The First Sin

So good to have you singing this morning. All right. If you have your Bible turn with me to Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis chapter 3. I hope that you have begun your devotions with your family in terms of the coming of the Messiah. It's a special time of the year for us to focus in on Jesus Christ our Lord. This is a great time for you to train and teach your children to instruct them in the ways of God that they might understand the beautiful plan of Redemption. So important that we communicate that to our children so important that we communicate that to our grandchildren that they come to grips with what this season is truly all about.

And today we're talking about that second symbol when it comes to the prophecies of Christmas. We're talking about the first sin and how it is that God had made a plan of salvation from the very beginning day.

One was of course about the light and creation and how it is that God created light and God created this world and God had a plan from the very beginning to redeem the souls of men. And of course his holiness is exemplified in the fact that he is the light of the world and yet man in Genesis chapter 3 would fall into sin. Man created sinless created perfect living in a perfect environment when given the opportunity to choose will always choose wrong. Think about it. Man created no sin nature. No sin, right?

He's in a perfect environment walking in the cool of the day with his God commuting with his God. But when given the choice to choose between right and wrong will always choose wrong. That's the story of Genesis chapter 3. We now inherit that sin nature. We are not in a perfect environment. We have sin at the core of our being so we inevitably will always choose wrong. This morning. I'm going to talk to you about those choices. The choices that we make and the decision that God had made long before he ever created the world to redeem man from his sin.

Genesis chapter 3 verse number one. Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast the field which the Lord God had made. He said the woman indeed has God said you shall not eat from any tree of the garden and the woman said that a serpent from the fruit of the trees at the garden we may eat but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden God has said you shall not eat from it or touch it lest you die and the serpent said to the woman you shall you surely shall not die for God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God knowing good and evil when the woman saw the tree was good for food and that it was at the light to the eyes and that the tree was desirable to make one wise she took from its fruit and ate she gave also to her husband with her and he ate and the eyes of both of them were opened and they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings 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 the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden and the Lord God called to the man and said to him where are you he said I heard the sound of thee in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked so I hid myself and he said who told you you were naked have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat and the man said the woman whom thou gavest to be with me she gave me from the tree and I ate the Lord God said to the woman what is this that you have done and the woman said the serpent deceived me and I ate and the Lord God said to the serpent because you have done this this cursed are you more than all cattle and more than every beast of the field on your belly shall you go and thus shall you eat all the days of your life and I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed he shall bruise you on the head he shall bruise him on the heel Genesis chapter 3 as author A.W.

Pink has said is the most important chapter in the Word of God he says Genesis chapter 3 is the seed plot of the Bible he records these words here are the foundations upon which rest many of the cardinal doctrines of our faith here we find the divine explanation of the present fallen and ruined condition of our race here we learn of the subtle devices of our enemy the devil here we behold the utter powerlessness of man to walk in the path of righteousness when divine grace is withheld from him here we discover the spiritual effects of sin man seeking to flee from God here we discern the attitude of God toward the guilty sinner here we mark the universal tendency of human nature to cover its own moral shame by device of man's own handiwork here we are taught of the gracious provision which God has made to meet our great need here begins the marvelous stream of prophecy which runs all through the Holy Scriptures here we learn that man cannot approach God except through a meteor here we learn about God's plan of redemption here we learn about how God overcomes man's sin I want to begin looking with you this morning at the decision that Adam and Eve both had they had the choice to choose obedience or disobedience they chose to disobey God now you think about that perfect environment no sin nature God says in Genesis 2 verse number 17 you can eat freely of any tree but you cannot eat of one tree just one just one is it that hard to obey that command?

think about it how hard can that possibly be? I mean you're walking with God you're talking with God you're in sweet communion with God He says you can do anything you want you can eat anywhere you want but you can't eat of just one tree just one that's it and yet Adam and Eve succumbed to temptation and fell into sin thus the whole human race fell into sin because one man could not obey one simple command just one one thing you cannot do and no matter how perfect man may be when created because he was created sinless he was created perfect God said it was very good and God doesn't make anything bad even man when created good chooses bad story of Genesis chapter 3 and man now always chooses what's wrong why?

