What Went Wrong

in your pew Bible.

You can turn there with me.

Genesis chapter three.

Let me pray for us

as we come to God's word.

Oh Lord Jesus,

indeed you are worthy

of all blessing

and honor and glory.

Thank you that you have not left us, Lord,

to try to search

for you

and to grasp for you

aimlessly

and in the dark.

But you've given us

your sure

and good word

written and preserved

down through the ages

that we might have

a clear view of you

so that you might speak to us

and that we might know you

and give you the praise

that our hearts so long

to pour out to you.

So visit us

in these moments

as we come

to the book of Genesis again

and reveal yourself to us,

we pray.

Amen.

Genesis chapter three.

Let me read verses one through thirteen

for us.

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?

And the woman said

to the serpent,

we may eat

of the fruit

of the trees

in the garden,

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.

But the serpent

said to the woman,

you will not surely die,

for God knows

that when you eat of it,

your eyes will be opened

and you will be like God,

knowing good

and evil.

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.

And the eyes of both

were opened

and they knew

that they were naked.

And they sewed

fig leaves together

and made themselves

loincloths.

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.

But the Lord God

called to the man

and said to him,

where are you?

And he said,

I heard the sound

of you in the garden

and I was afraid

because I was naked

and I hid myself.

He said,

who told you

that you were naked?

Have you eaten

of the tree

of which I commanded

you not to eat?

The man said,

the woman

whom you gave

to be with me,

she gave me fruit

of the tree

and I ate.

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.

Well,

for the last four weeks,

we have been journeying

together through

Genesis chapters 1 and 2.

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

And what we've seen

so far

is God

lovingly

and powerfully

creating all things

and pronouncing them

good.

And we've seen humans

made in God's image,

male and female,

created to steward

and keep this creation

so teeming

with life and joy.

Anyway,

chapter 2 ends,

you'll remember,

by saying that the man

and the woman,

husband and wife,

were both naked

and they were not ashamed.

So the opening two chapters

of Genesis

picture God

as a good king

and we humans

as rulers

under God's good kingship

full of life

and potential

and love.

It's quite a picture.

But,

that is not

how we experience life

today,

is it?

Rather than that

order of Genesis 1,

we so often

see chaos.

And rather than

flourishing,

we see pain

and suffering.

Rather than feeling

naked and unashamed,

most of us,

if we're honest,

are full of fears

and underneath it all,

we are quite

ill

at ease

with ourselves.

things are not

how they're supposed

to be

or at least

how Genesis 1 and 2

say they're supposed

to be.

What

went

wrong?

How did we get

from there

to here?

Now,

that's an important

question

because

if we

misdiagnose

the problem,

then we will be

misguided

as to the solution.

When I was in

middle school,

my older brother,

who was in high

school at the time,

was experiencing

pretty frequent

fatigue and

some aches

and pains.

So we went

to the doctor,

we went to our

pediatrician,

and the doctor

said it was

probably just

some growing

pains,

nothing too

serious,

watch your diet,

get some sleep.

But for some

reason,

that didn't

quite sit right

with my mother,

so we went

and we got a

second opinion.

And it turns out

my brother

actually had

stage 3

Hodgkin's

disease.

Now thankfully,

that is a

treatable form

of cancer,

and my brother's

been in remission

now for decades.

But you see,

that early

misdiagnosis

very,

really,

could have

been fatal.

Could it be

that spiritually,

we humans

have been

misdiagnosing

our problem

and reaching

for the wrong

solutions

and finding

no real

lasting help?

What

went

wrong?

Genesis 3

is the

biblical answer

to that

question.

It's the

account

of

the fall.

Humanity's

willful

rebellion

against God

in and

through

our first

parents,

Adam and

Eve.

Now we're

going to

take two

weeks on

this chapter

of Genesis.

This morning

we're just

going to

focus on

those first

13 verses.

And today

I want to

consider the

fall under

three big

headings.

I want us

to think of

the fall

or consider

the fall

as first

history,

second as

mystery,

and third

as reality.

History,

mystery,

reality.

So first

let's take a

look at this

passage as

history.

And what I

mean here

is that

the account

of Genesis

3 is

intended to

communicate an

actual event

in space

and time.

What we're

dealing with

here is not

a mere

myth.

Now,

of course,

there are

elements that

initially feel

that way,

right?

I mean,

come on.

We got a

talking snake

and a

forbidden tree.

What could

be more

mythological

than that?

But the

narrative of

Genesis 3,

if you keep

reading the

Bible,

the narrative

of Genesis

3 rolls

directly on

into chapter

4 and 5

and 6

and 7

and so on.

