INTRODUCTION: Here in nineteen verses we have the story of man's fall and the results of his sin. Thankfully the first promise of the gospel is also given. How profoundly the nature and fruit of sin are described. In what a condensed, yet enlightening manner is the gospel story prophesied. As we have noted before, "only God could say so much in so few words."I. LUST - verse 6.
We are told in James 1:15, that lust or illicit desire brings forth sin. According to I John 2:15-16, all sinful desire falls into three categories. As Eve stood before the tree of the knowledge of good and evil she was faced with all three temptations:Lust of the Flesh - "tree good for food."
Lust of the Eyes - "tree pleasant to the eyes."
Pride of Life - "tree to be desired to make one wise."The lust of the flesh refers to any desire that tempts one to feed the sensual nature of the flesh (immorality, intoxication, gluttony, etc.). The fruit made Eve's "mouth water" even though it was forbidden. The lust of the eyes refers to those temptations that appeal to man's covetous desire to possess and obtain (theft, greed, etc.). The pride of life refers to all temptations that appeal to man's personal pride and desire for acclaim or greatness.
The lust of the flesh tempts us to find pleasure in sinful gratification rather than the Lord [Galatians 6:7-8].
The lust of the eye causes us to put "things" in front of the Lord [Colossians 3:5 - last phrase].
The pride of life tempts us to glorify self rather than God [Matthew 23:12].With this background we can better understand the victory of Christ in His temptation [Luke 4:1-13]. Satan approached our Savior from all three avenues, yet the Lord was impeccable. He succeeded where the first Adam failed:
Luke 4:1-4 - Lust of Flesh.
Luke 4:5-8 - Lust of the Eye.
Luke 4:9-13 - Pride of Life.II. MAN'S SIN - verse 6.
A. Adam was not deceived - While Eve was deceived by Satan [II Corinthians 11:3] and swept away by her desires; yet Adam sinned with full knowledge of what he was doing [I Timothy 2:14].B. The Guilt of Adam's Sin - Men tend to brush off Adam's sin as a trivial matter. In truth it was much more than just "swiping an apple." Adam had a plain and easy command. He had no sinful nature to be easily inflamed at the thought of sin. God had been good to him. All his needs and wants were supplied. The consequence of the sin had been made very plain. The act was a high-handed, willful act of rebellion against Almighty God.
C. The Fall of mankind - Adam was the representative of the entire human race. We not only inherit a sinful nature from him, but because he was our representative head we are said to have sinned in Adam. In this sense Adam was the first type of Christ [Romans 5:14; I Corinthians 15:22 & 45]. Just as we sinned and died in Adam so our sins are paid for and we live in Christ [Romans 5:12-19].
III. MAN CLOTHES HIMSELF - verse 7.
No sooner had the couple sinned than their consciences condemned them. They felt they could cloth themselves with their own works and righteousness rather than in the righteousness of Christ typlified in Verse 21 [II Corinthians 5:21]. Oddly the only thing ever cursed by Christ during His earthly ministry was the fig tree that bore only leaves. Could this show what God thinks of our religious works and profession apart from the forgiveness we have in Christ and the true holiness produced in us by the Holy Spirit [Isaiah 64:6].IV. GOD SEEKS MAN - verses 8-9.
The Lord it seems was accustomed to meeting with Adam and Eve for fellowship. What a wonderful time it was when man could walk with God. This lost fellowship has been restored through Christ Jesus. God evidently appeared to Adam in the likeness of man. These Old Testament appearances are called theophanies and are not to be confused with the incarnation of Christ. When the Son of God was incarnate He not only appeared in the form of man but really became a man. He then was both God and man [John 1: I & 14].In verse 9, we have the first question of the Bible. God seeks and asks the whereabouts of Adam who was lost in sin. Wonderfully the first question of the New Testament was from sinful men seeking the last Adam, that is the Savior [Matthew 2:1-2]. Lost men today need to ask both of these questions. "Where am I as a lost sinner?" and "where is Christ the Savior"?
