Lesson Aim: To consider the ramifications of the original sin and the provision of god for sinners.

Monday: Genesis 3:7-24, Genesis 37:17-28, Genesis 42:21-23
Tuesday: Matthew 19:16, Psalm 39:5, Proverbs 14:13, Ecclesiastes 1:2, Isaiah 64:6, Romans 3:23, Romans 11:6, Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:5
Wednesday: Hebrews 4:13, I Chronicles 28:9, Psalm 139:1-13
Thursday: Matthew 27:29-30, Luke 22:44, Galatians 3:13,16, Isaiah 53:1-12
Friday: Hebrews 1:10-12, Romans 8:20-22, Revelation 20:1-3,10
Saturday: Job 14:1, Jeremiah 8:15, Hebrews 9:27, Job 14:5, Romans 14:11-12
Sunday: Hebrews 7:26, I Peter 2:24, Ephesians 1:6-7, Colossians 1:14, Revelation 1:5-6, Romans 5:1-21.

LESSON OUTLINE

I. THE RESPONSE OF ADAM AND EVE TO THEIR SIN. (Genesis 3:7-13)

A. Upon eating that which was prohibited, Adam and Eve became painfully aware that they were sinners. (Genesis 3:7-11)

1. Their eyes "were opened," not their natural eyes, but the eyes of their consciences. They immediately saw the folly of eating the forbidden fruit.¹

2. Instead of rejoicing in the newly gained experimental knowledge of evil, they were miserably consumed with shame ("I was naked") and fear ("I was afraid.") See Genesis 3:7, 10.

3. An inescapable by-product of sin is guilt with its shame and fear. (Compare Genesis 37:17-28 with Genesis 42:21-23.)

B. Adam and Eve attempted to correct their sin by making for themselves fig leaf clothes. (Genesis 3:7)

1. These fig leaf clothes were the efforts of their own hands. They are typical of all human efforts or "works" to address the sin problem, and they foreshadow the tendency of all men. In the history of man since Adam and Eve, it has been the practice of the masses to address their sin problem with some form of human effort. Rather than beseech the help of God, the way of man is to think, "what good thing shall I do?" (Matthew 19:16)

2. The fig leaf clothes did not cover their sin. When Adam and Eve heard the Lord in the garden, they "hid" themselves. (Genesis 3:8) In spite of his self-made provision for sin, Adam admitted that he and Eve realized they were still "naked." (Genesis 3:10)

Human effort never addresses sin. Man’s best efforts are futile before God. (Psalm 39:5, Isaiah 64:6) Salvation from the shameful and destructive effects of sin is by the grace of the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; not by works. (Romans 11:6, Ephesians 2:8-10, Titus 3:5)

3. As God walked in the garden, He asked Adam, "Where art thou?" (Genesis 3:9) This upbraiding question by God to Adam was designed to convict Adam of his condition, not to ascertain his location.² God always knows where all men are in all ways, not only as to location, but in condition and heart. (Hebrews 4:13, I Chronicles 28:9, Psalm 139:1-13)

C. Adam and Eve then tried to excuse their sin by blame. (Genesis 3:12-13)

1. Adam blamed Eve for his sin. (Genesis 3:12) With his insistence that the sin was because of "the woman thou gavest to be with me," by implication, Adam blamed God Himself.³

2. Eve blamed the serpent for her sin. (Genesis 3:13)

3. Blame of another for one’s sin is a common practice of men. Mates blame each other for marriage sins. Sinful children blame parents. Many counsellors lay sin to one’s childhood.

The truth is that in spite of influence in one’s life by others, every individual is personally and individually accountable to God. (Romans 14:11-12) Sin is a personal choice. No person can lay his sin off on another.

II. AS A RESULT AND JUDGMENT OF SIN, GOD INTRODUCED THE CURSE. (Genesis 3:14-19)

A. The curse was singular, yet plural.

1. It was against that old serpent, Satan. (Genesis 3:14-15)
The serpent was reduced to locomotion on his belly.

Satan would "bruise the heel" of the seed of the woman ("Christ," Galatians 3:16), which occurred when Christ was on the cross. (Galatians 3:13, Isaiah 53) Christ would "bruise" the "head" of Satan, which will occur in the future. (Revelation 20:1-3,10)