There's no

literary break

in the book

to suggest

that Genesis

3 is any

less of a

historical

narrative than

what's to

come.

Now,

it's certainly

possible that

Genesis 3

could be using

some figurative

language to

look back and

describe these

events,

but the events

are considered

real events

nonetheless,

even if some

figurative language

is used in

order to

convey it.

Now,

let's take this

talking serpent

for starters.

Nearly all

early interpreters

of Genesis

understood that

this serpent,

if it was a

real serpent,

was under the

control of a

much more sinister

power,

the one that

the Bible calls

Satan,

a name that

literally means

the accuser.

Satan was

somehow using

this serpent

to undermine

the first

humans.

Now,

when it comes

to thinking

of Satan,

of spiritual

beings,

of angels,

of demons,

I think we

need to be

aware and

to beware of

two equal

and opposite

dangers.

As C.S.

Lewis put it

so helpfully

in the

screw tape

letters,

one is to

disbelieve in

their existence

and the other

is to believe

and to feel

an excessive

and unhealthy

interest in

them.

Now,

of course,

many of us

today think

that any

talk of

angels or

fallen angels

is sort of

primitive and

even irrational.

But,

you know,

if one

believes in

God,

the creator

of all

things seen

and unseen,

and there

are very

good reasons

for believing

in God,

the creator

of all

things seen

and unseen,

then believing

that God

could create

unseen

spiritual

personal

beings to

magnify him

and to

praise him

is not

irrational in

the least.

And that

some of

those spiritual

beings may

rebel against

God is also

not illogical.

But,

haven't we

grown past

all that,

you say?

I mean,

come on.

Even if you

could possibly

logically justify

a belief in

these things,

it all still

feels a bit

medieval,

doesn't it,

a bit primitive?

And yet,

it is worth

noting that

the Bible's

understanding

of angels,

of Satan,

of demons,

in other words,

what I mean,

the balanced

biblical understanding

of these things

that avoids both

the extremes

of denial

and obsession,

that biblical

understanding

doesn't make

our view

of reality

less

sophisticated,

but more.

You see,

according to

the Bible,

there are

physical realities

at work in

the world.

There are

social realities

at work in

the world.

There are

psychological

realities.

There are

economic realities.

There are

structural realities.

But there are

also spiritual

realities at work

in our world.

When we look

at the world

through the lens

of the Bible,

we're not

putting on a

pair of blinders

that excludes

reality,

we're actually

putting on a

pair of fine-tuned

glasses that

capture the

whole of reality.

So when we

come up against

Genesis 3

with this

talking serpent,

which the rest

of the Bible

identifies with

the activity of

Satan,

we're not in

the region of

myth,

but we've got

some fine-tuned

glasses on,

and we're talking

about cold,

hard realities.

And the

same goes for

this tree of

the knowledge

of good and

evil, as it's

called in

Genesis 2.

Now keep in

mind, this

tree is not

a magical

tree.

It's a

symbolic one.

It stands for

something.

And we know

what that's like,

don't we?

After all,

why is burning

a flag, for

instance, such a

controversial action?

Not because a

flag is magical,

but because a

flag stands for

something.

It's not

magical, but

meaningful.

The tree of the

knowledge of good

and evil stood

for God's

sovereign kingship

in his good

creation.

Remember, in this

context, to know

good and evil

meant something

like to determine

good and evil,

to know enough,

to claim to know

enough, to be able

to determine what's

right and wrong,

to decide what

should and should

not be.

And if Adam

and Eve would

trust God's

goodness and

let God be

God, if they

would let him

be the one who

knows, who

determines good

and evil, then

the promises from

the very first,

then they would

flourish.

And how would

they express that

glad, obedient

trust in God

as God?

Through a

symbolic,

meaningful action.

salvation.

They would not

eat from the

one tree that

God designated

to represent

his reign.

So the fall

is presented to

us as history,

a real event

in space and

time.

And the good

news about that

is it means

something can be

done about it.

If the fall

were merely a

mythical description

of how things

always are, there

could be little

hope of undoing

it.

But if, as

Paul says in

Romans 5, sin

came into the

world through one

man, and death

through sin, and

so death spread to

all men because all

sinned.

In other words, if

the fall was a

real event, then

perhaps another

event could take

place to rescue

and to heal, to

liberate and to

transform.

If in Adam we

all fell, then

perhaps God

could make a

way through a

new Adam to

raise us up

again.

So history.

But also there

is, if we're

honest, much

mystery here in

Genesis 3.

And by that I

mean that there

are many questions

that are not

answered here.

How exactly did

Satan communicate

through this

serpent?

