Good morning and I pray that everyone is safe. It’s that time of year in Tornado alley where things can change quickly. On the way to church last night they broke in on the radio to announce a tornado on the ground out towards Wills Point in East Texas. This time of year, the weather can change quickly and as a result lives can change quickly. You never know what a day holds, we are not long for this world, make sure you are prepared for an emergency. I don’t say that meaning get some flashlights and water, I’m not speaking of physical safety. I’m speaking about “soul safety.” I pray that everyone that reads this knows without a doubt where they will spend eternity and in addition they can explain why they will be there. I encounter so many that say they will be in Heaven but have no idea about salvation. Take some time today and know about your “soul safety.”
Today we have before us the most pivotal chapter in all of God’s Word, the fall of man. Some will say, “what” you can’t say this is bigger than Jesus and His work on the cross!” But think about it, if man hadn’t sinned, there would be no need for Jesus to die. It all hinges upon man’s fall and what happened in the garden. The rest of Bible reads differently because of Genesis chapter 3.
Today’s lesson is critical that you read the entire chapter. Just relying on vague memories from a Sunday School lesson 12 years ago is not good enough for today. Stop what you’re doing, drop everything, grab your Bible and carefully read Genesis chapter 3. We’ll cover some things today that I don’t want you to miss and you will if you’re not fresh on this scripture. By the way, this is true every day that you read the 5MC. The 5MC is meant to be used as a study aid, NOT a substitute for your time in God’s Word. You should be first having your daily time with God before you read the 5MC.
Speaking of, I came across a great quote about just this and I want to share it with you.
“I speak as a man of the world to men of the world; and I say to you: Search the Scriptures. The Bible is the book above all others to be read at all ages and in all conditions of human life; not to be read once or twice through then laid aside, but to be read in small portions everyday.” President John Quincy Adams, 6th President of the United States 1825-1829
I just want to make sure we understand each other. The 5MC can be entertainment, it can be a goof, it can even hopefully help you in some way, but it can never be a substitute for your own time meeting with God in His Word. Please know that.
So now that you’ve read Genesis chapter 3, let’s discuss the Fall of man.
If you break down the events into a logical order you roughly have 5 things that take place in order for the fall to occur:
1) Satan casts doubt on the Word of God. “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”
This is where it all starts, with God’s Word. NEVER underestimate the power of God’s Word. When you hold your Bible, you hold a living miracle that God has gone to immeasurable lengths to offer us. Satan is not here battling God, He can never win. (He's already lost once and he loses again in Revelation) He is not here battling churches, people are the church. He attacks people. And how does he do that? He separates us from God. And how does He do that? He separates us from God’s Holy Word. There are many tactics he uses to do that, the one here being is sowing doubt into the thoughts of Eve, making her question the validity of God's Words. Satan’s biggest tool is to create a chasm between us and God’s Word. Fight fiercely for your daily time in God’s Word, it is THE key to abundant, peaceful life in this world…period. Eve’s doubt of what God has said allows the situation to escalate.
2) Temptation is introduced to mankind.
Before this moment temptation did not exist. Adam and Eve walked with God in the cool of the day and they had perfect fellowship. They had nothing to hide and enjoyed the presence of God himself. But the doubt of the truth of God’s Word made that tree look different that day. It made it look much more appealing. It tempted Eve. Temptation exists, no one can deny that. But how much temptation is in your life? Weird question right? Wouldn’t it be great to remove all temptation from your life? Well, you can’t remove all temptation, but you can remove A LOT. Listen to this truth…the closer you walk with God the farther you walk from temptation and the closer you walk to temptation the farther you walk from God. How do you walk closely with God? Stay in His Word. Every day. A lot. All the time. Day and night.
“but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.” Psalm 1:2
“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” Joshua 1:8
3) Eve adds to the Word of God. “And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.” Gen 3:2-3
Ooops, God never said touch. Eve just made the world’s first Bible translation and it was not a very accurate one at all. The verse Eve is referring to was given to Adam before Eve was even created (Gen 2:17) so there’s no doubt that she got this information second hand, from Adam. Still, there is no excuse when we either add to or subtract from God’s Word. When we quote God’s Holy Word, we have a big responsibility…get it right. In fact, listen to the harsh warning from Jesus about either subtracting to or adding to His Revelation:
“ I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.” Revelation 22:18-19
God tells Adam that if you eat of the tree you will surely die but Eve tells the serpent God said if they touch it they will die. You might say this is simple error on her part, but one changed word is all it took to change the course of every human that has or ever will walk this Earth.
4) Satan denies the Word of God. “But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Gen 3:4-5
You know the old saying “He bought it hook, line and sinker?” It’s a fishing term about a fish going for that worm with everything he’s got. To be successful at the art of fishing you have to bait your hook with something that is very appealing to the fish. You must then get your bait in front of the right fish. Then if you’re lucky the fish will take the bait. Once it does you jerk back on the rod and “set the hook.” Now you’ve got yourself a fish!
