Genesis 3:2–3 (ESV) —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.’ ”
It is always dangerous to alter God’s Word, either by addition (as do modern cultists) or by deletion (as do modern liberals).
Genesis 3:4–5 (ESV) —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.”
- Having led Eve first to question God’s authority and goodness and then both to augment and dilute His Word, Satan now was ready for the “kill.”
Resist the devil by maintaining faith in God’s Word.
Ephesians 6:16 (ESV) —16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;
The First Human Sin
The next few verses are among the most important in the Bible, recording the great tragedy of man’s fall.
- Romans 5:12 (ESV) —12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
- 1 Corinthians 15:22 (ESV) —22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
No descendant of Adam has ever lived to an age of conscious awareness of right and wrong without actually choosing wrong.
Genesis 3:6 (ESV) —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.
The tree was:
- (1) “good for food” (that is, something appealing to the physical, bodily appetites);
- (2) “pleasant to the eyes” (that is, something appealing to the emotions—the esthetic senses);
- (3) “desired to make wise” (that is, appealing to the mind and spirit, and to one’s pride of knowledge and spiritual insight).
This threefold description is perfectly parallel to the outline of 1 John 2:16: “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”
Genesis 3:7 (ESV) —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.
The serpent had promised that they would acquire wisdom and become as gods, knowing good and evil.
The result was that they suddenly desired to hide these from each other, and from God.
We can never COVER our sin. We can never escape God’s eye of judgment by anything that we ourselves can fashion or accomplish.
Genesis: Origins, Beginnings
In the Beginning (time), God (force), created (action),
the Heavens (space), and the Earth (matter).
A loving, eternal, all powerful, personal God
created us in His image for a purpose
OR
Nothing X Nobody = EVERYTHING
The plain meaning of Genesis is unmistakable.
- Let the Bible determine your system of belief…
- Or bring your system of belief to the Bible and make the Bible fit it.
“The only proper way to interpret Genesis 1 is not to ‘interpret’ it at all. That is, we accept the fact that it was meant to say exactly what it says.” (Morris)
“Where the Bible makes plain sense,
seek no other sense,
lest you turn it into nonsense”.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) is adapted from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. All rights reserved. https://www.crossway.org/