#3 the fall

The Road to Emmaus#3 The FallGenesis 3

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in 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.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 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. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

8 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. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

14 The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field;on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

16 To the woman he said,

“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”

17 And to Adam he said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread,till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken;


for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

20 The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

***

The Fall is not the opposite of the Gospel. The bad news is not the opposite of the good news. Rather, the Fall displays the Gospel because it is part of the Gospel and it points to the Gospel. “For news to be good, it has to invade bad spaces,” Matt Chandler said.

Where is Jesus?

1. His purpose

We see Jesus because He is the author of this story, the one story of Him rescuing His people, a story that glorifies Him.

8 “Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, 9 remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ 11 calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it. (Isaiah 46:8-11)

According to Revelation 13:8, God’s plan, decided from before the foundation of the world, is that Jesus, the Lamb is slain. The Lamb was slain to take away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Therefore, if God planned the story of Jesus dying for our sins, then sins and the original sin (the Fall) are part of the story. Genesis 3 points to Jesus because Jesus planned it.

God put the tree there because frankly, it was part of His sovereign plan. More specifically, for the purpose of showing that joy and satisfaction are found in Him alone. To communicate that He is God and that they are not. To require obedience of his children, as both a loving Father and ruling King. To show that death is the result of rebellion against the Giver of life.

Why did God allow them to sin? So that Jesus would die. God planned the Gospel. The Gospel is Christ crucified. Acts 2:23 says, “this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.” This is the way God


decided to tell the story, for his glory, for we understand how bright the light is because we’ve seen the darkness.

They are still not without excuse. When we sin, we aren’t blameless because ‘God’s in control.’ Acts 2:23 makes it clear that even though it was God’s plan that Jesus would be crucified, those who carried it out are still guilty; they sinned by killing the Son of God. Adam & Eve were still guilty; God didn't say, ‘yea, you sinned, but I’m going to let you off this one because I have a plan greater than you could ever imagine. In fact, just blame the sin on me.’ No, God is a just Judge, and He condemns them for their sin. God is righteous, He ordains sin for His glory. We are unrighteous, we sin to belittle His glory, dishonouring and disobeying Him.

2. His pattern

We see Jesus because Adam can be said to be a type of Jesus. He is a pattern, example, foreshadowing of Christ.

Tim Keller taught, “Jesus is the true and better Adam, who passed the test in the garden, his garden, a much tougher garden, and whose obedience is imputed to us.”

In the Bible, Jesus is compared and contrasted to Adam in order to explain better who Jesus is and what He has done for us in His life and death.

Romans 5:12-21 reveals how Adam is a type of Jesus: - Adam’s disobedience points to Jesus’ obedience. - All men were affected by Adam’s sin. The unlimited scope of the first/original sin points to the

unlimited scope of the Gospel. It is a free gift, for all men. - The one man’s one action leads to many people’s altered standing before God. One man’s sin lead

to all men sinning, resulting in all men being condemned before God. One man’s righteousness lead to many receiving the gift of righteousness resulting in being blameless before God.

- The death through one man’s sin points to the life through one man’s grace. 1 Corinthians 15:22 says, “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.”

3. His promise

We see Jesus because God tells Adam and Eve about Him. Amazingly, as soon as they admit their sin, and even before God explains the consequences of their sin, He speaks grace into the darkness and promises Jesus.

Verse 15 is called the ‘protoevangelium’ by theologians, meaning ‘first gospel:’

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

What is the Gospel? The offspring of the woman (Jesus) defeats the enemy (Satan), crushing his head, by being bruised himself (He is crucified). By dying, Jesus defeats death.


4. Our poverty

We see Jesus because our depravity forces us to look desperately for a rescuer, and He is the only remedy to our sin. Caught in a burning building, you naturally look for an escape route. The Fall points to Jesus because we see our need for a Saviour.

Furthermore, Genesis 3 reminds us of the seriousness and consequences of sin - Adam’s sin and our sin - and so it impacts our view of God. It displays God’s glory as great because the punishment for dishonouring Him is severe. It displays God’s grace as great because if the offence is great, the penalty is great, and therefore the pardon is great.

5. His provision

We see Jesus because “the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.” (verse 21). This doesn't only display His compassion in giving them an outfit. Rather, it points to Jesus, because God killed an animal to cover their sin and shame and clothe them, and in the same way, God punished and killed Jesus, in order to remove our sin and shame and clothe us with his righteousness.

