How Big is God (part Five)
Genesis 3
Sin and Reconciliation
God had said (in 2:16,17) that Adam could eat freely of every tree in the garden except one; The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam must have passed this on to Eve.
Chapter three begins by mentioning a serpent … as being a cunning or crafty creature. Was there only one serpent at this point, or did God create a whole lot of them? We have not been told that. But what we do know is that one particular serpent approached Eve. The fact that it is called cunning, crafty and sly … indicates something less than a perfect creature. What we have here is Satan, Lucifer … possessing a creature of God. Animals have no moral soul, so this does not mean that the serpent itself sinned by allowing Satan to come in.
The serpent – this creature, it is implied, walked upright. It had the ability to speak, that is, at least on this occasion. The fact of its upright appearance and ability to speak did not startle Eve or cause her to be cautious. It seems, as a matter of implication, that this likely was not the first time Adam or Eve had seen the creature. It may have been the first time it had spoken to them. But creation at this point is still new. No doubt they were still making all kinds of discoveries. What kind of a creature it appeared to be is hard to envision. It walked upright. Adam Clarke, a Bible commentator of the 19th century, does not think it was a serpent at all. He discusses the Hebrew word … and comes out saying that this creature was an Orangutan. He says it used to walk uprightly … and after the curse, walks using its hands. Mr. Clarke goes on to say that the Hebrew scriptures which had been translated to Greek … and called the Septuagint, used the word for serpent. The new testament writers, who more familiar with the Greek Septuagint that they were with the Hebrew language, thought that the Genesis creature was a serpent and so that is the word they used. For example John, twice in the book of Revelation says, 'That old serpent, the Devil'. Mr. Clarke would have us believe that John should have said something more like, 'That Old Monkey, the Devil!'
I don't think so. Why? Because the Holy Spirit of God inspired the writing of the New Testament … and He inspired them to use the word serpent.
So Satan entered a serpent.
He begins to question Eve. We have a few questions of our own … but no real answers. Like why was she hanging around that tree to begin with? Curiosity? Or … she had to be somewhere and just happened to be near that tree? Or … maybe she was nowhere near the tree … but went over to it after the serpent talked to her? And where was Adam at this point? Was it wrong for them to be separated? No, I wouldn't think so. But it appears that Satan waited for his chance to talk to her privately.
Think about Satan for a moment. Here is a being who had experience at talking others into his way of thinking. He had convinced millions or billions of angels to join him in trying de-throne God. That would take some convincing. He is very good at what he does. Have you had any experiences with his methods?
He begins by creating doubt and insinuating that God is holding out on them.
“Did God say you could not eat from all the trees in the garden?”
She answers, We can eat from all the trees … except one. And that one we are not even supposed to touch. (This may have come from Adam?)
2Corinthians 11:3 ... the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, …
1Timothy 2:14 ... Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.
1Tim. 2:14 Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.
Satan said – You will not surely die. Did Eve have any idea what death was? She had never seen it. I think that she and Adam must have talked about it. They were not dumb or simple. They knew … either instinctively or by God's own elaboration, that it was ultimately the worst result that could ever happen to them. “The day you eat of it you will surely die.”
Satan lies. “You won't surely die. You eyes will be opened … to things that God does not want you see or know or imagine.”
“You will actually become like God … and He does not want that.”
With a little bit of thought Eve took the fruit and ate some. The she gave some to Adam. 3:6
They ate. Their eyes were opened. They did not drop dead.
What really happened? We will discuss this further when we get to verse 22, but for now we will talk about why they did not die … or did they?
What we read is, their eyes were opened. Whether this had anything to do with their bodies no longer being 'glorified' and shining, or whether this was a different kind of 'opening of their eyes' so that they saw each other in a way that they could not have done earlier it is hard to say. At any rate … they saw themselves unclad and as quickly as possible made garments of fig leaves.
God clearly had said, 'In the day that you eat of the fruit … you will surely die.' Whether we always understand or not, we have to say … I believe that. In some VERY REAL sense, they died that day.
We are told by God through Apostle Paul, For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. 1Corinthians 15:22
Everyone who is a child of Adam … dies. Does this simply mean … that some day we all will die a physical death or is there another meaning?
Romans 7:9 can help to understand this. Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.
10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death.
