Over the next several weeks we are going to follow the story line of Scripture from Creation to Jesus’ return in an effort to deepen our understanding of the Gospel and how Christians are to live after they have professed Christ as Lord and Savior. (Part 1)
The Fall/Sin
Adam and Eve continued to live in the perfect garden in a perfect relationship with God, each other, and creation until the day they rebelled against God. We read about their rebellion in Genesis 3.
God’s Command
When God placed Adam in the garden to work and keep it, He told him he could eat of every tree in the garden except one — the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He wasn’t supposed to eat the fruit from that tree. If he did, God told him he would die.
Satan’s Temptation
After some time, Satan appeared in the garden as a serpent. He approached Eve and asked a question about the fruit from the tree God had forbidden them to eat:
“He said to the woman, ‘Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?’” (Gen. 3:1)
After Eve responds by telling him they aren’t supposed to eat from nor touch one tree in the garden, the serpent continues his deceptive tactics. He tells the woman,
“You will not surely die.” Instead, “your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Gen. 3:2-5).
Do you see what the serpent is doing? The serpent is lying to Eve by telling her God doesn’t want her to be happy. That God is holding something back, and it is not just fruit, it is being like God. Eve buys Satan’s lie. She believes him and eats the fruit. And Adam does as well (Gen. 3:6).
When they did, something happened. Their eyes were opened and they felt naked and ashamed, vulnerable. So they sewed fig leaves and covered themselves up.
What do we learn about sin?
(1) Sin always tricks or deceives us into doubting things that are true and believing things that are false.
The woman was tricked by Satan into believing a lie. Believing something that wasn’t true. She believed God lies to us and that He withholds something from us.
God, however, doesn’t lie to us, nor does He withhold from us. God does and always wants what is best for us. We see that in the rules He places on our life. They are there to help us live in the way He has designed us to live, not to hinder us or limit our freedom.
After Adam and Eve ate the fruit, they discovered Satan was lying because they didn’t become like God, instead they felt ashamed and realized they were naked. They were plunged head first into a world of sin and death.
We learn from Adam and Eve that we should’t believe the lie of sin. We should instead resist its temptation because we know it will not deliver on its promises.
When I was a kid, my mom placed limits on how far I could go from my house. I had to stay close enough to hear my mom when she came outside calling for me. I remember one time in particular, I went too far from the house. My mom called, but I didn’t hear her. When I finally came home, my mom asked where I had been. I knew I had gone too far from the house, but I didn’t want to tell her because I didn’t want to get in trouble, so I lied. I told her I was at a friend’s house. Somehow, she knew. She knew I lied to her. Instead of getting away with it, I got caught and was punished.
You see, sin held out the promise of freedom — freedom from the boundaries my mom set and freedom from the punishment that would come from breaking those rules, but it didn’t deliver. And that’s the thing about sin. It never delivers on its promises, but it deceives us into thinking it will.
(2) Sin involves us turning from God to live our own way.
When God placed Adam and Eve in the garden, He told them not to eat of the fruit of the tree and He told them what would happen if they did. Adam and Eve, however, turned away from God to live according to their own understanding.
And that’s what sin does. It turns us away from God. It causes us to think we know what’s best when we really don’t.
God’s ways are always best for us, which is why it’s important we continue to learn about God’s ways through reading His Word, attending Bible Studies, and church services.
(3) Sin always results in harm, ruin, and death.
Eating the fruit of the forbidden tree did exactly what God said it would do. It brought death. Eve’s relationship with creation, Adam, and God was broken after her first bite.
After eating the fruit and rebelling against God, Adam and Eve’s relationship with creation was ruined, so that now the animals of the field were dangerous to be around. As well as their work on the land would be hard and labor intensive.
Their relationship with God was ruined as well. While they once walked with God in the garden in the cool of the day, they were now at odds with God.
Their relationship with one another was ruined too. Getting along with one another was once easy. They didn’t fight, use or abuse one another. Now, their relationship was different. Arguments occurred, strained relationships, fights, and abuse occurred.
Not only did their sin affect their relationships, but it also brought death, disease, sickness and all things bad. So Adam and Eve’s rebellion, their sin, polluted God’s good creation. What was once perfect was made imperfect. Sin ruined the perfect world God created. It is the reason things are not as they seem they should be. So sin always results in death, harm and ruin. It never results in life or goodness.
Reflect
- Have you ever experienced a time when your sin — breaking God’s or others rules — didn’t deliver on its promises? How did you feel? What did you learn?
- How do you view God’s commandments? Do you see them as unnecessary rules or as a guide for your life?
- What does sin cause us to do to God?
- How would you explain to someone why people do bad things to others in the world?
Resources
Some posts structure influenced by Big Truths for Young Hearts by Bruce Ware
Christianity Matters 