Adam and Eve originally tried to cover their shame by sewing fig leaves together, but it wasn’t an adequate covering. Flimsy leaf dresses don't compare with a fur coat. They couldn't cover themselves, only God could. In the same way, we try to hide our sin from God and from others, but religion isn't enough. Empty religion doesn't compare with a joyful relationship with Jesus. You can’t save yourself with your own efforts, only God can.

Then, Adam and Eve walked around, clothed by God and unashamed, demonstrating that God had provided a sacrifice in their place. Similarly, we should in our lives, in our actions and our words, show that God has provided a sacrifice in our place, he has clothed us with his righteousness and removed our sin. In Colossians 3, Christians are encouraged to “put off the old self” and to “put on the new self,” to get rid of their sin and display Jesus. 6. His product

We see Jesus because through Him, as a response to His grace, or as a ‘product of the Gospel,’ with the power of His Spirit in us, we can fight sin, learning from Adam and Eve’s mistakes, and He will make us more like Himself.

Adam and Eve sinned because they desired something more than Jesus; they believed the lie that joy is found outside of God and that something else could satisfy them. “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.” She saw the fruit as better, more delightful, and wiser than God. They doubted God’s goodness; they didn't trust God and thought ‘God doesn't want me to truly live.’ Their sin was a rebellion against God’s authority, taking it for themselves. They exchanged God for an idol, a false god; pridefully deciding that they would be their own god, and that they knew what was best for them.

You and I sin for the same reasons. Ed Stetzer & Trevin Wax wrote, “What happened in the garden was about more than just a piece of fruit. The same sin that occurred in that place thousands of years ago is still happening every single day in our hearts.”

We kill sin by choosing the greater delight. If Adam and Eve had looked past the forbidden tree, they would have seen the Tree of Life. Jesus is our Tree of Life, our true source of joy, so don’t settle for the cheap counterfeits, but remind yourself that He is greater and more satisfying than sin.


Sin is not killed by legalistic effort in trying to earn God’s approval and pay off your debt. Sin is killed by gazing at the Gospel, realising that by grace, you already have God’s approval and the debt is already paid, and so responding in freedom and gladness. The motivation for killing sin is seeing that in Christ, it is already defeated and dead. Strength and perseverance in fighting sin is sourced in God, not in us; rely on His strength and His unchanging faithfulness. 7. His paradise

We see Jesus because He is the way back into the better Eden. For the Christian, presently, they have been ‘reconciled to God’ - brought back into a relationship with Him. And in the future, Jesus will return and bring them to heaven. We are with Jesus now - ‘I am with you always’ (Matthew 28:20) and we will be with Jesus soon - ‘He will dwell with them.’ (Revelation 21:3). Eternal life & heaven are present and future realities for us. Psalm 16:11 is true now, and will be truer then.

“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy;

at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

We get Jesus now; He is our everlasting life, our joy, our pleasure now. That is why Paul encourages Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:11) to “take hold of the eternal life to which you were called.” And in a fuller way, we will get Jesus in the future, and we will have life and joy and pleasure.

John’s prophecy of heaven in Revelation 22:1-5 is as follows: Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

The Fall points to Jesus because the broken, forbidden and empty garden gives way to His Kingdom. Heaven is like the Garden of Eden, only better.


Questions

1. Do you tend to see the Bible as a collection of disconnected stories or as one story planned by and centring on Jesus?

2. Why did God put the tree in the garden?

3. Did He allow them to sin? Why/why not?

4. Whose fault is it then?

5. How is Adam a type of Jesus?

6. What do we learn about Jesus and the Gospel from the prophecy about him in verse 15?

7. How did God’s promise bring hope to Adam & Eve? How does it still bring hope to us?

8. How does our sin force us to look to Jesus?

9. How does the extent, seriousness and consequences of your sin impact your view of God?

10. In what ways do you try to hide your sin from God? From others?

11. Like Adam & Eve wore the animal skins, how can you ‘put on’ Christ?

12. Why is it important for Christians to fight sin, even though they are already forgiven?

13. Why did they sin? Why do I sin?

14. How do I kill sin in my life?

15. In what ways do I seek joy outside of God? What sins do I struggle with?

16. Have you thought about how, in a way, heaven is available to us now?

17. How can we ‘take hold of the eternal life to which we are called?’ How can we live the eternal life now?

#3 the fall

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