The Original Sin

A few weeks ago, we considered one of those great existential questions.

! Why is there something rather than nothing?

! And of course, we discovered that the Bible's answer for that the eternal, triune, covenant creator God has made all that exist.

And then He steps back in His perfection and He evaluates what He's made by the power of His word.

And He declares that every piece of it is very good.

And through that, in these first two chapters of the Bible, we've contemplated the wonder of the created world.

We have discovered the glory of humanity made in God's image as His special creation.

We have looked at the beauty of human life and marriage in God's garden.

Genesis 1 and 2 really is an incredible utopian picture of God's goodness and glory.

And we read that and we're in wonder over it and then we immediately become discouraged about it.

Because what we read in Genesis 1 and 2 is not matching up with our experience now.

Our experience here, now, in this place is not the same as what we're reading was true at the beginning.

Every human being can sense that things are not as they ought to be or even as they were meant to be.

Which forces us to ask another of those great questions.

After discovering the Bible's answer for why is there something rather than nothing, we must then ask, what happened?

Where did it all go wrong?

And that's what our text begins to answer for us today.

Genesis 3, verses 1 to 7.

Genesis 3:1–7

Let's read it together.

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,

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.

Then the eyes of both were opened,

and they knew that they were naked,

and they sewed fig leaves together,

and made themselves loincloths.

Amen.

Two statements bracket this section and give us the aim of the text.

The first one is the last verse of chapter 2.

If you just want to set your eyes on it again,

we concluded our time of study last week with this phrase,

The man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

That's bracket number one.

And then we immediately get into what we just read.

We come to the end of it in verse 7.

What is it that we read again?

It's the closing in of that section, another bracket.

What does it say?

Well, the man and the woman, their eyes were opened,

and they were aware now of their nakedness in such a way that they were ashamed.

The text then is about humanity's descent.

It's humanity's descent from purity and innocence into guilt and shame.

It's the record of the original sin,

a catastrophic moment in human history

that affects each and every one of us still today.

And it does so much for us.

Of course, it doesn't do everything.

We go on in the Scriptures to discover more and more about what this means,

but it does so much for us.

Remember, Genesis is a book of foundations.

It's a book of origins.

It's laying a foundation for us to understand something of our sin

and what it is, how we're drawn into it,

the pattern of human sin that is established here

in the very beginning with the first man and woman.

But then even here,

we have a finger pointing forward

to the uniqueness of Jesus Christ

as our true and sufficient Lord and Savior.

I just want to walk through the narrative with you

and explain a few things that we find here

and then see how we can get to anything good in this text

or from this text.

Notice first, we have a diabolical devil.

We're going to have a lot of Ds today, right?

A diabolical devil.

Look at verse 1 again.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field

that the Lord God had made.

A new character is suddenly introduced into the narrative

and this character will play a significant role

in the original sin.

It's a subtle serpent

that enters into dialogue with the first woman, Eve,

which is a rather bizarre twist to the story

as we've been reading it.

It's unexpected,

not only that this creature would be there,

but that it would have a voice

and that it would enter into dialogue

and some kind of reasoning and rationality.

It's a bit bizarre.

Before we jump into explanations

of the purpose of this serpent

and the identity of the serpent,

let's just think first about the three descriptors

that are given to us right here in the verse.

What does the verse itself say about this creature?

Well, first, we find that the serpent

is part of the Lord God's very good creation.

This is a created being.

This is a created creature

that after having been created,

God steps back, the Lord God,

and says, with this creature,

everything is very good,

meaning that the animal itself

is not intrinsically evil.

That's just not what we're finding here in this text.

It's not a tale of some ongoing conflict

between humans and snakes,

though that conflict is great in the Blankenship house.

That's not what this text is about.

There's a second thing that we find here.

It's a categorization for the serpent.

It's categorized as a beast of the field.

If you'll think back to chapter two in several places,

even back to chapter one,

when we see the creation of the land animals,

God divides them into three different categories.

We see this particular creature

is categorized as a beast of the field,

which may indicate

that its presence in the garden sanctuary

is atypical, perhaps,

maybe suspicious.

Moses, perhaps, is laying the groundwork here

for the possibility that the serpent

is an imposter and an intruder.

And then we get to a third thing.

Finally, we note that the serpent

is noted especially for his shrewdness

and his cunning.

Certainly something that characterizes the animal

and is used throughout the scriptures

for both positive and negative explanations.

