“And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?" - Genesis 3:9 In the Garden of Eden the serpent tempted Eve to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which God had specifically forbidden them to do. (“And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 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.” - Genesis 2:16,17 ) In later chapters of the Bible we learn that this “serpent” was actually the evil spirit-being called Satan, who is now at work in those who are disobedient to God (Ephesians 2:2) SATAN’S PLAN AGAINST US Discouragement - Makes you look at your problems rather than at God. Doubt - Makes you question God’s Word and his goodness Diversion - Makes the wrong things seem attractive so that you will want them more than the right things Defeat - Makes you feel like a failure so that you don’t even try Delay - Makes you put off doing something so that it never gets done. God’s first question to man: “WHERE ARE YOU?” “And the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him, Where art thou?” - Genesis 3:9 God asked this question for conviction, not for information. The results of Adam and Eve sins were immediate and catastrophic. One of the realities of sin is that its effects spread. After Eve sinned, she involved Adam in wrongdoing. When we do something wrong we often relieve our guilt by involving someone else. Like toxic waste, sin swiftly spreads. Allowing a guilty conscience is a warning signal God has placed inside you that goes off when you’ve done wrong. Adam and Eve tried the shift blame for their actions upon others. Adam blamed Eve, and indirectly blamed God. Eve blamed the serpent. Adam and Eve had entered into a state of spiritual death with physical death to occur later as God had warned. God convicts us and allows us to confess our sin to him before we are tempted to pollute those around us, but Genesis 3:9 shows us God’s desire to have fellowship with us. It also shows why we are afraid to have fellowship with him. Because of Adam and Eve sinned they were afraid to show themselves to God. Sin had broken their close relationship with God. The sin and fall of Adam did not utterly destroy man’s ability to say “no” to sin. God told Cain that he could master and rule over his inclination to sin (“If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.” - Genesis 4:7) God wants ALL people to come to repentance, and we can still do that. Mankind has inherited many bad consequences form Adam’s sin. It does not appear, however, that we are born condemned to eternal punishment for Adam’s sin. (“The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.” - Ezekiel 18:20) Adam’s sin affected man’s nature to a large degree. We need a new birth and a need to become new creatures. (“For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” - Romans 5:19) Jesus Christ, God’s Son, was sent to us to open the way for us to renew our fellowship with God. God longs to be with us. He actively offers unconditional love. Our natural response is fear because we feel we can’t live up to his standards. But understanding that he loves us, regardless of our faults, can help remove that dread. Genesis 3:15—The First Prophecy of the Messiah “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between they seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” - Genesis 3:15 Lets break this down into four parts. 1)There will be enmity between the serpent and the woman. 2)There will be enmity between the offspring of the woman and the offspring (“seed”) of the serpent. 3)The offspring of the woman will crush the head of the serpent. 4)The serpent will crush the heel of the woman’s offspring. The serpent in the prophecy was Satan. Satan inflicted great pain upon Christ, such as crushing his heel. But Satan could not bruise Christ with a fatal blow. The woman’s offspring (or seed) is Christ Jesus. He crushed the serpent’s head when he died on the cross for mankind, and then rose again. The offspring of the serpent seems to be a title for all sinners collectively (John 8:44). They have enmity toward Christ. They even crucified Him. The woman in the prophecy is probably symbolic of the people of God. God’s people (His church) are frequently symbolized in Scripture as a woman. Satan has unending hostility toward all the people who love God. This prophecy was man’s only promise of hope for nearly two thousand years. In the symbolism of this verse God was revealing his plan to defeat Satan for he is our enemy. Satan will do anything he can to get us to follow his evil, deadly path. God provides the world a way to defeat Satan through salvation from his Son, Jesus Christ. The Origin of Sacrifice . . . “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them” - Genesis 3:21. Animals had to be killed to provide skins to cover Adam and his wife. From the time of man’s first sin, God made it plain that the wages of sin is death, but that He accepts the offering of blood and life as a sacrifice and substitute for the life of the one who has sinned. God Himself provides the sacrifice. In the holy eyes of God, only the sacrifice of blood can take away the sin of man. “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission” - Hebrews 9:22. This seems to have been known to all godly people—Abel, Noah, Abraham, and others—because all offered sacrifices. The law of Moses required many sacrifices. God planned even before the creation of the world to send Christ Jesus as the perfect and final sacrifice for man. Jesus was the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” - Revelation 13:8. The previous sacrifices were imperfect, but they pointed toward Christ’s all-sufficient sacrifice of Himself upon the cross. CHAPTER 4—CAIN AND ABEL (4:1—26) No longer was everything provided for Adam and Eve as it was in the Garden of Eden, where their daily tasks were refreshing and delightful. Now they had to struggle against the elements in order to provide food, clothing, and shelter for themselves and their family. When Eve gave birth to Cain she displayed a godly faith by saying “I have acquired a man, the Lord.” Eve’s second son was named Abel. By the time of his birth the pains and weariness and futility in life upon earth had affected her zest for life. Cain and Abel occupied themselves in careers of growing plants and livestock. From the beginning of the human race mankind has had the knowledge and practice of these occupations. Cain and Abel brought offerings to the Lord, each bringing the products of his labor. We have no record of what instructions about the offerings God may have given to man. Abel’s sacrifice of animals is the oldest blood sacrifice given by a human that is known to us. God has always required the sacrifice of blood to cover human sins against him, and Abel’s sacrifice seems to be a part of the continual offering of blood that mankind needs to offer to God. “By faith Abel offered a better sacrifice than Cain did” (Hebrew 11:4) “Faith comes from hearing the message” (Romans 10: 17). We think that Cain and Abel had received instructions about the offering that the Lord desired. Abel did what he was told and Cain did not. When Cain presented his offering, God did not look upon “Cain and his offering” with favor. God was concerned about Cain’s heart, and not just his offering. Proverbs 21:27 says, “The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: how much more when he bringeth it with a wicked mind?” Cain would not accept God’s warning to him (Genesis 4: 6-7) Cain was angry, and felt condemned by the righteous example of his brother. Cain had been bold in killing his brother, but at once became a crybaby when sentenced to punishment. God in his mercy “put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him” (Genesis 4:15). God evaluates both our motives and the quality of what we offer him. When we give to God and others, we should have a joyful heart because of what we are able to give. We should not worry about how much we are giving up, for all things are God’s in the first place. How do we react when someone suggest that we have done something wrong? After Cain’s gift was rejected, God gave him the chance to right his wrong and try again. God even encouraged him to do this. The next time someone suggest you are wrong, take an honest look and choose God’s way instead of Cain’s. God judges all sins and punishes appropriately, not out of vengeance, but because he desires to correct us and restore our fellowship with him. When you’re corrected, don’t resent it. Instead, renew your fellowship with God.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Jul 2013 00:44:00 +0000
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