Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Genesis

Genesis 3:1-6 11/25/01

Intro: Temptation...some people fall into it, others go out of their way to find it.

ILL: 'Son' ordered a father, 'Don't swim in the creek.'  OK, dad' the young boy answered. But he came home carrying a wet bathing suit that evening. 'Where have you been?' demanded the father. 'Swimming in the creek' answered the boy. 'Didn't I tell you not to swim there?' asked the father. 'Yes, sir' answered the boy. 'Why did you', the father asked. 'Well dad' he explained, 'I had my bathing suit with me and I couldn't resist the temptation.' 'Why did you take your bathing suit with you?' he asked the boy. 'So I'd be prepared to swim, just in case I got tempted.' he replied.

     You see, too many of us expect to give in to temptation..how do I know? Because we place ourselves in positions to be tempted. We carry with us, either consciously or unconsciously those things that will give us what we need to push us over the edge when temptation comes. And come it will,  when we are actively looking for it.

     We are faced with many challenges in life but perhaps none as critical as the challenge of temptation. How you deal with temptation will have much to say about your spiritual growth and emotional health.

    Have you ever felt a sense of guilt for something you should not have done? Well you should understand how Adam and Eve felt in Chapter 3 of Genesis.

    If Genesis 3 were not in the Bible, there would be no need for the rest of Scripture as we know it. Why? Because the rest of Scripture documents the sad consequences of Adam's sin and explains what God in His grace has done to rescue us. And the consequences were great..death, despair, lawlessness, evil and most of all we have changed from friends of God to His enemies through sin.

     What was it that corrupted the heart of Adam and Eve and has reached down through the corridors of time and made temptation to sin so tempting for us today?

Trans: Open your Bibles to Genesis 3:1 where in vss 1-6 we will  look at the Tempter and the Temptation

I. The Tempter  (Gen. 3:1a)
Read: Gen. 3:1a

     Who is the serpent?  Satan in the body of a snake. What do we know about him? That would take a couple of weeks worth of messages. I will focus on those texts that are relevant to our discussion in Gen. 3.

1. Ezek. 28:11-19 tells us that Satan was a great angel who was originally created perfect. At some point, he became so focused on his own wisdom and beauty that he decided that he should not have to live under God's authority.

2. Isa. 14:12  tells us of Satan's removal from God's presence as the consequence of his sin of pride and rebellion against God's authority.

3. Rev. 12:9 tells us that approximately 1/3 of all angels chose to follow Lucifer, Satan, and revolt against God. These rebellious angels are called 'demons' in Scripture.

     Satan has been characterized so much as a man dressed in red with horns and a pitch fork that that most people don't believe in his existence and those who may believe Satan is real, think he is powerless.

     Let's play GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS.
The bad news is that Satan is real and knows the Bible better than most of us.  And he is your enemy and he is busy.

     -He imitates God,
     -Perverts the Word of God,
     -Hinders the work of God's people,
     -Blinds men and women to the truth,
     -Tempts, afflicts, deceives,
     -Tries to disrupt the prayers of God's people.

He is very dangerous and not to be taken lightly.

BUT! There is good news.

     -His powers are limited
     -He can not be in more than one place at a time.
     -He does not know everything.
     -He is not all powerful.
     -And he can do nothing apart from God allowing it.

     But best of all...he has already been defeated by Christ at the cross of Calvary. And the resurrection of Christ sealed Satan's doom once and for all.

     Here in verse 1, Satan disguises himself as a serpent. And he still disguises himself today but his disguise takes many shapes. But his purpose is always the same...temptation..because Satan is the Tempter.

Trans: This Tempter had a process he went through when he tempted Eve and that process of temptation hasn't changed since the garden. It led to the first sin and it continues to lead people, Christians included, down the path that ends with sin and despair. What is that process? We will see it laid out before us in verses 1b-6.

11. The Temptation (Gen. 3:1b-6)

Note:
1. Eve was alone. She had gone off without her husband.
2. Eve was where she didn't belong.  She was standing  by the forbidden tree.
3. Eve was thinking about the tree and it's fruit.

     What makes me say she was standing by the forbidden tree thinking about the fruit? Satan's first words. It was almost as if he could read her mind.  At that moment, while Eve was thinking about the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Satan took his shot. This is why there is such an abrupt entrance by the serpent in the text. What happens while she is standing where she shouldn't have been standing?

Read: Gen. 3:1b
    A. The Suggestive Thought (vs 1b)
         The serpent  placed a suggestive thought into her mind by asking the question  'Has God really said that you shall not eat from any tree in the garden?

         Here Satan changes the positive invitation to eat of every tree in the garden (with only one exception) into a negative prohibition designed to cast doubt on God's goodness. And this brought a number of suggestive thoughts into Eves mind...

     -Perhaps she was missing out on something
     -Perhaps the most delicious of all fruit is the very thing forbidden by God.
     -Perhaps God is withholding something good from    her.

     Remember that Satan's suggestive thought would not have had the influence it did had she not been where she shouldn't have been and thinking about what she should not have been thinking about.

