Man Stumbles

  

Man Stumbles

Intro.: Sin -

1. It has been variously defined as:

1. A known violation of a known will of God
2. Any violation of God's holiness
3. Any violation of a religious or moral law

2. I am not going to try and define sin today – infact, my church did not define it until just this summer. We have existed for over 100 years, understanding what sin is, but not formally defining it.
3. What I want to look at today is the first time man sinned – and the events surrounding that sin.

Read: Genesis 3

Pray

Trans: The passage can easily be broken into two separate and distinct sermons

2. I would seem natural to present a sermon based on the people involved in the story: Satan, Eve, Adam, and God
3. The sermon would focus on the characteristics of each individual.
4. For example, you might read through this story and note that Satan is
   1. crafty (or other translations use subtle or cunning)
   2. a liar
   3. a tempter
5. There would be a set of characteristics that could be identified for each of the four persons found in the story
6. That would make an interesting message – it might even be fun to write. I considered writing this one and the one I did prepared, but Genesis 3 is such a dark story, that I did not want to spend two week on it.
7. The other sermon, the one I sense God wanted me to prepare, would focus on the events, rather than the people, that are part of Genesis 3

T.S. During the next few minutes, I want to look at the three key events that define Genesis 3.

1. The day starts with a conversation between Satan and Eve.
   1. We live in a culture that has diminished it belief in Satan

(Ill.) Do you remember a TV show back in the sixties in which always brought laughs when one of the characters constantly said, “The devil made me do it.” We laughed because we really questioned whether there was a devil. We draw pictures of a red character carrying a pitch fork sitting on someone's shoulder. We have minimized the presense of the Devil in our world – yet …

2. But scripture, both the Old and New Testaments, clearly believe in the existence of a Devil – an enemy of God that will do all he can to turn mankind away from God.
3. For Eve it started with a lie – taking God's word and changing it. God had said, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
   But Satan asks a question that reframes what God said, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”
   
   
4. And if you follow the conversation, you will see that Eve continues to misquote God. Nowhere in this conversation does Satan or Eve mention the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. They don't focus on what God focused on – but kept talking about other things.

(Appl.) As we begin to add words and rules to what God has commanded, we fall into a trap. Today we call that trap “legalism” - we begin to put expectations on ourselves and on others that God never intended. And when we do, we stop listening to God – and we may find ourselves stumbling. Adam and Eve found that out – the hard way. We too find it out the hard way.

2. The story continues with Eve perpetuating the lie
   1. Eve bought Satan's story. She saw the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil
      1. It would be good for food
      2. It was a delight to the eyes
      3. It would make one wise
   2. Just what she wanted – so she ate some and gave some to Adam.

(Appl.) Our sin is not just about ourselves. When we make decisions that will not please God, we will influence those around us. For Eve, it was Adam. For us, it will be family, it will be friends, it will be acquaintances, it will be neighbors, it may be anybody who sees us. It becomes easy to say, “If it is okay for you – it must be okay for me.”

(Ill.) Let me illustrate this with our kids. As our kids grew, we gave them increasing freedom and responsibilities. But the younger two did not always recognize that age difference – too often we heard those words, “If it is okay for JJ, then why can't I do it.” And it is no different for parents or grandparents – we are models for our kids and grandkids. Good and bad. It is not too late to decide to live God's way rather than your way. It is not too late to change habits.

3. When Adam and Eve ate that fruit – something changed. They knew they were naked – they knew that they could hide nothing from God, nothing. So they covered themselves with fig leaves.

(Ill.) The fig leaf is the largest leaf found in the middle east. It was large enough that it could provide some limited covering for the couple as the stood around – shamed for disobeying the Lord. Interestingly, the same Hebrew word is used for “fig” and for “fertility” - they begin to recognize the the some of the consequences that will come from eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

4. Sin changes us – we do not come out the same way we went it. It changed Adam and Eve – it will change us.

3. Sin has consequences
1. Each of those who had betrayed God experienced consequences.
2. Satan had disguised himself as a serpent – a creature created by God, but used by Satan. And the relationship between man and the snake would appear as enemies.   

(Ill.) My mother-in-law drove that home to me. She was deathly afraid of snakes. In the wild yes – but also in the zoo. I remember one time we were visiting a local zoo and we passed a cage. The zoo keeper was inside holding the snake. Mom didn't see it at first and thought the cage was empty. But then she caught of the zoo keeper and the snake. She screamed. She had to leave – it was too much for her. Occasionally, I have met someone who likes snakes – but they are few and far between.

3. In the words that God spoke, we also see the first prophesy of a coming Messiah.
   1. Listen again to what God said, “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.”
   2. The bruised head is Satan's eventual lose and death; the bruised heel is Christ's death on the cross. God
   3. God was already making plans for Christ's victory – it would be many years before he came as the Messiah, and we wait still for God to finish all that he has planned.
   4. But, God had a plan – a plan he began to lay out to Adam and Eve.
4. There were consequences for Adam and Eve as well. Work, child birth, child rearing, it was a price paid for disobedience.
5. And we continue to suffer the consequences of their sin as well – in that we continue the same patterns we saw in that first couple and we suffer, with them, the consequences or their sin and for ours.

Conclusion: Sin had its start that day in the Garden of Eden

• But we also have glimpse of what God planned for our salvation
• It was a sad day – but there was also hope
• Hope that we still hold today

Pray