As I prepared for this lesson, I studied our curriculum we use from New Tribes Mission as well as reading the first chapter in a book titled Beginning at the Beginning by Graham Harrison. This book is a series of sermons he preached from Genesis and Chapter One just happened to be on Genesis Chapter 3.
One thing that Graham Harrison said in the beginning of this chapter was, "You do not understand the rest of the Bible unless you
come to terms with what is revealed to us here in Genesis Chapter 3." This is so true. My highlighter was working overtime throughout the first chapter. I will be reading the rest of his book soon.
Genesis Chapter 3 is the chapter that tells us of how man
fell from a state of innocence and virtue into a state of alienation from God-
rebellion against God, he is placed under the
judgment of God .
Genesis Chapter 3
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 is 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. 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." 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 for 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." 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.
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 is 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. 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." 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 for 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." 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.
The end of the lesson I shared that sin matters to God. He does not ignore sin, He deals with it. We can be physically alive but spiritually dead. We had talked about how sin separates us from God. How He knows all even what we do when we are alone and even what we think. I shared that judgement takes place in this chapter and one day the final judgment that will one day come is when the Lord Jesus Christ returns.
I shared that sin is rebellion, when we sin we are acting in
rebellion against God, against the ONE who rules over us. Basically we are saying we do not want God. We are all born sinners and no one will escape judgment. There is only ONE way in which sin can be dealt with. The Bible tells us how that way is possible... through the cross. Jesus came into the world to take on our sin. HE IS THE SUBSTITUTE WHO WAS SLAIN. The Bible tells us that if a sinner (no matter what the sin is), admits he is a sinner, confesses with his mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and believes in his heart that God raised him from the dead, then he will be saved.
I ended the lesson with John
3:16
16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his
only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
We were finished and getting ready to leave and Jackinah spoke up and said, "I have a secret." She began to share a sin in her life that she has struggled with for years. She has wanted to stop but finds herself right back in it. I can not even begin to explain to you what the next hour was like. I will say that I praise the Lord for allowing me to be apart of it. I also thank HIM that I did not get my way to chicken out of teaching since Mark is gone and just cancel the Bible study this week. God has been working in Jackinah, He is drawing her to HIM. She gets it! She knows that HE LOVES HER! She borrowed the Jesus Film from our friends (who she works for) and watched it. She told me she realized then that Jesus loved her! That He died a painful death because of her sins. Please pray for her. She wants to be free of this sin she struggles with. It is destroying her life and she knows it. She sees how God has given her the job she has, provided her a room and even given her the opportunity to attend this Bible study. I beg you to pray for her as she faces this temptation. She desires to be able to stop.
We were finished and getting ready to leave and Jackinah spoke up and said, "I have a secret." She began to share a sin in her life that she has struggled with for years. She has wanted to stop but finds herself right back in it. I can not even begin to explain to you what the next hour was like. I will say that I praise the Lord for allowing me to be apart of it. I also thank HIM that I did not get my way to chicken out of teaching since Mark is gone and just cancel the Bible study this week. God has been working in Jackinah, He is drawing her to HIM. She gets it! She knows that HE LOVES HER! She borrowed the Jesus Film from our friends (who she works for) and watched it. She told me she realized then that Jesus loved her! That He died a painful death because of her sins. Please pray for her. She wants to be free of this sin she struggles with. It is destroying her life and she knows it. She sees how God has given her the job she has, provided her a room and even given her the opportunity to attend this Bible study. I beg you to pray for her as she faces this temptation. She desires to be able to stop.
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