Fall

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After God’s good Creation, Mankind rebelled against their Creator.  With the first sin, history was forever altered and the plan for redemption began.  

The Role of Satan

  • Scripture gives insight into Satan’s fall in Isaiah 14:12-14 & Ezekiel 28:12-18.
  • Satan is a fallen angel who desired to take God’s place.
  • Satan comes in the form of a serpent which Man had dominion over.
  • Throughout history, Satan’s recurring temptation is: “Are you sure God said…”

The Strategy of Satan

  • Satan goes directly to Eve instead of Adam.  She hadn’t heard the rule from God herself.
  • Adam’s responsibility was to inform his wife about what God had told him.
  • He entices them to know what God knows.  He knows they want he wanted – to replace God.

The Effects of Sin

  • Adam and Eve immediately felt shameful.
  • For the first time, they hid from the presence of God.
  • They blamed others for their sin.
  • God gave out punishments.
  • He promises one that will come to reverse the effects of sin.                           

The Punishments of Sin

  • Serpent
    • God curses (arur) the crafty (arum).
    • Gen. 3:15 is called the “Protoevangelium” (the first announcement for the gospel).
    • The serpent is understood to be Satan (Rev. 12:9; 20:2).
    • Satan’s enmity will come from the “seed of the woman.”  Women aren’t viewed as having “seed” (Matt. 1:16).
    • A battle will ensue with Eve’s seed triumphing over the serpent’s seed (Heb. 2:14; 1 John 3:8; Matt. 12:29; Mark 1:24; Luke 10:18; John 12:31; 16:11; 1 Cor. 15:24; Col. 2:15).
  • Eve
    • Childbearing will now become painful (Gen. 3:16) for the “mother of all the living” (Gen. 3:20).
    • Marriage roles and their accompanying distinctiveness will now become an issue of conflict.
    • Eve will continue a sinful desire to oppose her husband and assert dominance over him.
    • Adam will struggle to care for and shepherd his wife, but he will instead sinfully “rule” over her.
    • Eph. 5:21-33 displays the practical way to reverse this curse.
  • Adam
    • Adam’s curse is directly tied to the fact that he listened to his wife’s words more than he listened to God’s Word (Gen. 3:17).
    • God reveals that it was Adam’s responsibility to warn his wife concerning the sin God commanded him.
    • The ground from which Adam came (Gen. 2:5-7) will cause him pain (Gen. 3:17) and eventually death (Gen. 3:19).
    • The harmonious relationship that originally existed between humans and nature is now corrupted.
    • Work is not the punishment.  Frustration with work is the punishment.

The Covering for Sin

  • Eve receives her name at this time.  It means “life-giver” and conveys a sense of hope.
  • In the midst of their shame, God clothes Adam and Eve with garments of skin (Gen. 3:20).
  • This shows:
    • The effects of sin are real.
    • Despite their sin, God stills cares for them.
    • To cover up their shame, something had to die.
    • Since they ate from the tree of knowledge, they cannot eat from the tree of life.  They are banished from the garden.
    • A cherubim takes their place as keepers of the garden (Rev. 22:15).