2. It was against women. (Genesis 3:16)

3. It was against men. (Genesis 3:17)

4. It was against the mineral kingdom. "Cursed is the ground." (Genesis 3:17)

5. It was against the plant kingdom. Thorns and thistles were introduced. (Genesis 3:18)

6. It was against the animal kingdom. Animals would struggle for life and die as would man.

7. It was against mankind as a whole. (Genesis 3:19)

8. In a sense, the curse was three-fold and encompassed every aspect of the creation and the total being of man.

a. It was against the physical elements of the creation. (Physical/Body)

b. It was against conscious life. (Mental/Soul)

c. It was against the spiritual nature of man. (Spiritual/Spirit)

9. With the curse, the law of degeneration was set in motion. This law is scientifically called "the Second Law of Thermodynamics" and states that all systems, if left to themselves, tend to become degraded or disordered. (Hebrews 1:10-12, Romans 8:20-22) Sin came, and with it came predation, parasites, disease and troubles of every sort. Observably, all things, apart from external intervention, degenerate. This fact is in direct opposition to the evolutionary concept of reality.

10. With the curse also came expulsion from the Garden of Eden. (Genesis 3:22-24)

B. The specific curse on mankind was four-fold.

1. "Sorrow." (Genesis 3:16)

Every man would continually face disappointment and futility. (Proverbs 14:13. Ecclesiastes 1:2)

2. Pain and suffering. (Genesis 3:18)

Hindrances, cuts and bruises, falls, bites, stings and all kinds of hindrances to progress would be the normal lot of man.

3. Sweat and tears. (Genesis 3:19)

Constant struggles against an ever hostile environment would be the way of man. (Job 14:1, Jeremiah 8:15)

4. Physical death. (Genesis 3:19)

No person would permanently escape physical death. (Hebrews 9:27, Job 14:5)

III. GOD’S PROVISION FOR SINNERS. (Genesis 3:21)

A. Adam and Eve could not address their sin problem and erase their guilt and condemnation. God could and did.

1. God took animals, took their life and used the skins to clothe Adam and Eve.

2. This action by God on behalf of Adam and Eve foreshadows the substitutionary work of Christ on the cross for all sinners.

a. The animal which God used to clothe Adam was not guilty of any sin; Adam was. Yet, God took the life of an innocent one (the animal) to pay the penalty of a guilty one (Adam).

b. Likewise, Jesus Christ, the innocent (Hebrews 7:26) died on the cross in the place of guilty sinners. (I Peter 2:24, Romans 5:8)

c. As Adam and Eve were physically covered by the offering of a substitute on their behalf, likewise all who believe in Christ are covered with His blood. (Ephesians 1:6-7, Colossians 1:14, Hebrews 9:12, Revelation 1:5-6)

B. To redeem men from the power of the curse, Jesus Christ was made a curse for them. (Galatians 3:13)

1. Jesus bore the "sorrows" of the world. (Isaiah 53:3)

2. Jesus suffered for the world. (Matthew 27:29-30. Isaiah 53:5)

3. Jesus knew sweat and tears. (Luke 22:44. Hebrews 5:7)

4. Jesus tasted death for every man. (Romans 5:8)

5. The curse on sin damns every man (Romans 3:23, Romans 5:12), but in Christ there is hope for all who believe. (Galatians 3:13) Jesus Christ, who was foreshadowed by the innocent animal God sacrificed on behalf of Adam and Eve, is the true and only provision for sinners.

FOOTNOTES

1. Henry, Matthew, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, London: Fleming H. Revell Co., Vol.I, Genesis 3.

2. Ibid., Vol.I, Genesis 3.

3. Morris, Henry, The Genesis Record, Grand Rapids: Baker, 1976, page 117.

4. Ibid., pages 117-118.

5. Morris, page 127.

SUMMARY

Upon eating the prohibited fruit, Adam and Eve became painfully aware that they were sinners. Their internal eyes were indeed opened, and to their sorrow, the newly gained experimental knowledge of sin was not glorious, as Satan had represented it to be. They were suddenly ashamed. Guilt and fear of being found out filled their hearts. They made themselves fig leaf aprons and hid in the thick foliage of the garden.

Their fig leaf clothes represent their own efforts to address their sin problem. The clothes were the works of their hands, what they could do for themselves. Of course, these clothes did not cover their sin at all. Even clothed with the new clothes Adam admitted to God that he was still naked.

The fig leaf garments of Adam and Eve represent and symbolize all human effort to solve the sin problem. They are typical of good works which people offer in order to solve sin and to be right with God. They were totally inadequate for Adam and Eve as they always are for all men. The Bible is consistently clear and emphatic that sin can only be addressed by the power of a savior upon the strength of an adequate sacrifice.