V. THE RAVAGES OF SIN IN MAN.
What a change sin immediately wrought in man. Sin which had already turned an angel into a devil now did its work in men.A. Sin brought man into a state of spiritual death [Genesis 2:16-17]. The description of Adam after his sin reveals one who is alienated from God. The joy and relationship with God were gone. All men are now born in this state and need new life in Christ [Romans 5:12, Ephesians 2:1].
B. Sin had marred the image of God in man [Genesis 1:27]. Only in Christ is this restored [Colossians 3:10].
C. Man, like Satan, became a tempter. Satan sinned and then tempted Eve. Eve had no sooner sinned than she tempted Adam [verse 6]. Sinners are all tempters.
D. Man came to suffer from a guilty conscience [verse 7].
E. Man's conscience caused him to fear. The concept of fear was unknown until sin entered [verse 10].
F. Man, rather than admit his sin, became self-righteous (See section III).
G. Man by nature had because of sin come to flee and hide from God. Apart from the drawing of the Spirit no one ever seeks the Lord [verse 10, Psalm 14:2-3; John 6:44].
H. Adam and Eve like all who sin, soon learned to make excuses. Eve blamed the serpent [verse 13]. Adam blamed his wife and seemed to insinuate that it was really God's fault [verse 12]. Sadly this nature has passed on to all their descendants [Luke 14:18].
I. Adam and Eve no sooner sinned than they ceased to love God. The whole picture of fallen man in Genesis 3, reveals his dread and dislike of God. This nature is now natural to man [Romans 8:7; Romans 5:10]. To love God is only possible to those who have received the supernatural new birth [I John 4:7].
VI. THE RAVAGES OF SIN AROUND MAN.
In verse 11, Adam is arraigned before God and in verse 16, the sentence begins to be pronounced. Though all men suffer under this judgment, yet in Christ the sentence may end in a free pardon.A. The Woman Addressed - Verse. 16.
1. Because of sin childbirth will involve pain and sorrow. Both the birthing and rearing of children can bring many sorrows in this sinful world. Was not this to remind us that our sin nature is passed on to our children in conception? Ironically through God's grace it was by the suffering of childbirth that our Savior came into the world. Most Bible students believe this is the drift of I Timothy 2:15.2. Sin has caused the woman to have many sorrows in her relation with the man. While the "headship" of the man should be a blessing to all yet sin often hinders this. Men often use their strength and position to bring misery to the woman. Note the plight of women in much of history and even in many places today. Happily to those who know Christ these sorrows are greatly reduced. In a home where the man follows Christ's example his "headship" is a blessing to all [Ephesians 5]. Homes run by dominant women are not happy homes in my experience.
B. The Man Addressed - Verses 17-19.
When Adam sinned he lost the ability to fully take dominion over the earth [Genesis 1:28; Romans 8:22]. Agriculture became a battle with nature. Thorns, thistles, weeds, and pests grow with greater ease than crops. Work had become a sweaty and wearisome task. Just to work out a living requires toil and trouble for most of earth's population. Life then ends in physical death and a return of the body to the dust.VII. CHRIST TAKING OUR CURSE - Galatians 3:13
As we read of the curse on man we are reminded of how completely Christ suffered the penalty of sin.A. As the woman suffers pain in childbirth, so our Lord's suffering for sinners is pictured as a travailing [Isaiah 53:11].
B. As the woman is under subjection, so Christ came under the law [Galatians 4:4].
C. Thorns were a fruit of the curse and so wounded the head of our Savior as men mocked him with this crown of suffering.
D. As sweat came with sin so Christ in the garden sweat as it were great drops of blood as He submitted to die for our sins.
E. Both the man and the woman were cursed with sorrow. Our Lord became a "man of sorrows" [Isaiah 53:3] at His first advent.
F. Sin ends in death. Our Lord died that we might live forever.
VIII. THE SERPENT CURSED - verse 14.
Satan used the serpent as his instrument and thus God cursed it. We do not know the animals' original form, but since the curse men seem to abhor and fear it. All snakes were unclean under the Levitical law [Leviticus 11:42]. We are not to understand that there is really anything sinful about this animal. The ceremonial uncleanness only teaches that we are to abhor what comes from Satan and thus the serpent is a symbol of him as unclean and dangerous. The serpent is said to "eat dust" in that it crawls and hunts mostly on the ground. The phrase "eat dust" is symbolic of defeat [Psalm 72:9; Revelation 12:7-17; Micah 7:17; Romans 16:20].IX. THE PROTEVANGELIUM - verse 15.
