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Genesis 3:1-19, "The Fall of Man" (The Dangers of Sin Series) · Clifford Baptist

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  Speaker A: Welcome to the Sept. 28 sermon from Clifford Baptist Church, 635 Fletcher's Level Road in Amherst. Today's scripture is Genesis, chapter three, verses one through 19. And the sermon is entitled the Fall of Man, delivered today by Pastor Jeffrey Campbell.
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  Speaker B: What does truth look like? And once you understand what truth is, then what do you do with it? And that is the message of life. And so today we open a three part series. As we look at three familiar stories in the book of Genesis. We're going to look how sin enters the world. We're going to look at how sin floods the world and then how sin leaves an impact on the people in the world. And so today is just the beginning of three weeks. So I pray that the next three weeks that you'll try to be here if you can, as we study this topic together. June 5, 1976. The Teton Dam in Idaho was undergoing its first fill. As the water climbed and the pressure built, seepage holes were discovered on the dam and bulldozers went to work trying to stop it. By 11am On June 5, the dam had burst, releasing 1 million cubic feet of water per second downstream. The failure of this dam wiped out several towns, killed 11 people, drowned many livestock, damaged property estimated to be about $2 billion. It all started with one small crack. In a very similar way, sin entered the world through a very small opening and over the years has flooded and filled the earth. That we now understand and see the ramifications of sin in our finite minds. We will never understand the destruction sin has caused in this world. We cannot measure it in dollar amount, we cannot put our hands on it, our minds around it. We will never know how, how destructive sin has been through the years. But today, as we look at the first two human beings, we understand and we're going to see where sin started, where it crept in, and where the damage began with the fall of man. Genesis chapter number three. Look at verses one through six as we gather today. Now, the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden. And the woman said unto the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, ye shall not surely die, for God doth know that in the day that ye eat Thereof then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as gods knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant with the eyes and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her. And he did eat real quickly. Father God, thank you just for joining us. Lord, in only the way that you can. God, I pray that you remove the messenger and the people hear your message today and we give you glory for it. In Jesus name, Amen. What do we understand when we look at the fall of man? Here's what we need to see. Four points today I'm going to give to you that I hope to lead you through in teaching. The first point is this sin is subtle. Sin is subtle. Just as the failure with the dam that began with one little crack, that is all it takes for sin to get a foothold in the lives of the people of God and of this world. Chapter three opens up with a conversation. We are able to witness a conversation between Satan and Eve. And as these words are recorded, it is opened with the subtle serpent. Your version may call him crafty or cunning, but it is a mixture of deception and cleverness. And Satan is using this little crack to ultimately get his way. As the conversation begins, it begins with the simple three word question. Has God said? Has God said? When we understand, and we try to understand the truth of God, here's what we need to realize in the battle for truth. It is a battle between where we find and what we define truth as. I'm just going to go and lay this verse. John 17:17 says this. God's word is true truth. The Bible says God's word is truth. So when we look at God's word, we understand that God's word is truth. But the battle for the truth begins here with the very first couple and with a fallen angel. I would submit to you today that this first sin did not occur in the garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. The first sin was with Lucifer, with Satan. And that sin is recorded in Isaiah chapter number 14. Write that down. Far before things were created, there was a battle going on, an unseen battle that we are given a glimpse into by Isaiah. And I'm just going to read that real quick. From Isaiah 14 it says this. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning, how art thou cut to the ground which didst weaken the nations? For thou hast said, in thine heart I will ascend unto heaven. And I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. And I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north. And I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, and I will be like the most High. Yet thou shall be brought down to hell to the sides of the pit. Strong words. But Isaiah records a glimpse before the creation that there was a battle in heaven and that Lucifer falls because. Because of his sin against God, because of his desire to be higher than God. And so sin has always been there in the heart of Satan. And Satan shows up in Genesis chapter number three in a cunning way, in a subtle way, trying to infiltrate the crack of the human heart. Because if he gets in the human heart and he devises and divides truth, he has succeeded. Satan still has that plan today. And the first plan we see with the simple question is this. Has God said. Has he really said this? And it is to cause to question what God is doing. There are many Christians today that look at the word of God and say, is this real? There's the seed of doubt. That's all that Satan needs. As a young little boy growing up in the church, I was taught this is the word of God. And as a grown man now, I believe this is the holy word of God. It is truth and it will set you free. But what we need to understand in this first point is with Eve and with Satan, sin showed up in. In a divisive and a cunning way. Satan knows how and when to attack. But also we're shown in verse number three that Eve adds to the word of God. Look at verse number three with me. It says this. But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, you shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest ye die. God didn't say that. Real quick, look over in chapter number two, verse number 17. Here's what God says. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it. For in that day thou eatest thereof, thou shall surely die. So she added to the word of God that little phrase, you can't touch it. God didn't say you couldn't touch it. God said you couldn't eat it. And if you ate it, you would die. But notice this happened even before Eve was created. So that had to be passed down through her husband Adam. So we have seeds of doubt in the question. Hath God said we have. Adding to the truth of, or adding to what God has said, with you can't even touch it. And then in verses 4 and 5, we see Satan in his conversation, begin to twist the word of God. Look at those two verses again, verses four and five. And the serpent said unto the woman, ye shall not surely die, for God doth know that in that day eat thereof. Then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. So the battle of truth is won by sowing seeds of doubt. It is won by adding to the truth. And it is won by twisting the word of God. Twisting the truth of God. If you're with me, still, say amen. Okay? You see, through a little crack, Satan has made humongous waves to the fact that now, as Eve is in this conversation, here is what she is doing. She is staring at that tree, looking at that tree, trying to process what Satan has told her, trying to understand what God has said. And in verse number six, here's what happens. And. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eye, a tree to be desired, to make one wise. She took of the fruit thereof and did eat. Gave also to her husband with her, and he did eat. With that little action, sin entered the world. You may say, Pastor Jeffrey, why has eaten a piece of fruit so bad? Because God said not to, that's why. Because God said, don't do it. And there are many things in this book that God says, don't do that. Our world has welcomed and even applauded within the church house. And so what we need to be careful is this one little crack is all Satan needs to bust this church wide open. But what does it take? It takes men and women, boys and girls that are godly that. That go to work to join arms and to link arms to seal the cracks, that Satan does not grab a foothold. Satan and sin are subtle beings. Sin is subtle. It starts with one look, as we see here. It leads to a desire, and then it's followed by an action that is not of God. Sin is subtle. Look at verses 7 through 13. And the eyes of them were both open, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him, where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was Afraid because I was naked and I hid myself. And he said, who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, the woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the woman, what is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, the serpent beguiled me and I did eat. Point number two today is this. It's sin isolates. Sin isolates. As their eyes open to their nakedness, they also open for the first time as sinners. A man and a woman who has disobeyed the Lord their God. The guilt drives them to find coverings to cover up. Sin has began to shake them as they hide from the voice that they once desired to hear. They now hide from in the bushes off the beaten path. It's amazing to see the effects quickly thereof of sin. And with fear, Adam says, I hid from you. I was naked and and I hid and I am afraid of you. Then the blame game begins. Eve, she blames the serpent. Adam is the first one. God approaches and Adam blames Eve. And here's the results of it. Both of them are guilty because they both disobeyed the word of God. Here is the most troubling reaction that we have as human beings when we sin. We too want to get away from God. The person that is in sin, instead of coming to God and repenting, desires to be away from the church house and away from God's people and just stay to themselves. Adam and Eve display that here as they jump in the bushes hoping that God wouldn't notice. And as God shows up, he knows that something is different. Here's the reality. There is only one person to blame when you or I sin, and that is ourself. That's the person in the mirror. And until we come to grips that we are sin filled people. I had to do that before I could ever be saved. That I was a sinner and that I needed something more powerful to bring me in relationship with God because I could not do it on my own. So what we see here is a separation, an isolation that begins. Here's what Isaiah says in chapter 59, verse 2. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God. Your sins have hid his face from you that he will not hear. First Peter reminds us to be holy, for I am holy as God says that God cannot be in the presence of sin. Why? Because sin is Rebellion against God's will, against his word and against his ways. And there are consequences. You heard a verse that began our service today. Romans, chapter 6, verse 23. The wages of sin is. Let's say that again. The wages of sin is death. We understand that. The Bible teaches us the truth. The truth about sin is this. It results in death. And so, as sin isolates, it's going to lead us to consequences. It blames, it separates, it points fingers. It doesn't call sin what it truly is. And so today, as we see sin enter these two human beings, here's what we must look at ourselves. How does sin isolate us? Here's what sin should do. It should drive us to desire the presence of God. Even more. It should drive us to desire his forgiveness and a changed lifestyle and a changed heart that does not go down that road again. Instead, it isolates. Look at verses 14 through 19. And the Lord God said unto the serpent, because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all the cattle, above every beast of the field. Upon thy belly shall thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. And the woman. He said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. Thou