subject: Christ Through The Bible: Genesis 3. The Fall Of Man And The Covenant Of Redemption, [print this page] Up until this chapter, man lived in a perfect world in peace and harmony with his environment, his fellow man, and His Creator. The last verse of Chapter 2, verse 25, is a statement that summarizes that bliss - "The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame." But that was about to change.
Genesis 3:1-13 The Temptation and Fall
Satan, in the form of a serpent, came to the woman and tempted her to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Since Adam probably told her what God had said instead of hearing it herself, she was the weakest link and most vulnerable to his cunning. Satan reinforced his lure by boldly and directly calling God a liar when he denied that she would die if she ate it. The first lie by the Liar himself (John 8:44) denied the judgment. Instead, the Liar said, Eve would be enlightened and become like God, knowing both good and evil. The temptation was that God was withholding something very good that she would enjoy. Satan create an appetite for something she did not have. John described it as, "the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does." (I John 2:16)
Since there did not appear to be any immediate effects of death after she had eaten from the tree, she persuaded Adam to eat too. Paul says, "For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner." (I Timothy 2:14). However, the tidal wave of consequences swept in over both of them. The realization that they were naked came first. So, in a sense, their eyes WERE opened. The devil was right after all - you will "know both good and EVIL." Shamefulness at their own nakedness shocked them. This was actually the immediate result of the flood of guilt that assaulted their consciences. They now saw each other and themselves entirely differently than they had before. The powerful guilt effect following innocence was probably so traumatic in their feelings, fears, and physical reactions that they must have felt completely vulnerable, exposed, and threatened in each other"s presence in ways we all know so well. They wanted to hide this shameful change from each other. Their entire relationship in this complicity had been affected, and they wanted to reach for anything that could cover them from each other"s view and from the scrutinizing gaze of the One who gave them the command not to eat. Shame in nakedness is one of the permanent, on-going effects left on the human race"s psyche as a constant reminder of that guilt and condemnation for sin that we are all born under. It is a persistent prompting, although few recognize it for what it is.
Thus began the pattern that every sinner since then has practiced innately when he has knowingly done wrong. First, they COVERED and HID themselves with fig leaves in an attempt to conceal guilt. They hid themselves from each other and from the God who had created them. They tried to make what they had done undiscoverable. We do the same thing today; we just don"t use fig leaves to do it. We deny or rationalize or intellectualize the seriousness of the things we have done. Sometimes the guilt is so serious that people attempt to quell it by taking medication. Others eventually sink into all kinds of personality disorders like schizophrenia, split personalities, etc. These are merely fig leaves to hide behind instead of admitting to and confessing sins.
The second thing they did - as soon as the Lord asked them if they had eaten of the tree - was to place BLAME elsewhere but on themselves. When God asked Adam and Eve, "Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?", they should have yes. But look at the first words each of them said instead. The man said, "The woman YOU"" He blamed both God and the woman. Eve said, " The serpent"" That is the pattern for all sin. Cover and hide and point the finger to someone else.
Genesis 3:14-19 The Announcement of the Covenant with Adam and the first installment in the Covenant of Redemption
But God simply dismissed these excuses and directly and immediately pronounced judgment on Satan, Eve, and Adam in verses 14-19. The judgment is extensive and goes beyond the death sentence threatened in 2:18. But it includes the very first announcement of Jesus Christ and hope for the man and woman who are now incased in sin, death, and condemnation. In these verses, God makes ANOTHER covenant with Adam. This is first of six covenants AFTER SIN that God made with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David that make up what is called the Covenant of Redemption. This covenant dominates the rest of Scripture to the end of the Bible. God does not require Adam or Eve to do anything. There was nothing they could have done anyway. In Genes 3:15, God bound Himself and made a promise to avenge Adam and his seed, save him from eternal death, and eventually restore him from his fallen condition.
God"s judgments and THE PROMISE come in three stages: the judgment pronounced on the Satan, the woman, and the man.
3:14-15 The judgment on Satan
The heart of the judgment on Satan is in verse 15. This is one of the most important verses in all of Scripture because it is a verse that gives the overall story of what is going to take place from now till the end of time. It is a key summary verse for giving structure to the Bible and helps you understand what is going on in the Scriptures. Verse 15 is best understood by the diagram below. God will put enmity between the Serpent and the woman because he not only deceived her, but he brought death to her, her husband, and all her children in every generation. Not only that, but the woman"s children will all be born into the devil"s family and under his bondage. There are many references in the New Testament where men are called the children of the devil (John 8:37-44, I John 3:10). This is because all the sons of Adam are born in sin (Psalm 51:5, Romans 5:12). Hence, we are by nature under the wrath of God (Ephesians 2:1-3), enemies of and hostile to God naturally (Romans 8:7,8), and in bondage to Satan (II Timothy 2:26, Hebrews 2:14-15, John 8:34, Romans 6:16). What a shock for Eve to realize that all of her offspring would be in servitude to that loathsome creature who tempted her and brought such misery upon her and even caused her children to be called by his name! God will put enmity between Satan"s offspring and between the woman"s offspring. The woman"s offspring may appear to be many people, but it is actually a reference to just ONE person, referred to as HE. This reference to her offspring, or Seed, is the key phrase in 3:15. The woman will have a male CHILD that will avenge and redeem her. Though she brought death to her race, God promised her a revenging Seed who will crush the head of the serpent. When that Child comes, the serpent will pay dearly with his life. The last part of 3:15 infers an intense conflict portends. The serpent"s head will be violently trampled on causing his death, but the serpent will strike the Avenger"s heel and cause great pain and injury to him in the process.
