The Beginning of Sin on Earth
Book of Genesis Chapter 3
What is the truth of humanity? The world believes that humans are basically good. We may do some bad things, but we all have a good nature and just need to educate ourselves so our good nature will rule our lives.
This sounds good but it is a total lie!
The truth is we all have a sinful and evil nature and we may all do some things good, but we are all sinners in need of a Savior.
This is the theme of the Bible with the Lord Jesus Christ being that One and Only Savior!
Rom 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
1Jn 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
1Jn 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
The Book of Genesis being the Book of the Beginnings, explains to us where and how sin began.
We must understand sin is any and all things that go against the written Word of God or we could say the "commands" of our Creator, Elohim!
In this chapter we will meet the source of all sin, Satan who is alive and even more evil today.
*****Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
It is important that we believe that Adam and Eve are real people in most all ways just as we are today.
At this time in their lives they were just totally innocent and did not know sin.
God had created innocent people who knew no sin and all they knew was that they were to obey the words spoken by our Creator.
What was one of the things God had commanded Adam?
Gen 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
Gen 2:17 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.
God explained to Adam that there was one tree in the Garden of Eden that he was not to eat from. Seems simple enough.
Adam was not denied anything that was good for him. He was "commanded" not to do this one thing that would harm him.
Now as we meet Satan, we will see why the Bible uses that word "subtil".
That word "subtil" means being artful in cunning; being sly; being crafty; being wiley; insinuating and skillful at executing these things.
What will we find out about Satan? He is Lucifer, the leader of a pack of angels who rebelled against God, and was tossed out of Heaven to become the prince of darkness upon this earth.
Luk 10:18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
What else did Jesus say?
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Joh 8:45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.
Let us just see how this wicked angel operates as he transforms himself into a serpent?
2Co 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.
2Co 11:13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
2Co 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
First, we see he does not go after Adam, but instead he first attacks the woman.
As far as we know God did not give Eve the command about this tree but to Adam who should have informed Eve which he did.
Eve got her information second handed but she did understand she was not to eat of the fruit of this tree.
Now watch as Satan will twist the Word of God to cause confusion. "Did God say these things or did your husband say these things?"
*****Gen 3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
Gen 3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
First Eve answered correctly. She knew she could eat from all the trees in the Garden of Eden but this one tree.
Do you notice that just like many do today, Eve tried to add to the Word of God!
She did get her information second handed because Adam was commanded by God not to eat of the tree in the midst of the Garden known as "the tree of knowledge of good and evil".
We can see that Adam passed this knowledge on to his wife Eve.
God did not tell Adam not to touch this tree but just the opposite, God told Adam to dress all the trees in the Garden of Eden.
To dress could mean to prune, or cultivate, or other things along this line.
We can probably see that neither Adam nor Eve really understood what this "death" would mean just as those who are lost do not understand it today!
Most of the world sees "death" as the cessation of life.
Since humans are both physical and spiritual then this definition is only partially true.
We could say that death is the separation of the soul from the body.
What did Jesus say just before His death?
Luk 23:46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
Jesus was not dead until His Spirit left His body!
Remember God is Spirit and Jesus had only taken up the flesh of a human to be with us here on Earth.
But this is the same for all humans, we are not dead until our spirit leaves our body.
Ecc 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
This is the death that the Church accepts.
Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Still this is not the complete definition of death.
Notice every human will suffer this death, but we must not miss that phrase "but after this the judgment".
We must understand that physical death is the result of sin and that sin through Adam in the Garden of Eden.
Rom 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:
But then that "Judgment".
It is in the power of this "judgment" when our Heavenly Father determines true death!
Rom 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
True death comes to all those who reject the free gift of "Grace", which comes by the knowledge of the Work that Christ Jesus has done to provide that "Grace".
That spirit given to us by our Creator will not ever die!
Death for the believer is actually spectacular.
2Co 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
2Co 5:9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
Death to the unbeliever is very sad, because they allowed it to happen to themselves!
Mat 26:24 The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.
Psa 18:5 The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.
True death comes, when to be absent from the body "is not" to be present with the Lord!
Luk 16:22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
Luk 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Notice till this day, this man is still in that same position looking up toward Heaven, a place he will never see.
This the death of living in torments throughout eternity!
This is the death to avoid!
This is the death that Adam and Eve did not understand.
This is the death that Old Serpent desires for every human, an eternal separation from our Creator
*****Gen 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Gen 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.
Many take these things for granted but these two people Adam and Eve are our historical parents and Satan wasted no time in going after them to cause them to die so the Messiah could never come.
Satan went after the first family and he tries his best to destroy all families today!
What is the greatest lie of sin? That sin will somehow make us better, that there is some great benefit to sin.
The truth is, sin brings death just like our Creator said it would!
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
This is the same thing God told Adam.
We know that God had made this command to Adam and Adam had relayed this to his wife.
