Genesis 3: THE FALL OF MAN

Chapter 3 in Genesis answers 3 questions: Where does evil come from? What is the
origin of evil in the world? and What role does God actually play in all this?

Atheism is mentioned first. In particular, Atheism is founded on asking this question

alone, the atheist probably wouldn’t admit it. If God is really Love and he is also
powerful. Why, if he created everything and he is a God of love and he is perfect. Firstly,
where does evil come from, and secondly, why doesn’t he do something about this, ...

Chapter 12 verse 9 in Revelation: “The great dragon was hurled down – that
ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He
was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him”

=> Through this passage and many others in the Bible, we learn that the old serpent or
serpent is none other than Satan. The meaning of the serpent is “Spoke”. It shouldn’t
speak at all, and we don’t know what life was like in the Garden of Eden. One thing we
know is that the fall of man had a radical and dramatic impact on all of creation.

-   The following situation we have, that the serpent was smarter than any other wild animal
that God created, said to the woman: “Yes, did God really say, you shall not eat off every
tree in the garden?” – this question casts doubt on God or suggests that God is
withholding something. The serpent says that’s absolutely not true – The lie comes, Satan
suggested that God’s only concern is that people should not eat the fruit of that one
particular tree because God feels threatened by the human in some way, if they ate that
fruit, they will be like him, …

=> So we have the 3 areas, where all sins come from: The lust of the eyes, the lust of the
flesh, and the pride of life coming in a different order. But they are the areas that Satan
was to tempt us, humans. These are areas where virtually every sin originates. These are
the areas in which Jesus was tempted when he was in the wilderness. And these 3 areas
Satan will attack you too.

-   “Then both their eyes were opened, and they perceived that they were naked, and they
used leaves together and made aprons”. The grain of the lie was well hidden, Satan
comes up with such a claim, with just enough truth woven into it to an obvious lie. The
lust of the flesh as we read in some Bible translations. And the flesh come first now, and
the spirit eventually comes way behind or doesn’t matter at all, when the communication
with God was broken, the last of the flesh, the desire, and that become the most important
thing in our lives

=> The purpose when we read our Bible: it’s to get our minds out of the flesh, because
that’s what our flesh tends to do within us and wants to go back there, and you have to
bring your carnal thinking up from those depths and into spiritual thinking. Because this
is your birthright now, and you are empowered by the Holy Spirit. We can commute with
God everyday.

-   Next, a few passages of text to encourage us to stay in Colossian 3, 1-2. We are born
again through the Holy Spirit. God has reconnected us with him spiritually, our spirit is
 alive again, reborn again. Once we are born, now we must be born again, by the spirit. So
let’s keep that connection with him!

-   From Romans 13,4: Don’t even think how you can satisfy your flesh, don’t think how
your flesh feels good and how you could please the flesh. God has given us a lot of things
to enjoy. But if I focus on that then it becomes unhealthy, anything can become
unhealthy, anything that God has given us that is good for the flesh. If we obsess over it,
it can become an unhealthy way of life.

-   We live under the death sentence everyday, not just because Adam sinned, I am under the
curse of sin, for my propensity to sin is the same as Adam’s, and I’ve practically proven
it everyday that I’m fully aware of my sin. Death has become the only path to salvation
for us. Because if we didn’t die, we would be stuck in our sinful nature forever, death
ultimately frees us from our limitations in our sinful nature.

The Father continues to explain 2 questions: Why did God allow Satan to be in the
garden at all? Why did he put the snake in there anyway?

The man was not created as a Robot, he was not created as automation, he was created
much more as a free. Creature of integrity. And that, in turn, means man could choose to
reject or obey God. But he could choose. Satan’s presence was a means of testing that
freedom. It had to be tested.  God gave them freedom, but it had to be tested. And since
this freedom has not yet been tried, it still had to be confirmed in one of the two
directions. God was pleased to give us the freedom to choose, that choice had to be
tested.

Teresa Nguyễn Hoàng Thúy Vy