11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death.
Paul is referring to himself. Once he was alive … and then he died. For this to be a helpful verse we need to first state the obvious. Obviously he did not die physically. He would not have been there to write the book of Romans if he had died physically. He is speaking of spiritual death.
What killed him? The knowledge of right and wrong which he got by reading the law, the bible. As he read he discovered what sin was … and that he had already done it. Very likely he was a very young boy when he first was taught the law. At that moment in time he died spiritually. The day before, not having 'the law' he was alive spiritually. That's how we are all born. As babies we are without 'the law', without knowledge of right and wrong. Spiritually alive. If a child in that condition dies physically, they go to heaven. Why? They are alive spiritually. By the way, this should give us some comfort when we consider the horrors of abortion. As bad as it is, these babies do not go to hell. They all are 'spiritually alive' without the law. In our case, being gentiles, at what age do we first know right from wrong? There is no concrete answer for that. This would vary with each child.
So Adam and Eve died spiritually that day. They also died physically … that is, cell death and aging began.
Verse 8 says that they hid from God when they heard him approaching. That is what is now 'natural' for them to do. The fallen nature, which we all inherited from Adam, is one that wants hide from God.
And the God … who knows everything begins to ask questions. He already knew the answers.
“Where are you?”
“Who told you that you were naked … did you eat from the forbidden tree?”
“What is this that you have done?”
God's Spirit convicts regarding the same things today.
John 16:7 ¶ "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.
8 "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
Look at the 'language' of the fallen nature. Blame-shifting.
“The woman made me do it.,”
“God, you are the One who gave me this woman.”
“The Serpent tricked me, it's not my fault!”
God is love. But being a loving God does not mean he ignores sin.
He deals with sin straight on.
“Serpent, you will crawl on the ground because you willingly complied with Satan's possession.
Satan – although you will bruise the heel of one of the woman's seed, you will get your head crushed.”
“Woman, you will have pain in child birth. Your relationship with your husband will be fraught with conflict.”
“Man, providing a living for your family will be very difficult. The ground you depend on is cursed to provide much less than it could have. You will have a constant battle with thorns and thistles.
Your bodies will age, die and return to dust.”
Were Adam and Eve sorry for what they had done? Did they express sorrow after God spoke to them regarding their transgression?
How does a person express sorrow and regret for what they have done?
Here is a biblical example:
Job 42:6 Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes."
When we call out to God … for any reason … for forgiveness or to lay before Him an urgent request, what evidence do we show for our sincerity?
Some more biblical examples:
Esther 4:1 ¶ When Mordecai learned all that had happened, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city. He cried out with a loud and bitter cry.
Jeremiah 6:26 O daughter of my people, Dress in sackcloth And roll about in ashes! Make mourning as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; For the plunderer will suddenly come upon us.
Daniel 9:3 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
They had no example to follow. They were the first sinners.
1Samuel 16:7 The LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
2Corinthians 7:10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
When Godly sorrow produces repentance – He covers our sin.
Psalm 32:1 ¶ «A Psalm of David. A Contemplation.» Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered.
Isa 1:18 "Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.
God covers our ugly, filthy sin … with the blood of Jesus. What color was our sin? Have you ever heard the expression … ' as black as sin!'? Where do we get the idea that sin is black? Perhaps from the verse, “Men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil”. (John 3:19)
But Isaiah said that our sin is red … like scarlet, red like crimson … the same color as blood.
Ex 12:13 ‘the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
God killed an animal and with its hide made clothing for this couple. The picture is to show what it takes to cover our sin. And innocent animal died that day. An animal who had no wild nature. An animal named by Adam. This pair would be reminded each day they wore the garments made by God that this animal for their shame to covered. We too,are reminded of that at various times, but certainly at the taking of communion. We sinned and caused it to be necessary for Jesus, who knew no sin, to become our covering.1
We are sinners by nature. We are sinners by choice. But our Almighty God took that risk into account when he created 'free will'.
I Peter 1:18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,
19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
20 He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you
21 who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
Fellowship with God was lost when Adam and Eve sinned. Fellowship is restored when we walk in the light … rather than run and hide. Here a wonderful passage to close this session:
1John 1:5 ¶ This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
8 ¶ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 2Co 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Genesis 3
Sin and Reconciliation
God had said (in 2:16,17) that Adam could eat freely of every tree in the garden except one; The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam must have passed this on to Eve.
