Atonement for Sin

Sin must be atoned. This something mankind cannot do. Adam and Eve tried to cover their sin and shame when they covered themselves with leaves. (Genesis 3:7) However, that’s not how sin must be covered. Atonement requires a reconciliation by blood. (Exodus 29:36; Hebrews 9:22; Ephesians 2:13-14; 1 John 1:7) And that’s what God provided.

And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. 21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. 22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: 23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. (Genesis 3:20-3:24)

Verse 20 simply appears to be an informative statement conveying that the woman’s name was Eve. The name “Eve” is a Hebrew name which means “life”. As the text states, this is appropriate because all human beings came from her. She was the first mother.

Consequences of the Fall

Adam and Eve had fallen from their position of innocence by disobeying God’s command. This is sin. Whenever someone sins, there are consequences. Sometimes those consequences are immediate and sometimes they come later, but they always happen. Here is what God did.

And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. 16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. 17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. (Genesis 3:14-19)

First, the serpent is held accountable. There is some debate over whether God judged the physical animal Satan used or Satan himself. It appears to this writer that God judged them both. The physical serpent was cursed to crawl on his belly. (vs. 14) The apparent reason for this is that it was complicit somehow in Satan’s work. Satan in turn was condemned by the seed of the woman which would “bruise” his head. (vs. 15)

The Fall – Part 2

Satan has just tempted Adam and Eve and they both ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It is interesting that Satan never told them to eat the fruit. What he did was suggest that God was trying to cheat them. They decided to eat the fruit on their own. This is how Satan works. He gets us to doubt God’s character and then our lack of trust/faith fosters sinful thoughts and actions.

Now to our passage for today.

And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. 9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. (Genesis 3:7-13)

Let’s work through the immediate result of their sin. The passage states that their eyes were opened. This is what Satan had told them. (Genesis 3:5) However, it wasn’t what they expected. They knew for the first time what sin was like. They had done evil against the Creator. And it wasn’t pleasant. It did not give them joy. Satan had accused God of cheating them, but the real cheater is Satan himself. He cheated them out of their perfect relationship with God.

The Fall – Part 1

Satan, in the form of a serpent, intends to corrupt what God has created as good. He posed a question in Genesis 3:1, intending to bring doubt in the mind of Eve. This is what unfolded next.

And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. (Genesis 3:2-6)

In Genesis 2:16-17, God commanded Adam to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. However, Eve adds another restriction. She states that they were not to touch it. There are three general reasons given as to why she added this: (1) God gave the restriction, but for His own purposes didn’t reveal it in Scripture, (2) Adam gave Eve the additional restriction, perhaps to further protect her, or (3) Eve added the restriction herself. We don’t know for sure which is true, but regardless, it served to emphasize that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was off limits.

Satan: The Subtle Serpent

In the previous two chapters of Genesis, everything God created was good. However, now we will see trouble in paradise as we see Satan appear and introduce doubt into the minds of Adam and Eve.

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? (Genesis. 3:1)

The serpent is a real, physical serpent which is being used by Satan to communicate to Eve. The fact that Satan takes on the body of a serpent is confirmed by Revelation 12:9, “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” (see also Revelation 20:2) Here we see that part of Satan’s character is deception. Jesus stated that the devil is the father of lies. (John 8:44)

Continue reading