Spiritual Warfare — Part 3

The Consequence of the Fall

Sermon delivered on February 26th, 2017
Morning Service

By: Pastor Greg Hocson

Scripture Text: Genesis 3:1-15

 

Introduction

The third chapter of Genesis is one of the most important chapters in all the Bible. Here in Genesis 3 we read the Biblical account of how sin entered the human race and death into the world. When you read Genesis 3 you are dealing with historical facts not just theories and speculations. This chapter contradicts and refutes Darwin's erroneous theory of evolution. Evolution cannot explain the human problem of sin and offers no solution to it. The proponents of this theory teach that man started from the bottom and climbing a ladder to the top. It teaches that that man slowly, surely, and steadily improving morally. But when we read our Bible, particularly Genesis 3, we are told that man started from the top and fell to the bottom. Man is a fallen creature. We are not slowly, surely, and steadily improving but rather surely and steadily degenerating morally, which is what we observe in real life and experience. But men would not accept that sad reality. This is why this chapter is under constant attack, because no one naturally admits to being a sinner.   

Proverbs 16:2 All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.

 

No man naturally desires to admit darker side of his nature. In fact, a common delusion is that mankind is steadily improving.

Proverbs 20:6 Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?

 

But if you reject this Biblical account of the fall of man, how do you explain the world in which we live? How do you explain the universal presence of sin, suffering and death. How do you explain the moral depravity and sinfulness of men? If you take this chapter out of the Bible, then men and women are not fallen creatures therefore have no need for redemption. If you take this chapter out of the Bible then men and women are not lost therefore have no need for a Saviour. If you take Genesis chapter 3 out of the Bible then the rest of the Bible will mean nothing because the whole theme of the Bible is the redemption that is to be found in Christ. 

 

God created man and placed him in beautiful and perfect world. Man was created in a state of innocence. He has no knowledge of sin. He was created with a holy nature. He was created as a free moral agent. He was given the ability to choose between good and evil. He has been given the ability to choose to obey God or disobey God.

But according to Genesis 3 our first parents chose to disobey God and at the fall something dramatically changed. 

Genesis 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Up to this point there has been one tempter. But now there are two. And Adam is also involved in the transgression. 

 

1 Timothy 2:14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

Eve was deceived. She was beguiled.

2 Corinthians 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

 

But Adam was not deceived. Adam sinned voluntarily. He sinned openly and willfully. He sinned, quite aware all the while of the magnitude of the sin he was voluntarily committing. So, Adam's guilt is greater than Eve's and Scriptures present Adam as the responsible one for sin in the world

 

Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

 

1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 

 

The one act ruined everything for them both. The one act brought catastrophic consequences that we still suffer today. Today, consider with me two main points, namely: 

 

        I - The Immediate Effects

        The immediate effects on the fall on Adam and Eve.

 

        II - The Impossible Attempts

        The impossible attempts that Adam and Eve did to cover and remedy their fall.

 

I -  The Immediate Effects

Upon Adam and Eve

1. Shame

Genesis 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 

 

The first effect of the Fall upon Adam and Eve was their eyes were opened, which by the way is what the Devil promised Eve, "if you eat the forbidden fruit, your eyes shall be opened."

Genesis 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 

 

This does not mean literally that they were blind up to this moment; for Adam, saw the animals when he gave them names and Eve saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes. They became aware of their nakedness and that awareness made them ashamed. For the first time, they came to know shame. For the first time they felt shame.

 

Satan promised that their eyes will be opened and it did but not in the way that they expected. Before Adam and Eve fell into sin, they were in the state of innocence  that they never had a single inappropriate thought. They never had any thought of shame or embarrassment because of their nakedness.

Genesis 2:25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

 

Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 

Adam and Eve were made in the moral likeness of God.

 

Ecclesiastes 7:29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions. 

God made Adam and Eve upright - without any imperfection or corruption, conformable to His nature and will, after his own likeness. They were in the state of innocence. But Adam and Eve were not content with their present knowledge and happiness, so they sought out new ways and means of being wiser and happier than God made them, or it was his will they should be.

 

And so the first effect of the fall on our Adam and Eve is that they fell from their state of innocence. They came to a self-conscious shame. And to hide their shame we read in ...

Genesis 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons

They made their own clothing out of fig leaves to cover and hide their shame. They saw fig leaves and wrapped it around their body.

 

2. Guilt

The second effect of the Fall on Adam and Eve is their conscience was awakened and they felt guilt. Their nakedness now becomes a matter of shame but the real cause of their shame was not their nakedness, it was their guilt. They knew that they had done wrong. They knew that they were guilty because of what they had done. 

 

Before the fall of Adam and Eve, there was something they did not possess, and that is the conscience. But as soon as they took and ate the forbidden fruit they became conscious of their sin and their eyes were opened to realize their fallen condition. Conscience, a knowledge of good and evil is now awakened and now common to human nature. This was something which before the Fall did not possess, for man was created in a state of innocency, and innocence is ignorance of evil. Our conscience bears witness to man's depravity and also to the reality of God and moral absolutes.

