The Gospel & Salvation: Where Did the Sin Problem Begin - Part 2

Where Did the Problem Start – Part 2

Genesis 3:1-7

Turn with me in your Bibles to Genesis 3 this morning. We are spending some time with an in-depth look the gospel and the work of salvation. I have explained why this is important and why we are spending this time on this series of messages. Nothing matters as much as our understanding of the gospel. Nothing is as important as a correct understanding of the work of God to rescue us from His wrath. Nothing is more important than knowing for certain that we are among God’s redeemed. The gospel is the good news of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

We are looking at Genesis 3 because this is where the problem of sin originated. Salvation is necessary because of sin. The gospel is only good news if we understand the extent of our problem. Sin is the greatest problem we have. Sin is the deadliest malady afflicting mankind. Sin is universal. There has never been a single person, apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, who has not been the victim of sin. Sin brings forth death. This is true because God warned the first couple. He told them that if they sinned they would die. They sinned and they died.

Genesis 3 gives us the account of the original sin which resulted in death. This is the sin that has brought about death to all men. Our sin is sin in the likeness of the sin of the first couple. It is important to understand how they sinned. So this is an autopsy if you will, that will help us understand the cause of death. An autopsy is used to determine the cause of death of a person when that cause of death needs to be understood. Not everyone who dies needs an autopsy. Autopsies are used when there is good reason to investigate the cause of death. We need to do an autopsy of the first couple’s cause of death. Sin was the cause of death, both physical and spiritual, so we must understand the cause of death. We must understand the cause of death because it is the same cause of our own death, both physical and spiritual.

Let’s read this passage again together. Read Genesis 3:1-7. 

We saw last time we were here that God created man with intelligence, reason, and choice. Man had more than enough intelligence to understand what God had commanded. Man’s ability to reason was more than capable of leading him to the conclusion that questioning God was not a good idea. Yet, man chose to listen to the serpent. The serpent was also a created being with intelligence, reason, and the ability to choose. Our account begins with him. Who was this serpent we are introduced to in verse 1 of our text?

Our text tells us that the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. Any paintings you see that depict this account almost always have a picture of a snake hanging from a tree in the presence of a woman with long hair which is covering her body. This serpent may have been a reptile that walked uprightly. It may have been that the form of this reptile was changed in verse 14 as a part of the curse and then the creature was relegated to an existence where he would crawl on his belly.

The interesting thing about this serpent is that he talks. Eve isn’t shocked that he talks. Adam wasn’t alarmed that the serpent talked. Adam had previously named every animal that was created and the account doesn’t tell us of any creature that had the ability to talk. This probably should have been the first “red flag.” If so, it was totally ignored.

Who is this serpent? It is important to understand who he is and what his role is in the Fall of man into sin. We must rely on other parts of God’s word to give us some of the details which are not included in this passage. The final book of the Bible gives us perhaps the clearest indication of who this is. Turn to Revelation 12. Read verses 7-9. This passage tells us that the “serpent of old” was the devil. It is none other than Satan himself.

Satan is the chief of a group of angels that fell from heaven. At the end of Genesis 1, in verse 31, we read, “God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.” This would have included all of the angelic host which God had made. They are called “the hosts” of heaven. Nehemiah 9:6 tells us that God created the heavens and all their host…and the host of heaven worships God. Paul confirms this in Colossians 1:16. “For by Him (Christ) all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth…” The angelic host was part of God’s creation. He created earth and man in the natural realm. He created angels in the spiritual realm. Angels are spiritual creatures that do not have physical bodies. Jesus affirmed this in Luke 24:39 saying, “a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”

The fact that Satan is present in Genesis 3 tells us that sometime between Genesis 1:31 and Genesis 3:1 something happened. There could not have been evil, fallen angels in a creation that God looked upon and declared “very good.” But here in Genesis 3 we have the serpent, who is Satan, tempting Eve to sin. Sometime between Genesis 1:31 and 3:1 there was a rebellion by some of the angelic host with many angels turning against God and becoming evil.

