Promise: (Matthew 17:20 KJV)
And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
What is sin: (1 John 3:4 NIV) Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness..
(Genesis 2:17 NIV) but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”. The wages of sin is death. Man died in the spirit on the day he and her sinned.
(Romans 3:23 NIV) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
God gave the commandment. Sin in Greek is ‘hamartia’- missing the mark.
God is not the author of sin, nor does He tempt people to sin; this is the work of the devil.
(James 1:13 NIV) When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;
We have already seen that Satan fell into sin prior to the work of He was a beautiful angel originally, rejoicing at God’s Creation but he sinned and was judged by God (Isaiah_14:12-17; Ezekiel_28:11-19). Note that Satan came to Eve in the guise of a serpent, for he is a masquerader and appears to people in his true character. In , Satan is the serpent who deceives
(2 Corinthians 11:3 NIV) But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
(John 8:44 NIV) You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
he is the liar that murders. We must take care to avoid his deceptive ways.
The target
Satan aimed at Eve’s mind (2 Corinthians 11:3 NIV) But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
and succeeded in deceiving her. Man’s mind is a part of his being created in God’s image.
(Colossians 3:9-10 NIV) Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 1and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
The tactic
As long as the mind holds to God’s truth, Satan cannot win; but once the mind doubts God’s Word, there is room for the devil’s lies to move in. Satan questioned God’s Word
(Genesis 3:1 NIV) Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
denied God’s Word (Genesis 3:4 NIV) “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.
and then substituted his own lies (Genesis 3:5 NIV) “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Note that Satan seeks to undermine our faith in the goodness of God — he suggested to Eve that God was “holding out on them” by keeping them from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When we question God’s goodness and doubt His love, we are playing right into the hands of Satan. Satan made the temptation sound wonderful by making an offer: “You will be like God!” Satan himself had wanted to be “like the Most High”
(Isaiah 14:14 NIV) I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”
, and centuries later he offered Christ “all the kingdoms of the world” if He would worship him
(Matthew 4:8 NIV) Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.
The tragedy
Eve should not have “given place to the devil” (Eph_4:27); she should have held to God’s Word and resisted him. We wonder where Adam was during this conversation.
The woman’s judgment involved multiple conception and pain in childbirth. She was made subject to her husband. Note that Paul suggests that Christian women who marry unsaved men may have special dangers in bearing children. The judgment on man involved his work: paradise would be replaced by wilderness, and the joy of ministry in the garden by the sweat and toil in the field.
This is the first Gospel declared in the Bible: the good news that the woman’s seed (Christ) would ultimately defeat Satan and his seed. It is from this point on that the stream divides: Satan and his family (seed) oppose God and His family.
(1 John 3:12 NIV) Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.
Two families arising. God’s family and Satan’s family on earth. There is war between good and evil.
The only Gospel Adam heard was what God said in (Genesis 3:15 NIV) And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring[a] and hers; he will crush[b] your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Yet he believed it and was saved. How do we know he believed it? Because he called his wife’s name “Eve” which means “life” or “life giver.” God had said that Adam and Eve would die, and Adam did die physically after 930 years. But he also died spiritually, in that he was separated from God because of sin. God promised the birth of a Savior through the woman, and Adam believed this promise and was saved. God did not change the physical consequences of sin, but he did remit the eternal consequences — hell.
The coats of skins in are pictures of the salvation we have in Christ. (Genesis 3:21 NIV) The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
There must be the shedding of blood, the offering of innocent life for the guilty. Adam and Eve had tried to cover their sin and shame with leaves
(Genesis 3:7 NIV) Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
but these good works were not accepted by God. Nor does He accept such works today!
Garments in the Bible are often a picture of salvation. See
(Isaiah 61:10 NIV) I delight greatly in the Lord;my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
The prodigal son was clothed afresh when he came home (Luke 15:22 NIV) “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
The garments of self-righteousness and good works are but filthy rags in God’s sight (Isaiah 64:6 NIV) The waters of Nimrim are dried up and the grass is withered; the vegetation is gone and nothing green is left.
. Note that God wanted Adam and Eve to be covered; He approved their sense of shame. It is always a sign of degeneration when people reverse this and go back to nakedness. “Modest apparel” is always God’s standard.
(1 Timothy 2:9-10 NIV) I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.
Rom_5:1-21 and 1Co_15:42-49 explain the contrasts between the first Adam and the Last Adam, Christ. Adam was made from the earth, but Christ came down from heaven. Adam was tempted in a perfect garden, while Christ was tempted in a terrible wilderness. Adam deliberately disobeyed and plunged the human race into sin and death, but Christ obeyed God and brought righteousness. As a thief, Adam was cast out of paradise. Speaking to a thief, Jesus said, “Today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke_23:43, NKJV).
(Hebrews 4:16 NIV) Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Prayer is our approach to God, and we are to come “boldly.” Some Christians approach God meekly with heads hung low, afraid to ask him to meet their needs. Others pray flippantly, giving little thought to what they say. Come with reverence because he is your King. But also come with bold assurance because he is your Friend and Counselor.