Genesis 3
Verses 4, 5: The first lie is recorded in the Bible, “You shall not surely die!” The serpent/Devil flat out calls God a liar and this is why he has the title the father of lies (John 8:44) and he hasn’t stopped lying and deceiving since the beginning of time. He is actually trying to negate what God CLEARLY said. Satan continues by saying, “God doesn’t want you eating from that tree because if you do then you will become like him.” Essentially he is calling God an oppressive, egocentric and insecure God. Verse 6: The root of sin (1 John 2:16) - Eve “saw the tree was good for food and it was a delight to her eyes and the tree was desired to make one wise.” All of the woman’s sinful desires were appeased as she heeded the words of the serpent and ate the forbidden fruit. Sin always clouds our judgment and always pushes God out of the picture. Sin often looks appealing and delightful and it may even satisfy for a SHORT moment. But it always comes up empty. It is easy to get caught up in the moment of sin and have no regard for the consequences. Not only did the woman fall into full blown sin but she invited her husband to sin with her. Both blatantly and knowingly disobeyed God and chose to believe a lie. They did not take into consideration the consequences for their disobedience. They believed that they would not die otherwise they would not have eaten. Verse 7: Their eyes were opened and they saw they were naked and they were ashamed; so they tried to cover their nakedness. The symbolism is thick here. After they sinned they came into their right mind and their eyes were opened to the guilt of their sin. In desperation and shame they tried to cover their guilt or sin by sewing loincloths out of figs. They tried (like so many of us do) in their own humanness to cover their sin and they did not understand that there is nothing we can humanly do to make things right with God when we sin. Verse 8: To make matters worse when they heard God walking in the garden in the cool of the day… Take a moment and think about that. The man and woman in the Garden had perfect communion with God. He would come and walk in the Garden he created and gave to the man and woman and they would have perfect fellowship. God was with them. He walked among them. But that fellowship was soon broken as their sin severed the relationship. They were afraid and tried to hide from God. What used to cause great excitement and joy (hearing God coming to fellowship with them) now became something they feared. In their fear they tried to hide from God. Maybe he wouldn’t notice. This sounds like the most ridiculous thing ever but how often do we try and do the same with God? Men and women in the Bible have tried to hide either personally or spiritually their sin from God and all were unsuccessful. Cain tried to hide his brother’s murder from God. David tried to hide his sin of adultery from God. Jonah tries to hide from God by running. The list goes on. We cannot successfully run from God. He always finds us. Verse 9: God calls out to Adam…”Where are you?” God is not asking this because he doesn’t know where Adam is; the question could be better translated, “Why are you hiding?” God knew they were hiding. In this question we already see God’s attribute of mercy.
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The opening verse of chapter 3 begins with the word “Now” and it indicates the previous story (the act of creation) is over and a new story (the story of humanity and their relationship with God) is beginning. We are not sure of the length of time between the end of chapter two and the beginning of chapter three, it is undisclosed. I often feel chapter three is an outrageous chapter as it deals with a talking snake, forbidden fruit, deception, blame and judgment. However it is an essential chapter for because it helps us better understand God’s mercy, love, forgiveness and His perfect plan of redemption.
Verse 1: The serpent: We are introduced to the serpent in the first verse of this chapter. This serpent is described as more “crafty (shrewd, clever or cunning) than any other beast…” Most of us have probably heard this story many times and I think it is safe to assume the snake is Satan. How can we know for sure? It has been said that the Bible is the best commentary of the Bible. We read in Revelation 20:2, 3, “And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.” Some have suggested that Satan disguises himself as a snake, and others have proposed that the snake had a Satanic presence behind him (he took possession of the snake). Regardless we are given insight that the serpent was up to something and that something was no good. Here in the beginning we see two people, a man and a woman, naked in the garden (this symbolized their innocence and purity) who have no understanding of sin and disobedience until the snake appears. The serpent is sneaky, crafty and deceptive (he preys on their gullibility and innocence) and things are about to south. The snake approaches the woman and strikes up a conversation with her. Let me pause for a moment. This is where the story gets a little weird. I am not a snake person. I never have been and never will be. If you want to see this grown man scream like a little girl then put me in a closed quarters with a snake… Any snake… I. DO. NOT. LIKE. SNAKES. So if this conversation would have never happened with me because I would have turned and bolted out of the garden quicker than you can say, “hiss”... I digress. The snake begins by questioning God. “Did God ACTUALLY say that you shouldn’t eat of the trees of the garden?” He questions God’s authority causing the woman doubt. We can learn from this encounter. Doubt is one of Satan’s most powerful tools. He still uses this tactic quite regularly today. He plants seeds of doubt by suggesting God doesn’t really care for you. He may say things to cause you to doubt like, “If God loved you then he wouldn’t be letting you go through this difficult time of life”. “If God created this thing then he obviously wants you to indulge in it.” Or he may be more extreme by saying to you, “You’re waaaay beyond saving. With all the things you have done God could never forgive you.” Or “You don’t need other Christians in your life; you can do this on your own.” If Satan is good at anything he is good at causing doubt. Verses 2, 3: The woman enters into a debate with Satan and this is the first mistake she makes. Arguing with Satan is always a slippery slope. She does not see the harm in talking with the serpent. Why should she? She is innocent and the serpent is crafty but she feels she needs to defend her position. She begins to rationalize God and even adds to his command by saying that they couldn’t even touch the fruit (which God did not say). Debating with the devil is never a good thing. Even Jesus himself rebuked Satan by responding with the Word of God and he did not enter into a debate with him. We are clearly no longer living under Old Testament rule and law. Jesus came and fulfilled the law. So what does Sabbath look like for us today? I believe first and foremost we should continue to take a day of rest from our usual work and activity AND it should involve worship. The point of the Sabbath is to “stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another” [1] Resting in the presence of the Lord through worship, fellowship, prayer and communion is primarily what a Sabbath should look like. The irony is that we don’t stop working on the Sabbath… Things still need to be done (at home and in the church). Meals need to be cooked, dishes washed, lawns mowed… Children need to be led during the Sunday School hour, babies need to be watched in the Nursery, music needs to be played etc. These all shouldn’t be a burden and I get that sometimes it feels like they DO become burdensome. When they do start to feel burdensome we are to cast that burden on to God and he will give you the strength and joy you need to complete it for his glory.
