The Fall of Man (4)

We're going to open our Bibles back up to Genesis 3 where we have been for the last two or three weeks and I think one of the things we're seeing we're not hung up we're not stuck. What we're seeing really is the amazing importance the foundational significance of this passage and what it describes about the fall of man. And we've looked at the passage pretty thoroughly as it describes Adam and Eve's fall in the sin and the immediate consequences of that but what we started looking at recently and focusing more on is the far reaching consequences the far what we call the far reaching judgments because of the fall and we've already looked at three of those which are pretty significant the first probably the least significant. Although it touches on the whole animal kingdom and the curse on nature is the judgment on the snake in Genesis 3 verse 14 then we saw that led to the judgment on Satan where that great verse in Genesis 3 15 seems to describe that cosmic battle between Satan and Christ himself where the work that was done on the cross was a matter of Satan injuring striking. Striking his heel but in that very same act of Jesus death which was only temporary he crushed Satan's head and and dealt him a mortal blow and so judgment on Satan and then we we look last week at this to some great extent and that is judgment on Eve and women in verse 16 and we saw there really basically two judgments upon Eve and women the first one. And women the first was painful childbirth and the second is a changed relationship with her husband and that's the one that is at the center of a great deal of controversy over Christian feminism and we got into that quite a bit last week talked about several views of the passage and came to the conclusion that the best way to see verse 16 is the fact that God reminds Eve of the fact that she left her position of submission to her husband. In leading the way into the fall and and Adam abandoned his position of leadership by following her lead and so a part of the curse a part of God's judgment is is to indicate that you're going to battle with that because of your fallen nature you're going to battle with that throughout human history. You will have a tendency to resist your husband to resist his leadership and men will have a tendency to abuse that position of leadership in the home and so put those two together and that's pretty combustible stuff it's pretty bad stuff God didn't intend for either one of those to happen and so that really destroys a lot of homes and that's part of part of the fallen world that we live in we're we're living in that world we're part of the problem because of our fallenness and it does affect the marriage relationship. Okay, that's where we ended last time so we're going to pick up there I mentioned last week that there are 11 far reaching judgments or consequences of the fall we've only looked at three of them my intention tonight is to get through the other eight and I know I'm living in a law I'll land to think that and and that's fine because I love the discussion and interaction that we have so we're going to take a break and I'm going to go back and see if I can do that. So let's just move as far as we can tonight and we'll be satisfied with that the fourth far reaching consequence or judgment is judgment upon nature and man upon nature and man to kind of go together look over 17 to Adam he said because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you you must not eat from it. Curse is the ground because of you through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life it will produce thorns and thistles for you and you will eat the plants of the field. So there's a curse on nature the thorns and thistles are now produced whether or not they existed before the fall and we're just a part of the normal plant life is unclear if they were they were not a problem before the fall they now multiply and become a serious problem but it could be they begin to develop as a result of the fall. And everything in nature is affected it's not just thorns and thistles and weeds in your garden it's the fact that none of nature works like God had originally created it to work it's all been affected by this far reaching judgment the whole creation everything in nature even the weather you know people say well if if God is such a good God why does he allow hurricanes and tornadoes and all these words. It's horrible storms that was never a part of his intention for creation all of that is a part of the curse all of that is a part of the judgment because of the fall it's our sin that has brought that about not not directly it's not because of your sin that a tornado necessarily hits your house but it's because of the sin of Adam that creation is now under a curse and it doesn't function like God intended to function in fact hold your place here and look over at Romans. Chapter 8 Romans chapter 8 where Paul delves into this at some length Romans chapter 8 look at verse 19 well let's begin with the full of thought verse 18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us for the creation that's that's the material universe the creation of the world. The creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed that's that phrase the children of God to be revealed to speaking of the in times when when Christ comes sets up his kingdom and and our salvation is completed heaven comes to earth and we're in the eternal state it's that that thought. Now verse 20 for the creation was subjected to frustration there it is that's the curse that's the judgment on creation why he says not by its own choice but by the will of the one who subjected it in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time so the whole creation groans it struggles in a sense under this bondage that he talks about in verse 21 this this limitation that is on all of creation because of God's judgment because of the curse all of creation groans and struggles under that now it was not worth it. We understand don't we those limitations on our physical bodies we understand that groaning in quite a literal fashion don't we when we when we have illness when we have injury when we have disease things that go wrong with the body we understand what it means to grown and to be feel to feel limited and in bondage if you will not our bodies not working the way they were supposed to work. Well all of creation is that way so this simple statement cursed as the ground thorns and thistles it will produce that's just a kind of a simplistic way of saying all of creation is going to be cursed from here on out creation will not operate as it was intended to be as a blessing for mankind to provide his