Jesus in Matthew chapter 10

Matthew 10 · chapter mention

tells his disciples

that as they go into the world on mission,

that they are to be wise as serpents,

crafty as serpents,

shrewd as serpents,

innocent as doves.

It's positive.

We go just a few chapters later

in Matthew 23

and we find that Jesus is confronting

the Pharisees of his days

and he calls them a brood of vipers

with venom on their lips.

They are destructive.

They are using cunning then for evil.

And what we find here in this text

is that as an animal,

the serpent's craftiness,

its shrewdness and cunning

is part of its God-given nature

and is good.

And yet Moses is also signaling

how this creature will,

with great cunning,

attempt to deceive the woman in the garden.

And we put all of that together.

What becomes clear to us in this text

is that it is not intending to convey

that a mere animal

is the source of temptation.

That's not the takeaway from this text.

An unnamed moral being is at work here.

At this point,

we don't know who this being is.

We don't know where he has come from.

We don't know what is motivating his actions.

All we know is that he represents

a clear and present deadly threat

to life in the garden.

And either he has taken possession

of a real serpent,

beast of the field,

in order to use that beast for his purpose

or else perhaps Moses

is just stylistically presenting

the tempter to us

with the imagery of a cunning serpent.

Either way,

this is not about a snake.

It is about a sinister adversary

of God and of his people.

And of course,

as we read our Bibles,

we find that this adversary

goes by other names.

We find him as Satan

or the devil,

that great adversary of God

and of his people.

All of these names

kind of come together in one place

in Revelation chapter 12

Revelation 12 · chapter mention

at the end of the Bible

when it's showing Christ

as victorious over evil.

It says that the great dragon

was thrown down.

That ancient serpent

who is called the devil

and Satan,

the deceiver

of the whole world,

he was thrown down to earth

and his angels

were thrown down

with him.

He is the tempter

who seeks to destroy

God's people

through his rebellion.

His tactics are cunning

and they are effective.

And one goal

of this text,

I think,

is to demonstrate

that the way

he deceived Eve

and influenced Adam

is precisely

how he works

to devour

you and me.

It's all here.

Jesus said

he's the father

of all lies,

that he was a murderer

from the very beginning.

He seeks your death

by enticing you

to disbelieve God

and to rebel

against his word.

Loved ones,

if there's anything

we need to take

from verse number one

and moving forward,

it is this.

It is that you have

a real sinister

and powerful enemy

that is seeking

to destroy you

and you must be careful

and vigilant,

watchful of his tactics.

And this passage

helps us see

what to watch for.

1 Peter 5,

you probably know

the verse well.

Peter says,

be sober-minded,

be watchful.

Your adversary,

the devil,

prowls around

like a roaring lion

seeking someone

to devour.

Resist him,

Peter says.

How, Peter?

Firm in the faith.

Both resisting

the temptations

that he presents

in effectiveness

here in this passage.

Well, that's the

diabolical devil,

but then we immediately

move into

another portion

of the text.

We see a deceptive dialogue.

Deceptive dialogue.

Look again

at the end of verse one.

The serpent speaks

and he says

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.

God knows

that when you eat

of it,

your eyes will be opened.

You'll be like God,

knowing good and evil.

This might be

the most famous

conversation

in all the Bible.

Serpent enters

into dialogue

with the woman

and his goal

is to deceive her

into eating

the fruit

of the only tree

in the garden

that God

has actually prohibited.

Except he doesn't

present it that way,

does he?

It's in this dialogue

that we can discern

a kind of definition

for sin

and of course

the tactics

that Satan uses

to deceive us.

And here it is.

Sin is fundamentally

an act of rebellion

that results

from distrusting God,

disbelieving God,

distorting God's word,

and denying God's judgment.

Three features there.

Did you catch them?

Distrusting God,

distorting God's word,

denying God's judgment.

These are the three

main elements

of temptation

that are presented

to us here.

Let's just walk

through them.

First we see

the diminishment

of God's benevolence.

The diminishment

of God's benevolence.

Again,

verse one,

he said to the woman,

did God actually say

you shall not eat

of any tree

in the garden?

And she responds,

something of a lack

of God's benevolence

still yet.

God said,

you can eat

of the trees

of the garden.

That's not exactly

what he said.

But she's a little bit

closer than the serpent

at least.

You just can't eat

of the fruit

of the tree

that's in the midst

of the garden.

sin.

Sin is the inevitable

result of believing

that God is not good

and generous.

That he is restricting

you from something

that is beneficial

for you,

that will be satisfying

for you

and helpful

to you.