How much time

passed between

Genesis 2 and

Genesis 3?

And why did

God pick a tree

to represent his

reign?

And while we're

at it, where did

Satan come from?

What would cause an

angelic being to

rebel against a

good God?

And when did this

angelic rebellion

happen?

Lots of really

good questions.

And yet here in

Genesis 3, those

questions are not

answered.

And if that is

frustrating, consider

that it is also

focusing.

The camera angle

has to point

somewhere.

What is it that

we see?

To what does the

narrator point our

attention?

Now we can always

take a step back and

look across the

whole of scripture and

try to answer some of

these questions.

And that's a good

thing to do.

If in Genesis 1, God

pronounces all of

creation very good, then

the rebellion of some

angelic beings against

God must have happened

sometime between

Genesis 1.31 and

Genesis 3.1.

But not much else

is said.

Sorry.

And as the biblical

story develops, we

see Satan presented as

the primary or

principal one among

those rebels.

Jesus himself will

refer to Satan as a

murderer from the

beginning.

And a liar and the

father of lies.

And in Revelation, the

last book of the

Bible, Satan will be

called that ancient

serpent who stands at

the head of the

spiritual rebellion

against God and God's

people.

But again, we don't

find excessive

descriptions.

No long narratives.

No epic poems about

Satan's fall.

No, you see, that's not

the focus of the

biblical story.

The Bible is very

comfortable with

mystery because the

Bible wants us to

focus.

An event has

happened that has

changed the course

of history.

The world is no

longer the way it's

supposed to be.

And where does the

camera point?

To the relationship

between God and

humanity.

God's image bearers are

first human parents,

rather than driving the

serpent from the

garden, listened to

his voice.

They considered a

creature to be more

trustworthy than the

creator, and they

disobeyed God's good

word, putting

themselves in the

place of God so that

they might know, so

that they might decide

good and evil and

everything in between.

There's much left to

mystery so that we

might focus on the

main thing.

But now the third

thing we need to see

in Genesis 3 is that

this isn't just an

event in history long

ago.

This is reality right

now.

The fall has affected

each one of us.

You know, in 1986,

when the Chernobyl

nuclear power plant

melted down in

Russia, it wasn't

just a disaster for

that day and for

those present.

The fallout of that

event affected

generations of people

as they lived in the

aftermath.

You see, because the

fall in Genesis 3 is

history, it is now

our undeniable

reality.

So what reality do we

see here in Genesis

3?

I'm going to point to

three things.

First, the reality of

how Satan tempts us.

The reality of how

Satan tempts us.

Verse 1 says the

serpent is crafty or

shrewd.

Now that word doesn't

have to have negative

connotations in Hebrew,

but in this context, it

certainly is ominous,

isn't it?

And there's actually a

play on words here.

In Hebrew, the word for

crafty sounds a lot like

the word for naked at the

end of chapter 2.

As if to say, what will

happen when this pair of

humans, innocent and free,

meet the craftiness of the

serpent?

Even Satan coming to the

woman in the guise of a

serpent is telling, right?

It's deceptive.

It's shrewd.

Satan doesn't appear as a

fallen rebel enemy of God,

but a mere snake.

Sliding his way into the

garden and asking a

seemingly innocent

question.

temptation often comes this

way to us.

Not obvious, not big, bold

declarations, but subtle,

seemingly innocent.

But notice the trap that the

serpent sets, even with this

seemingly simple question.

Did God actually say, you

shall not eat of any tree in

the garden?

First, Satan wants us to

question God's word.

To put yourself in a

position of judge.

Did God actually say?

What do you think?

Now, of course, not all

questions are bad.

Questions are good.

We have doubts.

We need to ask questions.

We need to search these

things out.

But you can tell from the

start that this isn't that

kind of question, is it?

Satan is misrepresenting

God through this question,

isn't he?

If you look back at chapter

two, what did God tell the

first humans?

God told them to eat of

every tree in the garden.

Except one.

They had total liberty with

one condition.

God reserves one tree for

himself, that's all.

One symbolic place where they

could give expression to

their acknowledgement that

God is God.

And they are not.

But Satan's question already

makes God look like a divine

killjoy.

You can't eat of any of these

trees, can you?

And what begins with a

question soon turns out to

become a flat contradiction.

When the woman corrects the

serpent, the serpent contradicts

God.

You shall not surely die.

For God knows that when you

eat of it, your eyes will be

opened and you'll be like God

knowing good and evil.

Do you see what Satan is doing

here?

Portraying God as withholding

something good from us.

God, Satan says, cannot be

trusted.

He doesn't want your best.

He doesn't love you.

He wants to keep you down.