because men love darkness rather than light for their deeds are evil God creates light first because he is light okay but men would rather love the darkness rather than love the light because at the core of their being their deeds are evil what a sad commentary on a on the human race but that's the reality of it the greatness of the story is God's plan of redemption and so as we talk about the Jesse tree we talk about the symbols and we talk about day number two the first sin we really have God's storied plan of redemption so I'm gonna do something a little different with you this morning I've asked 13 volunteers from the auditorium yep to come on right down to the front with me if you would so those 13 volunteers if you come on down make your way down here yes we're gonna do something a little different this morning yes yes yes it's Christmas and we're gonna have fun okay church should be fun right?

church is fun alright so if I can have you all just come right up here with me if you would please that would be good I'm gonna put these down stand right up there would you please what's your name? Ken how you doing Ken? good to see you buddy I've been here five years oh you've been here five years? well I don't know your names after the 10th year okay hold that like that okay okay alright you hold this one right here like this okay alright so you stand right here alright you hold this one like that okay good now I need someone right here right here that's right right here perfect right there you're gonna hold this one right here okay alright you're gonna stand right here hold this one right here okay don't let the audience see it nope they'll be cheating okay and then right here hold this right here and then come right there there you go oh you guys are good see we haven't practiced this either you'd think that we would have but we didn't okay you hold that right there you're gonna hold this one right here okay right there you're gonna come right here perfect step up one step up one there you go you hold this one right here that's right you're right here okay you hold this right here you're right here perfect perfect you guys are good Richard you're right here oh look at that now what I'm gonna do with you is I'm gonna go through Adam and Eve's choice help you understand how you make choices how you make right ones how you make wrong ones these sermons are all gonna be different than what we've had before now I've covered Genesis chapter 3 in great detail if you want to know all the details of that you can go by the CDs by the tapes but this is this morning our discussion about God's plan of redemption how God overcomes all your wrong decisions to choose sin Ken show us your sign there buddy truth truth is paramount truth is God's spoken word and therefore what happens is that man always has to respond to truth you can respond one of two ways one you can obey the truth or you can disobey the truth but you guys are good man okay isn't that true you can obey or disobey Adam and Eve had a choice not to eat obey or to eat disobey God says in the day you eat you shall surely what die so Sue why don't you stand up there right next to him that's right right up here yeah that's right death okay death the day you eat you're going to die Adam and Eve ate they died you say well no they didn't die they're still walking around yeah but but death is defined as separation and their lives were separated from the sweet fellowship and communion that they had with God before they sinned God says in the day you eat you shall surely die the book of Proverbs says there is a way which seemeth run into a man and the ends thereof are the ways of death not life disobedience to God always brings death always brings despair always brings despondency always brings depression always brings the wrong thing ultimately now Adam and Eve would ultimately die physically because sin came into the world but they died spiritually they were separated from God because of their sin when you obey God there is joy and delight there's delight obedience always brings delight blessed is the man who hears the word of God and obeys that's what the Bible says right so if there's obedience and there's delight why is it I don't always obey Adam and Eve if they would obey God they would live in delight they would live in sweet communion with God all the way if they disobeyed God they would die God said listen if you disobey you're gonna die if you obey you will have the sweet communion with me forever they chose to disobey why didn't why does man do that why is it I choose not to obey God why is it I can't make the right choice why is it Adam and Eve couldn't make the right choice Adam and Eve for all practical purposes were free beings they were created with volition the ability to choose right from wrong there was only one right one wrong there are many rights one wrong they chose the one wrong among the many rights why well we can respond to truth in one of two ways obedience or disobedience and the reason we respond to truth disobeying God is because there's something that disobedience gives me and that is pleasure pleasure it does give me pleasure the text very simply reads these words verse 6 when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes and the tree was desirable to make one wise she took from its fruit and she ate you see there what makes sin so desirable it's pleasurable cool now you must understand something grace it's temporary pleasure it's not permanent pleasure it's temporary pleasure Hebrews 11 25 is a verse remember Moses he chose to endure affliction with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for how long a season he chose to endure ill treatment with the people of God rather than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin he could have chosen to stay where he was he could have chosen pleasure but that pleasure would only be temporary instead he chose to obey and in obeying God Fred there's pain temporary pain but there's pain Moses chose to endure affliction with the people of God rather than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin simple as that let's think of Joseph Joseph had to respond to truth right Joseph when confronted with Potiphar's wife had to choose between obedience and disobedience right he had to choose to obey God and remain pure or disobey God and become impure what did he choose he chose to obey but because he obeyed was there delight no there was pain there wasn't delight there was a dungeon he was still in the prison but it's only temporary pain David with Bathsheba had to choose between disobedience and obedience he saw her she was pleasing to the eyes he chose disobedience was it pleasurable sure it was that's what sin is but it was only temporary pleasure because death would ensue the separation he would have from his God would loom large in his life you see we need to understand the process because this is what takes place so instead of repenting what do we do we disobey again why do we disobey again because sin does something for me makes me happy makes me feel good makes me look good makes me in my mind be good sin does something for me satisfaction pleasure shallow as it may be does something for me the man of God obeys i.e.