And in his cunning,

the serpent

intentionally misquotes

God's command.

He insinuates here

a lack of benevolence

on God's part

and even when

the woman

corrects him,

she somewhat

softens the abundance

of God's blessing

that he had freely

given them

in the garden.

The serpent

insinuates

that God

had kept them

from every tree.

The woman

implies

that God

had kept them

from some

of the trees.

In reality,

God had given

them every tree.

Every tree.

Save one.

Do you see

the deception

that's here?

The cunning

that's at play here.

Notice what God

actually said.

Just look back

at chapter 2

and verse 16.

And the Lord

God commanded

the man saying,

you may surely

eat of every tree.

Surely,

certainly,

definitely,

every.

That's all of them.

Save one.

That's what God

actually says.

There's an infinite

emphasis on

God's benevolence

and his kindness

and his free gift

of blessing

that's overflowing

in the garden

for Adam

and Eve

and yet

far from

indicating

anything of

benevolence in God,

the serpent comes

in and actually

questions,

did God say

you couldn't eat

of any of the trees?

And then she even

softens it up somewhat

and says,

well,

she doesn't say

that he said

we could surely

eat of every tree.

She says,

well,

we can eat

of the trees.

We shouldn't

eat of one.

Isn't this the tactic

that Satan

often uses

with us?

The serpent

plants the seed

of distrust

by suggesting

a stinginess

in God's nature

and so he does

with us.

Second,

we see a distortion

of God's word.

We, of course,

see it with the serpent

in verse 2.

Did God

actually say

cunning,

crafty?

Kent Hughes

says the serpent

here introduces

the assumption

that God's word

is subject

to our judgment.

He questions

what God says.

Eventually,

he's going to outright

deny it.

He hasn't done that yet,

but he's questioning it.

He's luring

the woman

into this idea

and then we see

in verse 3

that she herself

distorts a bit

of what God

had actually said.

Look at what she says.

Verse 3,

God said,

you shall not eat

of the fruit

of the tree

that's in the midst

of the garden

and here's the distortion.

Neither shall you touch it

lest you die.

She adds something,

doesn't she?

That's not what God said.

Look back at chapter 2,

again,

verse 16.

You may surely eat

of every tree

in the garden.

That's benevolence,

that's goodness,

that's blessing,

but of the tree

of the knowledge

of good and evil

you shall not eat

for in the day

that you eat of it

you shall surely die.

There's no prohibition

against touching here.

She adds something here

and her motivations

for that

are not immediately clear.

It could be that

she was just motivated

by caution,

just not wanting

to get even close

to what God

had forbidden them

and of course,

we could sympathize

with that.

Those of you

who are not

avid endorsement

like the Blinken ships

maybe go on hikes

from time to time

and perhaps you take

your kids on those hikes

and there's maybe

a cliffside

and mom says,

you know,

if you go over the cliff

you're going to get hurt

so why don't we just

stay about 10 feet

back from it,

right?

The danger is over the cliff.

You can really go

probably another few feet over

but with great caution

we say,

you know,

let's not get

any closer

than what we already are

unless something happens.

Of course,

if that's what Eve's

got going on

we can sympathize

with that in some way,

can't we?

Of course,

there's another explanation.

Perhaps it wasn't caution

that motivated her.

Perhaps she's already

begun to believe

some of the deception

of the serpent.

It could be a blatant

mischaracterization

of God

making his prohibition

seem more extreme

than what it actually is.

We are certainly familiar

with that too,

aren't we?

We have a rule

we don't like

or we get in trouble.

We see this with our kids

all the time

and suddenly

what actually happens

gets embellished

to make the person

who has done the thing

seem worse

than what they actually are

or more extreme

than what they actually are.

Perhaps there's

something of that here

in what the woman

is doing.

I don't know.

Either way,

she puts words

in God's mouth

that were not his.

That's a problem.

It's a problem

to take away

from God's word

as the serpent does.

that immediately leads us

into liberalism

which is going to result

in sinfulness.

It's just as much

a problem

to add

to what God has said.

That's going to lead us

to legalism

which is also

going to take us

into sinfulness.

It's part of the temptation.

But there's a third element here.

It's the denial

of God's judgment.

Verse 4.

Now the serpent

puts all his cards

on the table.

He outright denies

what God said.

You will not surely die.

You won't die.

God just doesn't

want you to be like him.

If you eat it,

your eyes will be opened

in a way

that you have never

experienced before.

You'll know good and evil

in a way that only God

can know it.