He's afraid you'll become like

him.

That one thing that he told you

is off limits.

That's the one thing that's going

to bring you real freedom and joy.

But here's the irony.

Satan tells them this tree will

make them like God.

But Adam and Eve were already

like God.

They were made in God's image.

They were as much like God as

any created being could be.

And so Satan wants the woman and

the man not just to be doubtful

about God's character, but about

their own identity in relation to

God as well.

And friends, this is the dynamic

of temptation still today.

Haven't you heard those same

voices in your heart at times?

This can't be that bad.

I mean, I'm not going to die.

God's withholding something good

from you.

You won't be happy if you don't

have this and God is keeping it

from you.

Satan will always try through lies

and half-truths to get us to doubt

the goodness of God, to question the

truthfulness of his word, and to

become blind to the glory to which

he's promised us and made us as

humans.

You see, God had made Adam and Eve

in his image, and he had promised

them the tree of life if they

obeyed his word.

So in reality, what Satan is trying

to get them to do is to shortcut the

obedience and go straight for the

goal.

Satan is in essence saying, the way to

life isn't through being a servant of

God, but through grasping the place of

God for yourself.

You know, it's the same when Satan

tempted Jesus in the wilderness.

What was Satan trying to get Jesus to

do in that reading we heard earlier?

Satan was trying to convince Jesus to

become a king without being a servant.

to get the crown without the cross.

Don't experience hunger.

Turn these stones into bread.

Don't be rejected by the chief priest.

Do something so spectacular at the

temple that they'll have to praise you.

Don't suffer and die.

Bow to me and I'll hand the kingdoms of

this world over to you.

Satan will always propose what seems like

the easy way to happiness.

The tree was good for food and a delight

to the eyes, just like all the other

trees in the garden, according to

chapter 2, verse 9.

But then Eve starts thinking, this tree,

well, it just might make me something

I'm not.

Maybe it really does have the power to

make one wise.

That is, maybe I can be like God without

having to serve God.

So friend, can you recognize the voice

of temptation when it comes?

Twisting God's word.

Denying God's goodness and his love for you.

These voices are not the voices of your

liberation.

They are the voices of your ruin.

And that's the second reality that we see

here.

The reality not just of how Satan tempts us,

but of how sin defiles us.

What is the result of the woman and then

the man eating the fruit?

Ironically, what the serpent told them

seems to come true.

They don't die.

And their eyes are opened.

But what do their eyes now see?

As their consciences burn within them.

And what sort of life do they now live?

What comes of their disobedience to God's word?

First, sin brings shame.

They knew that they were naked.

And they sewed fig leaves together and

made themselves loincloths.

Fig leaves, you see, are broad enough to

actually make a covering.

And so feeling now that their nakedness is a

problem and not a gift to be enjoyed,

they cover themselves and they hide from

one another.

Satan promised that their eyes would be

opened.

And now all that they can see is their

shame.

Second, sin brings fear.

God comes and they hide from him.

Why do they hide?

God.

Because they're afraid.

No longer do they have a filial relationship

with God.

That is a relationship of sons and daughters

to their loving maker.

But they're afraid.

They're afraid to be seen.

They're afraid to be known.

They're afraid to come into the presence of their

good creator.

Satan promised them that they'd be like God

and now they can't even stand to be in God's

presence.

And third, sin brings blame.

In response to God's questions, the man blames the

woman and the woman blames the serpent.

And in effect, they both blame God.

It's the woman you gave me.

It's the serpent you made.

That's the problem.

Satan promised that they would know good and evil

and now they can't even come to admit when they are

wrong.

It's worth pausing here and considering.

Do you see those dynamics in your own heart?

We often think that if we were in Adam and Eve's shoes, we

would have chosen differently.

But is that the case in your own life?

Have you chosen differently?

And what about your interior world?

Is there not shame and fear and the blaming of others?

Isn't it funny we don't have to try to do those things?

They just happen.

Sin promises us freedom and life.

But what does it deliver?

Alienation from ourselves in shame.

Alienation from God in fear.

And alienation from one another in blame.

But there's a third reality here.

Not just how Satan tempts us.

Not just how sin defiles us.

But also how God approaches us.

In the evening, God comes into his garden to meet with the man and the woman.

Now next week, we'll see that God pronounces a curse because of Adam and Eve's sin.

And he exiles them from the garden.

But here, before that, he comes asking questions.

Where are you?

Who told you?

What have you done?

God, of course, knows the answer to these questions, doesn't he?

So why does he ask them?

To call them out of hiding and into the light.

You see, the way through the fall, the way through our sin,

is not by denying it or by hiding it, but by confessing it.