They had lost "that blessed blindness, the ignorance of innocence, which knows nothing of nakedness" (Ziegler).

 

3. Fear

Genesis 3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. 9: And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10: And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 

This is a sad change! Before they had sinned, when they heard the voice of the Lord God coming toward them, they would have run to meet Him; but now they are afraid of God. Since now the conscience is really at work, and being filled with shame and guilt, they are  afraid of God and His judgment. That is what sin brings. Sin brings fear. 

 

Proverbs 28:1 The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.

The wicked are always running away, always hiding and always defensive even when no one is chasing or after them. Because of their guilty conscience they are always afraid and they are even afraid of their own shadows.

 

Isaiah 57:20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. 21: There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.

 

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

 

4. Death

Genesis 2:15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 16: And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

 

Sin brings forth its wages - death.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

James 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15: Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

 

Ezekiel 18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

 

We will talk more about the sentence of death upon Adam and Eve next week. But for now, we need to understand that one of the the immediate effects on Adam and Eve because of their disobedience was spiritual death. They became separated from God. Their fellowship with God was tragically and sadly broken. 

Genesis 3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 

 

Then eventually they experienced physical death. 

Genesis 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

 

II - The Impossible Attempts 

Now, that Adam and Eve in their shame, guilt and fear attempted two impossibilities to solve the dilemma that they are in.

 

1. They tried to hide from God

Genesis 3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. 9: And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10: And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself

Now that their eyes were opened and their conscience awakened they are filled with shame, guilt and fear. Their conscience did not bring them to God. Instead of running to God for mercy, they foolishly and vainly attempted to run away and hide from Him. Here is Adam and Eve in guilt and fear trying to do the impossible. 

Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.

 

Proverbs 5:21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings.

 

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13: Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

 

Adam and Eve trying to run and hide from God is vain and foolishness for it is impossible to hide from God. It is the same foolishness that men and women commit when they try to avoid God by suppressing the knowledge of truth and the knowledge of God.

 

Psalm 14:1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. 

 

The fool is a person who says in his heart that there is no God. He tries to hide from God by embracing the atheistic philosophy which says that He does not exist.  

 

There are millions and upon millions of people in the world who are trying to hide from God. They try to hide from God in their career; in their religious performance; in their past times; in their worldly pleasures. To hide from God is the height of folly but millions upon millions of people are doing it. They think that by putting Him out of their sight they have put themselves out of His sight. 

 

It is like a little child who sits in the corner of the room and covers his eyes and says, you cannot see me daddy.

 

2. They tried to hide their sins 

Not only did they try to hide from God they also tried to hide their sins, which is another impossibility.

Genesis 3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10: And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11: And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12: And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13: And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. 14: And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

 

When asked by God as to how they knew they were naked and asked had they eaten of the forbidden fruit both Adam and Eve tried to justify their action by passing the blame.

Genesis 3:12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

Adam, pleaded is was the fault of the woman.

 

Then Eve was asked by God ...

Genesis 3:13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. 

Eve followed Adam's example and said it was the serpent's fault. "He tricked me", she said and thus she pleaded she was not responsible.

 

Adam and Eve blamed everything else except themselves. Instead of coming to God confessing and repenting they tried to justify their action by passing responsibility and blame it on others. Since the Fall it has been the same with mankind. We are prone to justify our sins and put the blame on others or on things or on situations. 

 

It seems Adam and Eve were indirectly blaming God. As if, if God had not given him the woman he would not have sinned and if God did not create the serpent Satan would not have any thing to use to disguise himself.

 

When we try to justify our actions we are denying our guilt. We are avoiding reality by not facing sin. We must realize that blaming someone else for our own actions never helped anyone. All the while we are busy trying to justify ourselves we are delaying the cure to the problem. All who come to Christ must plead "guilty". We must accept our responsibility for our actions, and throw ourselves on the mercy of God.

 

Closing Thoughts

Satan promised Adam and Eve that they will become like God and they believed him. But they did not become like God, but instead they became the opposite, not like God. When we sin and disobey we are not like God but rather we are unlike God; we become ungodly.

 

Satan promised them enlightenment but it was a corrupted enlightenment. It was eye-opening only in negative sense. It opened their eyes to their nakedness and it made them want to run and hide in shame. It was not the kind of enlightenment Satan had led Eve to believe she would obtain. It was not something they expected. It was not something they anticipated. It was not nothing they wanted. Our first parents have lost their innocence. They have lost their original righteousness and things can never be the same again. 

 

But that is not the end of the story. Because we read in Genesis 3:15, the promised of Redemption. And it will be at a terrible price, not to us but to the seed of the woman - Jesus Christ, the Great Redeemer and Conqueror!

Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

 

With the fall of man, God promised a Redeemer and the plan of salvation. This prophecy was fulfilled about 4,000 years later at Calvary.

Galatians 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5: To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

 

God took the fig leaves and gave Adam and Eve coats of skins. 

Genesis 3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

This pictures the blood redemption that is required to ransom a sinner. Oh how thankful we should be for the grace of God.

 

AMEN!