God Confronts Sin

September 30, 2018 Background Scripture: Genesis 3 Lesson Passage: Genesis 3:8 – 17, 20 – 24 Last week’s lesson looked at the union of Adam and Eve, and the birth of their sons, Cain and Abel. Between the union and the birth, tragedy befell the couple. When there was only Adam, God gave him a diet plan. There was one tree in the midst of the garden that Adam was not supposed to eat of its fruit, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. All of the other trees, he was free to eat their fruit. Before we look at what Adam did and why he did it, the scenario begs the question: Why was there a tree with a forbidden fruit placed within reach of Adam? If there were no tree with forbidden fruit, then there would be no possibility for disobedience in eating from it. I believe that “true worship” must come from a willing heart and not be compulsory. Put another way, the worshiper must have the power of choice. The true worshiper can only choose to worship when there is a choice to not worship. Likewise, for man to live out the image and likeness of God, he must have the power of choice. This is what establishes man as a free moral agent. Man was not created to be driven by instincts as the other living creatures are. Man was created to be a physical reflection of the spiritual God and not an instinct-driven animal. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil had a unique purpose in creation. When Eve was tricked by the serpent, she took forbidden fruit from the tree and ate it. Note that there is no biblical record that God had given her the same commandment He gave Adam. It seems from her verbal response to the serpent that Adam had paraphrased God’s commandment into a slightly more complex requirement that might not have warned her about death. Nevertheless, after she ate the forbidden fruit, nothing seemed to have changed. However, when she gave some of the forbidden fruit to her husband—who was with her according to the bible—he ate it and then their eyes were opened as their spiritual innocence had been tainted by sin. They became ashamed of their nakedness and tried to cover their bodies with fig leaves. When they heard the sound of God moving in the garden in the cool of the day, they attempted to hide from the presence of God. One of the immediate effects of sin is a desire to avoid the presence of God. God called out to Adam, the one He had left in charge of keeping the garden and avoiding the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam answered God and admitted that he was trying to hide from Him because he was ashamed of his nakedness. God, the all-knowing Father, asked Adam a series of rhetorical questions. God knew the answers, but He wanted Adam to reflect on the answers and the consequences of his decision. Adam blamed Eve, and, in a sense, he blamed God, for the decision he had made. God addressed the woman who admitted that she was tricked by the serpent. God did not ask the serpent anything. God cursed the serpent more than any other animal He created. Then He told the woman about the hardships she would endure in childbirth. God told Adam about the difficulties he would now have in extracting the goodness from the earth because God cursed the ground for the man’s sake. Then God drove Adam and Eve from the garden to prevent them from eating from the other tree in the midst of the garden, the tree of life. The fruit from the tree of life would have caused them to live forever in their sinful state. Then God made garments of skins for Adam and Eve. Robert C. Hudson September 5, 2018