Corruption
Genesis 3
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/Corruption.html
We continue our new series on the 20 Cs, a jet tour overview of the entire Bible. Last week was ‘creation’ and today is ‘corruption.’ No, this message isn’t about our state, Illinois. And it’s not much of a Valentine’s message either. Actually, it’s where the honeymoon comes to a screeching halt in Paradise!
Of all 1,189 chapters in the Bible this is without question the most tragic. This chapter tells of the fall of man and its consequences.
1) The subtlety of Satan
a) He speaks through the serpent - Genesis 3:1
Most women would not receive a snake’s arrival so calmly. But before the fall of man all was peaceful, and the serpent was beautiful and not frightening and cursed. And man and woman were so intelligent that they were able to have communication w/ it. Imagine today if you were able to know exactly what your dog was saying to you w/ each and every bark. Sometimes I wonder if our dog understands us. He is not a sinner, and though affected by the curse the curse is upon man, not upon him.
Joke—if aliens looked down upon us they might wonder who is the real master: the dog prancing around or us, being dragged by the leash, picking up its poo!
v. 14 Prior to the fall the snake did not crawl upon its belly. Many scholars believe they once flew!
From this point on serpents and snakes would always be associated w/ evil. “Mean as a snake” / “snake in the grass”
Luke 3:7
7 Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Matthew 12:34
O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
Revelation 12:9
And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
When the children of Israel were plagued w/ snakes in Leviticus they had to look to the brass serpent on the pole, symbolic of Jesus on the cross becoming sin for us.
Still to this day the AMA uses the symbol of the serpent on a pole for healing.
b) He begins by doubting God’s Word – Genesis 3:1
Anyone who puts a question mark behind the Word of God instead of an exclamation point is being used of the devil. Many today are questioning God’s Word and standing in judgment of the Word, when actually the Word is supposed to judge us.
Eve made the mistake of debating the devil. We aren’t supposed to do this.
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7
All sin begins in the mind, then it goes to action, then to habit. And when we even stop to consider what he tempts us to do we are debating the devil.
When a man even fantasizes about being w/ another woman he is committing adultery, because thought will eventually become deed and habit. Every wrong action is preceded by wrong thinking.
So when the thought begins to enter your mind you must rebuke it in the name of Jesus, pleading the blood of Christ and let Satan flee from you!
Look what Satan gets Eve to do next:
v. 3 Did God really say she couldn’t touch the fruit? No! Just as dangerous as taking away from the Word is adding to the Word. Most cults have started by people adding to the Word.
c) He ends by denying God’s Word – Genesis 3:4
It’s the first recorded lie in the Bible.
People say they don’t believe the Bible because there are lies in it. I agree. And people who deny the Bible are repeating the first one. The Bible records lies, but it is absolute truth.
John 8:44
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
You are never so much like the devil as when you lie. In God’s eyes there’s no such thing as a little white lie.
Ill.—the phone rings and you tell your spouse to ‘tell them I’m not here!’
v. 5 It’s a sandwich lie. A lie in-between 2 truths. The most dangerous kind of lie is when it is very close to the truth, it is the most deceptive.
Ill.—when is a clock the most deceptive? When it is off by 5 minutes or by 5 hours? 5 minutes!
Ill.—The Jehovah’s Witnesses will come to your house and say ‘we believe Jesus is the Son of God. You think, well, I never knew you agreed with us on that? Tell me more! Turns out it’s a lie. They believe Jesus is A son of God but not THE Son of God. They believe He is the brother of Satan, another created angel being that could never die for our sins. What a dangerous lie!
v. 6-7
1 John 2:15-16
15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Eve indulges in all 3:
‘good for food’ = flesh
‘pleasant to the eyes’ = eyes
‘make one wise’ = pride of life
2) The sin of Adam
a) He becomes the first human sinner - Genesis 3:6
Even though Eve took the first bite the Bible is clear on this...
“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned…” Romans 5:12
1 Timothy 2:13-14
13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
Eve was deceived, but Adam did it deliberately w/ his eyes wide open. Eve did it emotionally, but Adam took of it willfully.
Adam was the head of the human race, and so we are all condemned as his children and as we inherit his sin nature. We all would have done the same as he did, by the way. Some even say that’s not fair. But actually it’s a blessing that God did it this way. Because since we were all condemned in Adam, we can all be redeemed by “The Last Adam”. Christ did not die just for Adam, but for all his children.
“The Adam Family” [bumpa-bump-bump, snap snap]
b) He attempts to cover his nakedness before God -
Genesis 3:7
Adam and Eve lived thousands of years BC [Before Clothing!]
Compare that now to v. 21...
Genesis 3:21
Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
Why did God have to clothe them? They already had on organic fruit of the loom. This implies something. The clothes were inappropriate. There needed to be a sacrificial death of an animal. Fig leaves are a picture of man trying to cover his own sin. But the coats of skins are the innocent paying the penalty for the guilty and covering that sin.
Church membership won’t cover your sin, it’s just a fig leaf!
[living good, baptism, giving, serving, keeping the commandments]
And only the blood of the Lamb of God is sufficient to cover our sins today.
c) He attempts to hide himself from God – Genesis 3:8-10
Sin separates man from God. It makes us want to hide in shame. I’ve seen it a million times in the lives of believers. They are faithful for a time, and maybe join, but then they’ll start missing more and more, and it turns out there was a sin problem that made them want to hide from God.
But when we sin we should run TO God, not FROM Him. He’s loving and wants to take us back!
Ill.—a lady had no money for rent, and hid from the landlord. Church friends took up a collection for her to help her. They took it to the landlord and asked him to tell her it was paid...he knocked and knocked and she wouldn’t answer the door. Later he saw her in town and confronted her. He told her the good news, it was paid in full. She said, thank you, but I must confess, I was home this morning, but wouldn’t answer because I thought it was bad news, not good news.
When God came looking for Adam is was good news. Where sin abounds grace much more abounds!
“Oh God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.” Psalm 69:5
3) The redemption of God – Genesis 3:9-24
The only attributes we saw of God in the first 2 chapters were things like power and glory and magnificence. But now that sin has entered the scene we see another side of God.
Because of man’s sin, we see His redemptive attributes:
His holiness , as God deals with sin – Genesis 3:14-18
His love , as God deals with sinners
4 Ways God showed Adam grace:
In seeking out Adam – Genesis 3:9
The Bible is not the record of man’s search for God, but of God’s search for man.
Luke 19:10
For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
You say, no I sought God. Actually you responded to His call, which was Him looking for you. Dead people don’t seek anything!
In promising them a Savior - Genesis 3:15
What a profound verse! It’s the first pronouncement of the gospel...a prediction of Calvary. A great battle will exist between Christ and the forces of evil, but on the cross Christ will forever win that battle!
In clothing them – Genesis 3:21
In removing them from the Garden of Eden – Genesis 3:24
God posted Cherubim w/ flaming swords so they couldn’t enter. This was gracious of God to do, because if they ate of the tree of life they would live forever in their sinful condition, w/ aches and pains and under the curse.
The promise for the believer is not to live forever here, but in a glorified state.
Before sin entered the world there were 7 words Adam did not know: Death, nakedness, curse [soil, serpent, Satan], sorrow, thorns [paradise became a wilderness, the once docile tiger that was a herbivore became a dangerous carnivore and the roses grew thorns], sweat [work was not the curse, but the sweat], sword.
What do all 7 of those things have in common? Christ suffered every one of them on the cross! Everything which Adam experienced because of sin Christ experienced to erase that sin!
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/Corruption.html