Joseph he was a man who obeyed his God he didn't experience the delight because he was thrown into prison he was there for a long time but he remained obedient to God why God says if you love me you will obey me the reason I disobey God is because it does something for me the reason I obey God is because it does something for God it glorifies Him it honors Him Joseph would honor his God because he wanted to be obedient to Him Moses instead of enjoying the passing pleasures of sin would endure affliction with the people of God and remain obedient to God now as a result of my sin and my choosing to do wrong and experiencing some semblance of joy some shallow satisfaction I think that if I continue to disobey I will have those feelings again I will have that excitement again so I continue down the road of disobedience and then I develop what is commonly called an inappropriate dependence that is I become dependent upon my sin to make me happy to make me joyous to make me feel good about my sin but if I obey God I then develop an appropriate dependence I become dependent upon God I learn to walk in the Spirit so I don't fulfill the lust of the flesh and listen if I develop an appropriate dependence upon God trusting Him to come through for me I will always experience delight but if I continue down the path of inappropriate dependence I will always experience death always what might seem pleasurable at the moment always leads to being separated from my God loss of fellowship loss of communion loss of peace loss of joy those things I am separated now from because of my sin in the day you eat you shall surely die in the day you disobey you will surely die in the day you choose not to obey my voice what will happen to you?

you will be separated from me communion will be lost peace will be lost joy will be lost fellowship will be lost the law will be gone because you chose to go a different way but if you choose to obey me and you experience some kind of pain because it's not easy for instance, it's the guy who says or the lady who says I've got a chance to marry somebody he's a real swell guy but he doesn't know the Lord but he loves me dearly he wants to take care of me he wants to rescue me from my family if I don't marry him I might not ever get married but because I'm going to be obedient to God's holy word and God's word says be not unequally yoked together with an unbeliever I will experience temporary pain instead of experience temporary pleasure through disobedience and I'll experience temporary pain knowing that God says if you honor me I will honor you and so I seek to obey God and honor him develop an appropriate dependence upon God and ultimately experience the delight that only God can give or I can choose to marry the guy disobey what God's word says experience some semblance of pleasure because I get some kind of security by marrying this guy he takes care of me he watches over me but he's not a believer and he doesn't love the Lord and so I continue to disobey God develop an inappropriate dependence and end up separated from God that's the way it works every day you have the opportunity to make a choice every day you go through this process you might not recognize it but you do every single day all this goes to your mind what will I do will I choose to obey or will I choose to disobey Jesus chose to be obedient chose to be obedient he came to this earth he was rejected by man was it delightful no was it painful oh yes but was it pain forever no it was temporary only for a short while and he would die on a cross was it delightful to die on a cross no it wasn't it was a plan of God for that to happen but was it delightful no but it was a way to redeem the world the Bible says in Psalm 16 11 that in God's presence is fullness of joy at thy right hand are pleasures forevermore the path of obedience is always delight always ends in delight always never does it not end in delight because if you delight yourself in the Lord he will give you the desires of your heart the path of disobedience always ends in death now there are some times where I respond the truth and disobey and there's immediate death immediate separation from God loss of everything okay and I experience all kinds of turmoil the response is one of two and on this side of the spectrum you have two ways to respond number one humble yourself humble your heart repent of your sin