Lesson 9
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THE IMMEDIATE RESULTS OF SIN
AS A result of Adam's sin, four things immediately happened:
1. SHAME. This is seen in verse seven. Immediately Adam and Eve realize that they are naked. Cf. Genesis 2:25 and note- the contrast. They make a feeble effort to cover up their sin, but this is later rejected by God, just as all man's efforts at covering up sin are rejected.
2. A DESIRE TO HIDE FROM GOD'S PRESENCE. This is seen in verse eight. Man realizes that he has lost his state of righteousness with God. He knows that God will no longer declare him righteous, and so he desires to hide himself from God's presence.
3. ALMIGHTY GOD IMMEDIATELY DENOUNCES SIN AND EXECUTES JUDGMENT. Verses Nine to Thirteen [Gen. 3:9-13]. Note how tenderly and lovingly God causes man to confess his sin. God does not ask these questions for information. It is merely His gracious way of dealing with sinners. There is not a trace of sarcasm in these questions of God, but we see that both the man and the woman attempt to shift the blame upon someone else.
Verses Fourteen to Twenty-two [Gen. 3:14-22]. Man is now helpless before God, and can do absolutely nothing, so God takes the initiative in the matter of redemption. Verse fifteen teaches us several things.
a. It is God, and not man, who takes the initiative in the matter of redeeming man.
b. Man's attitude toward God and toward the serpent is to be completely reversed, and in this reversal of attitude the essence of deliverance from sin really consists. When a man is saved from sin, he understands that God does not deceive him, but that Satan is truly his enemy. Before a man is saved, however, he is at "enmity with God" and a "servant of sin,"
c. The enmity is not only to be between the woman and the serpent, but it extends even to the seed of the woman and to the seed of the serpent. It is, there fore, a continuous enmity.
d. The issue of the enmity is foretold by God. The seed of the woman will give the fatal blow. Note that these words of verse fifteen are spoken to the serpent.
The phrase "the seed of the woman" refers to the woman's children and natural descendants. The Seed which was to deliver the fatal blow was Christ. The phrase, "the seed of the serpent" perhaps means the evil kingdom over which Satan rules.
From this verse alone, we see that from the seed of the woman, somehow, and at some time, a fatal blow will be given which will completely destroy not only the seed of the serpent, but the serpent himself. Perhaps there is here a suggestion that the blow will be given by one definite individual. At any rate, while this fatal blow is being given, the Seed of the woman, who gives the blow, will Himself be wounded as to His heel. He will receive a lesser wound, but will not be completely conquered. Hebrews 2:14 shows us that Christ destroyed (that is, brought to naught) the devil by means of DEATH. And in this death which Christ died, He Himself suffered terribly. But this we are told in the New Testament; from this verse alone we merely learn that from the seed of the woman will come the blow that will overcome the serpent.
Verse sixteen [Gen. 3:16]shows that even though man has sinned, he will still be able to propagate himself. The race is not doomed to extinction. However, because of sin, the woman is condemned to suffer in childbirth.
Verses seventeen to nineteen [Gen. 3:17-19] do not teach that toil and labor were imposed as a curse or because of sin, because unfallen man had already been given work to do. Cf. Genesis 2:15. But the result of labor now is that it is changed from a blessing into something that merely leads to death. Because of sin, the body of man returns to the dust from which it was taken. This is physical death, which came upon man as a result of sin. However, the work that man does will enable him to live. He will be able to eat bread until physical death overtakes him, when his body will return to the ground. Remember that these words (verse nineteen) occur in a curse. Verse seventeen states that the ground was cursed because of man. (Cf. also Romans 8:22.) It is unto this cursed ground that man's body returns at death.
In verse twenty [Gen. 3:20] the word "Eve" probably means "living."
Verse twenty-one [Gen. 3:21] shows that the garments which Adam and Eve made were not sufficient. The Lord provided a covering of the skins of animals. In order that Adam and Eve might be clothed with skins, the lives of animals had to be taken. Blood had to be shed. Perhaps in this there is an illustration of the fact that "without shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins" (Hebrews 9:22). However, the New Testament does not refer to this incident as an illustration of atonement by the shedding of blood.
Verse twenty-two [Gen. 3:22] makes it clear that man now knows good as distinguished from evil and evil as distinguished from good. He has disobeyed God. The Scripture states that eating of the tree of life would have caused man to live forever; it does not say that it would have removed sin or the curse. We must simply trust that God did the right thing in removing man from the garden.
4. GOD DRIVES MAN OUT OF THE GARDEN OF EDEN. This is the fourth immediate result of sin. It is spiritual death. The very root of death consists in being separated' from God. Man is now set loose in the earth, SEPARATED from God. No longer does he enjoy the beautiful fellowship which was his in the garden. He now has the root and principle of death within him. He has to die. These two verses (Genesis 3:23-24) are perhaps the saddest in the Bible.
EXERCISES
- What are the four immediate results of man's disobedience?
- How is shame manifested? Do the man and woman seek to hide front each other or merely from God?
- Why does man desire to hide himself from God?
- How do Gen. 3:9-13 indicate God's tender method of dealing with sinners?
- What four facts are brought out by verse fifteen?
- Why did God have to take the initiative in the matter of redemption?
- In what does the essence of deliverance consist?
- To whom does the enmity extend?
- What is the issue of the enmity?
- What does the phrase "the seed of the woman" mean?
- What it your interpretation of verse fifteen and why?
- Is the race doomed to extinction because of sin?
- Show from verses seventeen to nineteen how toil now leads to death.
- Why did God drive man out of Eden?
- In what does spiritual death consist?
OPTIONAL EXERCISES
Study carefully and commit to memory question nine of the Shorter Catechism, or question twenty-six of the Heidelberg Catechism.
HYMNS FOR STUDY
No. 219: "My Sins, My Sins, My Saviour."
No. 214: "With Broken Heart And Contrite Sigh."