We see that Satan that old serpent, begins to twist the Word of God to make it seem that our Creator was keeping secrets from us, which He never does.
Sin will cause all of us to believe that we can be as God, but this will never be true!
Sin will cause us to believe we have needs that cannot be met in any other way.
Sin will cause us to believe that our eyes will be opened to some new reality.
Sin will cause us to believe that we can do as God does.
Sin will cause us to believe that we know more about our needs than our Creator ever did.
All these things are illusions.
What do little gods do, make people think they do not need God!
What was the downfall of the people before the Great Flood of Noah's day?
Gen 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
This is what sin accomplishes and we see this more today than we ever have!
If we took a good look around us, we would see that our world has reached this place again!
Our Creator God is the God of the living not the God of the dead because Satan is the god of the dead!
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Eve did not stand a chance against Satan and Adam stood by and allowed this to happen to his wife because in his eyes, his wife could do no wrong because of his great love for her.
*****Gen 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.
How did the Apostle John describe these things?
1Jn_2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
These things perfectly describe Eve's actions because this statement is true for all of us when it comes to sin!
Eve saw that this was a healthy tree and the fruit good or better than all the other trees, (the lust of the eyes).
Eve felt that if she ate of the fruit it would be just like Satan had said, (the lust of the flesh).
Eve felt she would become wise, even as wise as Jehovah, Elohim, (the pride of life).
Eve was deceived by her own lust while she was enticed and tempted by Satan.
I keep saying Satan because it was Satan who had used a snake as a disguise in his deception and his conquest of Eve.
Rev 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
We do not know what was going in Adam's mind while Satan was tempting Eve, but it appears that Adam was standing right beside Eve during this whole thing.
1Ti 2:13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve.
1Ti 2:14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
1Ti 2:15 Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.
We must understand there are some things that we do not need to know!
There are many things that we do not need in our lives.
The one thing we must do, to keep doing our best is to obey the written Word of God.
The Bible is not a Book of suggestions, but a book of commandments!
The Bible is a Book of Truth!
We must obey the commandments of God rightly divided.
There are three groups in the Bible. The Hebrew children, the Church, and the lost world.
We should know who God is speaking to, knowing that the entire Bible is written for the Christian.
The entire Bible is the Word of God!
So what happened when Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit?
*****Gen 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.
We must realize that there was a time on this earth that there was no sin, but it did not last long.
The day sin entered into humanity was the very first day our world began to die!
Rom 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:
The very first thing that was lost was innocence.
Innocence is the freedom from guilt.
Innocence is the freedom from evil intentions. (This is a biggie today)
Innocence is the untainted purity of heart and life.
Adam and Eve lost these things and so did the world that would come from their lineage!
Isa 30:1 Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:
And the woes began!
They immediately felt guilty for what they had done.
They immediately knew something was wrong, they had changed in their heart and mind.
It was not those eyes in their head that was opened! It was the eyes of their heart and their mind.
They had eaten from the fruit of evil and turned against God!
What was their first thought? Let us hide this from God! (Which is impossible)
Most all of us have been guilty of trying to hide our sin from God.
Even as Christians, we will try to hang on to that pet sin we have for as long as possible.
Job 31:33 If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom:
There is absolutely nothing of this earth that can hide our sin from the Almighty God.
When we turn away from God, He will turn away from us.
While they were trying to hide their sin, God called out to them.
You see up until this time God would walk with Adam.
*****Gen 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.
Gen 3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
Here we see the philosophy of most all humans. They believe that Jehovah God does not have the power to see what we are doing.
Adam and Eve would find out that we cannot hide the things we do from God our Creator!
Pro 15:3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.
Yes, we must feel shame for not being obedient to the Word of God!
Yahweh would come down to this earth and walk amongst His creation up until this day and talk to Adam and Eve face to face, but this would now end.
Now it cannot be said that Elohim does not still come and walk upon this earth when He so chooses or why would there be flowers and beautiful landscapes where humans cannot travel, but he does not talk face to face with humans after this event, at least until Jesus was upon this earth.
To restore that fellowship we must accept the work that the Lord Jesus did for our salvation in faith!
Corruption had entered into the creation of our Holy God!
Most of this world still tries to run away from God!
Most of this world still refuse to listen to what God has to say!
Most of this world does not seek the true God, Jehovah!
Most of this world denies the existence of our Creator!
Most of this world denies sin!
Most of this world ignores the truth and listen to heretics!
God called out to Adam and Adam responded.
*****Gen 3:10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
Gen 3:11 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?
When we respond to God's questions, He is not seeking information from us.
God has perfect knowledge and perfect perception and we are all guilty before Him!
Rom 3:19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
There is the sin of commission and then the sin of omission. We are guilty of one or the other or most times of both every day!
Adam had been disobedient, and he knew it!
Adam did not know what death really meant!
Adam was afraid with real fear, something humanity has forgotten, just how powerful God truly is.
