"What happened?" we might ask. When God created the heavens and the earth, everything was good. Adam and Eve walked in communion with God and were not ashamed. Now, the earth is full of evil and violence. Instead of loving God and seeking to honor and serve Him, people are self-centered and use and abuse others. They lie and gossip and slander. They are dishonest and steal. They lust and commit adultery and even rape. They hurt and murder.
This once-perfect world is now full of heartache, disease and death. It produces thorns and thistles and forces people to work hard all their lives to survive and, ultimately, everyone becomes old or sick and dies.
What happened? Genesis 3 describes historical events which changed everything for mankind and for God's creation. Please stop now, open your Bible and read Genesis 3.
The devil, also called Satan, used God's commandment in Genesis 2:16-17 to bring about man's condemnation and bring a curse upon all of God's creation. God had forbidden Adam and Eve to eat of the fruit of one tree in the garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
"And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, 'Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die'" (Genesis 2:16-17).
Notice how the devil worked (Genesis 3:1): "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?" He planted the seed of doubt and made it appear that God's command which was intended for good was somehow holding them back and keeping them from something beneficial, from being like God.
The devil lied. When Eve answered, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die'" (v.2-3), the devil said, "You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (v.4-5).
Then, Adam and Eve fell. "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate" (v.6).
The devil used God's good commandment to bring about man's condemnation and death. They disobeyed and ate, and they died spiritually, losing their relationship with God, and also became subject to physical death and eternal death and condemnation. As the Bible says in Ezekiel 18:20, "The soul who sins shall die."
And what was the result? Adam and Eve were afraid of the LORD God. They hid from His presence and sought to cover up their sinfulness and shame (read v.7ff.). They passed the blame and ultimately blamed God Himself. Their heart changed from one of love and trust and honor toward God to a heart of fear and rejection, and their sin brought about the sin of all mankind and a curse upon all of God's creation.
God's Word describes it this way in Romans 5:12: "Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned."
Consider the curse their sin brought upon the earth -- a curse we see still active in our world today (Genesis 3:16-19): "To the woman He said: 'I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children; your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.' Then to Adam He said, 'Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, "You shall not eat of it": 'Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.'"
The fruits of their sin were evident. Cain killed his brother Abel (Genesis 4). Wickedness spread upon the earth. Instead of having faith and trust in the Almighty God who created man and all things, man's heart was only evil from his youth (Genesis 6:1ff.; 8:21:11:1ff.). Every one of us has been conceived and born into sin, spiritually dead to God and His enemy (Psalm 51:5; Romans 5:12; Ephesians 2:1ff.).
Sin brought about not only spiritual death -- the destruction of man's relationship with God -- but physical death and the ultimate condemnation of all to eternal death and torment in hell (cf. Genesis 3:19; Romans 6:23a; Matthew 25:31-46).
Why is our world such a messed up place? Why do we have to work hard all our lives? Why do we grow old and die? Why are there evil, violence, wars, disease and death? Why are people afraid of God and so often trying to hide themselves from God by avoiding the Bible and churches which still teach the Bible? The answer is in Genesis 3. We turned away from God and disobeyed His commandment. We sinned against the LORD God who made us and brought upon ourselves sin, evil and death. We are born into this world dead spiritually. We all die physically and return to the dust of the ground. And we all are under the condemnation of God's law to eternal death and the everlasting fires of hell.
Our only hope is also mentioned in Genesis 3 in God's words to the serpent in verse 15: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel."
This ancient promise speaks of one to be born of woman who would crush the devil and undo the work he accomplished in the garden. In the process, His heel would be bruised. The Seed of the woman, God the Son born a man of the virgin Mary, would suffer and die for the sins of the world but would rise again victorious, having accomplished the redemption of all mankind.
The Bible explains in Galatians 4:4-5: "But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons." Cf. Hebrews 2:14-18.
We learn more of Jesus Christ and the salvation He won for all mankind in our next lesson.
Randy Moll is the managing editor of the Westside Eagle Observer. He may be contacted by email at [email protected]. Copyright © 2016 by www.scripturalreview.com. Used by permission. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Editorial on 06/15/2016