The New Testament speaks of this event in two places. 2 Peter 2:4 tells us, “…God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment.” Also, Jude 6 says, “And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day.” There are other implications of this that we don’t have time for now, but these verses speak of the rebellion of some of the angelic host.

One more passage that many scholars believe explains the fall of Satan is found in Isaiah 14:12-15. Jesus said in Luke 10:18, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightening.” From the words of Jesus we know Satan is a fallen spiritual being, or a fallen angel. Many scholars believe this fall is described by Isaiah in Isaiah 14. Let’s turn there. The historical context of Isaiah’s words apply to the king of Babylon. However, it is not uncommon for Hebrew poetic language to simultaneously describe human events and parallel heavenly events. What we read here describes both the downfall of the king of Babylon and Satan. Read Isaiah 14:12-15.

If this describes the fall of Satan from heaven, and I believe it does, it reveals the issue. It was Satan’s pride. Five times he says, “I will…” It was Satan’s desire to be like the most high God that led to his rebellion against God and his being cast from heaven to the earth. Biblical evidence tells us that when he rebelled he led approximately one-third of the angelic host with him. This is how demonic spirits came to be a reality in the world.

Satan exalted himself and fell. Satan is depicted throughout the Bible as the enemy of God. He was responsible for the severe affliction of God’s servant Job. In 1 Chron. 21, near the end of David’s life, “Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel.” In Zechariah there is the record of a vision the prophet had of Satan standing next to the High Priest to accuse him. In the gospels we have the record of Satan’s temptation of Jesus. The New Testament gives us the best details of his nature and strategy. Satan is identified in the New Testament as “the ruler of this world,” “the prince of the power of the air,” and “the evil one.” John 8:44 records the words of Jesus telling us, “He (Satan) was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

Satan is God’s enemy and the enemy of God’s people. He is a liar and he opposes God’s work. He loves to pervert the truth of Scripture. He tempts to sin. He works lying wonders. He appears as an angel of light. He is proud, presumptuous, powerful, wicked, crafty, deceitful, fierce and cruel. Even though all those things are true he is a defeated foe. His fate is sealed.

Satan, though powerful, is not God’s equal. There is only one God and He alone is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and sovereign. God is not in an ongoing battle with Satan. Satan wages an ongoing battle against God, but he fights as a defeated enemy. He has already been destroyed. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. Satan can only do what God allows him to do. This is clearly seen in the early part of the book of Job. As strange as this may sound, Satan always does what God wants done. Satan cannot overpower or defeat God.

Though we find Satan taking on the form of a serpent and introducing lies and deception in the Garden, we must acknowledge that he is there with God’s permission. The responsibility for the events that are about to transpire lie equally on Satan and Adam and Eve. All of them will suffer severe consequences. If the Fall had been only Satan’s fault, a just God would have only judged him. Satan tempted, and Eve took the bait, so she is equally responsible. Adam tried to blame his wife and God, but he was responsible for his decision to disobey God. No one can say, “The devil made me do it.” Satan tempts but man is responsible for his choices and subsequent actions. 

Our text tells us that the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field. The word crafty means, ‘subtle, cunning, and intelligent.” In fact, Satan possesses superhuman intelligence. He is a supernatural being. Because of who he is and what we know he wanted to do, he moves in on the woman with questions. He wants to destroy God’s good work.

Satan targeted mankind because man was the unique in all of God’s creation. Man was the “crown jewel” of God’s created order. Only man was created in the image of God. Only man was created with intelligence, reason, and choice. Only man was given the right to rule over the fish and birds and cattle and every creeping thing on the earth. Man was at the top of the created order. Among all of God’s created order, only man was created with the capacity to worship God.

The serpent had been created with the capacity to worship God. In fact, like man, that was the purpose for which angels were created. But man was different from the angels. Man was created with the capacity to worship and procreate. Angels were created to worship but were unable to procreate. Jesus described spirits as those without bodies and who don’t marry. Satan saw an opportunity to corrupt God’s good creation at the highest level. If he could get mankind to fall, he could inflict the greatest harm on God’s creation.