shalt bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam. He said, because thou has hearkened unto the voice of thy wife and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, thou shalt not eat of it. Cursed is the ground for thy sake. In sorrow shall thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also, and thistles shall it bring forth to thee. And thou shalt eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return to the ground. For out of it was thou taken, for dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return. Point number three. Sin has consequences. Maybe you've had bad days before. Anybody had a bad day before. I will probably submit to you this is the worst day in human history that we read on Scripture. And here's what I want you on the worst day of all the days in the world. Here's what I want you to see. God is still in control. We look at our world and we have watched horrible murder blatantly in our country day in and day out. And I watched that. And we get upset. And I got upset. I got Worked up. So much so that a couple weeks ago or a Wednesday night, I threw the message down and I came in with a new message. I don't do that. I was upset. And some of you visibly said, jeffrey, are you okay? But here's the reality. Murder happens every day in our country. And we don't bat an eye at it because we don't call it what it is. It is sin because it does not recognize the holiness of a creation of one single life in the eyes of a holy God. And so if it's a baby or if it's a human being, if it's black or if it's white, if it's Democrat or Republican, it is not right. It is sin. And that's just one that fuels our country. And now, as the church gets involved in it, we're trying to define what is truth? Where can it be found? And there is only one answer. It is found in the word of God. And the word of God says this. I'm going to speak to murder. Thou shall not kill, period. If you have been joining us on Wednesday nights, you understand Jesus took that teaching to a new level. If he says, you have hatred in your heart, you have killed somebody, it's just as equal as murder. And so today, what are the consequences? What are the consequences of sin? The tragedy of sin, the disobedience of God, man and woman turning a deaf ear to their God and his instructions. Here's what it looks like. Satan's in control in the garden. But that is far from the truth. And I will submit to you today, Satan may have a foothold, but God is still in control in this world. But what are those consequences? The greatest consequence of Adam and Eve is sin has now entered the human heart. And that God must deal with sinful man and sinful woman from this point on until he will return. The consequences of sin for the women, their sorrow is multiplied. Can I get an amen from the women here? How is it multiplied? It is multiplied into two most precious earthly relationships. You will have women that curse looks like this in childbirth. It will be painful. It will be rewarding, but it will be painful, but also in the relationship with your husband. The Bible said there is a cursing here, that it will be a struggle. It will be sorrowful for you to. To be in submission to him. So when you see divorce today, we understand that that is one of the cursings from the very beginning between a husband and a wife. Women, it's going to be hard. Not that you only do what God wants you to do. But you stand with your husband and do what God would have you to do. What about for Adam? God says this. You listen to the voice of your wife over my voice, and here's what I want to say. Men and women, the voice of God precedes any voice that you listen to. For Adam, the ground would be cursed. It would still produce good, but it would battle with thorns and thistles in sorrow. Adam would have to work that ground to feed himself. It was all provided for him before, but now he has to work means sweat and sorrow, and ultimately the ground that he worked and the ground that he would try to muster up food out of to that same ground he would return in death. So the promise to the man is this, you will die. What about to Satan? He curses the animal in verse number 14, the serpent. That snake becomes bound to his belly. But also he puts enmity or hatred between the seed of the woman and between Satan for the rest of their time. The pronouncement of judgment on Satan, on Adam and Eve, on the ground, tells us this sin has consequences. And I'm going to submit to you today. That has not changed. Sin still has its consequences today. It's destructive for you, it is destructive for others. It fuels the desire to sin more. And as believers, our salvation is secure, but it affects the joy of our relationship with Jesus. As I think about this point and understanding the consequences of sin, Hebrews chapter number four, verse 13 tells us that we can't hide from God. There's nothing that you can hide from God. It tells us that our lives are an open book before him. To me, when I read that verse, it scares me sometimes. But Ephesians also tells us this. Some of the consequences of sin are that our hearts can become hardened are calloused. Romans chapter one teaches that there are areas of our life that can be given over to our depraved minds and our sinful hearts if we keep rejecting the truth of God. God can harden your heart so much that you will never understand and know who he is. That's a scary thought. Sin has consequences. But the greatest consequence of sin is eternal separation from God forever. There's one more point. Look at verse 15 again. And I'm going to read verse 21 as well. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel. Verse number 21. And unto Adam also, and to his wife, did the Lord God make coats of skins and clothe them I want to address verse number 21 first. The first thing that God does after he has this talk, after he pronounced the curse, is he shows mercy. And what he does is he replaces their little thrown together outfit. In verse number 21, he has made clothing of skins and clothed them with. What does that mean? We can read right past this. Here's what that blood had to be shed to cover the sinful people. Blood had to be shed in the Garden of Eden. An animal had to die to make the clothing to cover these naked two, that they would not be sinful before God. As we think about this act of mercy on God's behalf, we see another act of mercy. In verse number 15, enmity is hatred. But we see that that hatred will be between the seed of the woman and between Satan. This is referred to as the Proto Evangelium, the first Gospel. We get a glimpse of God's plan as God is putting that hatred or that enmity between the woman seed and between Satan himself. God has a plan, and here's what he tells Satan. You're going to bruise the heel of the seed of the woman. Look at verse number 15 again. He says this. I'm going to pick it up. In the second part of it. It says this. It shall bruise thy head and thou shall bruise his heel. Now remember, as we're thinking about who that is, the heel of the seed of the woman will be bruised. This is pointing to the seed of the woman. Not Cain and Abel, but to Jesus Christ. And here's what it points to, as it points to Jesus. It's saying this. Satan is going to have a battle and he will bruise the Son of God. And we understand that bruising occurred on the cross as Jesus was placed there and people mocked him and spit on him. His own disciples betrayed him, left him alone. He was nailed to that cross and he would die on that cross. That's a bruising of the heel of the seed of the woman. But also in verse number 15, the beginning of that verse, it says, it shall bruise thy head. Satan thought he had won a battle. As Jesus died on that cross, he thought he had a victory. But here is the truth of Scripture. It wasn't defeat. It was just a bruise. Because on the third day, he rose from the dead. And on that day, as he rose from the dead, that bruised heel crushed the head of Satan once and for all. Satan knows he is a defeated foe. But he still has time. He still has time. What does a defeated foe do? It scrambles. It tries whatever means necessary to get through, through the cracks to get to the heart of the people of God and to destroy them. And so today you may see a bruised heel in the death of Jesus Christ. But I also want you to see a bruised head as Satan's head is crushed one day. Romans 16:20 says this, the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet. Feet. Shortly, shortly. A little bit of time, A little bit of time and it's going to happen. But it also says, Revelation 20, verse 10. The devil is cast into the lake of fire forever and ever. And that's where he will be crushed. We go back to the beginning. There were two, three word questions that were asked in this scripture today. Has God said. Has God said. As we try to understand truth in our nation, in our families, in our country, in our church, in our world, all of it, we're vying for truth as we try to understand truth. The source of your truth as a believer in Jesus Christ needs to be this. Don't take a preacher's word. Don't take it. This is the word of God. This is true. But there was another three word question as we think about the Lord visiting Adam. And he asked a simple question and said this. Where art thou? He couldn't hide from God. He thought he could, but he couldn't. As we enter our time of invitation today, I ask you that three word question. Where are you? As we talk about sin today, there's a bunch of different thoughts, there's a bunch of different feelings, there's a bunch of different places you could be. But here's my question. Where are you? Are you like Adam and Eve? Are you hiding something from God? You know you need to turn it over. You know you need to give it to him, but you won't. You just keep it to yourself. You hide. You want to just keep it and hold onto it. But here's the reality. If you hold onto it, it is your God. There's something that you need to give to God, to turn over to God, to be truthful to God about. You need to come today and tell him about it. Repent, turn from that and turn to God. Maybe you're here today and you're what somebody would label as backslid. Here's what that means. That means you've turned your back to God and you've walked away and you're enjoying the world of sin. There was a prodigal that did the same thing. And when he squandered it all, the Bible says this. He came to his senses and came back to The Father, if you are running away from God, if you are turned away from God today, here's my prayer. The pastor's prayer is this. Come to your senses. And that senses means come before God, realizing the Father is the one that you need to return to. Maybe you're here today and you know you're sitting here knowing that you don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ. Sin separates for eternity. With that said, I invite you to understand this. Jesus took sin to that cross and he desires a relationship with you today. If you will turn away from that sin and if you will come and you acknowledge Jesus as Lord of your life, ask him to save you and live in your heart and that you will give the rest of your days living for Him. He will save you today. How will you deal with sin? Let's take it to the Lord, Father. God, thank you. Thank you for your word, God, as we come before you, God, I pray, Lord, in these moments of invitation, God, that you will draw people, Lord, thankful Lord, today that we're covered under the blood of Jesus. But in conversation with someone this morning, Lord, we're still accountable before you, Lord, today there are good men and women in this room, God, I pray, Lord, if someone has an issue they need to deal with, God, they will turn it over to you. Oh God, for that one heart that is lost and without you today, that one life that you went to the cross to redeem, God, I pray, Lord, your Holy Spirit would work on that heart. God, thank you for the joy that you give us when we walk in truth and when we walk with you, God. I pray, Lord, that Christians would rise and walk in that spirit of truth and that spirit of joy that walking with Jesus gives. God, may we look to you in these moments. God, we give you it. In Jesus name. Amen.
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  Speaker A: Clifford Baptist Church invites you to join us for worship every Sunday morning at 11am for more information about our church, please call our church office at 434-946-0555.