Notice the similarities here with the interaction between Eve and satan. Satan goes fishing and offers Eve the bait, selfish satisfaction. Seeing his fish eying the bait seriously, satan dangles it a bit more, Eve goes for it and he sets the hook with this verse. He appeals to her pride. I feel confident that the original fall was because of mankind’s pride and that is our main foe today. Pride. We want to be God. We want to be God over our own lives, we want to be God over others and we want to be God over our circumstances. Pride comes before the fall indeed, just as we see here.
5) Man and woman disobey the Word of God. “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.” Gen 3:6
And it all comes crashing down. The temptation comes to fruition. Temptation starts in the mind, moves to the heart for processing and then results in the hands executing. Anywhere in the process we can stop, but Eve does not stop. Sin enters the world and because of this verse, every man, woman and child that has ever been produced has inherited this sin nature. Regardless of your philosophical standpoint, God's Word says that people beacuse of this first sin that all people are sinners separated from a Holy God. (Rom 3:23)
Now, let’s look a little closer at the moment when Eve takes the bait. You can see the rational process that satan is selling and Eve is buying. Satan appeals to three things. These three things all wrapped up make pride. And He appeals to the same three things today. Why? Because they still work on us today….VERY WELL.
A) He appeals to the flesh. – She saw that it was good for food. Have you ever been so hungry you’d eat just about anything from anywhere? It makes me think about that funny commercial where the guy is so hungry he eats “gas station sushi”…ha! That’s our flesh. When we get hungry, angry, lonely or tired our flesh cries out and we are a slave to it. Sex is a big sin of the flesh. The flesh calls and we answer. Sometimes reluctantly and sometimes instantly. Battling the flesh is very difficult indeed, and satan uses it expertly to his advantage with Eve and he still uses it expertly today with every one on this planet.
B) He appeals to our mind, our psychology. She saw that it was a delight to the eyes. It was appealing, it looked really good, she desired it. Don’t we just really want what we see? We just want what looks good to us? I just finished a study on Samson and listen to this verse and see if it sounds familiar as Samson sees an off-limits Philistine woman that his parents were trying to talk him out of, “but Samson said to his father, “get her for me, for she is right in my eyes.” In 2019 terms Samson means, “I want her, she’s hot!” Samson falls to the appeal of the eyes just like Eve does here. We want what we see and we covet what we want. My dad used to call it getting “car fever.” That moment when you see a bright shiny car and you’ve just got to have it. The day before you didn’t feel that way because you didn’t even know that car existed! But now you can’t even sleep because the car is in your dreams. I’d bet that when satan put that bait in front of Eve she couldn’t get it out of her mind. She saw it and she wanted it, she was dreaming about that fruit. Satan is a master at appealing to our eyes.
C) He appeals to our religious side, our desire to be like God. She wanted it as food, (the flesh) she desired it (her eyes) but she also saw that it would make her wise like God. Think about it this way. Built into your heart is a little throne. You know, the kind that kings sit on. A little bitty fancy throne, adorned with gold and jewels, fit for a ruler to occupy. Your heart throne starts out empty but will soon be filled. Someone will sit on the throne of your heart. Who is it? Is it yourself? Do you sit on the throne of your heart? Do you rule your life? Do you lead your own life? Do you “run the show?” If this is true, I bet I can look at your life and see the results. A broken, empty, life that is internally focused. It results in broken relationships, selfishness, arrogance and an ease of embracing and living with sin. I’m not condemning, I know so much about this because I sat on the throne of my own heart for many, many years. And I suffered the consequences. But life will not work that way. Oh, it can work, but you’ll never have the abundant life Christ promises in John 10:10. Satan used the bait of being equivalent to God in wisdom to get Eve to sit firmly on the throne of her own heart.
Hook, line and sinker, Eve bought the lies of satan and relented to the temptation. She took of the fruit, ate and it and then generously shared with Adam. The world in those few bites changed…forever. Sin was introduced and the need for a Savior was introduced as well. We have that Savior today, His name is Jesus Christ and He is the Holy Son of God. He came to this Earth 2000 years ago and did something amazing for each of us. He lived a perfect life amongst a sin filled world. The sin filled world He came to save hated Him. It beat Him, mocked Him, spit on Him and tortured Him. Painful, agonizing torture. They hung Him on a cross until He took His last breath. He was placed in a borrowed tomb, a King that was buried a pauper. But three days later that pauper walked out of that tomb. He triumphed over the sin that was introduced in our study this morning. In the single biggest love story that has ever been recorded, God made a way. A way for our sins to be covered by the precious blood that His Son shed on that Cross. The sin that Eve and Adam created will not be able to keep you and me from God.
The way has been made but you must claim it. It’s not automatic. Because of this first sin, no one can stand before God without Jesus. Do you have Jesus today? Have you called upon Jesus as your Savior? It’s easy, it’s free and it’s instant. Sound to good to be true? It’s not. Don’t let satan do what he did to Eve and deny the Word of God and tell you it can’t be done, because it can be done. Admit that you have sinned against God and with that sin in your life you can never approach a perfect God. With your sin you can no longer walk in the garden with Him. Call out to Jesus to come into your heart and sit on that tiny little throne. Give up the reins of your life and let Jesus hold onto them. It’s the only way to truly experience God’s freedom, love and joy.
I pray that you will make a decision to trust Jesus today. We are not long for this world.
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