Genesis 3:1-13 | The Lie of the Enemy

Genesis 3 shows us one of the greatest changes in human history.  We see Adam and Eve go from naked and unashamed at the end of chapter 2, to hiding in the trees with makeshift clothing when the Lord comes to visit in chapter 3.  What happened to bring about this change? 

Did they develop some new cognitive understanding with great study? 

Did they Google, "What to do when you are naked?" 

Of course not. They did the one thing they had been forbidden to do, and when they did, they immediately recognized something far worse than simply their lack of clothing - the realized they were separated from a God who is Holy by their decision to give in to temptation.

   The serpent was cunning for sure and Satan used the deception that has been working on humanity since our first ancestors - does God's Word really say that? 

Is that really what God said? 

Surely that isn’t what God meant when he said eating from that tree would bring death.

He loves you and created you in his image! He surely wouldn’t destroy you over eating fruit.  He just wants to hold you back.

You can be your own God! 

We still battle these lines of thinking today. We are tempted and try to act as if God's Word doesn’t apply to our situation. We act as if our sin is somehow lesser or not worthy of the same punishment.  We believe we can “get away” with it and know what’s best for ourselves.

     The problem though, with sin, is that it makes promises to us that it can never keep.  It promises joy and pleasure and happiness and peace, but only delivers any of these things for a fleeting moment. 

Hebrew 11:25 says that the pleasures of sin are passing. 

James 1:15 says that sin begins with our desires, which give birth to sin, and sin brings forth death. 

The Bible is clear on the reality of the danger of sin. But we choose to listen to the deceiver who tells us our sin is different or somehow won’t trap us that way. 

Sin will take you further than you ever dreamed you go, have you doing things you never dreamed you do, and leave you emptier then you ever thought you could feel.

The good news: God didn’t leave is in our sin.  He didn’t say that because of our failure all hope is lost and the separation is eternal.  By the end of Genesis chapter 3, we see the promise that while the serpent would nip the heel of the savior, the savior, Jesus, would crush the head of the serpent.  Jesus on the cross of Calvary broke the chains of sin and accepted the punishment we deserve for our sin.  Jesus satisfied the punishment of God on sin. You see, one promise we can count on is the promise of God that sin must be punished with death.  One hope we that we have is that Jesus took that punishment on our behalf!

  Today, let us recognize that our sin isn’t innocent - no matter how little we try to make it in our minds.  It is a separation from God, an affront to his holiness.  Even worse, it deserves the just punishment of death.  Let us glory in the grace of Jesus that he died that we would be free from not just the penalty of sin, but the chains of sin! 

Let us live in the presence of that grace and seek His Word in our lives without saying, surely that isn’t what His Word really says.

Watch "The Lie of the Enemy" HERE