Today’s passage is one that will be familiar if you’ve grown up in the church – it is where we get the idea of original sin – to be sure, it is where all of God’s perfect design and intent goes south and all of the roles and responsibilities of mankind get twisted – however, author David Fohrman, this story is much like a lullaby, Rock a bye baby – can we think through this for a second – you sing this to your child, but the song is really jacked up! “On the tree top?” how did the kid’s crib end up on top of a tree, and when the cradle falls, how far does it fall? How tall is this tree? And does the baby survive? I mean, WHY?

 

Chapter 2 ends with this picture of nakedness – Gen. 2:25 – this nakedness represented innocence and naivety – and today, Genesis 3 will quickly bring an end to the innocence – Let’s look at the passage – Genesis 3:1-13

 

V1 – So, it doesn’t take long to see something odd that I have just always accepted as part of our origin story: a walking, taking snake – We know he’s talking, because he addresses Eve directly, but he is also walking, because we see in V14 that a part of his curse will be that he has to crawl on his belly and eat dust – and, he’s very human-like – he can walk, talk and reason – very peculiar - in the Eastern ancient world, a snake would’ve been viewed as having mystical wisdom, and as demonic and hostile – in Egypt, where the Israelites were enslaved for over 400 years, the snake was a symbol for power, but also an enemy of the gods, and represented the forces of chaos – and here we see the serpent coming to bring chaos to God’s perfect design.

 

Some scholars suggest that the serpent is actually angry that he was not chosen to be the “suitable helper” and so he is trying to take Eve out so he can influence Adam – at any rate, we see the enemy at work – And here is what we know: he is crafty, cunning, a spin artist – the enemy comes to create doubt in God’s goodness, to question God’s authority, to distort truth, rob you of your innocence.

 

“Did God REALLY say you must not eat from any tree in the garden?” – This is a distortion of what God said – Gen. 2:16-17, God clearly said the opposite – eat of any tree EXCEPT the tree of knowledge of good and evil – here is a prime example of the importance of knowing God’s Word – The enemy is constantly trying to counterfeit God’s truth, and if you don’t know the truth, you’ll fall for the lie every time.

 

V2-3 – Eve’s response was clearly a retelling that was second-hand – “We can eat from the trees in the garden, but not the tree in the middle of the garden – WE CAN’T EVEN TOUCH IT or we’ll die” – I’m sure Adam, who was given the edict from God told Eve, “Hey, don’t even touch that tree”, which was Adam’s way of protecting Eve, but it’s not what God said.

Again, it is so important that “God said” is rooted in scripture- the narrative doesn’t tell us what Eve had been told, or who had told her, only that what she was repeating was a bit off.

 

V4-5 -  “You will not die…” the serpent is casting doubt about God’s word – “It’s gonna be fine” – He is seducing her into compromise – “God knows when your eyes are opened, you will be like him” – Here is something interesting: THEY WERE ALREADY LIKE HIM – IMAGE BEARERS of GOD, CREATED IN PERFECTION – isn’t it interesting that he offered them a DISTORTION of something they already possessed – And, cast doubt about God’s true intention – “God is holding out on you.”

 

As a follower of Jesus, you already possess inner-PEACE – but the enemy comes to you offering external solutions for anxiety that you already internally possess – Think about how the enemy tempted Jesus – Matthew 4:8-9 – he was offering Jesus something he already possessed - it’s a distortion of the truth - His playbook hasn’t changed, he is an expert in propaganda –

 

So, why was the tree off limits? I mean, everything God created was good – there was something God was doing – maybe the tree was for the future, maybe his intention was for them to be more mature before they ate – for instance, driving isn’t bad, but not appropriate for a 5 year old – don’t really know, only that God said NO, and the enemy is breaking down Eve’s resolve by questioning God’s motives.