And you won't need him anymore.

That's the gist.

It's a denial

of God's judgment.

It's the climactic moment

of this dialogue.

The serpent

outright denying

God's word

as he has lured

the woman

into this conversation.

He accuses God

of withholding

a superior good

from her.

But even she

downplays

the reality

of God's judgment.

Doesn't she?

The end of verse 3.

The gist

of what she says here,

you shall not touch

the tree

that's in the midst

of the garden

lest you die.

The gist of that

is perhaps

we might die

if we do.

It's downplaying,

isn't it?

God had told Adam

that if he ate

of the tree,

he would

surely

die.

Chapter 2.

Eve downplays

that thread

of judgment

to say that

perhaps

they would die.

and then Satan

rightly quotes God

but just says

it's all a lie.

And such is the lie

that entices

every one of us

into our sin

against God.

Temptation says

that God

is a liar,

that he selfishly

wants to keep you

from something

good,

that his judgment

is an empty threat

to control you.

and in our

sinfulness

we downplay

the reality

of what sin is

and how God

intends to judge it.

We think it's just

not that big

of a deal

and we do so

to our own demise.

Elements of temptation

are here.

They're present

in our own temptations.

There's a third part

to the narrative,

isn't there?

We've seen

a diabolical devil

and a deceitful dialogue.

Now we get

to deliberate

disobedience.

Disobedience.

Emphasis being

on the deliberation

that is here

in verse 6.

Deliberate disobedience.

So when the woman

saw that the tree

was good for food,

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.

The trap

was laid for her

by the serpent,

but now the serpent's gone.

It's not going to show up again

until God curses him.

He's out of the picture now.

It's just Eve

at the tree.

And I want you to sense

how deliberate

she is

in this act.

This was not

an uncontrolled impulse.

She took time

to examine the fruit

to consider

its would-be benefits.

A warning

for those of us

who allow our minds

to deeply contemplate

and fantasize

about the pleasures

of sin.

Thinking,

we'll never go that far.

I just want to

think about it.

What would it be like

or what could come

from this?

Notice what she does.

First,

she concludes

that the fruit

was safe.

When she saw

that it was

good for food,

it's safe,

doesn't seem poisonous,

it's not rotten.

Looks like the fruit

of all the other trees.

Then she determined

that the fruit

would bring satisfaction

and happiness

and pleasure

to her life.

It was a delight

to the eyes.

And I want you

to just think about

those two

before we move

to the third.

consider all the way

back again

in chapter 2

and verse 9.

Look at what it says.

Out of the ground

the Lord God

made to spring up

every tree.

That is what?

Pleasant

to the sight

and good for food.

Now just think

about that.

Every single tree

in the garden

was satisfying

and delightful

and safe

and good

and blessed

and she had access

to all of them.

What then is it

that causes her

to fixate

on the one tree

in all of God's creation

that God said

don't eat of it?

Well her third

evaluation

is what gives us

the answer.

Finally she concludes

that the fruit

would provide

knowledge and power

reserved for God

alone.

It was

desired

to make

one

wise.

The allure

of the tree

in her eyes

was that she

would have

a God-like

ability

to possess

wisdom

apart from God.

We talked about

this a couple

of weeks ago

the significance

of this tree

and why God

gives it

the name

that he gives it.

It's not

that in taking

the fruit

there was

some inerrant

power

that was

conferred

onto the people

that would

actually make

them like God.

That's not it.

It's representative

of God's wisdom

of moral autonomy.

They were

to hear

from God

and trust

in his word

to know

what is good

and what is

evil.

Eve sees the

tree

and the

allure

of the

idea

that I

could

possibly

have

this

on my

own.

That's

the

allure

of the

tree.

She

carefully

examines

the fruit

but she

ignored

everything

God said.

She just

ignores it.

sin

always

appears

safe

and

satisfying

and it's

certainly

seductive

as long

as we're

ignoring

what God

says about

it.

As long

as we're

diminishing

the truth

of his

infinite

benevolence

to us.

But what's

missing from

the scene?

a preacher.

Eve

needed a

prophet

to correct

the errors

and to

proclaim

and emphasize

the truth

of what

God

actually

said

and who

God

actually

truly

was

in his

nature.

Eve

needed a

priest

to crush

the head

of the

serpent

and to

bring her

back to

God.

in his

garden.

She needed

a king

to step

forward

and to

rule over

the garden

in righteousness

leading her

in faithfulness.

She needed

Adam.

But where's

Adam?