Why did the serpent target the woman? Why didn’t he go after Adam? Why didn’t he approach them when they were both present? There is a lot we could look at in regards to this but I am going to save it for another day. There are several factors but the obvious one is that God had given the instructions regarding the forbidden fruit to Adam directly before Eve was created. He found her alone and decided to attack while she was out from under the protection of her husband. Adam was not there to remind Eve of God’s instruction. She acts independently of her husband in deciding to listen to and believe the lies of the serpent. Where was Adam? I wish I knew. The Bible is silent on the issue.

Listen, Adam is held responsible here. He is not a victim. He is, in some ways, bears greater guilty than Eve. She was deceived. Adam was not deceived. Paul makes this clear in 1 Timothy 2:13-14. “For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.” Adam’s choice was a clear act of disobedience to God. Adam knew better and still ate what had been forbidden. Paul makes it clear from Romans that we inherit the sin nature because we are Adam’s descendants, not Eve’s.

The serpent targeted Eve because she was vulnerable. She would be easier to deceive. As a woman she was the weaker vessel as is explained in 1 Peter. God created the man first and gave him the responsibility of headship in the family and he wasn’t there to exercise the leadership he should have. She acted independently of him and listened to the serpent.

Let’s look at the temptation. Satan has one objective in mind. He wants to sow seeds of doubt and cause the woman to begin to question the character of God. He begins by questioning the word of God. He is going to do this by a simple and subtle distortion of the word of God. If God’s word can’t be trusted then God is obviously a liar. If God is a liar His character is flawed. If His character is flawed, and He would lie about one thing then He can’t be trusted. If God is not trustworthy, man needs to look to another who claims to be trustworthy. This is Satan’s offer. Trust me, Satan says. I will tell you the truth. Satan is the master of deception, the father of lies, and a liar from the beginning.

The serpent starts with a seemingly innocent question, but there is nothing innocent about it at all. Look at the first words from the mouth of the serpent. Verse 1 says, “And he said to the woman, ‘Indeed, has God said…’” With this question the whole problem of sin starts. Think about what this question reveals. It is a question that comes from an assumption that the creature, man, has the prerogative to question the words of the Creator, God. If we make the decision that we can question what God has said, we have decided that we, not God, must be the ultimate authority in our lives. We have already fallen victim to the trap that sin sets when we decide that the word of holy God, our Creator, is subject to our judgment. This approach is successful in leading the woman to disobey God because the essence of the suggestion is that God’s word is subject to the judgment of man. When we assume that we have the prerogative to subject what God has said to our evaluation and assessment, we have already fallen victim to sin. This is pride.

This is the first question in the Bible. Up to this point we have been given only factual information. The only righteous response to this first question would have been for Eve to say, “Wait a minute! Who are you, and what right do you think you have to question what God has said?” That response would have demonstrated a heart that loved God completely. That response would have communicated a commitment to believe only God, and trust only God, and obey only God. That response would have demonstrated that Eve understood the nature and character of God as good, holy, faithful, and true. That response would have proven that Eve was able to look at all that God had created and seen it as good, and completely sufficient for all her needs.

The fact that Eve is willing to even entertain this question tells us a great deal. The fact that she did not immediately defend God reveals an issue with her understanding of who God is and His nature and character and His goodness. At this point she has never sinned. She is innocent, but what happens here reveals that she is still in need of redemption. Her innocence is not enough to ensure a right relationship with God.

Most people read this account and they think that the sin was the eating of the forbidden fruit. The taking and eating of the fruit was the manifestation of the sin of the heart. By the time she takes and eats the fruit, she has already sinned in her heart.

