What the Bible Teaches

about
Marriage:
The Fall
*
PCJB
PP Presentation
devised and prepared
at
Gujranwala Theological Seminary
may be copied for non-commercial use only
September 2008
 Marriage:
Result of The Fall
A Reversal

Rather than God being in charge,

with the man, helped by the woman,
ruling creation for him,
a complete reversal takes place
of the roles
assigned by God
to the man and the woman.
 The Fall
Satan,
(in the form of a serpent)
approaches the woman,
who draws the man with her
into rebellion against the Creator.

Who was to blame?

 The Purpose of Marriage:
Sex?

The clearest example of sin:

The replacement of the Creator
with
an element of this creation.
 The Purpose of Marriage:
Sex?
Sex was created for use in the service of
God,
yet this servant seeks to be master.

Sexual immorality:
often associated in Scripture
with
idolatry.
 The Purpose of Marriage:
Sex?
Sex becomes an idol
when it ceases to be
a gift from God to be received
and becomes
the goal to be grasped.
The exultation of sex as a goal
or as the purpose of marriage
removes the need for the inclusion of God.
 Sexual Immorality:
Its False Promise
Sexual immorality would not exist
if it did not offer so much:
e.g.
fulfilment,
release,
satisfaction,
life,
escape from frustration, etc
 Sexual Immorality:
Its False Promise

However,
it does not live up to the hype.

Sex for the purpose of sex

can only lead to
emptiness.
Combating Sexual Immorality:
Showing Its Emptiness

It is not enough
to simply forbid extra-marital sex;
it is necessary to show it as
the empty vessel it is
outside of the God appointed role.
Combating Sexual Immorality:
Showing Its Emptiness

Idols in the Old Testament

were met with mockery and derision,
how foolish it is
to worship an idol such as sex.
 Genesis 3:1
Now
the serpent was more crafty
than any of the wild animals
the Lord God had made,

He said to the woman,

“Did God really say,
‘ You must not eat from any tree
in the garden’?”
 Genesis 3:2-3
The woman said to the serpent,
“We may eat fruit from the trees
in the garden,

but
God did say,
‘You must not eat fruit from the tree
that is in the middle of the garden,
and
you must not touch it,
 Genesis 3:4-5
“You will not surely die,”
the serpent said to the woman.
“For God knows that
when you eat of it
your eyes will be opened,
and
you will be like God,
knowing good and evil.”
 Genesis 3:6a
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree
was good for food
and
pleasing to the eye,
and also
desirable for
gaining knowledge,

she took some

and
 Genesis 3:6b
She also gave some
to her husband,
who was with her,
and
he ate it.
 To Discuss
Who was to blame?
The Man:
- by his absence (not leading?)
(or his acquiescence)

OR:

The Woman:
- by failing to consult her husband?
 Genesis 3:7
Then the eyes of both of them
were opened,
and they realised that
they were naked;
so
they sewed fig leaves together
and
made coverings for themselves.
 Genesis 3:8
Then
the man and his wife
heard the voice of the Lord God
as He was walking in the garden
in the cool
of the day,
and
they hid from the Lord God
among the trees of the garden.
 Genesis 3:9
But the Lord called to the man,
“Where are you?”
He answered,
“I heard you in the garden,
and
I was afraid because I was naked,
so
I hid.”
 Genesis 3:10-12
And He said,
“Who told you that you were naked?
Have you eaten from the tree
that I commanded you
not to eat from?”
The man said,
“The woman you put here with me –
she gave me some fruit
from the tree,
and
I ate it.”
 Genesis 3:13
Then the Lord said to the woman,
“What is this you have done?”
The woman said,
“The serpent deceived me,
and
I ate.”
 Genesis 3:14-15
So the Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
Cursed are you above all the livestock
and all the wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust all the days of your life.
And I will put enmity between you and the woman
and between your offspring and hers;

he will crush your head,

and you will strike his heel.”
 Genesis 16
To the woman he said,
“I will greatly increase your pains
in childbearing;
with pain
you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and
he will rule over you.”
 Genesis 3:17
To Adam he said,
“Because you listened to your wife
and ate from the tree
about which I commanded
you,
‘You must not eat of it,’
Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil
you will eat of it
all the days of your life.
 Genesis 3:18-19
It will produce thorns and thistles
for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground.
Since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and
to dust you will return.”
 Genesis 3:20

Adam named his wife Eve,

because
she would become the mother of
all the living.
 Naming & Lordship

 Adam did not name his wife

in the account of
her formation from Adam’s rib..
At that point in time they were equal.
Adam was not then lord of his wife.
 Naming & Lordship

It is now, after the Fall, that

Adam names his wife
and he starts to rule over her.

See Genesis 3:16 and 20.

 Genesis 3:21

The Lord made garments of skin

for Adam and Eve
and
clothed them…
 Genesis 3:22
And the Lord God said,
“The man has now become like one of us,
knowing good and evil.
He must not be allowed to
reach out his hand
and
take also from the tree of life
and
eat,
and
live for ever.”
 Genesis 3:23

So the Lord banished him

from the Garden of Eden

to work the ground

from which he had been taken.
 The Fall:
Consequences for the Woman
Childbearing: physical pain.
Relationship with her husband:
loving harmony replaced by
struggle to exert control over her husband,
who responds by asserting his authority
by dominating her
(Gen. 3:16; cf. 4:7)
 The Fall:
Consequences for the Man
Trouble fulfilling God’s command
to subdue the earth
(cf. Gen. 1:28).
He must extract the fruit of the land

from thorns and thistles

Eating his bread by the sweat of his brow

(Gen. 3:17-19).
 The Fall:
Consequences
for the Man & Woman
Both the man and the woman will die
(vv. 19, 22)

The couple is expelled from the Garden

(3:24)
 The Fall:
God’s Response
Provide appropriate clothing
for the human couple
(skins to replace their fig leaves)
(Gen. 3:21 & Gen. 3:7)
 The Fall:
God’s Response
Predict a time when the woman’s seed
—the promised Messiah—
will bruise the serpent’s head
(3:15)
The good news (in seed form) of
a coming descendent of the woman
who would overcome
the power of Satan over humanity.
 Results of the Fall
A complete reversal of
the God-ordained pattern of
relationships,
with disastrous results
overturned only through
the coming and the saving death of
the Messiah.
 Results of the Fall
The Marital Relationship
changed forever
Men seek to dominate women
 Women seek to fulfil their own agendas
 Harmony is broken
 A vision for the common task is lost
 Results of the Fall
The Sexual Dynamics
changed forever
 Self-satisfaction replaces service
Remember:
Part of the wonder of sex in marriage
as God created it
is that it turns a pleasure outwards
towards the service of God in the world
 Results of the Fall
God’s ideal for marriage
(Genesis 1–2)
still the standard
for
the responsibilities and roles
of
husbands and wives
toward each other
in the subsequent history of humanity.
 Results of the Fall

But now added to the task of caring for the world

is the task of bringing the world under the rule of
God’s Kingdom
through the proclamation of the good news of
Jesus Christ.
“The Kingdom Come!”
Next Session

Sexual
Temptation
 Sexual Temptation
Lessons from Joseph‘s good example:
God has made boundaries in human
affairs which we must never cross
Bring a third party (actually ot mentally)
into a situation of temptation
Have reasons for resisting temptation
before the temptation arises
Learn to be faithful in all situations
The End