Though Adam did not seem to fully grasp where he was in terms of condition, God did. His question to Adam, "Where art thou?", was designed to bring Adam’s to his attention, and remind him that God knew exactly where he was. God is omniscient and always knows the true condition of all men at all times.

In view of their thorough exposure by God, Adam and Eve attempted to excuse their sin by blaming someone else. Adam blamed Eve and insinuated that the blame for his failure was really with God. He said the woman whom the Lord had given him had caused him to eat the forbidden fruit. The insinuation is that if the Lord had not given him the woman, then the sin would not have occurred, and thus the fault was indirectly the Lord’s. Eve blamed the serpent.

The truth is that Adam and Eve and every person is responsible and accountable for his own sin. Though others may influence, each person is directly accountable to God for his thoughts, words and actions. Sin is a personal choice, and no person can lay his sin on another.

As a direct result of sin, God cursed His creation. This curse, which is known generally as the curse, was plural in what it encompassed. It was first against the serpent, not only the animal, but more so against Satan, who had embodied the animal. The legs of the animal were taken away and it was reduced to locomotion on its stomach. Satan was promised ultimate defeat at the hands of an offspring of the woman. This is the first prophecy of the coming messiah. He will ultimately destroy Satan in the lake of fire. The curse against Satan also foreviews the great agony to come to the messiah in his death on the cross as a result of the sins of sinners. There he indeed bruised the heel of the seed of the woman, whom Galatians 3:16 declares to be Jesus Christ.

The curse was also against women, men, the mineral kingdom, the plant kingdom, the animal kingdom and mankind as a whole. It was totally inclusive, against the physical elements, against conscious life and against the spiritual nature of man. It encompassed body, soul and spirit.

The curse introduced the basic scientific Second Law of Thermodynamics. This is the law of degeneration, which says that all systems, if left to themselves, tend to degenerate from greater to lesser order. It is at this time that such factors as disease, predation, injuries, parasites and other troubles entered the universe. The observable Second Law of Thermodynamics is a direct refutation of the concept of evolution.

The curse on mankind was four-fold. To man, God promised continual sorrow, pain and suffering, sweat and tears and physical death. History has recorded the total accuracy of the curse. Life is known for an unending march of futility, vanity, hindrances, constant struggles against an ever hostile environment and finally death without exception.

Disobedience to God and sin did not prove to be the great utopia which Satan had convinced Eve it would be. With sin came dire consequences from which man was powerless to redeem himself. He found himself condemned and damned, and his own efforts to solve his problem, in the form of fig leaf clothes, were a miserable failure. Thus, God came forward to do for man what he could not do for himself.

God took the skins of animals and made them into clothes for Adam and Eve. The animal whose skin clothed Adam could not give his skin apart from death. Adam was guilty and condemned to death, but the animal died in Adam’s place and Adam was clothed by the sacrifice of the animal. Here is the Bible’s first picture of the necessity of a substitutionary sacrifice for sinners. Here the innocent died in the place of the guilty. Here is God’s first explanation of how sinners are reconciled. With this action, God foreshadowed the coming of Jesus Christ, who was innocent and perfect. He died on the cross in the place of sinners. He became their substitute and died their death. Upon the strength of what He did, sinners are clothed in His righteousness. Their sin problem is solved.

QUESTIONS

1. Explain the statement that the eyes of Adam and Eve were opened when they ate of the forbidden fruit.

2. In what way did Adam and Eve become wiser by eating the forbidden fruit?

3. Discuss Adam and Eve in the light of shame and fear after they ate the forbidden fruit.

4. How did Adam and Eve attempt to address their sin problem?

5. How successful were their efforts to solve their sin problem?

6. What is the symbolism of the fig leaf clothes?

7. What is the basis of God’s efforts on behalf of sinful men?

8. How successful is blaming another for one’s sins?

9. How did Adam indirectly blame God for his sin?

10. Who did Eve blame for her sin?

11. Discuss personal accountability to God.

12. Discuss God’s prediction that the serpent (Satan) would bruise the heel of the seed of the woman.

13. Discuss the promise that the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent (Satan).

14. Discuss the curse against women.

15. Discuss the curse against men.

16. Discuss how inclusive the curse was.

17. State the Second Law of Thermodynamics.

18. Discuss the observable impact of the Second Law of Thermodynamics about us.

19. Discuss the four-fold nature of the curse against mankind.