To admit that we are rebels and to plead for mercy.

But will God be merciful?

That's the question.

Will God forgive his rebellious image bearers?

And will he make things right again?

You know, when Genesis 3 was originally compiled,

Israel was on the verge of entering the promised land.

God was putting his people back into his garden, as it were.

And again, the choice was before them.

Would they obey his voice, his word, his law?

Or would they obey the voice of the enemy?

Would they listen to the voice of their creator?

Or would they worship and serve a created thing instead?

And the long, tragic history of Israel

is really the story of all humanity.

Like a play within the play of the entire human drama,

there are God's people, the Israelites,

just like all of us.

Rather than keeping God's word,

they listen to other voices,

and they too rebel.

And in rebellion, God gives them over to death.

And so by the end of the Old Testament,

we see that Israel cannot undo the fall.

They too are in Adam,

part of this fallen human race,

willingly listening to the voice of the serpent,

needing themselves to be rescued.

But that's not the end of the story.

When we could not save ourselves,

God comes to save us.

When Jesus begins his public ministry,

he too faces the accuser, Satan.

But this time, not in a garden,

but in a wilderness.

With everything good stripped away,

a great confrontation happens.

A great confrontation happens.

And Satan comes tempting,

speaking half-truths and lies,

getting Jesus to question his own identity.

Are you really the son of God?

Couldn't the son of God just turn some of these stones into bread

and fix this whole thing?

Couldn't you show that you're the Messiah of Israel

by going to the temple

and doing something a little spectacular?

Wouldn't that prove that you're the son of God?

And by the way,

wasn't the son of God promised to reign

over all the kingdoms of the world?

We can fix this right now.

Bow to me and I will hand them over to you

and you'll prove that you are the son of God.

But where Adam failed,

and where Israel failed,

and where we failed,

Jesus conquered.

The voice of the serpent

was at last overcome

by the word of God.

The incarnate word

speaking the written word.

And just as humanity fell

into condemnation and guilt in Adam,

so now in Christ

there is justification

and life for all who believe.

And united to Christ by faith,

what happens?

What happens when we are united

to this better and last Adam

who's blazed a new path

through the human story?

Well, you know,

united to Christ by faith,

knowing that we have a champion

who's overcome for us,

one who succeeded

where we have failed in our place,

united to him,

we can at last confess

that we are sinners.

And we can come out of hiding

and we can come into the light

because we know

that God's judgment

has been met

in his own son

so that we might receive mercy.

mercy.

And we can move beyond shame

and fear and blame

before God

and before one another.

And we can resist the voice

of the evil one now.

Not perfectly,

but we can.

Why?

Not because we are strong,

but because Christ

has conquered for us.

And this obedience of Christ

was so unrelenting, you see,

that he was willing

not just to face

our enemy in the wilderness,

but he was willing

to take the form of a servant

and become obedient to death,

even death on a cross,

as the apostles will say.

Listen,

do you want to know

how to stand against

the scheme of the enemy?

When the tempter gets you

to question God's goodness

and wonder whether God

really loves you,

friends, look to the last Adam,

to Jesus, your Savior,

who came and went

into the wilderness for you

and who died for you,

how could God not love you?

And when the tempter tells you

that God is withholding

something good from you,

again, look to Christ

and know that God

has given over his son for you.

God was willing to lose

what is most precious

in all of eternity,

that you might be reclaimed

from the ruin of the fall.

And when the tempter

gets you to doubt

that obedience to God

will bring joy in the end,

that these short-term acts

of service and obedience

are not going to bring

the freedom and joy

that you want,

look at the risen Jesus.

See how he did not turn back

from suffering

so that we might enter

into glory with him.

See how the way to glory

is the road of the cross.

And yet whatever we lose

is nothing compared

to what we gain in him.

So the fall then

is our reality.

But for those in Christ,

it's not the last word.

Christ has clothed us

not with mere fig leaves,

but with his own righteousness.

And through his spirit

living in us,

we need no longer listen

to the voice of the serpent,

but we can obey

the voice of our living God.

Amen.

Isn't that good news?

We're about to take

the Lord's Supper together

to continue to let these truths

sink into our hearts.

And isn't it wonderful

that the very act

that brought us such ruin,

Adam and Eve took and ate,

would now be the very act

that symbolizes our redemption.

We take and we eat.

Adam and Eve stood before a tree

and rebelled against God.

Friends, we sit before a table

and have been made friends of God

because Christ was willing

to be crucified on a tree,

on the cross.

So let's take a moment

and let's pray

and let's prepare to commune

with Christ at his table.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

I wonder if those who are

helping to serve would come up.

Thank you.