We know now that the woman"s Seed was Christ. At the cross, Jesus effectively crushed the serpent"s head, and at the cross the serpent, in a sense, struck Christ"s heel. The crucifixion may have appeared as fatal. But it merely amounted to a crushed heel, as seen in the resurrection. A mashed head is a fatal blow; a heel that has been struck is not. Satan died; Jesus lived. But there was no way the woman could have known what all this meant. All Adam and Eve knew (and all their children knew for a long time) was that a Son was coming who would get even with Satan because of the curse he brought on the man and woman.
It is not stated explicitly, but there is implication that this Conqueror will do more than just crush Satan"s head. Both Adam and Eve may have read in that statement that all that was lost may somehow, someday be redeemed as well. This would include the damaged creation and even her children who would hate the very Seed that she would bring into the world. There is promise in the Bible that the Lord will end the curse (Revelation 22:3) and renew His creation when He returns with a new heavens and a new earth (II Peter 3:10-13, Romans 8:19-21) and the Tree of Life in His Kingdom (Revelation 22:2), and we know now that the Conqueror"s redemption did include many of the woman"s children who would be released from the bondage of the devil and their animus toward their mother"s Avenger. The animosity one reads about in 3:15 between the serpent"s offspring and the woman"s offspring is extended further than just between Satan"s offspring and the Conqueror. It also includes Satan"s offspring and the newly redeemed by the Conqueror. The conflict between these two sides began to rage immediately and will continue to the end of time. A bitter war of enmity within the human race boils between the Redeemer"s offspring and Satan"s. The woman"s sin placed her children under the kingdom of darkness and eventuated in a world-wide conflict between her children that lined up either behind their natural father, the devil, or the Redeemer. The peace, freedom, and unity of the first family in the garden was forever broken and splintered. Eve"s descendants would despise her each other and her Redeeming Son as well.
The diagram above is the story of the entire Old Testament. The Old Testament IS a story. But it is not the story of Abraham or Saul or Israel or David or any number of other people. It is the story of Jesus Christ and how God fulfilled His PROMISE that He would crush Satan"s head by the Seed of the woman and redeem His people from their sins. Every event you read in the Old Testament and every story and person you read about is there because it or he is somehow related to this PROMISE of God. As you read the Bible, try to figure out why every event and person is there and what part it played in the PROMISE.
Genesis 3:16, God pronounced judgment on the woman. It was two-fold.
She would have pain in childbirth (and pain in knowing she was responsible for the death of all her generations and hatred between them)
She would have a desire she never had before - to rule over her husband. She had been happy to be submissive in her role as helper to her head when she was created. But since she had taken the lead and brought sin to her husband, in judgment God now twisted her submission towards wanting control. Submission would now become very difficult for her to do. She would no longer be happy as submissive. Sin had changed, her, but it had also changed her husband. In his sinless state, Adam had loved and protected her as her head. But now "he will rule over you." There is stiff and coarse judgment in those words. She will desire to rule, but his physical strength and sinful proclivities will be harsh and dominant. She once loved submission to the man; but now she will hate it and will resist it. But still the man will rule.
Genesis 3:17-19, God pronounces judgment on the man.
The ground which gave itself up so productively before will now become resistant and unproductive. It will be plagued with weeds, disease, and pests, which apparently did not exist before.
Work will become difficult, strenuous, dull, and irksome.
Although man was made from the ground and destined to live forever, he is now condemned to return to dust out of which he was made.
Genesis 3:21-24 Hope, Redemption, and Banishment till the Seed of the woman comes
These previous sentences must have been difficult words for the head of the race to bear. But in 3:20, Adam heard those words about his wife"s conquering Seed and the hope that his Creator gave him. He thought of his poor wife who had been deceived and how the Lord had told her that in the end she would have the last laugh over the serpent. With this hope in mind, he performed one more act as head of the garden and gave his wife her name, "Eve". Eve means "mother of all the living". One would think her proper name would have been "mother of all who are going to die". But Adam heard THE PROMISE. God was going to give Eve a Seed who would redeem them, cause them to live again, and restore them to the paradise He had made for them to live in with Him as the creature who had His image and fellowshipped with Him. Out of the darkness of condemnation, Adam gave her a name of light, life, and redemption.
Even after condemnation, the Creator extended grace and mercy to Adam and Eve, suggesting again that He intended to carry out His covenant with Adam. He made garments to cover their nakedness, shame, and guilt. Those garments were from skin, suggesting that some animal had to give up its life for them to be covered. Perhaps this foreshadowed what was to come, that the guilt and shame of God"s people would indeed be covered from His sight by giving up the life and blood of His Son on the cross. But none of these events was known at this time. That would slowly be revealed.
Then God banished Adam and Eve from the garden forever lest they eat of the Tree of Life that they forfeited by disobedience. They would have to wait for the Conqueror to redeem them and end the curse before they ever returned again to paradise and the Tree of Life.
by: Dale Haven Cox
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