or you harden your heart and rebel against your Savior those are the only two choices you have if you're on this path right here you have one choice you have two choices to humble yourself and repent of your sin or harden your heart and continue to rebel in your sin those are your two choices and anytime if you repent you automatically jump from this line to this line you say God I'm gonna do what you say I'm gonna follow you no matter how painful it is no matter how hard it is on me and my family I'm gonna obey you no matter what God because I know that if I honor you you will honor me and I'm gonna experience that to the fullest and I trust you God for that to happen or you harden your heart you continue to look for shallow satisfaction through temporary pleasure continue on the line of disobedience developing an inappropriate dependence upon that sin to come through for you when only God truly can and find yourself continually losing the joy and peace that only God can give you that's it that's the way it works you guys have been great why don't you guys just put those down right there wherever you were you can take your seats don't mix them up and mix them up I gotta go put them back in order again but that's what happens folks and that was Adam and Eve they had a choice they chose and the day you eat you'll be wise so says the serpent you'll be like God he'll open your eyes boy that's that's what we want we want to be like God this is great temporary pleasure temporary pleasure and you know what you're on one of those paths this morning you're on the path to obedience and honoring God or disobedience and dishonoring God and every day you make a choice you choose right or wrong based on what you will do for you or what you will purpose to do for God I will obey him because I want to honor him or I will disobey him because I want to honor me that's just the way it is and we have a sinful nature why do we do that why is it well the Bible tells us listen to Romans chapter 5 Romans chapter 5 verse number 19 for as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners even so through the obedience of the one the many will be made righteous for through one man's disobedience the root word in the original language of the word disobedience listen carefully is the word that means to refuse to hear a refusal to listen because of one man's refusal to listen we all refuse to listen they refuse to listen to what God said and they did it in the heart you see before they ever ate of the tree they refuse to listen to what God said in their heart that's where it all begins right sin is in the heart that's what Mark 7 is all about Christ says that don't you know that from the heart come evil thoughts murders adulteries fornication slander gossip theft all that comes from the inside and so what happens to Adam and Eve is that they refuse to listen to what God said the reason we sin is because we refuse to listen to what God said we would rather listen to what somebody else says and Adam and Eve chose to listen to what the serpent said they chose to listen to the serpent they chose to listen to what Satan had for them and when you sin you are choosing not to listen to God remember in Acts chapter 7 when at the stoning of Stephen when the when Stephen just kept preaching and finally the religious establishment was so upset that the Bible says they covered their ears and they ran at him and it was almost as if they would cover their ears and they would begin to yell and scream louder than Stephen was preaching because they refused to listen to what he had to say they refused to listen and so they cover their ears from the words that he was given and they would raise their voices because they did not want to hear the convicting truth of the word of God that's what happens when many people come to church they refuse to listen to the truth they don't want to hear it they'd rather hear something else if you read through the book of Jeremiah Israel's problem was that they refused to listen to God they refused to listen God was speaking they didn't want to hear it God spoke to Adam and Eve they refused to listen and God says, listen you need to hear me that's why the man of transfiguration with Peter, James and John on top of that mount with the Lord Jesus Christ when he unzipped his flesh and the voice came from heaven this is my beloved son listen to him why?