As it turns

out

he was right

there

watching

listening

and eventually

eating

himself.

Commas are

important.

He wasn't

eating himself.

He was

eating

himself.

Verse 6

right at the

end.

Suddenly

Adam's back

sin.

And she

also gave

some to

her husband

who was

with her

and he

ate.

And this

is such

a tragedy

for us.

I don't

know if

we always

recognize

how much

a tragedy

that phrase

is.

She gave

to Adam

and he

ate.

Adam's

sin was

not like

Eve's.

It was

different.

The

mechanics

of it

were the

same.

He

took the

fruit that

he wasn't

supposed to

eat and

he took

a bite of

it.

All of

that is

the same.

But this

is more

than that.

What led

to this

act was

different

for Adam

than it

was for

Eve.

Eve was

deceived by

the serpent.

Adam was

not deceived

by the

serpent.

Paul

insists on

that in

1 Timothy

2.14.

Eve was

deceived.

Adam was

not deceived.

He knew

the truth

of what

God had

said because

it was

to Adam

specifically

that God

said it.

He was

well aware

of the

truth of

God's

benevolence

and what

God actually

said in

his command

and his

prohibition.

He wasn't

tricked into

eating.

Rather,

he sat

by passively

to see what

would happen.

He watched.

He watched.

And when

his wife

survived

the bite,

he listened

to her

in this

sense,

that it

didn't result

in what

God said

it would

result in.

And so

he takes

it.

After

much

deliberation

and no

deceit

and he

eats.

He takes

a bite

for himself

not because

he was

deceived but

because he

wanted for

himself all

that he

believed the

tree offered.

And we

have this

habit of

reducing

original sin

to merely

eating a

piece of

forbidden

fruit.

And no

wonder we

get so

confused

wondering why

God makes

such a big

deal about

this.

It's just

a piece

of fruit.

That's

not what

this is.

This is

so much

more than

that.

This was

an act

of defiance

against God

that sought

to achieve

life and

blessing and

wisdom apart

from the

good and

generous

creator.

By eating

the fruit

Adam

effectively

spat in

the face

of God

wanting to

be a God

unto himself.

This isn't

about fruit.

This is

about rebellion.

God

defiance

against God.

Sin

always

involves

deception

to some

extent

even if

it's

self

deception.

Adam's

sin

shows us

though

that it

doesn't

always

involve

a tempter.

In fact

James wrote

that sin

is the

child

of desire

that comes

from within

us not

just from

a tempter

that is

external

to us.

James

James 1:14

chapter 1

verse 14

each person

is tempted

when he

is lured

and enticed

by his

own

desire

and desire

when it

has conceived

gives birth

to sin

and sin

when it

is fully

grown

brings

forth

death.

What does

that mean

for us?

It means

that no

one makes

us sin

and we

must stop

reducing

temptation

to a

kind of

victimization

that is

beyond our

control.

That's not

what it

is.

We sin

because we

want what

it offers.

We sin

because we

don't believe

God is

benevolent

enough to

satisfy the

deepest longing

of our

souls.

we sin

because we

don't know

and trust

his word

or believe

his threats

of judgment.

Every time

we sin

it's because

we want

what we

want

apart from

the good

and generous

creator.

The pattern

that we

experience

every day

of our

lives

is right

here at

the very

beginning

in the

original

sin.

It's

deliberate

disobedience

and then we

get to the

fourth part

of the

story

and we

find a

deadly

descent

descent.

Look at

verse 7.

Then the

eyes of

both were

opened

and they

knew that

they were

naked

and they

sewed fig

leaves

together

and made

themselves

loincloths.

So after

eating

Adam and

Eve's eyes

were indeed

opened.

That's what

the serpent

said would

happen.

It's not

that you

will surely

die.

It's that

your eyes

will be

opened.

God

knows

that.

He

doesn't

want

that.

And here

we find

their eyes

were

open.

Just not

in the

way that

they had

hoped.

It was

a half

truth.

They

didn't

immediately

die in

the sense

of being

extinguished.

But that's

only part

of the

story.

Suddenly

their

nakedness

was viewed

with guilt

and shame.

That's what's

happening here

with the

nakedness.

purity

to guilt.

It's

innocence

to shame.

They

felt dirty

and exposed

rather than

fulfilled

and enlightened.

Isn't that

what sin

always does?

It looks

so good

and delightful

and desirable

and when

it's finished

it doesn't

feel so good

anymore

does it?

everything

was different

now.

Their

innocence

was lost

now.

