“Paradise Lost”

Gen 3 and Selected

“In the Beginning…” series Part 4 of 10

Nehemiah 9:6 You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.

Review…

        God created and energized the entire universe

        Days of creation were literal 24 hr days NOT long periods of time

        Man placed in Eden, a paradise, perfect surroundings

        God instituted the marriage Covenant ~ Innocence

	Paradise – no diseases, no pain or suffering, no disharmony, no sin, no death…
	Every need fully met by God… innocence, intimate fellowship with the Lord and all of creation…
	This perfect sinless world now about to slip from their hands, devastating the entire human race
	Around this time I believe Satan “perfect in all his ways” - lifted in pride and fell into sin (Isa 14 & Ez 28)
	He now makes his appearance in God’s creation on planet Earth…

God ordained Laws that are for our good (10 commandments) God was very specific in giving the command… eat from all the trees except one. Satan chose the serpent, “more crafty” v1 to tempt Adam & Eve Notice also the conversation Eve had with the serpent… she did not seemed alarmed at all. He has not allowed you to eat fruit of every tree has he??? Why do you suppose He is withholding something from you like that??? Then Satan flat out contradicts God by telling the woman… “you will not surely die” – LIAR We also see Eve mishandling God’s Word… Do we mishandle God’s commands? He gave us ten… thou shalt no steal, covet, kill, lie, commit adultery, honor father & mother… Are we obeying God’s specific laws/commands or are we insensitive to sin… cold, hard, dead

The essence of death is separation from God (Physical/Spiritual) The day you disobey and eat the forbidden fruit… I assure you, you will die… ultimately Adam went on to experience physical death… A built in principle of death… the moment a child is born he begins to die… eventually the death principle wins out and they physically die… but this death God speaks about goes much farther It also means spiritual death called second death, eternal death – separation from God…

Born once – die twice, Born twice – die once… (maybe not at all) That’s the reason Jesus emphatically stated “you must be born again” (Jn 3:3,7) Spiritually from the heart born into the family of God by the Holy Spirit

Man is a free moral agent… Free to love God or Free to reject God

	With the power to make moral, right or wrong decisions… not a mind-dumb robot…
	Man with a conscience, will, emotions, intellect – option to accept Jesus Christ or reject Him

 

Eve Tempted - Saw, Coveted, Took then Gave to Adam

	Satan came and tempted Eve… still today he seeks out the spiritually weaker person…
	Eve attempted to dialogue with the Devil… he will win every time
	Eve saw, Eve coveted, Eve took then she led Adam to join in her sin of rebellion.
	Temptations comes in the same sequence today – saw, covet, engage in the act… we see this pattern with Adam & Eve, with David & Bathsheba, with Achan at Jericho in Joshua 7…

 

1 Timothy 2:14 And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.

Eve was deceived.. but Adam ate willingly with his eyes wide open – no questions asked

 

Adam the “Federal Head” plunged  humanity into sin

	God’s first created man, from the dust, breath of life… fell into sin
	Through Adam all have sinned, his sin nature passed to his children… all the way to us today
	Every person has a divine judgment of death… “in Adam all die…”

 

Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned--

 

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

 

 

3.  A Painful Consequence…

Genesis 3:7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

 

They became acutely aware of their guilt of sin

	Their eyes were opened, saw their nakedness, their innocence was lost, never to get it back…
	Possibly surrounded by a “soft glow” of innocence???  Knowledge dramatically changed…
	They felt guilt and shame which affords them “hope for salvation”… when sinners feel no guilt or shame for breaking God’s commands – there is no remedy but God’s judgment and wrath…
	Insensitivity to sin is rampart in today’s culture… hearts hard, cold, callused to anything spiritual

 

They made a futile attempt with self-righteous cover-up v7

	Can you see them getting together – we can fix all this… go get some fig leaves…
	Leaves soon dry out, break apart, man’s attempt to remedy sin is never successful… impossible
	Self-righteousness, self-spirituality, man-made attempts to become righteous always inadequate
	Genuine repentance with Godly sorrow is what brings restoration (2Co 7:10)

 

They hid in fear from God and shifted blame to others vs10-13

Genesis 3:8-13 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" ¹⁰ He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."  ¹⁰ He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." ¹¹ And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" ¹² The man said, "The woman you put here with me--she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." ¹³ Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