Chapter three begins by mentioning a serpent … as being a cunning or crafty creature. Was there only one serpent at this point, or did God create a whole lot of them? We have not been told that. But what we do know is that one particular serpent approached Eve. The fact that it is called cunning, crafty and sly … indicates something less than a perfect creature. What we have here is Satan, Lucifer … possessing a creature of God. Animals have no moral soul, so this does not mean that the serpent itself sinned by allowing Satan to come in.
The serpent – this creature, it is implied, walked upright. It had the ability to speak, that is, at least on this occasion. The fact of its upright appearance and ability to speak did not startle Eve or cause her to be cautious. It seems, as a matter of implication, that this likely was not the first time Adam or Eve had seen the creature. It may have been the first time it had spoken to them. But creation at this point is still new. No doubt they were still making all kinds of discoveries. What kind of a creature it appeared to be is hard to envision. It walked upright. Adam Clarke, a Bible commentator of the 19th century, does not think it was a serpent at all. He discusses the Hebrew word … and comes out saying that this creature was an Orangutan. He says it used to walk uprightly … and after the curse, walks using its hands. Mr. Clarke goes on to say that the Hebrew scriptures which had been translated to Greek … and called the Septuagint, used the word for serpent. The new testament writers, who more familiar with the Greek Septuagint that they were with the Hebrew language, thought that the Genesis creature was a serpent and so that is the word they used. For example John, twice in the book of Revelation says, 'That old serpent, the Devil'. Mr. Clarke would have us believe that John should have said something more like, 'That Old Monkey, the Devil!'
I don't think so. Why? Because the Holy Spirit of God inspired the writing of the New Testament … and He inspired them to use the word serpent.
So Satan entered a serpent.
He begins to question Eve. We have a few questions of our own … but no real answers. Like why was she hanging around that tree to begin with? Curiosity? Or … she had to be somewhere and just happened to be near that tree? Or … maybe she was nowhere near the tree … but went over to it after the serpent talked to her? And where was Adam at this point? Was it wrong for them to be separated? No, I wouldn't think so. But it appears that Satan waited for his chance to talk to her privately.
Think about Satan for a moment. Here is a being who had experience at talking others into his way of thinking. He had convinced millions or billions of angels to join him in trying de-throne God. That would take some convincing. He is very good at what he does. Have you had any experiences with his methods?
He begins by creating doubt and insinuating that God is holding out on them.
“Did God say you could not eat from all the trees in the garden?”
She answers, We can eat from all the trees … except one. And that one we are not even supposed to touch. (This may have come from Adam?)
2Corinthians 11:3 ... the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, …
1Timothy 2:14 ... Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.
1Tim. 2:14 Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.
Satan said – You will not surely die. Did Eve have any idea what death was? She had never seen it. I think that she and Adam must have talked about it. They were not dumb or simple. They knew … either instinctively or by God's own elaboration, that it was ultimately the worst result that could ever happen to them. “The day you eat of it you will surely die.”
Satan lies. “You won't surely die. You eyes will be opened … to things that God does not want you see or know or imagine.”
“You will actually become like God … and He does not want that.”
With a little bit of thought Eve took the fruit and ate some. The she gave some to Adam. 3:6
They ate. Their eyes were opened. They did not drop dead.
What really happened? We will discuss this further when we get to verse 22, but for now we will talk about why they did not die … or did they?
What we read is, their eyes were opened. Whether this had anything to do with their bodies no longer being 'glorified' and shining, or whether this was a different kind of 'opening of their eyes' so that they saw each other in a way that they could not have done earlier it is hard to say. At any rate … they saw themselves unclad and as quickly as possible made garments of fig leaves.
God clearly had said, 'In the day that you eat of the fruit … you will surely die.' Whether we always understand or not, we have to say … I believe that. In some VERY REAL sense, they died that day.
We are told by God through Apostle Paul, For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. 1Corinthians 15:22
Everyone who is a child of Adam … dies. Does this simply mean … that some day we all will die a physical death or is there another meaning?
Romans 7:9 can help to understand this. Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.
10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death.
11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death.