Death

had begun

to reign

in them

in a way

that they

had not

before

comprehended.

Ian

Dugget

says in

the Bible

death

is the

reversal

of life

not the

reversal

of existence.

Adam

and Eve's

experience

of life

in its

fullness

immediately

diminished

as their

sin exposed

them to

shame

and fear.

The

serpent

had claimed

that if

they disobeyed

God

they would

experience

freedom

power.

in

actuality

their

sin

brought

bondage

hopelessness

and

unsurprisingly

our

first

parents

immediately

try to

cover up

that guilt

because that's

what we

try to

do.

That's

the impulse

right?

I'm

dirty.

I want

to be

clean.

Something's

wrong.

I want

it to be

right

again.

they try

to cover

their shame

by sewing

together a

few fig

leaves for

clothing.

What is

this?

It's a

symbol of

our attempts

to mask

guilt which

are always

insufficient.

They never

actually get the

job done all

the way,

do they?

Self

justification

may for a

season ease

our consciences.

God sees

right through

all of that.

our only

hope,

Adam and

Eve's only

hope,

was that

with God's

justice,

there might

would be

found

something of

God's

mercy

that somehow

he will be

able to

truly and

sufficiently

cover their

guilt.

And that's

where it

ends.

It's

depressing.

Let's think

about it a

little further

though.

for Eve

to sin

is terrible.

But I'm

going to say

something I

think is

important to

our

understanding

of the

Bible and

our

understanding

of the

gospel.

Her sin

is terrible.

Adam's

sin is

catastrophic.

It's

catastrophic.

Adam was

our covenant

head.

his failure

to meet

God's

demand for

covenant

obedience,

a demand

given directly

to Adam

before Eve

was ever

created.

Significant

to him.

It plunged

the whole

human race

into sin.

We all

sin in

Adam and

we all

sin in the

same way

as Adam.

and just

as death

began to

reign in

him at

this moment

so does

death

reign in

each of

us.

How do we

know that?

The scriptures

tell us Paul

helps us so

much with

this in

Romans 5.

He says

just as sin

came into

the world

through one

man that

is Adam.

He doesn't

mention Eve.

He mentions

Adam.

Why?

Because

Adam's sin

is significant

here.

death

came through

that sin

and so

death

spreads

to all

men

because

we've

all

sinned.

Our

only hope

is that

God will

provide

a greater

Adam

who can

truly meet

the demands

of covenant

obedience

on our

behalf

because none

of us are

doing it.

We're

guilty.

He must

be a man

like Adam

but he

must be

more than

a man

because he

can't be

in Adam

in the same

way that

we are

in Adam

and that

leaves only

one being

to possibly

do this

work and

it's God

himself.

Only God

can meet

those demands

and save

us from

sin and

death.

And that's

exactly who

Jesus is.

He is

truly God

who's

perfect and

without sin

and yet

he's truly

a man

who lived

as a man

and suffered

as a man

and was

tempted as

a man yet

without

sin.

man.

Matthew

4 and

Luke 4

both tell

us about

Jesus'

time or

at least

part of

his time

of temptation

with that

old serpent

the devil.

He tempts

Jesus for

40 days

as he

fasted in

the wilderness

and three

of those

temptations

are recorded

for us

there.

each one

matches the

tactics that

we see

here in

Genesis 3.

Satan

distorts

God's

word.

He

misquotes

it

intentionally.

He

questions

God's

benevolence

and he

offers Jesus

a power

that belongs

only to

God.

All three

presented in

those temptations.

each time

Jesus did

what Adam

failed to

do.

He

rebukes

the serpent

he trusted

the will

of the

father

and he

confronted

each

temptation

with the

declaration

of the

truth of

God's

word from

Deuteronomy

6 and

Deuteronomy

8.

So that

in the

wilderness

temptations

and then

in his

life and

in his

ministry

ultimately

in the

garden of

Gethsemane

Jesus

overcame

temptation

he trusted

God

he perfectly

obeyed

and that's

why the

apostles argued

that Jesus

alone is

our true

prophet

priest

and king.

Hebrews 4

we do not

have a high

priest who

is unable

to sympathize

with our

weaknesses

but one

who in

every respect

has been

tempted as

we are

yet without

sin

and because

of him

because he's

our high

priest

let us

then with

confidence

draw near

to God's

throne of

grace

that we

may receive

mercy

and help

in time

of need

that's who

Jesus is

that's what

he provides

as a new

covenantal

head

Jesus

secures

for his

people

all that

Adam lost

in the