God’s creation has been cursed as a result of selfishness and rebellion…and that curse brings consequences...

This week, we are asking the question, “If everything that God created was good, then what happened?” Yesterday, we were given a glimpse into an encounter that Adam and Eve would with Satan, who had disguised himself as a serpent. Satan tempts Eve by challenging God’s character and God’s motives. Satan basically tells Eve “Don’t believe God because God lied to you. You are not going to die if you eat the fruit. God lied to Adam when He told him that. Instead, God knows that if you eat the fruit you will become like Him. You will be like God and God does not want that. Eve, God is trying to keep you from being all you can be. Eve don’t you want to be like God?”

Today, we will see the decision of Adam and Eve made and the consequences of that decision for all the creation in Genesis 3:6:

“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 desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.”?

Eve responded to Satan’s temptation by buying into the deception that she could become like God. While Eve was deceived into buying into the lie, Adam had no such excuse. You see, Adam was the one who had been given the command in Genesis 2:17. Eve was not around yet. And it was Adam who was given the responsibility by God to lovingly lead, provide and protect Eve.

But instead of leading, Adam decided to be a coward. Adam allowed Eve to take the role that he had abdicated. And it was Eve who was deceived by Satan into violating the only rule on the planet. That is why the Bible says in 1 Timothy 2: 14 that Eve was deceived. Eve was deceived because it was Adam who was responsible. And it was Adam’s cowardly irresponsibility that led to sin entering into the world.

And as sin entered the world, we see the consequences immediately affect the world. The relationship between Adam and Eve and humanity throughout history was drastically changed. They were no longer comfortable in their own skin.  Something had come between them that resulted in a loss of vulnerability and transparency. And as a result they covered themselves with fig leaves. We read what happens next in verse 8:

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. Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?"

Now God is not asking “Where are you?” because He did not know where they were. God knows where they are. Parents, have you ever asked your children where they were at, even though you knew where they were at, as an introduction to a conversation? And usually that conversation involves dealing with something that your children have done wrong that they are trying to hide from you as they hide from you, doesn’t it? That is what is happening here. God is engaging Adam and Eve here by saying “Why are you trying to hide from Me?” Look at Adam’s response:

He said, "I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself." And He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?"

Again, God is not asking “Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” because He did not know that they had eaten from the tree. God already knew that they had eaten from the tree. And Adam’s response of his fear as a result of being naked revealed the reality that they had eaten from the tree. You see, God is not asking these questions in order to get information. God already has all of the information. God is asking these questions in order to see if Adam was going to take responsibility for his behavior. God is asking these questions to see if Adam is going to own his irresponsible disobedience. We see Adam’s response in verse 12:

The man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate."

In other words, Adam says “God, this is your fault. The woman whom YOU GAVE to be with me, she is the one who deserves the blame. She gave me the fruit and I ate it. God this is your fault and this is her fault, but it isn’t my fault”. Instead of fulfilling his responsibility to lovingly, lead, protect, and provide for his wife, Adam cowardly chose to allow Eve to lead their relationship. God gave His command to Adam, who was expected to lead the couple in following the commandment. The result was disobeying God’s command and sin entered the world and corrupted God’s design and creation. Adam’s response leads God to ask Eve a very simple and pointed question in verse 13:

“Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?"

God is asking Eve “What do you have to say for yourself?” We see Eve’s response in the second half of verse 13:

“And the woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

In other words, Eve says “God, this is not my fault. God this is the Devil’s fault. God it is the devil who deceived me. God, the devil made me do it. God this is Devil’s fault, but it isn’t my fault”. And it is here that we see the timeless answer to the question “What happened?” And it is in this timeless answer that we discover a timeless truth when it comes to what we experience as we life here on earth.

And that timeless truth is that God’s creation has been cursed as a result of selfishness and rebellion…and that curse brings consequences. As a result of our first parent’s act of selfishness and rebellion, sin entered into the world. And sin’s entrance into the world corrupted God’s creation and brought a curse upon the creation. And the curse that Adam and Eve brought upon God’s creation has consequences for all of humanity and for all of creation throughout history. We see those consequences revealed to us beginning in Genesis 3:14. Let’s look at those consequences together:

 The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life; And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel."

God begins by confronting Satan, who had disguised himself as a serpent, for His act of tempting Adam and Eve that flowed from His selfish and rebellious desire to oppose and destroy God and God’s people. In this confrontation, we see two consequences of Satan’s rebellion. First, God reveals the reality that all of the animal kingdom would be impacted by sin’s entrance into the world.

Notice what God says in verse 14: “Cursed are you more than all the cattle, and more than every beast of the field”. Sin’s entrance into the world brought a curse to the animal kingdom. And for the serpent, who was the disguise that Satan used in His deception of Eve, the curse would be most dramatic. While all of the animals were affected by Adam and Eve’s selfishness and rebellion, the serpent’s very form and movements were altered.

The serpent would be cursed to crawl on the ground in order to serve as a reminder of the temptation and the consequences that giving into temptation produce. The phrase “and dust you will eat” refers to the serpent being humbled. The serpent would provide a word picture for the humiliation that the consequences of selfishness and rebellion produce and of what Satan would eventually experience at the end of God’s story here on earth, as we see in verse 15.

Second, in verse 15, God reveals the reality that from the moment that Satan deceived Adam and Eve, there would be hostility between the spiritual descendants of Satan, who oppose God and the kingdom of God and the spiritual descendants of Adam and Eve, who would follow God. And that hostility would culminate in one of the descendants of Adam and Eve, bruising Satan on the head and Satan bruising that descendant on the heel.

And it is here that we see the very first proclamation of the gospel, that God would send a rescuer, a deliverer, Jesus Christ, who would enter into humanity in order to live the life that we refused to live, and then allow Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives, so that God the Farther could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life.

You see, God was not surprised by the selfishness and rebellion of Adam and Eve. Instead of being surprised, God had a plan; a plan that would provide Him maximum glory and provide all humanity the opportunity to experience forgiveness and the relationship with God that they were created for.

Friday, we see the specific consequences of our first parent’s sin in the life of humanity throughout history,