QT 7/17/2025 Gen 3:1–7, How life got so screwed up

Genesis 3:1–7 (ESV) —

1 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’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 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.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 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. 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.

 

NOTE: This single passage is so informative of the problem of mankind. Our first problem is that we have a REAL enemy who questions God's word. He does it in an "intelligent" manner, like he is a person of great wisdom: "Did God ACTUALLY say …." The question is intended to make you analyze God's word, almost looking for a flaw. The question is also a "you got to be kidding"-question, where it is made to seem ridiculous. That is how the enemy and the world frames their questions against Christianity: "you have to be kidding" or "it can't really mean that."

 

What makes this first attack worse is that Adam creates the world's first religion when he attaches words to God's word. God told Adam (not Eve, at least in the text) that he would die upon eating the fruit. Adam, apparently tells Eve, that she would die for even touching the fruit. That gives the enemy a toehold. The enemy, who speaks lies quite naturally, can actually be honest when he tells Eve she wouldn't die -- which is true, touching would not kill you. There is a huge step from touching something to biting into something, When she did touch the fruit (which is not as hard as biting it) and not die, she ended up proving Satan right and casting doubt on God's word.

 

The next verses are summarized in 1 John 2:15-16 as the three main categories of sin, lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. She saw the fruit was good (the flesh would enjoy it). She saw the fruit as a delight to the eyes (it looks nice to the eyes). And she saw the fruit as making her wise (the pride of life). What she didn't realize was that by knowing good and evil, she would replace God by choosing for herself what was right and wrong (a basic tenet in our fallen world). By default she made herself to be her god. She gave up the Lordship of God to be her own god.

 

Not to leave Adam out of this, but verse 6 implies that Adam was there the whole time, but said nothing, the woman did all the talking. Adam's second failure was as a leader and a protector of his wife. He did not intervene. He did not correct the serpent. He did not take over. He just followed the woman's lead, and then in the next passage he will have the audacity to blame the woman and God ("… the woman whom you gave …").

 

In conclusion, the man and woman experience shame, the natural result of sin. Again, today's worldview wants us to throw off shame and guilt, and free us of the natural result that God created when we sin. The couple also tried to cover themselves (clothes) as well as hide themselves in the trees. When we sin, we naturally try to hide because of shame.

 

PONDER:

1. Is there a sin I try to hide? Do I experience shame?
2. Do I play games with God's word, doubting where he really said something, when the text is very obvious? The latter is especially true today in cases of adultery, sexual immorality, and homosexuality. We try to justify what God as clearly said with "did God really say …"

 

PRAYER: Father, this is our problem. This explains our actions. We do everything Adam and Eve did. Forgive us. Open our eyes to your truth, and help us to see the lies of this world's so-called truth. Pilate's question, "what is truth?" summarizes everything in life today. Truth is found in your word. The question can be answered if we go to the right source.