

So as Moses begins ch.3 of Genesis with talk of a serpent that speaks the people would already be hearing warning bells. And of course they were right. Here Moses is speaking of no natural phenomenon but he is writing about that ancient enemy of mankind, Satan, who was at work using the serpent as his mouthpiece.

The Bible later makes this very plain:

Rev.12:9 "And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world…"

Moses is not concerned to explain how it was that Satan came to be a fallen angel he is simply concerned to explain what happened to that crowning glory of God's good creation – mankind. (If you want something more on Satan's downfall etc. you'll have to look elsewhere eg. Ezek.28 or Is.14.

This is the one that Jesus described as being a liar and the father of lies (Jn.8:44). Jesus went on to say that he had nothing to do with the truth, because there was no truth in him. So as we read the following lines which record the serpent's conversation with the woman we should not think for one minute that anything wholesome and true is coming from him.

v.1 The chapter opens with the serpent in conversation with the woman and his very first words are in the form of a question that is deforming and twisting what God has already clearly stated.

The provision that God had made for Adam in the garden was very generous. He had the fruit of every tree in the garden at his disposal with one single solitary exception. The eating of that one tree would prove fatal to his best interests and so God had solemnly warned him not to eat of it.

But now the serpent in deliberately twisting those words seeks to cast aspersions upon God's good character. Instead of God being kind and generous the serpent's words suggest rather that He has been stingy and mean-spirited.

At the moment it is not yet an all-out attack but the opening gambit whereby Satan tries to sow the seeds of doubt and lack of trust in the woman's heart.

vv.2-3 The woman doesn't seen surprised by the fact that serpent is speaking to her – she knows no fear either being as yet without sin in God's world – and so she engages in conversation with the serpent.

Her reply shows how she has already been drawn in by the serpent and is lending a certain credence to his words. She doesn't clearly reject the serpent's words as being what they are a crude attempt to denigrate the goodness of God but responds by failing to emphasise God's abundant generosity – notice no mention of every/all in v.3 as there had been in 2:16. She then goes further to portray God's regulations as stricter than they were – she adds "neither shall you touch it".

vv.4-5 The serpent now has the opening he was looking for – having successfully sown some seeds of doubt in the woman's mind he now proceeds to flatly contradict what God has said. Although the serpent doesn't use the words he effectively accuses God of being a liar. He then follows this up with an appeal to the woman's pride – disobey God and choose for yourself what you'll do and you'll become like God Himself. And the woman fell for it!

The woman has not thought very carefully at all. She was in a wonderful environment where God had made tremendously good and generous provision for her and her husband but she allowed Satan via the serpent to lead her away from a true and proper appreciation of her situation.

She was duped as the serpent first twisted God's words in a way that made God look unreasonable and dictatorial. As she was drawn in she was ready to hear without being shocked a rebuttal of God's truthfulness. Having gone thus far it was short step to take the one fruit that was forbidden and to eat it – she didn't hesitate long before that step was taken.

What were the determining factors for the woman? v.6 tells us that there were basically three things involved – to the reader familiar with his Bible these three avenues of temptation did not end in the garden!

a)        She saw that the tree was good for food. There was an appeal to her natural bodily appetites.

b)       She saw this tree and realised that it was aesthetically pleasing to behold – it was fascinating.

c)       She believed that this tree could afford her real intellectual and moral benefits.

The NT describes such temptation in the following way: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.

And the woman took and ate. In doing so the Bible tells us plainly that she was deceived. The serpent had told her she'd be like God if she exercised her right to choose for herself. How liberating, how dazzling that all appeared! The reality? She became not like God but like Satan!

But the story has not yet reached it's climax – what would Adam do? He was the one to whom the original command had been given. Would he stand firm or would he too capitulate?

His wife offered the forbidden fruit to him – what a moment! What hangs upon his decision! And he acts. He has not been duped as his wife had been. He sees things clearly. He knows that to take and eat would be to rebel against the LORD God – surely he won't act in such a stupid, unreasonable way! But he does. Tamely we read "and he ate."

And immediately everything changes. I wonder how long the luscious fruit continued to please the palate, I wonder how long the sweet juices brought please to the taste buds? I wonder how long it was before the fleeting pleasure of sin lost its appeal and gave way to another sentiment entirely.

My friends the Bible doesn't pretend for one moment that sin isn't tempting. It doesn't pretend that sin is totally without some enjoyment and some delight. But the Bible does tell us that such pleasure doesn't last.

You might find that hard to believe at times as you continue to enjoy your own forbidden fruit with apparent impunity but remember God is not mocked! Your sin will find you out. Please God it may do so while there is yet time for you to turn in repentance and faith toward Him. It is a terrible thing when God simply gives people over to their sin and lets them get on with it.