 

o    Notice they heard God walking in the garden… most likely a daily occurrence… perhaps few weeks

	They hid from God and He called out to them… “where are you?”  God still calls out for us today
	Come unto me all who are weary & heavy laden, I will give you rest… Christ came to seek & save the lost, call upon the Lord while He may be found… I stand at the door and knock…
	God still seeks us today BUT we must be sensitive to “hear him”… sin + fear = avoidance
	Notice when Adam was asked why?  “The woman YOU put here”…Eve? “Serpent deceived me”

 

 

4.  A Pervasive Curse

Upon Serpent/Satan

Genesis 3:14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, "Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.

	The entire animal kingdom was cursed… especially the serpent – crawl on your belly – in dust
	Serpent, beautiful upright creature… now hissing… Animals became furious and savage… attack and kill… poisonous creatures, each trying to survive in a fallen world
	Prior to sin entering the world animals and man were to be vegetarians (Gen 1:29-30)
	I believe Satan now becomes the “the god/prince of this world”… he usurped the authority from Adam… taking the “title deed” which God gave to Adam… Jesus reclaims it in Rev 5
	We also see Satan offering all the “kingdoms of the world” at the temptation of Christ (Lu 4:5-7)

 

Upon Eve

Genesis 3:16 To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."

	Women are cursed pain of body and distress of mind… the menstrual cycle, child birth pains… a perpetual reminder of the dreaded effects of sin
	We also see a struggles in the marriage relationship… a prideful desire to usurp authority in the marriage… to dominate and control… not to submit… Eph 5 – wives submit, husbands love
	Eve now overstepped her bounds by being deceived now she will be “mastered” by him.

 

Upon Adam/Earth

Genesis 3:17-19 ¹⁷ To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. ¹⁸ It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. ¹⁹ By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."

	Eve was deceived, Adam listened to his wife… ground is cursed assuring hard strenuous labor
	Thorns, thistles, weeds… all plant life will run wild… it will be hard to make a living
	You will experience the “death principle” and will physically return back to dust of the ground
	The death principle eventually wins out… all things now allowed by God to disintegrate toward disorder, chaos and death… changes begin to happen in the molecular structure - mutations

 

 

5.  A Predicted Crucifixion

Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."

	With “Paradise Lost”, devastated by sin… God brings forth some rays of light… Hope…
	My paraphrase, “Someday the woman will bring forth the Christ child… Satan will bruise His heal at the cross of Calvary but Christ will crush your head at His resurrection!”
	A strike on the heel is not deadly, but a crushing blow to the head is. Already God was revealing his plan to defeat Satan and offer salvation to the world through his Son, Jesus Christ.
	Death and sin will be swallowed up in victory!

 

Colossians 2:15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

Romans 5:17 For if, by the trespass of the one man (Adam), death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

 

Substitutionary Sacrifice – the innocent dies for the guilty

	Gal 4:4-5 – 4000 years later, “When time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman… to redeem us… so we might receive the full rights as sons” PTL
	Perfect sinless sacrificial Son of God… took my sin upon Himself… dying for the guilty

Genesis 3:20-21 ²⁰ Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living. ²¹ The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

 

	Eve would become the “mother of ALL the living”… Adam & Eve trusted God (faith)
	An innocent animal was slain, blood was shed (sacrifice)… God clothed them (atonement)
	O.T. saints their sins were covered… today our sins are washed away!  Declared righteous!

2 Corinthians 5:21 God made him (Christ) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

 

	What a beautiful picture of redemption… man sinned, failed to remedy, God steps in…
	Our sin too must be dealt with… you may have tried to “fix” your life for years…
	Only Jesus Saves!

Preparation for the Lord’s Supper…

V  Have I personally trusted Jesus Christ as Savior?

 

Don’t die in your sins… call upon the Lord today… Pray this simple prayer from your heart

V  Am I allowing any known sin to reign in my life?

 

Don’t try to cover up… run to God, repent be cleansed from sin… claiming 1Jn 1:9

1 Corinthians 11:23-26 ²³ For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, ²⁴ and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." ²⁵ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." ²⁶ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.