Reliance on God or Satan
Introduction
I believe Satan is the Author of Sin and established sin in the garden of Eden when he tempted Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:1-15). Original sin entered the world through one man and that one man is Adam (Romans 5:12). God did not create the mankind to be sinful but live with God for eternity. However, Satan crept into the Garden of Eden and tempted Adam and Eve by getting them to doubt, discredit, and deny God’s commandment in the Garden of Eden. An important key passage for this paper is God’s original commandment to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. God’s original commandment to Adam is located in Genesis 2:15-17. Genesis 2:15-17 (ESV) states, “The Lord God took man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 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.”
I believe that once Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, sin entered the world. The consequences of sin is eternal separation from God.
The physical consequence of sin is death. Romans 6:23a states, “For the wages of sin is death.” What does the word death mean? It has a dual meaning. First, we have spiritual death which means that we are eternally separated from God. The Second meaning, is that we have physical death but our soul and spirit will separate from our bodies and go to one of two places: heaven or hell. Heaven is the glorious spot where we can worship and live with God for eternity. Whereas, Hell is a horrible place where your spirit and soul will be consistently tormented. Hell is a horrible place. No-one should ever deny the existence of hell because it is one of the strongest doctrines, outside of the doctrine of Salvation, in the Old and New Testament. I also believe we got a conscience which Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit.
I also believe everyone inherited a sin nature that we have since conception (Psalms 51:5; Jeremiah 17:9; Psalms 14:3-4; Psalms 53:3-4; Romans 3:10-11; Isaiah 53:6; Isaiah 64:6-7; Romans 3:23). All of the previous passages confirms that no one has done good. Not a single person does do Good.
Romans 5:12-14 is the supporting passage of Genesis 3:1-7. Romans 5:12-14 states, “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, was a type of the one who was to come.” Romans 5:12-14 confirms that Adam is a historical being that sinned against God and man. Adam was the first person to sin against God.
I broke this section done verse by verse in Genesis 3:1-15. This section is divided verse by verse to help streamline the Fall of Man without taking it out of context.
The Craftiness of Serpent (Genesis 3:1a)
Genesis 3:1a (ESV) state, “Now the Serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.” What does Crafty mean? When one does a word study on the subject of Crafty/Craftiness, six verses come to mind: Job 5:12-13, Ps. 83:3, Luke 20:23, 1 Cor. 3:19, 2 Cor. 4:2, 12:16. However we are missing one verse and that is Genesis 3:1a. The Hebrew word for Craftiness is ‘aram which distinctly means “to be bare, cunning, subtlety.” Merrill F. Unger defines Craftiness to be the following: “The terms used in the Bible as applied to sly, subtle, wily, deceitful, and fraudulent. The NASB also renders ‘Shrewd’”[1] So Moses, the Author of Genesis, used the term Crafty to denote how serpent was deceptive and deceitful towards Adam and Eve. I believe that Satan is still crafty today. He is crafty in churches today by causing internal tensions in churches and the main reason we have divisions in the church today.
The Catechism of Satan (Genesis 3:1b)
Genesis 3:1b (ESV) “He said to the woman, ‘Did God actually say, you shall not eat of any tree in the garden?” Satan was starting his attack by questioning God’s original commandment to Adam’s wife, Eve. I wonder if Adam told Eve a warped view of God’s commandment instead of the correct one. Satan always has his catechism of doubting questions to make one ponder their faith and led them astray from the true Gospel.
The Careful, yet Warped Response of Eve (Genesis 3:2-3)
Genesis 3:2 states “And the woman said to the serpent, “we may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden. But God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” This is when we get the careful, yet warped response. Eve was trying to accurately portray God’s commandment to Adam and Eve however it got twisted somehow. There could have been a miscommunication or Adam took one step too far. First, God’s word was distorted. This was not the same thing. There is couple of things missing from Eve’s view of the commandment and God’s view of the commandment. God’s view of the commandment is obviously the correct viewpoint. The first thing is that God never said to Adam that you could not touch the forbidden fruit. The second thing is that God said if you eat of this fruit, you will surely die which is obviously missing in Eve’s view of the commandment. Satan uses misconceptions often to distort God’s word (See the implication section for more information).
The Corrupting and Deceptive Response of Satan (Genesis 3:4-5)
Satan lies and distorts the God’s commandment even further. Genesis 3:4-5 states, “But the Serpent said to the woman, “You will surely not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Satan is discrediting, deceiving, and denying God’s commandment by planting seeds of doubts in the minds of Adam and Eve. However, God knew that Satan would do this as he foretold in Genesis 2:15-17.
The Consummation of the Forbidden Fruit (Genesis 3:6-7)
Genesis 3:6-7 states, “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.”
Due to them eating of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they developed a Conscience. Andrew Womack wrote, “When they ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they intuitively and automatically recognized their nakedness, their sin, and their failure. Immediately fear and shame came upon them.”[2] This is evidence that once they consumed the Forbidden Fruit, they developed a conscience.