Tim Keller sums up quite nicely what Sabbath means today, “Only Jesus offers you a 'finished work' to rest in. In fact, the very definition of a Christian is not just someone who admires Jesus, emulates Jesus, or obeys Jesus. A Christian is someone who "rests in his finished work" instead of your own. Remember, God was only able to rest in Gen 2:1-3 because his work was finished. A Christian is someone who knows that it would be quite all right if he or she died tonight. You've already finished your work--everything that actually has to happen within your life-time has happened. The rest is gravy, icing. Gravy and icing is quite tasty, of course--but not absolutely necessary.”[2] Because of Jesus essentially our work is finished. Yes, we labor and toil day after day but our final rest… our eternal rest is found in Jesus and I can rest in that. [1] Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. (1999). Nelson’s new illustrated Bible commentary (Ge 2:1). Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers. [2] Keller, Timothy, (2010). The Gospel In Life . Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing. What does rest look like? We need look no further than the Bible. I should note there is clearly a distinction between resting and laziness. The author of Proverbs writes negatively about the person who is lazy and does not work. In fact the Bible never talks positively about laziness. Laziness and rest are clearly two opposing ideas. In the Psalms rest is synonymous to being still or waiting.
Psalm 46:10 is one of my favorite passages and I think it is one of the best passages that defines rest. “Be still and know that I am God.” The words “be still” means to cease or stop… Stop those things causing you burden… worry, work, frustration, anxiety, planning etc… stop and trust God. This could be defined as peace of mind. Rest, have your mind at ease because God is in control. Unfortunately for many of us this is easier said than done. Psalm 37:7 – “Be still before the Lord and wait…” Stop! Wait! Do not fret (worry). In Luke 10:38 – 42 I would like to introduce you to the sisters Mary and Martha. These sisters had invited Jesus over to their home. When Jesus came Mary sat at his feet and listened to the words Jesus had to say. She was literally resting at the feet of God and basking in His presence. Martha her sister on the other hand was running around the house like a chicken with her head cut off, making sure the house was clean, cooking the meal, setting the table kind of acting like some of you when preparing for Thanksgiving. You know the scenario all the dads are sitting in the living room watching football and all the moms in the kitchen cooking the meal (Which I am grateful for every year). Eventually Martha had had enough. She approaches Jesus and says in so many words, “Jesus, can’t you see I am killing myself trying to get things ready and my sister, the bum, is just sitting at your feet doing nothing. Could you please tell her to come help me?” She thought that maybe Jesus could convince her sister to help around the house a bit. Do you know what Jesus’ response was? I can assure you it wasn’t what Martha wanted to hear… Luke 10:41, 42: “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” He was basically saying, stop being a busy body Martha, your sister has chosen what important, spending time with me, and I will not take that away from her. Life is too short to be concerned with the little things of this world. Spend your time on things that really matter.” Now get this. Jesus was not saying Martha was wrong, he was just letting her know at this very moment of time I am (God himself) here with you so rest. We’ll get to the other things (the meal) later, right now… Stop. Wait. Rest in the Lord. Matthew 11:28 – 30: This is probably one of the most well known passages that deal with rest. Jesus tells his listeners that true rest comes from him. If you are weary, tired, stressed, exhausted, and overwhelmed with life come to Jesus and in him we will find rest. We are told to put our burdens on him and when we do our souls will find rest. This is a promise for future rest and a promise for rest today. Many of you are stressed, overworked, burdened and full of work related anxiety. Your mind is racing, your heart (spiritual and even physical) is heavy and unhealthy, and you have a hard time ceasing from work activity. You may be thinking right now, “I wish he would hurry up and conclude because I have a ton of things I have to do today.” Stop. Wait. Rest in Lord. |
Jeff has been in full-time ministry for thirty years. He currently serves as Executive Director at Anchor House Ministry at SeaPort Manatee in Palmetto, FL and he is a part-time Campus Pastor at West Bradenton Southside in Bradenton, Florida.
Jeff Has authored A Lent Devotional (A Spiritual Journey to Lent) an Advent Devotional (The Advent of Jesus) and a devotional on the book of James (James: Where Faith and Life Meet). All three are available on Amazon. He is married to Carrie and they have four children, Micaiah, Gabe, Simon, and Berea. Preview or purchase Jeff's Books
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