When we were teenagers, many of us would eat junk food like it was the only necessary food group for sustained living. Then we grew up, got married, discovered the stress of adult life and continued eating junk food like it was financial stability, emotional peace, and freedom all wrapped up with a cherry on top. We knew it wasn’t considered healthy, but we thought we could get away with it. We would often reason, “I’ll worry about it later.” Then years passed and the doctor said, “Let me introduce myself. I’m later.” The doc told us our cholesterol numbers were too high, blood pressure was too high, and our weight was too high. We finally came to realize that there were consequences to ignoring the truth about our diet and lack of exercise. Unfortunately, the consequences became a lot harder than we had ever imagined. We could no longer lose weight like we used to and we had developed a significant fondness for sugar. The consequences of our choices were now impacting our health, our finances, and our habits. Life got hard!
Ignoring truth and embracing sinful choices sometimes seems doable, but only for a season. Eventually, the sin will be exposed, and the consequences will be very real. We must live like sin has consequences and God is our only hope.
SIN IS REVEALED (3:8-13)
3:8- “hid themselves” – the human response is to hide our sin, but we eventually realize that sin will not be hidden long.
3:9- “Where are you?” – The Lord already knew where Adam and Eve were. Afterall, He is omniscient! But God asks them the question any way to give them the opportunity to come clean and acknowledge their sinful choices.
3:10- Adam tells God about his fear and shame (he was naked). Sin always brings fear and shame! After choosing sin, we are afraid of getting caught, afraid of accidentally revealing the sin, and afraid if anyone has figured out our guilt. Their choice to sin also removed God’s original creation design of transparency and no shame. SIN BRINGS SHAME! We become ashamed of our hate, ashamed of our bitterness, ashamed of our immorality, and ashamed of our gossip. In short, we become ashamed of rejecting God!
3:11-13 – God reveals how He knows they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It is because they are fearful and ashamed. The immediate response of Adam is that it is his wife’s fault. In fact, he makes it even worse by implicating God as well! He says, “the woman YOU gave me ate from it and then I ate.” Eve responds quickly with a similar defense and says, “the serpent tricked me! It’s the serpent’s fault!” The serpent is at the end of this trail and had no one else to blame. Blame shifting is often embraced to save our own skin.
Family, OWN YOUR SINFUL CHOICES! It is not because you were tired, or that you had a hard day, or someone made you do it, or that you didn’t get your way that you chose sin! The culprit is not your job, your exhaustion, or someone else, or your unmet expectation. See your sinful choices like God sees them, do not excuse them away, and ask for forgiveness (I Jn. 1:9).
SIN HAS CONSEQUENCES (3:14, 16-19)
I have watched many a parent tell their child to obey them, or they will go home right now. The child then refuses to obey, and the parent says you have until five to obey…1…2…3…4…4.5…4.75. The child successfully taught their parent that the child is in charge. When the child remains in this atmosphere, they never learn there are consequences for their sin! Look at the consequences God gives in Genesis 3.
3:14-15 – The serpent will be cursed above all animals and will be condemned to crawl on its belly. “Dust shall you eat all your life” points to total humiliation and there is the promise of ultimate defeat.
3:16 – The woman will have increased pain in childbirth, and sorrow connected to bearing children. “Thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over you” reveals a strained spousal relationship that will move from harmony to tension.
3:17 – The man’s curse is connected to his work. The ground is cursed, work will be hard and burdensome (“in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life”), thorns and thistles make their debut in creation, labor will be exhausting (“in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread”), and physical death is now an inevitable reality (“for dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return”).
There was a study done of children in an orphanage in the 1940’s. The babies who were fed, clothed, and clean (but not held or loved) became withdrawn, unresponsive, developmentally delayed, and some showed severe depression. Overall, the lack of love impacted these children publicly and thoroughly. (Source: Loneliness in Infancy)
To sum up these verses, sin is not private. It impacts every relationship we have! Sin impacts relationship with God, relationship with one another, relationship with our own body, and relationship with creation.
So, who was right about eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God or Satan? Overwhelmingly…God was right! God was/is truth!
So, who is right when God says something in the Bible and Satan whispers questions in our ears? God is truth and truth is the right choice! Unfortunately, Satan’s game of deception continues to lead many astray. Consider these 5 differences between truth from God and lies from Satan!
Forgive one another or bitterness will become your vile friend. Eph. 4:30-32.
Love one another or hatred will reveal your love for God as a false confession. I Jn. 4:20.
Love one another or your hatred will be seen as murder. I Jn. 3:15.
Love one another or you will not be known as a disciple of Jesus. Jn. 13:34-35.
Speak and rehearse truth or your lies will be an abomination to the Lord. Prov. 12:22.
Choose genuine humility or pride will destroy you. Prov. 16:18; Jas. 4:6.
Embrace purity or immorality will tear your family apart, block the filling of the Holy Spirit, and bring God’s judgment. I Cor. 6:18; Heb. 13:4
God is truth. Satan is the liar!
HOPE IS DECLARED (3:15, 20-24)
At the end of the chapter, Adam and Eve are kicked out of the garden to keep them from continuing to eat from the tree and live forever in a fallen state. Sin fractures God’s beautiful plan of creation. This must have been devastating for Adam and Eve! Think about the changes.
1. No more walking in the garden with God
2. Sin brought guilt and shame
3. Thorns and thistles made work hard
4. Childbearing became sorrowful and painful
5. Their relationship was strained with each other
I can only imagine that discouragement fell on them like a heavy burden! Our own sin does the same thing to us! We feel the guilt, the sorrow, and the regrets…and sometimes we struggle finding a way forward. Genesis 3:15 declares Divine hope! God gives us a peak into the rescue plan God had designed before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4)! Read Genesis 3:15.
“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
In other words, God promises that Satan will wound Christ, but Christ will ultimately crush Satan and undo the damage of our sin. All hope is not lost! God has provided a way to rescue us from our own destruction! Look at our great and good God! He is just. He is merciful. He is hope!
Are you weighed down with the burden of your sin? Does the way forward seem too hard to take in? Jesus is calling! Yes, your sin has consequences, but God offers hope when you have none of your own making. Turn to Jesus.