The Fall of Man Genesis 3:1-8

This Morning I want us to revisit a Bible text that many of us

probably have not heard in a while as it has lost favor with the hip
culture of today. So of us may not have heard it since we were a child
in Sunday school. I want us to go back, get back to our roots and take
a ride back to where it all started. Back to the Garden of Eden.

Gen 3:1-8 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which
the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said,
Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? (2) And the woman said unto the
serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: (3) But of the fruit
of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not
eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. (4) And the serpent said unto
the woman, Ye shall not surely die: (5) For God doth know that in the day ye
eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing
good and evil. (6) And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food,
and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one
wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her
husband with her; and he did eat. (7) And the eyes of them both were
opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves
together, and made themselves aprons. (8) And they heard the voice of the
LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his
wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of
the garden.

Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the
field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has
God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?"

• I want to read two verses to help understand this “serpent”.

o Rev 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.
 o 2Co 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent
beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should
be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
• Satan’s device for our destruction is deception
• The subtle serpent, Satan - HA~SATAN from the Hebrew,
subtlety deceives Eve and he subtlety deceives us too. Slowly and
slyly Satan the serpent slithers unnoticed in our lives only to
strike unobserved.
• The Devil deceives one into thinking, “Who is God to limit me?
He is holding me back. Who is He to do this to me? God doesn’t
care because He confines me. He is holding me back. God is
cramping my style, hindering my life. He is limiting my fun, my
success, my happiness.”
• All those things show a selfish, egocentric, narcissistic attitude, a
flesh driven viewpoint.

(2) And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of
the trees of the garden:,” (3) but God said, 'You shall not eat of the
fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you
touch it, lest you die.'"

• We see Eve now, and she kicks in saying – “God has blessed us
with a complete world of things to eat.

• Everything God has to offer is on the menu, but one. Eve was
very aware from beginning that everything was at their disposal
but one tree. Everything but one.
• We suffer from the same problem as Eve, because we to realize
the world is a buffet but we still seek what is not good for us. We
are gluttonous. We desire what will destroy us.

• Eve is telling Satan that she and Adam are blessed, but God has
given them limits. He has set some boundaries.

• It is not that God is keeping back or holding back from us, No, He
set boundaries for our own benefit. He has set boundaries because
He cares for us, He has set boundaries for us because it is best for
us.
 o Gen 2:16-17 And the LORD God commanded the man,
saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
(17) But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou
shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou
shalt surely die.
• Prior to this sin was not known, there was no knowledge of such.
Sin had no been a part of this world and had no effect lives. This
is the moment that changed everything!
• Adam and Eve were not held captive, they did not have the desire
to conquer and own everything. They did not have a manifest
destiny have to have all the marbles spirit about them.
• In fact we see quite the opposite; Eve is wonderfully okay with
God’s bountiful provision and His pronouncement to not eat the
prohibited fruit.
• Before sin entered into the world, Eve like Adam, was faithful to
God.

(3) But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden,
God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye
die

• Satan attempts to discredit God – make Him out to be a liar.

He aims to steal God’s Glory by discrediting Him.

• He aims to cause doubt about God’s authority in our lives

• Lucifer suggests that maybe; just maybe, God’s Word and
His Decrees do not apply to us.
• He proposes and infers and discusses until you think “Surely,
God would not punish me.”
• In this verse it is suggested by the lying Serpent that there are
no consequences to be found, that is will be okay.
• Life is not Poker and God is not bluffing. Do the sin, you
Burn in the end.
o Ecc 7:15 All things have I seen in the days of my
vanity: there is a just man that perisheth in his
righteousness, and there is a wicked man that
prolongeth his life in his wickedness.
 o Rom 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:

(5) For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes
shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

• The lies don’t stop – the Devil’s lips keep spewing falsehoods. It
seems to be a never ending steams of falsehood that pour forth
from the lips of The Deceiver

• Satan now says God knows and fears that you will find out about
the fruit, That He is afraid that you will become like Him and
threaten His Godhood. He basically said is afraid of you. This is
not so.
• Satan baits us with the self-worshiping idea that we can be our
own god and be in control. That we can be in charge, and that we
can run something and do a good a job as God.
• Lucifer tries to play out the idea the Jehovah God is trying to
keep you down and keep you in the dark.

Gen 3:6 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.

• Eve found that the fruit of the one tree that Humanity was not to
eat of was good & tasty. Sin is that way. It always seems that way
until we have to taste the punishment, is always delicious until it
comes time to taste the consequences. Then it is bitter and harsh
and we call out to God for help and cry that this is not fair. The
fruit of iniquity seems scrumptious but the penalty of sin leaves
bad taste in our mouth.
• The fruit was never said to be bland or poisonous – Just not for us
– off limits. We began in this world with only one rule, don’t eat
the fruit. And we failed miserably.
• Eve took the bait and swallowed it hook, line and sinker, all the
way up to the reel. Not only that but she passed the fruit over her
spouse Adam. We all seem to like to share our sins with others
 because it is part of Satan’s deception; if others are doing it or
part of it then I must be okay, right?

(7) And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they
were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves
aprons. (8) And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in
the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid
themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of
the garden.

• Their eyes were open, the scales of innocence and naivety had
been lifted
• Remember back in the garden when they did not have this new
found knowledge.
o Gen 2:25 And the man and his wife were both naked
and were not ashamed.

• Not ashamed - because they did not know good and evil, sin was
not known. They were not embarrassed by their nudity.
o Isa 47:3 Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy
shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will
not meet thee as a man.
• Innocence was lost and humanity had fallen. Every generation
born since has had knowledge of God and evil and had been born
depraved.
• Rom 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:
• And now the fallen sinful nature pulses through our veins,
depravity is in our blood, and it is wrapped in our DNA
• And we have been running and hiding from God ever since.
• What pulse through our veins does not have to rule our lives, if
we will trust Christ as our Saviour, with His rich, red blood He
will wipe us clean, remove the sin, take a way the cancer of sin.