The world which God has made is a moral universe. When we make choices or take decisions, the choices we make frequently have a moral element to them and that element brings consequences.

Many of countrymen today would like to believe otherwise. Many want to live lives where they are somehow shielded from the moral consequences of their choices and of their lifestyle but at most such protection is only temporary or partial. God has made the world in such a way that sinning with impunity is not possible.

There are two different types of consequence that we need to consider and both types are in evidence in this account of man's fall into sin:

i)                      Natural or direct

ii)                    Divine judgment

i)                      Their eyes were opened v.7. It is interesting to note that this only occurred after Adam had taken the fruit and eaten of it – but then the eyes of both were opened. We might normally be tempted to think that this was a good thing but here it most definitely was not! To this point the man and the woman were innocent in the garden but now they have plunged themselves into shame. Their eyes are opened so they become aware of their disobedience and at once they try to hide from one another by covering their nakedness.

ii)                    Man compounds his own sin by trying to find remedies for it by himself. Self-help religion – the religion of works-righteousness. How pathetic are their efforts as they attempt to sew fig leaves together!

iii)                  Not only has disharmony affected their relationship with each other – a disharmony whereby their nakedness becomes a problem to them – but their relationship with the LORD God has been changed too! Where they had once enjoyed fellowship with God man now feels the need to hide away from Him. Fear has now become the dominant factor as man becomes conscious of the shamefulness of his situation.

iv)                   Real guilt is really felt but it is only with great reluctance that the sin that is the cause of such guilt is admitted. Do you see how Adam tries to pass the buck, to find excuses, before he finally admits to having done wrong? The woman is no different – mitigating circumstances are no recent invention! Mankind has been trying to plead diminished responsibility since the very beginning

And all this type of behaviour still affects us today.

But there are more and worse consequences for sin.

v)                     Sin provokes the wrath of God! How happy men and women in Herne Bay would be tonight if that wasn't true. That is how our fellow citizens want to live. They want to be told that God isn't so picky about sin. They want to believe the psychologists and the analysts who warn of the dangers of repressing their true desires. They long to "Just do it" and get away with it scot-free. But deep down they know – as you do – that evil is evil; that morality matters; that justice should win out. We all know this because we all know that God exists. An so the atheists try a different method to make light of their sin - they pay for publicity campaigns to say that God probably doesn't exist! Maybe we can vote Him out!

Adam and Eve tried that in the garden my friends. The vote was unanimous – they didn't want God to reign over them – they would eat and be like God themselves. But surprise – God didn't recognise their vote against Himself; He didn't quietly pack His bags and move off to take an interest in another planet. No! By no means!! He came calling and calling man to account. And in the light of His presence the man and the woman had to stand and give an account to Him. All the bluff and the bluster counted for nothing – they were sinners and had to admit it. And having admitted it they had to listen to God unilaterally pronouncing judgment upon them. Their two votes couldn't outweigh Him!! How ridiculously silly modern man is as he struts and poses in God's world as though God would forever turn a blind eye to his sin!!

vi)                   And God pronounces His sentences – the serpent first is dealt with. Then the woman must listen to what God will reward her with for her sin. Then Adam – the head of the human race – must stand and learn of his punishment. Life will not be the same as it was before – no sin has caused terrible havoc – man suffers he doesn't benefit from sin. Life will be hard, difficult and painful. The glorious unity of the couple will now be exposed to tension and strife. And mankind will be chased away, out of the garden, away from the presence of the LORD God.

And in the midst of such turmoil the LORD God continues to show Himself to be good, kind and generous.

As Adam hides the LORD God calls to him inviting him to come into His presence. As He questions Adam and Eve opportunity is afforded for repentance – which sadly is not forthcoming. Even in the very act of pronouncing judgment there is the promise that the human race won't be wiped out and that a Saviour will in time come who will rectify the situation.

Yes, Adam and Eve are punished and excluded from the garden because of their rebellion but even as they are sent out they go with garments of skin that the LORD God provided for them. The fig leaf aprons were not really very suitable or effective and the LORD supplies their need of a suitable covering for their now shameful nakedness. It is possible to discern here the pattern that will later come into prominence of the death of a substitute being necessary to answer for man's sin.

This chapter is not primarily about what we should do. It is primarily an explanation as to why things are as there are in the world in which we find ourselves. Nevertheless the ruses that Satan used to trap Eve are the same as he uses to try to trap us and we most certainly can learn from that. We must not however use this chapter as an encouragement to construct fig leaf religion for ourselves!!