In the Beginning: From Creation to Covenant
Part 2
“The Fall”
A recap and list of “firsts” in first 3 chapters:
As we saw last time, God made everything there is in six 24 hour days.
He made every living thing with the capacity to reproduce ‘after its kind’–so one species cannot produce another species. It is God’s boundary for all living things.
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Now we’re not going to go verse by verse in this series, but rather we will hit the high points of Genesis with a focus on the 4 premier, epochal, history shaping, defining moment events Genesis recounts for us–the Creation, the Fall, the Flood, and the Tower of Babel.
This time, epochal event number two–the fall of man into sin.
But first, let’s mention some of the ‘firsts’ that occurred leading up to the fall.
–The first marriage in 2:22-25, performed by God Himself!
–God’s first command to man in 1:28 “Be fruitful and multiply…subdue the earth.”
–Man’s first task in 1:8,15 “God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed,”…Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.”
–God’s first prohibition in 1:16-17 “Of every tree of of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day you eat of it you shall surely die.”
–The first appearance of Satan in 3:1 “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.”
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And this time we begin our primary focus here…the tragic fall of man into sin described in Chapter 3.
The scene opens with Adam and Eve enjoying the glorious beauty of God’s pristine creation.
It is paradise on earth.
There is no sickness, disease, pain, sin or shame.
The first couple are seen walking in unbroken fellowship with God, surrounded by the unimaginable, breathtaking splendor of the Garden of Eden.
Then…trouble appears in the form of the serpent!
The Hebrew word used to describe the devil is naw-khawsh’ meaning ‘snake, serpent.’
Genesis from here on establishes נָחָשׁ as a representative of subtlety and false wisdom.
For instance, John’s Revelation shows the final casting of “that ancient serpent” into the lake of fire (Rev 20:2,10).
“He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.” Vs.2
In spiritual warfare we are warned by Paul to be on the alert that the serpent, the devil, still “disguises himself” as something attractive, even as an angel of light (2 Cor 11:3,14).
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Now, I don’t believe Satan himself appeared like a serpentine apparition, but that he indwelt and used one of God’s creations, the serpent, which He had declared was good!
Satan approached Eve in the body of a serpent that was likely very colorful and attractive, which many snakes are to this day!
The way the serpent moved was mesmerizing and his words were carefully constructed.
–First, he sowed DOUBT and CONFUSION: “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree in the garden?” Vs 1
But God never said that they could not eat of every tree, only of the one.
So Satan is twisting God’s word, a tactic he still employs today with great success!
The devil knows that in order to lead Eve into sin, he must first confuse her as to what God had truly said.
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Satan is looking for uncertainty in Eve’s understanding of God’s word. He’s testing her knowledge of it, which he did with Jesus in the wilderness 3 times.
And in fact, Eve ISN’T totally clear on it, because she proceeds to misquote God’s word:
“2 And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
But God never said they couldn’t touch it, only that they couldn’t eat of it.
So Eve has added to God’s word and Satan spots it. He now sees a vulnerability and proceeds to capitalize on it by further attacking God’s word to the first couple:
“Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die.'” Vs. 4
This is actually a brazen attack on God’s character.
The devil is outright calling God a liar!
And this is one of the attributes of Satan we see all throughout Scripture–he is arrogant, bold, and brash, even to the point of suggesting to God the Son in the wilderness that He should bow down and worship him!
In short, Satan is insane with pride!
But the devil’s not done. Next, he tells a second lie designed to sow doubt in Eve’s mind about God’s true intentions toward her:
“For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”–vs 5
This is totally fabricated nonsense. Satan wants to make Eve believe that God is intentionally cheating her. “For God knows” means “God is intentionally withholding truth from you about what the real effect of eating of the forbidden tree would be.” He’s not being totally truthful with you, Eve!”
This tactic of the devil is still used with great effect today.
For instance, he says to young people, “All these restrictions against certain behaviors Christianity is putting on you won’t truly hurt you at all! For God knows you’ll actually enjoy life without needing all this unnecessary religion.”
In short, Satan couldn’t successfully coax her into the actual sin until he sabotaged her trust in God and His word.
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Finally, Satan seals the deal with one last lie. “If you eat of the forbidden tree, rather than dying, you will actually become like God, knowing good and evil.” Vs.5
This final lie comes with a false promise of hidden wisdom, god-like knowledge, and the expansion of her mind. And he still does this today!
One psychology publication says of cults, “Cults satisfy the human desire for absolute answers.”
When we look at the eastern religions of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Conficianism, Buddha is called “the enlightened one.”
All three religions emphasize universal consciousness, a dynamic, ever-changing, heightened awareness, and an animating force that gives rise to wisdom and virtue–all strikingly similar to what Satan promised Eve!
As this Satanic attack reaches completion, look at how Eve now views what was once forbidden and bad.
“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.”–Vs 6
Look at the adjectives: good, pleasing, and desirable rather than bad, to be shunned, and dangerous!
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The tragic fall into sin of the first couple produced massive, widespread, and deadly repercussions:
Physical and Spiritual Separation from God
The fall of Adam and Eve unleashed untold misery on the human race.
As a consequence of their sin, they were expelled from the Garden of Eden, a place of perfect communion with God.
This separation symbolizes the very real spiritual and physical consequences of sin, which are–alienation from God, loss of innocence, and the entrance of pain and suffering. All sickness, disease, pain, guilt, shame, sorrow, and ultimately death spring from their fall.
As Paul wrote, “When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. His sin spread death throughout all the world, so everything began to grow old and die, for all sinned.”–Ro. 5:12
–All sinned because all were born with Adam’s fallen nature!
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”–Ro 3:23
“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”–1 John 1:8
“Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” – Psalm 51:5
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Corruption of Creation
The fall also affects the entire creation. The ground is cursed, making agriculture difficult. Animals are now fearful of and hostile to humans, when in the beginning they came walking right up to Adam without fear.
Also, the creation itself is suffering under the effects of living in a sinful world. “Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, 21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.”–Ro 8:20-21
Moral Degeneration
Sin brings a profound moral degeneration to humanity. People become prone to violence, deception, selfishness, and sexual perversion. The world becomes a place of moral depravity, conflict and suffering.
Genesis 6 sums up the rapid and total degeneration of ancient society: “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Vs 5
And, “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.” Vs 11
Yet with all this tragedy, the promise of redemption, grace, and mercy appeared immediately following the fall in the form of the first prophecy:
15 “And I will put enmity (open hostility) between you and the woman, and between your seed (offspring) and her Seed; He shall [fatally] bruise your head, and you shall [only] bruise His heel (on the Cross).”
Here in Genesis 3:15, God prophesies a “seed” (referring to Christ) who will crush the serpent’s head and restore the broken relationship between God and humanity.
And the unfolding of that promise is what the OT is all about!