The Fall Part 1 Genesis 3 “The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.” v.21

Theme Man’s problem and God’s compassion and provisions for it have been revealed from the Beginning – Trust In Them!

Part 1: Questions Before We Can Understand This Chapter

Snake?

1.Can A Snake Talk? There are a number of unusual things in the Bible. We have not yet been given an explanation as to how they work. They follow unknown laws and principles. The parting of the Red Sea at Moses request The torrent of frogs during the 10 Plagues The brain reordering that suddenly changed the language of mankind at Babel The sudden uniting of spirit and body at Jesus call The feeding of the 5000 The healing of what appears to be thousands of people during Jesus’ ministry Then there is Balaam’s talking donkey (Nu 22)

2a. Why Is The Sin In This Event So Important For Mankind? Everyone was in Adam doing what he did. WE were in him. “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” 1Cor 15:22 Romans 5:12 When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.

2b. Why Is The Sin In This Event So Important For Mankind? Romans 5:13,14 Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. And though there was no law to break, since it had not yet been given, they all died anyway--even though they did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did… 15 And what a difference between our sin and God’s generous gift of forgiveness. For this one man, Adam, brought death to many through his sin. It was so significant that Jesus had to die because of the consequences.

3. The Consequences Changed Everything Romans 8:19 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We will not see what things were like on Earth until Jesus returns

Part 2: The Consequences Mean Corruption Everywhere

A. The Serpent’s Consequences 14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Serpent Symbol of Satan’s Agency Crawl and eat dust You will be enemies Her (eventual) offspring will crush you while being bruised

Window #1 into the character of God… 15 “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

B. The Woman’s Consequences 16 To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” Painful childbirth You will want to dominate your husband He will have an ongoing headship quarrel with you

Woman’s Consequences, cont. “You will now have a tendency to dominate your husband, and he will have the tendency to act as a tyrant over you.” The battle of the sexes has begun. Each strives for control and neither lives in the best interest of the other. “…In humility consider others better than yourselves. Phil. 2:3, 4 The antidote is in the restoration of respect and love through Jesus Christ (see Eph. 5:21–33).

C. The Man’s Consequences 17b-19a “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground…”

Man’s Consequences, cont. Work is good – ground cursed not the work Work is rewarding – joy of work hard to find Work is productive – new obstacles will hinder the work (weeds & thorns) Work is demanding – now it requires sweat-effort constantly

Window #2 Into The Character Of God… 21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam & his wife & clothed them. Compassionate service Quality garments!

D. The Death Consequence 22 And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live for ever.” 23 So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden… More Compassion: death is a remedy to an endlessly rebellious life.

Theme Man’s problem and God’s compassion and provisions for it have been revealed from the Beginning – Trust In Them!

The Challenge Stop hiding from God Realize Our Sin Nature Confess Personal Rebellion Let Him Purify and Heal You Give Him Your Life Throne