Paul is referring to himself. Once he was alive … and then he died. For this to be a helpful verse we need to first state the obvious. Obviously he did not die physically. He would not have been there to write the book of Romans if he had died physically. He is speaking of spiritual death.
What killed him? The knowledge of right and wrong which he got by reading the law, the bible. As he read he discovered what sin was … and that he had already done it. Very likely he was a very young boy when he first was taught the law. At that moment in time he died spiritually. The day before, not having 'the law' he was alive spiritually. That's how we are all born. As babies we are without 'the law', without knowledge of right and wrong. Spiritually alive. If a child in that condition dies physically, they go to heaven. Why? They are alive spiritually. By the way, this should give us some comfort when we consider the horrors of abortion. As bad as it is, these babies do not go to hell. They all are 'spiritually alive' without the law. In our case, being gentiles, at what age do we first know right from wrong? There is no concrete answer for that. This would vary with each child.
So Adam and Eve died spiritually that day. They also died physically … that is, cell death and aging began.
Verse 8 says that they hid from God when they heard him approaching. That is what is now 'natural' for them to do. The fallen nature, which we all inherited from Adam, is one that wants hide from God.
- We wander away from God. Isaiah 53:6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
- We force God out of our thinking. Romans 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;
And the God … who knows everything begins to ask questions. He already knew the answers.
“Where are you?”
“Who told you that you were naked … did you eat from the forbidden tree?”
“What is this that you have done?”
God's Spirit convicts regarding the same things today.
John 16:7 ¶ "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.
8 "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
Look at the 'language' of the fallen nature. Blame-shifting.
“The woman made me do it.,”
“God, you are the One who gave me this woman.”
“The Serpent tricked me, it's not my fault!”
God is love. But being a loving God does not mean he ignores sin.
He deals with sin straight on.
“Serpent, you will crawl on the ground because you willingly complied with Satan's possession.
Satan – although you will bruise the heel of one of the woman's seed, you will get your head crushed.”
“Woman, you will have pain in child birth. Your relationship with your husband will be fraught with conflict.”
“Man, providing a living for your family will be very difficult. The ground you depend on is cursed to provide much less than it could have. You will have a constant battle with thorns and thistles.
Your bodies will age, die and return to dust.”
Were Adam and Eve sorry for what they had done? Did they express sorrow after God spoke to them regarding their transgression?
How does a person express sorrow and regret for what they have done?
Here is a biblical example:
Job 42:6 Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes."
When we call out to God … for any reason … for forgiveness or to lay before Him an urgent request, what evidence do we show for our sincerity?
Some more biblical examples:
Esther 4:1 ¶ When Mordecai learned all that had happened, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city. He cried out with a loud and bitter cry.
Jeremiah 6:26 O daughter of my people, Dress in sackcloth And roll about in ashes! Make mourning as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; For the plunderer will suddenly come upon us.
Daniel 9:3 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
They had no example to follow. They were the first sinners.
1Samuel 16:7 The LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
2Corinthians 7:10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
When Godly sorrow produces repentance – He covers our sin.
Psalm 32:1 ¶ «A Psalm of David. A Contemplation.» Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered.
Isa 1:18 "Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.
God covers our ugly, filthy sin … with the blood of Jesus. What color was our sin? Have you ever heard the expression … ' as black as sin!'? Where do we get the idea that sin is black? Perhaps from the verse, “Men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil”. (John 3:19)
But Isaiah said that our sin is red … like scarlet, red like crimson … the same color as blood.
Ex 12:13 ‘the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
God killed an animal and with its hide made clothing for this couple. The picture is to show what it takes to cover our sin. And innocent animal died that day. An animal who had no wild nature. An animal named by Adam. This pair would be reminded each day they wore the garments made by God that this animal for their shame to covered. We too,are reminded of that at various times, but certainly at the taking of communion. We sinned and caused it to be necessary for Jesus, who knew no sin, to become our covering.1
We are sinners by nature. We are sinners by choice. But our Almighty God took that risk into account when he created 'free will'.
I Peter 1:18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,
19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
20 He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you
21 who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
Fellowship with God was lost when Adam and Eve sinned. Fellowship is restored when we walk in the light … rather than run and hide. Here a wonderful passage to close this session:
1John 1:5 ¶ This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
8 ¶ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 2Co 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.