|
|
The fall of Mankind, God created man perfect to live for ever, but Adam and Eva disobeyed God, Sinned. In this study we will look at the fall and its effects.
Gen 3:1 - 7 Now the serpent was more subtle 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? 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. 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.
The serpent provided the temptation for sin. The serpent
questioned what God said. Eve did not know what God said,
for she added to what he said,
She said: "Ye shall not eat of it, neither
shall ye touch it, lest ye die."
God said: Gen 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
God did not say neither shall ye touch it. When you get away from the word of God, the Truth, the Plumb line, then Satan can accommodate you.
Deu 4:2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.
Psa 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
It must be kept in mind that Adam and Eve were free moral agents. That while they were sinless, it was possible for them to sin, just as it was possible for them not to sin.
The sin of Adam and Eve was simply the act of their own choosing, their own determination. Their sin was, like all other sins, a voluntary act of the will. The essence of the first sin lay in the elevation of the will of man over the will of God. It was a deliberate transgressing of a divinely marked boundary.
It is helpful to note that the same lines of temptation that was presented to our first parents was presented to Christ in the wilderness and to all mankind ever since then. All sinful desires can be classified as either lusts of the flesh, lusts of the eyes, or the boasting about possessions (or a combination there of). The testing that Satan put the Lord through in Matt. 4:1-11, fell into those three categories.
tempting = to entice or allure to do something wrong, or immoral.
Matt. 4:1-11 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
1 John 2:15-17 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
Jesus overcame the lies of the devil by the truth, the Word of God.
In each instance the quote is from Deuteronomy, which is not as important as the way in which Christ used the Scripture. What He did in fact was to draw from each passage a principle—and choose to act on that principle. Thus we are reminded that the freeing power of God’s Word is not released simply by our knowing it, but only by our applying it. Scripture is to lead us to obey God.
| (MATT. 4:1–11) |
|---|
|
I memorized the Bible verse. I quoted it to myself over and over again. I thought it surely would give me victory over the particular temptation that had me so defeated. But quote as much as I would, no victory came. I was just as vulnerable with my Bible verse as without it. I suspect many of us have had this experience. We see Jesus recalling verses from the Old Testament and quoting them to Satan. Jesus was victorious. Why aren’t we when we do the same thing? The answer lies in the distinction between magic and faith. Magic is using an object or chant in a desperate attempt to ward off evil or control circumstances. Faith is a quiet confidence that what God says is true enough to act on. I had been using my Bible verse as a magic talisman, waving it desperately to repel temptation. But when we look at Matthew 4, we see that Jesus used Scripture in quite another way. He went into the Word, found a principle or truth, and said in effect, “I will now live by this truth.” Jesus saw the Word of God as truth, and determined to act on that truth. It was this exercise of faith that gave Him victory over His temptations. And it is just such an exercise of faith that will give us victory when we are tempted today. Yes, let’s look for the key to our victory in the Word of God. But let’s not use the Bible in a pagan, magical way. Let’s take God at His Word, act on what He says, and let God use our faith to give us the victory in Him. By LAWRENCE O. RICHARDS |
Knowing good and evil is not merely an awareness of the difference between right and wrong. Adam and Eve already had an awareness of right and wrong, since they knew of God's command not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Knowing good and evil suggests having the right to determine what is right or wrong behavior apart from God. We do not choose what is right and wrong, we are to take what God says is right and wrong.
By eating of the tree's fruit in disobedience, Adam and Eve wrongfully seized God's right to determine what is good and evil. Only God has the right to define good and evil.
Prov 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
Heb 5:13, 14 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
1 John 4:1a Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God:
Try the spirits whether they are right or wrong, do not believe every thought that comes to you or everything that others say.
2 Cor 10:5 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
Gen 3:8 - 11 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. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 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?
1 John 1:5 - 7 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
1 John 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
The darkness of sin has no part in God's existence. We must realize that we cannot be in fellowship with God when we are doing those things that God said not to do. When a person is in sin he loses some degree of fellowship with God and others, and like Adam and Eve they generally hide and try to cover their wrong. If one does not repent from the sin or sins they are in danger of losing all fellowship with the Father. But if you simply repent from the sin, fellowship will be restored with the Father.
Eph 5:5 - 15 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
Gen 3:14 - 19 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: 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. 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. 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; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 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.
God had warned that sin would lead to death. The serpent had questioned God's warning. Rebellion against God brings punishment and ultimate death.
1 John 3:7,8 Little
children, let no man deceive you:
he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is
righteous. He that committeth sin
is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the
beginning.
For this
purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might
destroy the works of the devil.
In v.15 The seed or offspring of the woman is Jesus and here in 1 John we read that Jesus was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Jesus bruised the head of Satan.
Gal 4:4, 5 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
The bruising of His heel is the crucifixion, the death of Jesus on the cross. The crushing of the serpent is the overcoming of the evil one by the cross and the ultimate overcoming at the final appearing of Christ.
Heb 2:14, 15 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Rom 16:20 And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
Rev 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
The results of sin in the experience of Adam and Eve were:
1 Tim 2:14, 15 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.
childbearing = childbirth (parentage), i.e. (by impl.) maternity (the performance of maternal "mother" duties)