because at the root of our sin is a refusal to listen to the words of truth a refusal to listen to what God says and obey what God says we instead want to listen to someone else or something else that will somehow bring pleasure to my life and isn't it interesting that we are willing to forfeit long-term delight for short-term despair we would love to be involved in some kind of pleasurable act that's why we sin as brief as it may be and it was brief for Adam and Eve because what happened?

there was this great plight that came upon Adam and Eve and as a result of that plight there was a great flight they began to run from God they tried to hide from God now think about that you can't hide from God we think that in the midst of our sin somehow we can run away from God and go hide someplace I'll never find out the Bible says these words in the book of Proverbs the 13th chapter I'm sorry, the 15th chapter, the 11th verse Sheol and destruction are before the Lord so how much more the hearts of the sons of men on day one God created light why?

because when light shines it opens for all to see the darkness of man's life and when our God came walking in the cool of the day the light of the world would shine down on sinful man and they'd be exposed you see as soon as they sinned they knew something was wrong they knew that's why they hid themselves they knew in their hearts that something immediately was lost was gone what they experienced before they ate was nothing they experienced after they ate and all of a sudden their relationship with the living God was marred why?

because of sin and they tried to flee from the presence of God they wanted to somehow hide that's what we like to do with our sin we like to hide our sin keep it secret so it doesn't get exposed thinking that we can if we keep it hidden long enough no one will find out about it but God knows God sees what does God do? God comes looking for you just like he did with Adam and Eve Adam where are you? no, God knew where he was remember God doesn't ask questions for information God asks questions for your illumination so you will see what He sees so you will see that He sees it all so you will know what He knows God is not asking because He didn't know where they were Adam where are you?

He comes to them, why? as a reminder to tell them I desire you you see God from the very beginning sought man when man sinned God came after him and when Christ came to the world in Luke 19 10 it says the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost right? God is a seeker of man, God goes after man man doesn't go after God man doesn't seek after God there is none who seeks after me, there is none who is righteous but God because of His great character and His nature, He goes after man and that's what happened in the garden God came after Adam and Eve Adam where are you?

He wants them to be reminded be reminded that He desires them and He wants to reinforce in their minds that they disobeyed Him and in spite of that disobedience He still desires a relationship with them folks that's an incredible God we serve and He came to them and where are you Adam? did you do something you shouldn't have done Adam? did you eat of the tree that one tree, did you disobey that one command I gave you just the one you couldn't even keep the one, if it was me I'd be saying come on Adam what's wrong with you, you can't keep one commandment I'd wipe them out create a whole new breed of people because he couldn't handle it but if God did that man still would have chosen to do the wrong thing because that's what man does he chose to do the wrong thing God always does the right thing and He comes after us came after Adam came after Eve He wants to remind them that they disobeyed Him He wants to reinforce in their minds that they live in disobedience because in spite of that disobedience He has a great plan He wants them to see that plan what did you do?