sustenance it's going to be a lot more difficult under an imperfect world. And that perfect world will be delivered from that bondage quote neuromans eight when we are also delivered from that bondage you know it's all going to happen it hasn't happened yet but it's all based on the work of Christ on the cross so part of the judgment because of the fall was judgment upon nature and because of that man it does include man because it it creation was the design to be a blessing for man sustenance and now he's going to have to fight struggle to eke out a living in an existence from the ground that he farms. Okay questions comments about this particular judgment you mean after the flood was this the rate of decay and so forth worse not significantly I mean it was some an example of that I guess would be the lifespan of people. You know the lifespan of people shortly after Adam was created they were living to be over 900 years old and the reason for that was there were still going to die they wouldn't have died if there had been no curse but it took a while for even the curse on nature to take full effect and to so distort the gene pool that that genetically we became program for shorter life. That's how good God's creation was and I would expect some of that same thing would have happened in you know the natural world as well certainly it was true of the dinosaurs and that's a big a big issue we'll try to go too far with that but I believe the dinosaurs lived through the flood and a couple of little ones around the arc and and and Joe saw them in the Jordan River Valley in in Joe 38 and 39 and but because of because of what happened at the flood the collapsing vapor canopy that was around the earth providing a greenhouse effect lush vegetation every animal was a vegetarian and we were to before the flood and then we were to before the flood and then after the flood all that began to change because of the collapse of that vapor canopy and greenhouse effect yes there was heightened and more accelerated decline of nature and that led to the eventual extinction of the dinosaurs. There may have been a lot of drunkenness even before the flood because we know there was a lot of violence and a lot of sin and man was totally totally depraved as far as the outliving of his simple nature was concerned there if it was full of violence and so that probably included some strong drink as well even before the flood but okay anything else about that okay the fifth okay the fifth far reaching judgment was verses 17 to 19 increased mental and physical toil increased mental and physical toil notice again what he says he says to Adam person is around because of you through painful toil will you eat food from it all the days of your life it will produce thorns and thistles for you you will eat plants of the field in the reverse 19 by the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground since from it you were taken for dust you are into dust you return there are some other things in those verses will look at in just a few moments but just to pick out of these of these two verses the idea of painful toil in verse 17 and by the sweat of your brow you will eat your food in other words work is made more difficult because of the curse on nature now Adam had worked to do before sin and before the curse contrary to popular opinion work is not a result of the curse it's not a part of God's judgment work was designed to be a part of the curse was designed man was designed to work and did work Adam dressed and kept the garden Genesis 2 15 before sin ever enter the world but work is made more difficult once the ground is cursed and it fights back against you with with not producing as it would have otherwise now that is a penalty for sure pain in labor both because of our deteriorating physical bodies and because of the fight back of nature against what we're trying to do that that's painful it's difficult it's frustrating and so that's certainly a judgment but there's a sense in which there's a silver lining in this cloud there's a blessing in this cloud as well and that is the very fact that we have to work harder increased work keeps us from idleness and temptation as we often heard our parents say idle hands or devil's workshop remember that and there's a lot of truth to that that was not necessary that was not the case at all before the fall but after sin there is a blessing in having to work harder because that focuses us on productive toil rather than idleness and further temptation and sin. So increased mental and physical toil is a result of sin result of the fall questions comments on that yes Michael I think you're on to something there I think the ground would have stayed very fertile but it was also fertile enough to grow a lot of weeds now a lot of thorns and thistles so it was like the two are competing with each other for growing space and nutrients in the soil and that's what made it more difficult then come come back to what Tommy suggested after the flood then you got other factors that are complicating the farming process and getting something out of the ground but it would have become more difficult simply because of the as as God says the the multiplication of thorns and thistles that would have been the greatest hindrance right after sin and expulsion from the garden and we'll talk a little bit more in just a few moments about the man's diet and also about the expulsion from the garden will get to that in just a little bit. All right ready for number six here we are we're going to get right to it a change diet a change diet was a part of the result of man's sin and God's judgment and the curse upon nature look at verse 18 interesting how this is said after he talks about cursed is the ground painful toil you'll eat food from it he says in verse 18 it will produce thorns and thistles for you and you will eat the plants of the field that seems to be introducing something new you will eat the plants of the field which may indicate that Adam didn't garden before the fall that he did not grow crops to eat he did literally this means that you will have to to dig your food you will eat the plants that are going to be in the plant that are dug out of the earth and that seems to be a part of the curse it is quite possible that there was another source of nutrition other than plants that that would grow out of the ground before the fall what do you think that source of nutrition would have been okay the fruit of the trees but quite possibly primarily the tree of life look down at verse 22 the Lord God said the man has now become like one of us knowing good and evil he must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever now we'll get to