Genesis 3:5-13 The Fall of Man CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
After Eve committed the five sins in Gen. 3:1-4, thereby forsaking the authority of God’s words, the Devil went in for the kill. He used two simple things to convince Eve to eat the fruit. He made her believe that she could experience a higher level of spirituality and he only presented the positive qualities of the tree.
As a result, Eve was deceived, and she and Adam both disobeyed God. As soon as they had eaten, they were ashamed of their nakedness and afraid of God’s words. They tried self-righteousness, evasion, and blame to try to get out of the sin they had committed. None of these worked then, and they still don’t work today.
THE TEMPTATION
A Higher Level of Spirituality – The devil convinced Eve that she and Adam could be “as gods.” The idea was that she could go beyond God’s word and become more spiritual on her own. Today, the Devil uses religious books, keeping the law, speaking in tongues, the sacraments, meditation, visions, praying to saints, or contact with spirits to deceive men, and damn them if they’re lost.
Positive Qualities of the Tree – The Devil is the master of using “good words and fair speeches to deceive the hearts of the simple,” (Rom. 16:18). He tempted Eve with the “good stuff.” These “good things” are found in 1 Jn. 2:16, and were used in the temptation of Jesus Christ, as well.
Notice the identical pattern in the following three passages:
1 Jn. 2:16 – Lust of the Flesh – Lust of the Eyes – Pride of life
Gen. 3:6 – Good for food – Pleasant to eyes – Tree to make one wise
Matt. 4:3-9 – Change stones to bread – Sheweth him all the kingdoms – Cast thyself down, angels bear thee up
THE FALL
Deception – When Eve could see nothing wrong with the tree and no longer had God’s word as her authority to keep her from eating it, she was totally deceived (1 Tim. 2:14).
Disobedience – Once Eve was deceived, she disobeyed God. When she offered the fruit to Adam, he wasn’t deceived. He ate the fruit to prove to Eve that he loved her enough to die for her (Eph. 5:25).
THE REACTION
Shame — Adam and Eve first experienced shame at the sight of their nakedness. All men and women are “naturally” ashamed to be seen naked (Ex. 32:25). Most of the time they have to drink or get high before they will strip (Hab. 2:15).
Fear – Then they hid themselves out of fear as soon as they heard God’s voice calling them. Men will always hide out to avoid being caught when they first sin.
THE RESPONSE
Once they saw the trouble they were in, Adam and Eve tried three things to get out of the trouble. These are the same three things that men still try today.
Self-righteousness – They covered themselves in fig leaves to hide their nakedness. If God doesn’t cover you in his righteousness, you aren’t covered (2 Cor. 5:21; Is. 64:6). No amount of religion or good works can do the job.
Evasion – They hid to avoid the presence of the Lord. The primary reason that men hate the Bible is that they are afraid of God’s voice (Num. 32:23; Heb. 4:12,13). They’ll attend any church as long as the preacher doesn’t preach against their sins or their nakedness before God.
Blame – Adam blamed God and Eve for his sin, and Eve blamed the Devil for her sin. Today, men blame their sinful behavior on the Devil, the people that raised them or on their genetics. They won’t take the blame themselves unless they repent.
Nothing’s changed in 6,000 years of human history.