V6 -  She saw that it was good, pleasing to the eye, and desirable for gaining wisdom – Proverbs 14:12 – “seems right” – James 1:13-15 – “dragged away by own evil desire and enticed. Desire gives birth to sin and sin to death” – Bottom line: God said NO – There is a ton of BLACK and WHITE in the BIBLE that God simply says NO to – and all of the rationalization in the world doesn’t make it ok – you can’t rewrite the BIBLE to accommodate your lifestyle, as pleasing as it looks – disobedience ALWAYS leads to DEATH.

 

She ate and gave to her husband, WHO WAS WITH HER – Adam was not living in his design as protector and preserver – he was PASSIVE – he allowed the enemy to seduce his wife into compromise, and then joined her – MEN, again, you are the HEAD, the tip of the spear in your family – when you see potential compromise, you don’t join, you preserve and protect God’s presence by stepping in.

 

V7 – isn’t it interesting that the first thing they noticed is that they were naked? What is that about? Innocence was lost, and SHAME was already setting in – they immediately wanted to cover up their SHAME – the first of three products of SIN: SHAME – think about your life: this is secret-keeping – SHAME says, “I am unworthy, so I have to hide” – Hiding and secrecy are the #1 way the enemy keeps you from living in you divine design – and freedom comes when you bring your SHAME into the light.

 

V8-9 – They heard God coming and they hid – second product of SIN: GUILT – They knew they had disobeyed God and hid from him – GUILT caused a drift from GOD - and look at what God did – “Where are you?”

 

Is God asking where they physically are, or where they spiritually are? YES – in your guilt and hiding, God comes to you and draws you out – “Where are you?” – Often, I need to be reminded by God that everything is not ok – if I get in a bad cycle, I need for God to ask me, “Greg, where are you?” and force me to reconcile my distance from him.

 

V10 – “I heard you coming, and I was afraid because I was naked”- 3^rd product: FEAR – why do we fear God? Because SIN causes you to forget his goodness – and what is up with the nakedness thing? They went from naked and unashamed to naked and ashamed – their nakedness hadn’t changed but their perspective had – it was a heart position – being naked wasn’t wrong until they were disobedient – these three products of sin cause a change in perspective – GUILT, SHAME and FEAR – They always cause a cover-up – it is a move from transparency and vulnerability to secrets and hiding, from the TRUTH to a LIE.

 

V11-13 – “Who told you that you were naked?” – A key line – remember, they were always naked, but now it has been distorted – “Who told you that?” There are two narratives in your life: the one God has for you and the one the enemy has for you – one speaks in goodness, love and encouragement, and the other speaks in guilt, shame and fear – when you are experiencing guilt, shame or fear, the first question you should always ask is, “Who’s telling me this?”

 

Also see that the man lacks ownership and responsibility – “The woman YOU GAVE ME…” – not only does he not take responsibility, he blames God – How many times have you blamed God for your bad decisions – if so, you come by it honestly.

 

Ok, going to pause in narrative here to make observations about SIN:

1. SIN robs you of God’s perfect design for your life. Remember, they were living in perfection, in innocence and naivety, and sin robbed them of their PEACE. Things moved from peace to chaos. John 10:10, the enemy wants to rob you of PEACE and INNOCENCE.

 

2. SIN distorts God’s TRUTH. It started with “Did God really say,” and ended with, “What have you done?” Sin will take you farther, keep you longer, cost you more – the TRUTH was that God given them EVERYTHING GOOD, and now they had a DISTORTED view of his goodness – NAKEDNESS was good, but distorted by SIN it becomes bad – SEX was given for man and wife to enjoy and procreate, but outside of those guidelines, distorted by SIN, it becomes wrong.

 

3. The products of SIN are GUILT, SHAME and FEAR. And this is the language of the enemy – he loves to hold you captive with guilt, shame or fear, to keep you hiding and living in secret – this is pandemic.

 

4. God calls you out of your SIN. “Where are you?” God consistently wants to draw you out of hiding, out of secrets into the light – Jesus in Luke 8:17 – God’s goal is freedom from secrets, freedom from hiding – Ultimate call was through the cross, an invitation to realize where you are, and receive God’s forgiveness through the cross.