Adam knew that what he had done had made a real impact on his relationship with his Creator!
Adam knew he was no longer innocent!
Adam knew he was no longer in the image of God!
Adam had been created in original righteousness, knowledge, righteousness, and holiness.
All these things lost in the fall of Adam, have been restored in Jesus Christ, if we have "faith" in Him!
Eph 4:20 But ye have not so learned Christ;
Eph 4:21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
Eph 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
Eph 4:23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
Eph 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Col 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
God said: "who told you, you are naked", but He did not wait for the answer because He already knew the answer.
God then confronted Adam's guilt. Adam had disobeyed the commands of His Creator and He wanted Adam to admit to his sin.
This is something we must all do!
We must admit we are sinners and then we can realize we need a Savior!
We have learned in this one chapter the origin of sin in humanity.
If Adam is not a real person who brought sin into humanity, then there is no need for Jesus to take away that sin!
This is the theme of the lie of evolution!
There is a reason God gives us commands because sin brings real harmful consequences to human beings!
What did Satan do to achieve his success?
1) Satan raised doubt concerning the Word of God and God's commands.
2) Satan lied and He is the father of all liars.
3) Satan twisted the Word of God into a lie.
Satan told Eve she would be like God with the knowledge of good and evil, but he did not mention the pain, the suffering and the death that would surely occur because God cannot lie.
Then Adam hunts for and excuse for his disobedience.
*****Gen 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.
The key to our forgiveness from the Lord is the admission of our guilt.
We must understand we are sinners.
Even though Adam was innocent before he rejected the commands of the Lord, that was no longer the case.
Adam was a sinner and he now possessed the traits of a sinner.
Adam first tried to blame God and next he blamed Eve.
See what Adam says: "The woman that thou gavest to me".
In other words God this would not have happened if you had not created woman!
Many a person, even Christians, have a tendency, to blame God, for things that go on in their life.
"It's your fault God because you did this and you did that", ridiculous!
God had already told Adam that that his problems began when he ate of the forbidden fruit of the tree in the middle of the Garden after God, (Elohim) had told him not to.
Sin breaks our relationship with the Heavenly Father, our Creator.
Adam needed to see the depth that he had fallen.
Psa 38:3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.
Psa 38:4 For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
Psa 38:5 My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness.
We cannot run away and hide from who we are!
Rom 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
Rom 3:11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
Rom 3:12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Rom 3:13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
Rom 3:14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
Rom 3:15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:
Rom 3:16 Destruction and misery are in their ways:
Rom 3:17 And the way of peace have they not known:
Rom 3:18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.
Rom 3:19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
Rom 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Rom 3:21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
Rom 3:22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
We are sinners and we will remain sinners unless we give our heart to the Lord Jesus Christ and we will still remain sinners as long as we are in this flesh, but those sins will be under the blood, blotted out from the eyes of God!
We need to quit making excuses!
Yes, it was Eve who gave into the temptations of Satan, but it was Adam who had received the direct commandment for his Creator to not eat of that tree.
Adam made Eve his idol when he listened to her rather than God!
Adam allowed the love of his wife to be more than the love of his Creator.
Luk 14:26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
Luk 14:27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
I am sure the Lord has heard every excuse that has ever been used.
We might say just what is the big deal about this little sin?
All the descendants of Adam and Eve would now be born sinners. This is every person that has been born from the time of Adam and Eve.
Many a person have said "well my sin is so little compared to a murderer" but we are not to compare ourselves to other humans, we are to compare ourselves to the sinless Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Joh 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
Joh 12:49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.
Joh 12:50 And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.
Jas 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
As Christians who read the Bible and hear the truth of God, we know that the Bible is a book of commandments and not a book of suggestions.
Adam was wrong!
Now God questions Eve.
*****Gen 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.
What does Satan do? He beguiles everyone he possibly can!
To beguile is to mislead by craftiness!
To beguile is deceive, to delude, to mislead, to divert, to entertain, to charm.
These are all words that describe Satan.
Eve would have needed much support from her husband, and we should realize they were both innocent, we could say perfect, at least, very good.
The truth of Satan is that without the Lord Jesus Christ a person cannot stand up against Satan!
2Ti 2:25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
2Ti 2:26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, "who are taken captive by him at his will".
When Satan comes after someone who does not know the Lord, they have no armor to protect them!
When Satan comes after a child of God, we have available the whole armor of God and the power of the Holy Spirit if we will just stand our ground, but at the same time we need to flee from all temptation.
2Ti_2:22 Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
But if we stand firm on our relationship with the Lord, it is Satan who will flee!
Jas_4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
God would chastise both Adam and Eve.
God would place a curse upon the earth.
God would change the snake forever.
God told Satan that one day in the future he would also die the same death as all those who reject the truth of God!
Sin entered into God's creation and He had to send His Son to make a way to escape this eternal death!
Amen
