Sin Entered the World ⁽¹⁾

23 February 2014 AM – Genesis 3:1-13 – Rom 14 – Scott Childs

Introduction: “Atheism, in fact, is largely founded on the pessimistic belief that such an evil world proves either that God is not good (condoning evil as He does) or not omnipotent (and therefore unable to correct and remove the evil). ^{Henry Morris, The Genesis Record, p. 105}

The third chapter of Genesis give us the true answer to the origin of evil. Evil is not God’s doing, but the result of man yielding to Satan’s temptation and disobeying God’s command. The results of sin affect every human and all of nature. Later, God quashed evil during the Noahic flood, but it soon returned because man lost his perfection when Adam and Eve sinned. God will again quash evil during the Tribulation, but it will grow secretly in the hearts of imperfect people during the Millennium. At the Great White Throne Judgment, God will destroy evil forever. Until then, evil will plague our world.

Transition: This morning we will look at three of the five events that explain how sin entered into the world.

I.        The Temptation

A.     Satan drew attention to the forbidden (1)

1.      He asked the woman, “Did God hold back one of the trees in the garden from you?”

2.      Like advertisements, Satan wants us to think we need more than God gives us.

3.      God tells us that we need to be content.

1 Timothy 6:6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.

B.     Satan denied God’s word (4)

1.      God gave Adam His spoken word so he and his wife could know right and wrong.

a)      The woman knew what God said (2-3)

b)      She knew that God said death would follow disobedience (3)

c)      God gave us the Bible so we can know what is right and wrong. The better you know the Bible, the more you will avoid sin.

Psalm 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

2.      Satan told the woman that she would NOT die (4).

a)      He claimed to know more than God.

b)      He said that God was lying. He is a liar.

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.

C.     Satan made evil look good (5)

1.      What Satan said was mostly true. Their eyes were opened by sin. They did come to know good and evil by experience. However, he failed to tell them that God withheld that knowledge for their good and that disobeying God was evil and would cause them endless heartache.

Cows often try to reach the grass on the other side of the fence, even though they have plenty to eat on their own side.

2.      Satan delights in making the grass look greener on the other side of the fence, whether it be cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, sex outside of marriage, pornography, stealing, cheating, lying, or some other vice.

3.      He highlights sin’s sweetness but never tells you of its very bitter aftertaste – cancer, cirrhosis of the liver, addiction, sexual disease, corrupt minds, prison, broken relationships, and guilt.

4.      Sin’s pleasures only last for a season.

II.      The Fall

We find here five steps that lead to sin.

A.     Desire

1.      The woman had a desire to have what God forbid. The fruit of the forbidden tree appealed to her.

2.      Lust is that desire to have what is not yours. It may be the desire to look at nakedness that does not belong to you in marriage, or to enjoy something that displeases God, or to touch someone or take something that does not belong to you.

3.      Desiring the forbidden lessens your resistance.

2 Timothy 2:22 Flee also youthful lusts …

B.     Drawing

1.      Drawing is a lure or bait that increases your desire (6). It is like the cheese on a mousetrap or the worm on the fishhook.

2.      Drawing is the lustful lure that John describes.

1 John 2:16 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.

a)      Lust of the flesh: The woman saw that the fruit on the forbidden tree was good for food. Perhaps Satan, embodied in the serpent, ate some of it to show her that it was good.

b)      Lust of the eyes: she saw that it was pleasant

c)      Pride of life: she wanted to be more wise

3.      The lure increased the desire to disobey God.

4.      Being drawn by temptation’s lure is very dangerous. James called it “being drawn away”.

James 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

C.     Deception

1.      Satan uses lust and lure to deceive us (6).

2.      At this point, with Satan’s encouragement, we often deceive ourselves into thinking that yielding will not hurt and the pleasure will be worth any negative result.

3.      James 1:14 called this step “enticed”. The word literally means, “caught by bait”. The step of deception is when we give in and mentally choose to do wrong.

D.     Defeat

1.      The woman yielded and ate the forbidden fruit (6). Satan deceived her. She fell for his lies.

2.      She gave it to Adam and he also ate. We have no idea why Adam ate the fruit. He was not deceived by Satan (1Timothy 2:14).

E.     Delivery

1.      Their disobedience brought sin into the world.

2.      Their sin began the death process (Gen 2:17).

3.      Their sin destroyed innocence in the human race.

Romans 5:12 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:

III.     The Result

A.     Loss of innocence

1.      Their eyes were opened to evil.

2.      They were no longer perfect. They had lost their innocence.

B.     Guilt

1.      For the first time, Adam and his wife knew they were naked (7). They had been clothed in righteousness, but that was now gone. They were now guilty and ashamed.

2.      Since that day, nakedness has been shameful except between a husband and his wife whom God makes “one flesh.” Adam and his wife covered themselves the best they could with fig leaves.

3.      As people become less aware of God’s holiness and their own guilt, they wear clothing that covers less and less nakedness. Godly Christians ought to want to cover their nakedness modestly.

C.     Fear of answering to God

1.      They were afraid, naked, and hid from God (8-10)

2.      They both made excuses for their sin and blamed others (11-13).

3.      Blaming others does not remove personal guilt.

Conclusion: Each of us here are sinners for two reasons. 1) We were born sinners. 2) We have each experienced temptation, the steps that lead to sin (desire, drawing, deception, defeat, delivery), and sin’s results. We are guilty before God. Next week we will learn that God promised divine help. That help came through Jesus Christ. He died for our sins and rose again to give us life. If you have not received that help by trusting Christ to save you, you can today. Christian friend, if you have sinned, God offers you forgiveness if you confess it (1Jn 1:9)

Song: Just As I Am – 249