1. The Problem of Sin
Genesis 3-11

2. Objectives
To help you understand the nature of sin and its consequences.
To help you realize that human sinfulness created enormous problems that God was determined to overcome.
To help you see that God’s response to sin was incredible grace.

3. Introduction Welcoming of Visitors Announcements Prayer Requests
Beginning Prayer

4. Review At the end of Gen 2, what is the status of Creation?
The recurring refrain of Gen 1 is “God saw that it was good.” At the end of creation, “God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good.”
What was the relationship between God and humans like?
Great! Complete in harmony and relationship. God gives humans life and provides food for life.
What was the relationship between humans and land/natural resources like?
Great! The land is supporting the humans with abundant fruit and the humans, in turn, are taking care of the land.
What is the relationship between animals and humans like?
There’s no animosity between the wild animals and the humans.
What is the relationship between Adam and Eve?
Great! They’re living in complete harmony as “one flesh” and “without shame”

5. Review/Setting the Stage
If the creation was so great and the relationships established by creation were so great, then what happened? Last time I looked around me, the creation and those relationships weren’t working so great?
Genesis tells 4 major stories that witness to the destruction of the created order and introduce the problem of sin. Our goal today is review these stories, understand the problem of sin, and catch a glimpse of how God deals with sin.

6. Let’s identify the sin problem in each story

7. Adam and Eve (Gen 3:1-6)
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’s 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.

8. Adam and Eve (Gen 3:1-6) How does the temptation begin?
The serpent poses a question that subtly misrepresents God’s instructions and casts doubt on God’s goodness.
What’s the next step in temptation?
The serpent makes a direct accusation against God.
God is a lying to you - you will not die (3:4)
God is holding you back - you would be like God if only you ate forbidden fruit (3:5)
What’s the essence of the temptation?
You can no longer trust God to tell you what is true and reliable for the good life.
You should exert yourself and become like God. Take control of your own life and destiny.

9. Cain and Abel (Gen 4:1-8)
1 Now Adam knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.”
2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abe; was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground.
3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground,
4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering,
5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell.
6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen?
7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you don’t do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”
8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.

10. Cain and Abel (Gen 4:1-8) What is at the heart of Cain’s sin?
The heart problem of anger and jealousy.
So what is the external action?
Cain murders his brothers.

11. The Generation of Noah (Gen 6:5)
5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
What is the problem of all the people?
Every thought and inclination of their heart was evil.

12. The Generation after the Flood (Gen 11:1-4)
1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.
2 And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.
3 And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar.
4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”

13. The Generation after the Flood (Gen 11:1-4)
What is the problem? What motivates these people to build a tower?
Pride - the desire to make a name for themselves.

14. Sin isn’t merely wrong external action; but a problem of the heart.
Summary
Sin isn’t merely wrong external action; but a problem of the heart.

15. Punishments and Consequences
Let’s quickly review the consequences or punishments of various sins.
Punishments and Consequences

16. Adam and Eve’s Immediate Consequences (Gen 3:7-13)
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.”

17. Adam and Eve’s Immediate Consequences (Gen 3:7-13)
Immediate results of the couple’s sin
The God/human relationship is damaged. Now the humans are afraid of God.
The male/female relationship is damaged. The humans recognize their nakedness and are ashamed and blame each other.

18. Adam and Eve’s Secondary Consequences (Gen 3:14-24)
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 against 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.”

19. Adam and Eve’s Secondary Consequences (Gen 3:14-24)
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.

20. Adam and Eve’s Secondary Consequences (Gen 3:14-24)
God pronounces further consequences for their actions:
The male/female relationship - Gen 3:16
There’s now problems in the relationship
The human/land relationship - Gen 3:17-18
The land is no longer as productive
The human/animal relationship - Gen 3:14-15
This relationship is breaking down

21. Adam and Eve’s Summary
The goodness of creation and relationships are damaged or put in serious jeopardy on every level.

22. Cain and Abel (Gen 4:11-12)
11 And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.
12 When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”
What is the consequence of Cain’s sin?
The ground will no longer produce for him.
As a result, Cain must become a fugitive searching for food.

23. Noah’s Generation (Gen 6:7, 17)
7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.”
17 For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die.
What is the consequence of sin?
Destruction of humans and animals by a flood.

24. The Generation after the Flood (Gen 11:5-9)
5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built.
6 And the Lord said, “Behold, they’re one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.
7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
8 So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.
9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.
What is the consequence of sin?
Confusion of language that leads to scattering of the people.
The tower is abandoned.

25. Summary
In every instance, sin carries severe consequences. Human sin creates an enormous problem: What is God to do with human rebellion and a world gone mad?

26. God’s response of grace to the human sin problem is the answer
God’s response of grace to the human sin problem is the answer. In every instance, God’s first and greatest response is grace. All other actions are conditioned by grace.

27. Adam and Eve How does God respond with Grace?
The punishments are severe enough to make the couple realize that they mustn’t continue to sin.
God clothes them - a problem created by their sin.
God drives them from the Garden for their own good.
Before they created even bigger problems for themselves.

28. Cain and Abel How does God respond to Cain with Grace?
A protective mark so that no one would kill Cain (Gen 4:13-15)

29. The Generation of Noah How does God respond with Grace?
God spares one family
God stops the spread of waters and makes them recede (8:1-3)
God grants the world and humanity a new beginning, a fresh start (8:15-17)

30. The Generation of the Flood
How does God respond with Grace?
There’s no real answer to this question.

31. Summary
Genesis 3-11 has demonstrated that God is committed to the well being of his creation and determined to work a solution to the problems created by sin. But, so far, the text has also demonstrated that none of the solutions in Genesis 3-11 really resolves the sin problem.
Adam & Eve are expelled from garden for their own good, clothed and blessed with children. But the problems created by their sin are not resolved.
Cain is protected from being murdered himself, but his fugitive status from God is not resolved.
Sinful humanity is wiped out by the flood and a fresh start begins with Noah, but Noah is also sinful (Gen 9:20-27) and the sin problem again spreads throughout creation.
God stops the building of the tower, but the heart problem of pride and rebellion against God is not resolved.

32. Next Week
Our Story of the Old Testament continues, we will see God set a plan in motion that will eventually lead to a small hill outside of Jerusalem called Calvary.

33. Applications Let’s discuss one of these two topics:
What have we learned about God in this study?
God reacts to severely to sin - punishment.
God reacts compassionately to sin - grace
God is determined to win the world back to him and restore his relationship to humanity. God loves you!
What have we learned about sin in this study?
Sin is first and foremost a heart problem.
Sin brings disastrous consequences.

34. Assignment and Wrap-Up
Read Genesis 12-17
Prayer that:
Confesses our own sinfulness and acknowledges the problems our sin creates.
Thanks God for his response of punishment (to make us aware of the problem) and grace.

35. KEEP SPREADING POSITIVITY!!! It’ll go a long way...