WHEN GOD'S LOVE IS DOUBTED
Genesis 3:1-24 Lesson 4a
Key Verse: 3:15
"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your
offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike
his heel."
* TEMPTATION AND FALL (1-6)
1. Where does this conversation take place and who are the
participants? How is the serpent described? Who does the serpent
represent? (Rev 12:7-9) What is characteristic of his nature?
(3:1; Jn 8:44)
2. Observe carefully the steps in the serpent's temptation of the
woman. How did he twist the mean- ing of God's word? (compare
2:16,17 with 3:1,4,5) In what respect did he lie? How did he
remove the absolute from God's word? How did he plant pride? How
did he lead her to doubt God's love?
3. How did the woman answer him? (2,3) What was her attitude toward
God and his word? What were her inner desires? Why did she yield
to temptation? What can we learn here about how to overcome
temptation? (See Mt 4:1-11)
* THE TRAGEDY OF BROKEN FELLOWSHIP (7-13)
4. Why did she give some to her husband? What was the immediate
result of their eating the forbidden fruit? (7) What do you
think this means?
5. When they heard God coming, what did they do? Why? How and why did
God call? What was Adam's answer? What does this conversation
show about the tragedy of sin?
6. How did God confront Adam with his sin? What might Adam have done?
What excuses did they make? What does this reveal about sin's
effect on relationships?
* A WORLD UNDER CURSE (14-24)
7. How did God curse the serpent? How does God's promise in 3:15 give
hope to mankind? Why is this the key verse of this lesson?
8. How did God punish the woman? How is her punishment related to her
blessing? (1:28) What does it mean that God cursed the ground?
(see Ro 8:20,21) How is man's punishment related to his mission?
[How can the curse be removed, woman set free and man's mission
restored? (Gal 3:13; Jn 3:18; Ro 16:20; Mk 16:15])
9. In what other way did God show his love for fallen man? How did
Adam heal his relationship with his wife?
10. Why did God drive them from the Garden? Why did he not destroy the
garden? What hope does this give? What is the significance of
the tree of life? (Rev 22:2,14,19)
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WHEN GOD'S LOVE IS DOUBTED
Genesis 3:1-24 Lesson 4a
Key Verse: 3:15
God made a good world. He made man to be happy and provided
everything necessary for his happiness. But the world in which we now
live doesn't seem to be good. It is full of sorrow, tragedy and
violence. Happiness is like a rainbow which we can never seem to catch.
How could the good world created by a loving God get this way? And is
there any hope for men in a world like this? In Genesis 3 we study the
first great turning point in human history--the fall of man. Man's sin
trans- formed God's good and beautiful and happy world into a cursed
world, groaning in travail, waiting for its redemption. Instead of
living as rulers and stewards of God's world, men became servants of
the devil.
1. The fall of man (1-13)
In this chapter Satan personified in the form of the serpent (Rev
12:9) makes his appearance. The writer of Genesis does not tell us
about his origin. He does tell us that he was crafty and that he was a
created being. The implication of other scripture (Rev 12:7-9; Jude 6;
2 Pet 2:4) is that Satan was a beautiful and powerful angel who forgot
his position, rebelled against God and was cast out of heaven. Pride
destroyed even angels of God. John 8:44 tells us that he was a liar and
a murderer from the beginning.
His purpose in tempting the woman is clear. He wanted her to listen
to and follow his words instead of obeying God's word. This seems like
a small thing. But until this time, mankind had obeyed God and walked
with him in beautiful fellowship in the garden. The Bible says that we
are slaves of the one whom we obey (Rom 6:16). By disobeying God and
obeying Satan, mankind would come under Satan's authority. They would
be transferred from God's kingdom to the kingdom of Satan. Creation
order in the garden was kept by man's obedience to God.
How did Satan lead the woman to disobey God? First, he asked a
question about God's command: "Did God really say, 'You must not eat
from any tree in the garden.'" He tried to confuse her about God's
word, and he suggested that God's prohibition was unreasonable, and
that furthermore, it impinged on her rights. He listened to her answer,
then said, "You will not surely die; God knows that when you eat of it
your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and
evil." There is enough truth in his words to make it the most effective
kind of lie. (22) When he said, "You will not surely die," he was
removing the absoluteness from God's word. He was saying that obeying
God's word is not really a life and death matter. Then he suggested
that God's motive in forbidding them to eat of one tree was not love
but tyranny, and that God was withholding from them something very
good. He led her to doubt the goodness of God. When doubt of God's love
took root in her heart, and when the fear and respect of God and his
word was shaken, she could entertain the possibility of disobedience.
She became vulnerable to temptation.
