Written by: Paul Daniels - Soul Survivor

Genesis 3 v 1-4
Now the snake was the most clever of all the wild animals the LORD God had made. One day the snake said to the woman, “Did God really say that you must not eat fruit from any tree in the garden?”
The woman answered the snake, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden. But God told us, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden. You must not even touch it, or you will die.’ ”
But the snake said to the woman, “You will not die.

Notes
Satan’s plan from the beginning was to separate the perfect relationship between Man/Woman and God. This is still true even today. He has become very good at it because he has had several years of experience. What are the devil’s tactics? First he tempts us. He entices us with things that are forbidden by God (for our safety and protection). He often twists what is God-given, exploits it, and then tries to exploit us. Where does the devil attack? The devil often attacks our minds. He often questions us on what we know or think is the truth and brings attention to something really appealing. [Did God really say…?] What is so amazing is that Satan tried to convince Eve that she needed to be like God [questioning the truth], but really both she and Adam were. In Genesis 1:27 (New Living Translation) it says, “ So God created people [man] in his own image; God patterned them after himself; male and female he created them.” Eve knew and had the truth and never had a reason to question the truth until Satan [the serpent] came along. 

God gives us so much freedom within His boundaries. The devil, in his pitiful ways, urges us to come out of those boundaries.

Genesis 3 v 5-7
God knows that if you eat the fruit from that tree, you will learn about good and evil and you will be like God!”
The woman saw that the tree was beautiful, that its fruit was good to eat, and that it would make her wise. So she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some of the fruit to her husband, and he ate it.
Then, it was as if their eyes were opened. They realized they were naked, so they sewed fig leaves together and made something to cover themselves.

Notes 
The passage before this [Genesis 3 v 1-4] shows the devil initially tempting Eve by questioning God. Satan then lies to Eve, she sees the tree, she takes it, she eats it, she gives some to her husband [Adam], and he eats it. Adam and Eve have both disobeyed what God had said. They then become aware of their nakedness and attempt to cover themselves up. 

So much of sin comes from what we look at. Now lads, it’s not wrong if we see a beautiful woman. However, it is wrong when we look her up and down and begin to undress her in our minds. And ladies, the tendencies to take a smile from the opposite sex you find attractive and have yourself married to them in a day’s time is just as wrong. Sin comes in when we begin to fantasize and spend time thinking about stuff. 

At the end of the passage, they are both exposed to their nakedness and they feel ashamed. Sin exposes and separates; it separates us from God. At this point of the story, we see the devil’s role change from the tempter to the accuser. Once we have fallen into the devil’s trap, he doesn’t say to us, “now don’t you feel much better now?” or “wasn’t that great?”. No, the devil continues to play mind tricks on us by making us feel guilty and shameful. In your mind, you may hear, “I can’t believe I just did that” or “You are so stupid”. The devil likes to play the shame game. So how do you deal with temptation? Just listen to the wise word of James, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you” [James 4:7]. If we choose to ignore him, he will have to leave us alone. 

Genesis 3 v 8-11
Then they heard the LORD God walking in the garden during the cool part of the day, and the man and his wife hid from the LORD God among the trees in the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said, “Where are you?”
The man answered, “I heard you walking in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.”
God asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat fruit from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?”

Notes 
The Lord calls, “Where are you?” Adam replies, “I heard you walking and I was afraid because of my nakedness, so I hid.” WHY? Why were they trying to hide? They have been naked all this time and now they are asking why and trying to hide themselves. Often when we stuff up, we can feel so ashamed [naked] and want to run away and hide. Sometimes we even try to deny what we have done or try to cover it up and blame others or circumstances. God already knew what Adam and Eve had done. He already knows what we have done. What God does though is point to our sin. He doesn’t let us get away with it. He reveals it to us. You may be asking why? Well, it is so you can be forgiven and set free. 

How do you react when you commit sin? Unfortunately, all too often, Christians either do one of two things. They either don’t see the wrong in their sin or say sorry but, don’t actually forgive themselves. So many Christians I know don’t actually live in the God given freedom that Christ gives to us. If we are not careful, we can end up living in condemnation and not ever reaching the full potential God has for us. It’s good to keep a short account. Get into His presence, say you’re sorry and repent, leave it at the cross, and go free.

Genesis 3 v 12-15
The man said, “You gave this woman to me and she gave me fruit from the tree, so I ate it.”
Then the LORD God said to the woman, “How could you have done such a thing?”
She answered, “The snake tricked me, so I ate the fruit.”
The LORD God said to the snake,
“Because you did this, a curse will be put on you.
You will be cursed as no other animal, tame or wild, will ever be.
You will crawl on your stomach, and you will eat dust all the days of your life.
I will make you and the woman enemies to each other.
Your descendants and her descendants will be enemies.
One of her descendants will crush your head, and you will bite his heel.”

Notes
Adam’s answer to this simple question is much like what many of us would have said. Adam answered with a Yes, followed by BUT…you gave me this woman and she gave me the fruit from the tree, so I ate it. What has Adam just done? 1. He blamed God for giving him the woman [Eve]. 2. He blamed Eve for giving him the fruit. 