and of course Adam and Eve they shift blame upon one another, the woman you gave me Lord it's your fault you gave her to me Lord everything was going really really well until you gave me a wife I mean there was no Satan coming to tempt me I was just being the animals I named the animals, I gave them all a name we had the sweet fellowship with the furry guys around and everything was good you gave me a woman and everything changed it's your fault God, the woman you gave me and God doesn't say anything else to Adam and says to the woman what about you I was tempted I was tempted by the devil it was the devil's fault it was Satan's fault he deceived me that bad devil he deceived me you know God never says anything to them, asks them any explanation, why'd you guys do that what's wrong with you guys He didn't do that because you see He has a solution and that solution has nothing to do with us it has nothing to do with Him so He curses the serpent God causes the serpent to crawl on its belly evidently snakes did not crawl on their bellies when they were first created, they stood upright can you imagine that and God cursed them that they would crawl on their belly forever as a reminder to us of sin how it all happened whenever we see a snake we're reminded of the curse and what God did but God says God says something very unique in Genesis 3 verse number 15 He says here's my solution this is what we're going to do it's a plan I've always had here's how it goes He says I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed plural and her seed singular in other words there will be animosity there will be a full out war between the seeds of Satan and the one seed of the woman the Messiah the one seed He says that He shall crush you on the head and you shall bruise Him on the heel here's my solution that the seeds of the enemy will fight against the one seed of the woman and you will bruise His heel but the Messiah the seed will crush your head and today we're going to take communion and we are celebrating the crushing of Satan's head 1 John 3 verse number 8 the Son of Man appeared that He might destroy the works of the devil the Son of Man came so that Satan's influence over you and me would be destroyed God's whole plan of redemption is about how He and His wonderful power would save man from sin listen to Hebrews chapter 2 verse number 14 it says this since then the children share in flesh and blood He Himself likewise also partook of the same that through death He might render powerless Him who had the power of death that is the devil and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives God's plan was to free us from Satan's dominion in our lives to free us from the domain of satanic activity that we might become children of the living God and the crushing of the serpent happened at Calvary when Jesus Christ died on the cross because He rendered Satan powerless because Satan couldn't keep Him in the grave Satan couldn't kill the Savior that's why He's called the Savior He saves man today we have the wonderful opportunity to celebrate the Lord's table to celebrate the fact that our Lord was completely obedient to His Father in Heaven and through that obedience brought the greatest of all delight to His Father in Heaven and allows us to experience in that same delight to be able to sit down at the right hand of God the Father and to experience the pleasures forevermore because of one man's obedience that is Christ Himself we are able to be freed from Satan's domain Satan's influence and you see when we talk about this with our children we talk to them about the uniqueness of this first sin and how we would have done the same thing we could rag on Adam and Eve all we want but we would have chosen the wrong thing too we would have chosen to eat of the tree we would have done that why?

temporary pleasure it was desirable it was delightful so we thought and we go that direction just like Adam and Eve did and God knew that God wasn't taken by surprise that they chose the wrong thing God knew they'd choose the wrong thing and yet in spite of their choice God had a plan and that's what the Jesse tree is all about it's about the plan of redemption the plan that at that tree there would be a crushing of the serpent's head I love Romans 16 Romans 16 says Paul says that God is going to crush Satan under your feet and mine we are going to stand on his neck and we're going to crush him why?

because of our belief in Jesus Christ our Lord when we come to celebrate the Lord's table we are celebrating the fact that yes, Satan did bruise him on the heel there was that temporary blow to the heel and if you talk to anybody, any doctor to tell you the best place to be bitten by a snake is on the heel best place and so it was like a small thing to the Savior because through his death, the bruising of the heel he would crush the serpent's domain and power so Christ came to do and so we gather with our children and gather with our families celebrate the coming of the promised Messiah through the line of Jesse the line of David the kingly line the king who would come and crush the Satan's power and so we celebrate that at this Christmas season because we know why the Messiah came he came to destroy the works of the devil and so we gather our children around our Jesse trees, maybe the small ones maybe the big ones and we pull out that little apple or the picture of the apple with the serpent on it we are saying you know what, this is us we are sinners but our great Savior had a wonderful plan and that plan was to save us from our sin and we choose to go the wrong way if we humble our hearts before him, repent of our sin we will follow the delight of the Lord and experience the pleasures forever more because our God is always coming after us our God is always seeking us he keeps coming after us I desire you yes you disobeyed but I desire a relationship with you and therefore I have provided everything you need to experience great delight great great pleasure with me because I am your God, I wonder if you've experienced a relationship with the living God, I wonder if you know him as your Lord and Savior this morning this is what Christmas is all about it's about God's plan of redemption how his birth how his birth signified the greatness of his coming he was born to die that he would fulfill, Genesis chapter 3 verse number 15 in your life and mine let's pray Father we thank you for today the opportunity we have to celebrate you we pray Lord that we would take this opportunity to focus in just on you your work of redemption in our lives that we might celebrate our King in Jesus name we pray Amen