What was it in her attitude toward God's word and blessings that
weakened her? In the first place, she was not grateful to God for his
gracious and abundant provision for her needs and happiness. The good
and delightful trees of the garden were all prepared by God. He had
commanded man to eat freely of their fruit. But the woman took this
gift and blessing for granted. (vs.2) At the same time, she put
unnecessary emphasis on the negative part of God's command. (God did
not say "Don't touch it"; he said, "Don't eat it.") She did not pay
careful attention to God's word, or hide God's word in her heart.
Instead, she accepted Satan's words. He had told her that eating the
fruit would make her as wise as God, and she believed him. He didn't
tell her the tragic consequences of disobedience. Her physical desires,
which were intended to enrich her life became unrestrained. The fruit
was beautiful and looked delicious. It became very desirable. So,
without any further thought, she took it and ate. Her act was an act of
obedience to Satan and an act of disobedience to God. She moved from
the kingdom of God to the kingdom of this world, the kingdom of Satan.
Guilt longs for company, so she gave some of the forbidden fruit to
Adam; he ate and joined her in the kingdom of Satan. Their innocence
was gone. They tried to cover themselves to hide from each other. They
tried to hide from God. The beautiful relationships with God and with
one another were broken. Adam blamed the woman for giving him the
forbidden fruit, and he blamed God for giving him the woman. Fear,
guilt and broken relationships are the gifts of Satan. Lost innocence
can never be recovered. When God called, "Adam, where are you?" Adam
couldn't answer. He was lost.
2. A world under curse (14-19)
God cursed the serpent. But embedded in his curse is a precious
promise that plants hope in the hearts of all men. God said, "I will
put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and
hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." In God's
right time Jesus, the seed of the woman, would come to crush the head
of Satan. He would be painfully wounded by Satan, but he would win the
victory. This is good news. Satan will be defeated; he will not always
rule the world. This is the promise of God that plants hope in men's
hearts. This promise is fulfilled in Jesus' death and resurrection.
(Heb 2:14,15; Ro 16:20)
This one act of disobedience seems very small, but it was an act of
rebellion against God. Because mankind joined the rebellion of Satan,
God put the world under curse. The writer of Romans says that God
subjected creation to frustration (or futility) in hope that it would
be liberated some day. (8:20-21) So we are living in a world under
curse.
The specific punishment given the woman was directed toward the
special blessing God had given her. God had blessed mankind and told
them to be fruitful and increase in number. But in a world under curse,
childbearing became the woman's cross of pain. Joyful friendship with
her husband, and the joy of sharing with him in doing God's work was
replaced with selfish desire for him. The order of love in the family
was replaced by man's tyrannical rule over woman, rule enforced by her
fear and desire. This curse can only be removed by Jesus. He came to
set mankind free from the curse. He died so that we might be set free
from slavery to sinful desires and the guilt of sin. He came to restore
our relationship with God and to make it possible for men and women to
have a healthy and right relationship with one another. He came to
restore love and friendship in the home.
Man's punishment was also directed toward his blessing. God made the
man fully responsible for listening to his wife instead of obeying
God's word. Man was created to be the steward of God's world. He had
tilled the ground to fulfill his mission and serve God, and he had
named the animals to joyfully co-work with God. His work was joyful and
full of meaning. But now, because of his sin, the ground and all
creation were under curse. He lost his mission; he must work, not for
God but for his own survival. Work became toil; the final enemy, death,
awaited them both. Only Jesus can remove the curse and restore man's
mission. He died and rose to give life and meaning and mission back to
mankind.
3. Banished from Eden (20-24)
God still loves fallen man. He covered their shame and guilt with
durable clothes made from animal skins. Animals were killed for the
sake of man. In verse 22, God said "man has now become like one of us,
knowing good and evil." This was not a blessing, as the Temptor had
suggested; it was a curse, because the knowledge of good and evil came
through doing evil, and brought tragic consequences, which the Temptor
had not bothered to mention. The knowledge of good and evil can also
come through resisting evil and doing what is good. This takes a little
longer, but this knowledge builds man's character.
God expelled them from the garden. To allow mankind to eat of the
fruit of life and live forever in his sinful state would be to sentence
them to hell immediately. Although God expelled them from the garden,
he did not destroy the tree of life. The tree of life is still there,
waiting for redeemed mankind to come and eat.
The consequences of sin is death. Man cut off from God by sin is
like a cut flower. He is already dead. He is dead spiritually. (Eph
2:1) Only physical death and hell waits for him. So man's life becomes
a pilgrimage back to the tree of life. He can eat the fruit from the
tree of life when his sins are washed in the blood of Jesus (Rev
22:14); the tree of life is in heaven--in the New Jerusalem. Although
we live in a cursed world, by God's grace we can live with a glorious
hope. God's unchanging love and his wonderful promises give us hope.