I was in a school recently doing a lunch club with some 12 year olds. This young lad called me a rude name under his breath. I asked him what he said, his response was, “it wasn’t me, it was him” (pointing to his mate beside him). How many of us do that? We don’t face responsibility for our own actions, but blame someone or something else. We need to learn to take responsibility. “I am guilty your honour.” Like in court, when someone is found guilty, punishment or a sentence is charged. God passes sentence. He begins where the sin began…with the snake [satan]. He also declares war between satan and the woman, something that would continue throughout life on earth. The end of this passage leaves us with a wonderful promise, but one which comes with a cost [“one of her descendants will crush your head, and you will bite his heel”]. WHAT’S THE PROMISE? The promise is of the birth of Jesus and that His death would bring a fatal blow to the head of the devil and his power forever. WHAT’S THE COST? The cost is satan biting our heel. In other words, this speaks of the suffering endured by the saints. It includes the devil’s temptations, persecutions, and slaying of mankind. 

Being a Christian doesn’t mean we become sinless. But as we try to follow God’s way, we do sin less.

Genesis 3 v 16-19
Then God said to the woman,
“I will cause you to have much trouble when you are pregnant, and when you give birth to children, you will have great pain.
You will greatly desire your husband, but he will rule over you.”
Then God said to the man, “You listened to what your wife said, and you ate fruit from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat.
“So I will put a curse on the ground, and you will have to work very hard for your food.
In pain you will eat its food all the days of your life.
The ground will produce thorns and weeds for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.
You will sweat and work hard for your food.
Later you will return to the ground, because you were taken from it.
You are dust, and when you die, you will return to the dust.”

Notes
The sentence has now been passed to Adam and Eve. For womankind, there is the promise of painful childbearing. For mankind, there is the promise of having to work hard for food and existence. We are not subjected to eat the dust as satan was, but to eat the plants of the field. God intended humankind to live in a comfortable dwelling. Because of the disobedience of eating the fruit, the ground and habitat was cursed. Hard labour is our due punishment.

What does all this really mean? Basically, it means that satan is cursed forever. That there can never be reconciliation between God and the devil. The two are poles apart, opposing each other. The challenge for us is which way do we go? Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one or love the other.” Matthew. 6:24 (New International Version) Our heart surely is to serve God, to make Him our one and only Master, yet how often do we find ourselves dabbling between the two? Remember satan’s main objective is to take our focus, our attention, and our eyes off Jesus. If you are struggling today, get into His Word, get into His presence, take your attention off the pain, the problems, the sin, and turn your attention towards Him.

Genesis 3 v 20-24
The man named his wife Eve, because she is the mother of everyone who has ever lived.
The LORD God made clothes from animal skins for the man and his wife and dressed them. Then the LORD God said, “The man has become like one of us; he knows good and evil. We must keep him from eating some of the fruit from the tree of life, or he will live forever.” So the LORD God forced the man out of the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. After God forced the man out of the garden, he placed angels and a sword of fire that flashed around in every direction on its eastern border. This kept people from getting to the tree of life.

Notes 
God gives the name Adam, which signifies red earth, the name of a dying body. Adam gives woman the name Eve, which signifies life. Adam perhaps had regard to the blessing of a saviour that would come through their line. Remember God’s promise in Genesis. 3:15, “One of her descendants will crush your head”. This can be significant of the life that Christ would bring as He triumphed over death and sin on the cross. 

God provides Adam and Eve with clothes made of animal skins. Because of their disobedience, they were exposed to their nakedness and the fig leaves just weren’t cutting it. They needed covering up. A full covering was required, the covering of Jesus’ righteousness.

Now the Garden of Eden, in a way, was like Heaven. Again because of their disobedience, that perfect dwelling place was no longer to be; they no longer deserved paradise. If they continued to live there, they would have lived forever, but forever in continual sin, which meant constant hiding from God. Instead of having to hide from God, God kicked them out and sent them to work the ground, from where they had come. [NOTE: this was not a place of TORMENT, but of TOIL] 

How does this relate to us today? We no longer need to live a life of torment by being separated from God. We live a life of continuous pursuit after God. Even though it can be tough [a place of toil], we don’t have to be tormented by the fact that we could have been separated from God forever [like satan].

Genesis 4 v 1-5
Adam had sexual relations with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. Eve said, “With the LORD’s help, I have given birth to a man.” After that, Eve gave birth to Cain’s brother Abel. Abel took care of flocks, and Cain became a farmer.
Later, Cain brought some food from the ground as a gift to God. Abel brought the best parts from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD accepted Abel and his gift, but he did not accept Cain and his gift. So Cain became very angry and felt rejected.

Notes 
We find here the creation of the first family unit. Adam and Eve were the first couple to be joined as one through the most intimate of acts. Eve then became pregnant and gave birth to Cain and later on, gave birth to Abel. Cain becomes a farmer and works the ground, while Abel becomes a shepherd and looks after flocks. Here we see how they have to fend for themselves; they have to work hard for their existence. 

Later in the story, we find it to be harvest-time, a time for offerings. Both Cain and Abel offer God gifts from their hard work. God accepts Abel and his gift, but did not accept Cain or his gift. Why? We don’t really know why because the Bible doesn’t specifically say. It could possibly be because the gift was unsuitable and improper or it could have been the purpose behind the gift. God looks at the motives of why we give and the quality of what we have given. It’s interesting though to see that God’s first people were straight into the habit of giving back to God. When we give, we should give with a joyful and thankful heart. With the fact that Cain had to “work the ground” in order to produce an offering to give to God, do you think that maybe Cain offered his gift with a dismal and unthankful heart? Whether true or not, the lesson to be learned is to give cheerfully, with a joyful and thankful heart [2 Corinthians 9:7].


word-on-the-web uses the Scripture text taken from the Youth Bible, New Century Version (Anglicised Edition) copyright 1993 by Word Publishing Milton Keynes