This verse is known as the protevangelium which means "the first gospel." It contains the first promise of Christ and redemption through Him. Truly the rest of the Bible may be viewed as a progressive exposition of this one verse. We who have a complete Bible can see how much is really implied and latent in this short prophecy.A. The woman would bring into the world one who would conquer Satan.
B. This redeemer would be "virgin born" for He is the "seed of the woman" [Galatians 4:4].
C. The redeemer would suffer. Not only was Christ bruised in His death [Isaiah 53:5], but it is noteworthy that only in crucifixion is the heel bruised.
D. The redeemer would be ultimately victorious for the idea conveyed is that a wound to the heel is not fatal as is one to the head. Here the resurrection is implied in a very veiled manner.
E. Satan and his people will hate the Redeemer and His people [John 8:44; I John 3:15].
F. Satan will persecute the Redeemer and His people. Bible students have noted how Satan fought the ancestors of Christ throughout the Old Testament. How often Satan has tried to destroy the Jewish people as a whole. He tried to destroy Christ through Herod when He was yet a babe. Still today Christians are persecuted and hated. Even the Jews are persecuted because of God's future plan for that nation [Revelation 12:1-17]. None of this should surprise us when we recall that the first murder of the Bible was a religious persecution [Genesis 4:8]. Truly this "enmity" is still alive.
G. Satan will be completely defeated, for a wound to the head is deadly. Satan's rule will be totally destroyed [Hebrews 2:14; Romans 16:20; Revelation 20:10]. We do not mean to imply that the Old Testament saints understood from Genesis 3:15, all that we have mentioned. Rather we as New Testament saints see in this prophecy the bud of promise from which the full flower of Christ's redemption story opened up.
X. GOD CLOTHES THE SINNER - verse 21.
For several reasons Bible students have always seen in this a type of God's love in giving His Son to die for sinners, that they might be clothed and accepted in the righteousness of His Son [Isaiah 64:6, 61:10; II Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 1:6].A. God did all the work in making the coats of skins. Had it merely been a matter of warmth or convenience Adam could have taken care of this himself. Obviously there is a spiritual significance here or the whole matter would not have been worth mentioning. The idea was that God had to provide for man something that he could not provide for himself.
B. Before man could be covered in the sight of God an animal must suffer and die. The need for a covering was caused by sin. The perfect covering could not be created by man's works (fig leaves) but by the death of an innocent sacrifice. How gracious of God that the first physical death took place not only as a result of sin but also to remind us of the Savior of sinners.
XI. MAN DRIVEN FROM THE GARDEN - verses 22-24.
Having sinned the couple was driven from the garden. This was so they would not eat of the tree of life and thus indefinitely prolong physical life. It is true that apart from Christ long life on this earth would be a curse. Man, feeling immortal, would grow worse and worse. Men's prolonged life before the flood seems to have increased the ungodliness of man. Often the evil and tyranny of wicked men is only stopped by their death. Not until sin is put away can man once more partake of the tree of life [Revelation 22:1-3].In verse 24 we have the first mention of cherubims. These mysterious angelic beings are always seen in God's presence. There were golden cherubims overlooking the mercy seat in the tabernacle. They represented the angels who are anxious to look into Christ's redemption [Exodus 25:17-22; I Peter 1:12]. There is a great deal about the tree of life that we do not know. Why it was needed then or will be again in the future cannot be answered. What we do know is that the tree of life was a type of our Savior. This idea is strengthened by the presence of the cherubims who are always connected with redemption. Let us be anxious to let others know of Christ Jesus, the true tree of life from which no repentant sinner is barred. We can be used as instruments to see men come to Christ for life [Proverbs 11:30].
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Those interested in the debates concerning evolution versus Biblical creationism will find many good books on the subject. Men like Henry Morris, Duane Gish, Gary Parker and A. E. Wilder-Smith have written some very helpful volumes. These are just a few of the better known authors.============
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