     Was that just Eve's problem? No. Be honest. Isn't that our problem as well? Too many of us go places we ought not, and think things we ought not and wonder why temptation comes and we fall.

The process of temptation begins with a suggestive thought. It continues by...

    B. Discussing the Thought (vs 2-3)
Read: Gen. 3:2-3

     Eve began to discuss with Satan, disguised as a serpent, his suggestive thought.  She actually entertained the idea, she chewed it over. She should have dismissed it as quickly as it came upon her, but she didn't...and neither do we.

     Eve, in discussing this suggestive thought, began to think God's command was too restrictive. We see this when she added...'or touch it'. God never said that.

     Eve also began to think about the consequences when she lessened it by saying 'lest you die' which means perhaps or maybe you will die...when God clearly said you shall surely die.

     It seems that Eve understood God's command but lacked the conviction necessary to obey it. Without conviction, doubt comes into our minds and we begin to question our understanding of God's Word.

     -Does it really say I can't get drunk?
     -Does it really say I can't marry a non Believer?
     -Does it really say homosexuality is a sin?
     -Does it really say... You get the idea.

ILL: A man and his wife were stopped at a kiosk in the mall. A young shapely woman in a short, form fitting dress strolled by the man and his eyes followed after her. Without looking up from the item she was examining, she asked her husband 'Was it worth the trouble you're in?'

     Temptation is not sin. Using this illustration as an example, it is not a sin for a man or woman to notice that someone of the opposite sex is attractive. Sin happens when your eyes follow after them..and in that split second you have discussed the options in your mind and entertained the suggestive thought...whatever it may be and you have then fallen into sin. The rest is downhill from there and you fall quickly to....

    C. Doubting the Consequences (vs 4-5)
Read: Gen. 3:4-5

     It is hard to obey God when we think he is keeping something from us that  we think is good. If God is keeping something from us that is good then we can't trust him.

     If I can paraphrase and add to what is not said in the text but implied  Satans words would go like this.

'He told you you would die if you ate that? You got to be kidding me! Do I look like I', dead? No way will you die! You can't be stupid enough to believe that. Besides, whose gonna know?'

     This is how Satan undermines the credibility of God and His Word. And how he gets believers to sin.

    What is truly at stake here? Eating food? Freedom? Getting caught? No! It is the integrity of God and His Word. Satan's work is to cast doubt on the goodness of God, His commands found in His Word and the consequences of disobedience .

     Satan does not want you to believe the truth of God's Word but Satan's own lie. What is that lie? It was the same for Adam and Eve as it is for us today. It is the belief that we can do whatever we want and not suffer any consequences.

     It's a lie but we often deceive ourselves to believe it by making personal fulfillment our excuse for disobedience. What do I mean? Look at...

   D. Personal Fulfillment  (Gen. 3:6a)
Read: Gen. 3:6a

     Eve thought that she would be more fulfilled as a woman, that she will gain something that she didn't have if she would eat from the forbidden tree. In essence she was saying 'In order to be happy, I need something that God has chosen not to give to me. I know what is best for me.' This is nothing more than arrogant pride. And not one of us is exempt from it's ugly head.

     We listen to the suggestive thought, we discuss it in our minds, we begin to doubt the Word of God and the consequences associated with disobedience and we think we know what's best for us..what's left but...

    E. Committing the Act  (Gen. 3:6b)
Read: Gen. 3:6b

     We sin, we fall, we give in..whatever you want to call it...we do it. When we get this far in the process, sin is inevitable, no matter how strong we think we are.

     As Eve bit down on the fruit, she immediately knew she had done something wrong.  I can almost hear the serpent say 'Don't worry Eve, you'll get used to the guilt.' And then he would let out a blood curdling laugh.

    And if that isn't bad enough she got Adam to eat too.

    F. Lead Others to Sin  (Gen. 3:6c)
Read: Gen. 3:6c

     No one likes to sin alone. Remember Lucifer, Satan took 1/3 of the angels in heaven with him when he sinned.

     Amazingly it was very easy for Eve to get Adam, her husband to sin with her. Have you ever thought about that? Adam is utterly passive here in the text. Eve at least made an attempt to delay the inevitable, but Adam jumped in right away with both feet.

     Why? We are not told. We only know for sure that Adam had a choice to make and he chose poorly...as do many of us.

Conclusion
 You know, in a way, the serpent was right:
      -Adam and Eve did not die immediately
      -Their eyes were opened
      -They attained knowledge that belonged to God

     But the serpent neglected to tell the whole story. While he told them what they would gain, he failed to mention what they would loose...which was everything that was truly important to them.

     Gen. 3:1-6 not only described what happened to Adam and Eve for the poor choices they made when tempted, but it describes our life as well.

     We too choose to be disobedient and let temptation  run it's course in our lives instead of cutting it off at that first suggestive thought. And we sin, over and over again.

     But there is hope. While God allows us to reap the consequences of our sinful choices He has not abandoned us as we shall see in the coming weeks.

1 Cor. 10:13 says 'No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.'

 God makes a way, we must trust that it is the best way for us or we will sin and sin and live a defeated, unhappy, joyless life.

 James says Resist the Devil and he will flee from you. That is the promise of Almighty God.