All sin originates in the heart. Jesus affirms this in Matthew 15:19. He said, “For out of the heart comes evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, and slander.” Our sinful acts are the sinful thoughts, the sinful words, the sinful deeds or actions, or the omitting of, or failing to do the right thing. There are sins of commission and sins of omission, but the sinful acts are but manifestations of a problem that originates deep within. It all starts with the heart.

This is what Jesus affirmed in the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 5:27-28 He said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Just previous to that Jesus acknowledged the law’s condemnation of murder. He then went on to say that if you are angry with your brother, and only angry enough to call him “good for nothing” you are guilty enough of murder to be cast into the fiery hell. Sin’s manifestations are the outward actions and attitudes. The sin begins at a much deeper level. It starts in the heart.

We must make sure we understand the nature of sin and the depth and breadth of its reach into our lives. Why so much emphasis on this? Then and only then will we fully appreciate God’s work of salvation that redeems us from the wrath we deserve. The work of salvation involves a transformation of the heart. We become new creations at the heart level. A life that is pleasing to God is one that has moral purity not only in its actions, but also in the desires of heart.

The teaching of Jesus reveals this clearly. When Jesus was asked about the greatest of the commandments in God’s Law His response was, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind…” Jesus said this was the greatest and foremost commandment. Along with the second, which is “you shall love your neighbor as yourself,” depends the whole Law and the prophets.

What does the greatest commandment teach us? The greatest commandment, which is the essence of God’s Law, is that living up to God’s moral standard isn’t about not lying, or stealing, or committing adultery, or taking God’s name in vain. We are not living in obedience to God when we avoid sinning. We do not avoid sinning just because we do not commit adultery. One of the main reasons I would never commit the actual sin of adultery is because I don’t want to hurt my wife, and I don’t want to destroy my credibility with my family and my church, and sacrifice my ministry. Those are good reasons for not committing adultery. While I may be obeying a commandment of God by not committing adultery for those reasons, I am not fulfilling the righteous requirements of the Law of God. I can obey the commandment and still not please God. If I fail to conform to God’s moral law at the heart level, I am still a sinner.

Living up to God’s moral law is only achieved when we love God supremely, when we love Him completely, when we love Him above everything else. The seminal element of sin begins when we do not honor God as God. I believe this is why the first commandment is that we are to have no other gods before Him. He is to be honored before everything else, especially me. He is to be acknowledged and appreciated for who He is and all He has done for us. We must revere and honor Him for His holiness, beauty, majesty, glory, and His goodness toward us. Our hearts must be captivated with the reality of His great love, His mercy, His grace, His patience, and His kindness toward us. If you do an honest assessment of anything you do in violation of God’s moral code – any action or attitude – you will trace it back to one thing. We did not love God above all else.

In her heart Eve did not love God as she should. In her heart she did not trust God completely. In her heart she did not believe in the goodness of God. Otherwise she would have rejected the question and fiercely defended the nature and character and provision of her good and holy Creator. If she loved God with all her heart, mind, and soul, she would have been angered by the serpent’s subtle suggestion to question the word of her Creator. If Eve had been captivated with God first and foremost, she would have never entertained the crafty serpent. As soon as the serpent began to speak he questioned the truthfulness of God who is perfectly holy and who speaks only truth. By listening and entertaining the question, she revealed the chink in her armor. The serpent found the opening he wanted. All that follows is the tragic. There are tragic consequences when we do not love God with all our heart, with all our mind, and with all our strength.

We only understand the depth and breadth and extent of our sin when we understand what truly constitutes sin. Is lying a sin? We call it sin and it is. But it really is the manifestation of a selfish heart that loves myself more than I love God. It is the revelation of the reality that there is a god above God in my life and that god is me. It doesn’t matter what the sin is, the sin is simply a manifestation of a heart problem. We do not love God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength. We love ourselves that way, but we don’t love God that way. O wretched man that I am. Who will set me free from the body of this death?

What does that make us? That makes us sinners who stand in need of redemption. We come before the elements of the Lord’s Table today as sinners. We are in need of what He accomplished through His death and resurrection.