Also, who told them that they were naked? It was not good. It was their self-conscience that told them that they were naked. Sometimes, Sin is like that forbidden fruit. It delights our eyes, but enviably undelightful to God. Sin also sometimes craves our hearts and we want to sin but God commands us to sin. We have an irresistible urge to sin before we are saved. After we are saved, A new covenant is written on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:31-34).
After they ate their fruit, they were instantly separated from God which made them fearful and shameful. They recognized that they sinned against God and felt guilt. However, they played the blame game.
The Commencement of the Blame Game (Genesis 3:8-13)
Genesis 3:8-13 states, “And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.’ He said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat? The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” the woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me and I ate.”
This is a typically blame game. Instead of blaming himself for eating the forbidden fruit, he blamed his wife, Eve. Then Eve blamed the Serpent. It was due to them not trusting God and trusting in a counterfeit gospel of becoming like God. Eve wanted to become like God but they were already like God. They broke one commandment and they were separated from God.
The first Instance of the Salvation Promise (Genesis 3:14-15)
Genesis 3:14-15 states, “The Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; He shall bruise your head, and you shall brise his heal.” This is the first glimmer of God’s Promise of Salvation. This is how Yahweh is sending Jesus Christ to save the world out of sin and how Yahweh is going to have victory of Satan. Yahweh is life-giver. Satan is a life-taker. It is amazing how God is going to be glorified through mankind. However, the first step in the salvation message is recognizing you are sinner.
The Correct Applications in regards
To the Fall of Mankind (Genesis 3:1-15)
I would use this in my vocational calling of Youth Minister by developing a sermon series on the Fall of mankind. It would encompass the following applications that I can apply to myself and teach others about. The fall also helped me realize that I am marred Image of God due to Sin and only Jesus Christ can restore our Image of God (Isaiah 64:8). I also recognize the importance of believing in the total depravity of mankind.
Application 1: Recognize that you are Sinner.
We are sinners that all turned away from God. Psalms 53:3-4 states, “They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one. Have those who work evil no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon God?” David, in this Psalm, is lamenting the fact that no one has done good, not even one. Some people have the “Princess” Syndrome. The “Princess” Syndrome is the fact that they believe they are morally good, yet God tells us otherwise. Repeatedly in the Bible, God tells us that we are morally corrupt. He has told us this in Psalms 13:3-4, Psalms 53:3-4, Romans 3:10-11, Isaiah 53:7-8, Romans 3:23. Therefore, we need to recognize that we are sinner and not give into the “Princess” syndrome.
Application 2: Stop playing the blame game.
We, as Christians, need to stop playing the blame game. Satan likes to twist our viewpoint and try pinpoint the sin on someone else, instead of ourselves. Like in Application 1, we are morally corrupt and the bad things that happen are due to our sin nature or due to Satan’s evil schemes.
Application 3: Recognizing the Need for a Savior (Genesis 3:15)
Through God’s grace, even though we are sinners, God is able to mold us back into our intended design (Isaiah 64:8; Ephesians 2:8-10). Isaiah 64:8 states, “But now, O Lord, you are our father; We are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of you hand.” This is an amazing revelation. God wants us to not be marred with sin and wants us to be closer to the image of God. We are made in the Image of God (Genesis 1:26). Do you know who the Image of God is? The Image of God is Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:16-17). He was part of the creation account (Colossians 1:1-15). He knew no sin and became sin for us so that we can the chance to have eternal life (2 Corinthians 5:19). God’s grace is unsurmountable and cannot be matched. When we fall into sin, we are discrediting God’s word and believing in Satan’s evil schemes of denying and doubting the Word of God.
Also, once we repent of our sins, God will not remember our sins. How incredible is that? Isaiah 64:9 states “Be not so terribly angry, O Lord, and remember not iniquity forever. Behold, please look, we are all your people.” We are marred, yet chosen by God for redemption. God will not remember our sin. It reminds me of a passage in 1 Peter 2:9-10. 1 Peter 2:9-10 reminds us that we are God’s chosen priesthood. 1 Peter 2:9-10 states “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” This is one amazing passage of Scripture. Even though we are sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). God died for us and rose on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
These are three applications that I found while reading Genesis 3 and listening to the lectures on Harmiatology. These are my implications to the lecture and to Genesis 3.
Conclusion
God is a Holy God. He cannot handle sin in heaven. Sin is anything contrary to the nature and character of God. Sin is anything you think, say, or do that is displeases God or makes God sad. Sin can stifle one’s fellowship with the compassionate God of the Universe. During this Doctrinal Summary with a focus on Genesis 3, we saw how God punished mankind but ultimately gave mankind the option of redemption. This is an amazing story of God’s justice and God’s grace. God is truly the life-giver and Satan is truly the life-taker.
Endnotes
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