the reason why that's a part of the curse and the living forever bit but notice he says you can't eat of that anymore could it be that that was the primary food source before the fall that you didn't have to plant stuff and make it grow and dig it out of the earth that's part of the curse the tree of life is an interesting concept in the Bible exactly what was it there are different views as to how the tree of life worked there are some people who believe that it was the act of obedience to God in eating of that tree that sustained life didn't necessarily have anything to do with the fruit there are some who believe that there are others who believe that the fruit had some kind of magic about it that gave life and that kept you healthy and living forever you know kind of like pixie dust or even better pastor dust you know I don't think either one of those first two or probably the better view I think probably the fruit of the tree of life was the perfect food it had everything needed nutritionally to keep people living forever and that is what I think the main food source was before Adam send and Eve Adam and Eve send and the ground was cursed the implication is if they had continued eating from that tree they would have lived they would have continued to live forever but now in a declining aging decaying state and so God drives them out of the garden to keep that from happening this is really an act of mercy it isn't act of judgment but it's also an act of mercy because if they had continued to eat of that fruit they would have continued to live forever so God says you can't eat that anymore not now not dying the way you are it's interesting that the tree of life reappears in the Bible where new heaven and new earth revelation twenty two you can read about it where he's describing the water the river that comes out of the throne of God and flows down the middle of the streets and on either side he says is the tree of life bearing twelve men are of fruits a different fruit each month and he says the leaves of that tree for the healing of the nation so do people get sick and need to be healed in heaven no but it could do people need to eat in order to stay alive in heaven no but it could be that God uses those means to continue to enable people to live forever and to be healthy forever just because we're in a glorified body doesn't mean that God doesn't use means to accomplish those things who knows believe rate the tree of life reappears again in the new heaven and new earth actually the new earth new Jerusalem is on the earth so it could well be that what God is saying here is your diet has changed you're no longer going to eat of the fruit of the tree of life you're going to have to dig up stuff out of the ground and eat it so it changed diet may have been part of the far reaching consequences of the of the fall okay yes Bill after the flood did not eat meat till after the flood Genesis nine indicates that now he's given the permission to eat meat could be could be because of you know their skins their wool I mean you know farmers today race sheet for the wool and they use the wall to make various things and so there were there would be other reasons other than food for for raising those animals I would assume and and that probably would be would be why we're not you know there is some evidence that that animals were used for sacrifice able seems to have brought sacrifices from his flock to the Lord God made Adam and Eve skins from an animal that was killed so there may have been a religious of you know spiritual purpose also for for that but yeah beyond that I don't know but I don't I don't think there was any eating of meat till after the flood I think that's when permission was given to eat meat that's one good thing that came out of the flood if if God created and he did I mean there would I mean unless unless you can say there's there the mosquitoes are just a development of another another animal not in a sense of macro evolution but in the sense of species mutating and so forth you would you would have to think God created mosquitoes but if he did they had a good purpose before the fall and after the fall it would have changed okay anything else but the change diet all right number seven physical death one of the far reaching consequences of the fall physical death is in verse 19 you saw it there he says by the sweat of your brain you will eat your food until you return to the ground since from it you were taken for dust you are and to dust you will return now remember what God had told Adam back in chapter two and verse 17 go back and look at two 17 when he warned him not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he said 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 remember that's what Satan played on in the temptation you won't die and they didn't immediately but what God was warning them back in chapter two and verse 17 was in this sense on the day that you eat of the fruit you're as good as dead that would be another way of saying it and what God meant in other words the death penalty is pronounced the moment you eat that fruit the moment you disobey the death penalty is pronounced the process of your dying is set in motion I'm talking about physical death now the actual death wouldn't occur to later with Adam some what 930 960 years later 930 something like that his actual death would occur to later but but the the judgment was pronounced and the process was set in motion at that moment and in that sense God says you will die there's a very interesting example of this in the in the book of first kings chapter two and it has to do with the man by the name of Shema you may recall that when David was cast off his throne by his name he was leading the city of Jerusalem there was a guy that followed him along the ridges of the hills throwing rocks at him and cursing him by the name of Shema. Now when when David came back to his throne he he pardoned Shema when Solomon became king Solomon said this to him he said you he knew that he was a potential enemy so he said you come from the build a house in Jerusalem, live in the city of Jerusalem, don't you dare leave this city. The day you leave the city of Jerusalem, you will die. Well, he lived there several years, everything was great. And in one day, somebody came and told him, two of your slaves have escaped and gone down to the to a gas. And so he goes down to find them. He leaves Jerusalem, gets nice dog, leaves Jerusalem, goes down to find them, comes back. Solomon hears about it. And Solomon reminds him of the promise he had made to Solomon, never to leave the city of Jerusalem, and Solomon had him put the death. Now Solomon said, on the day you leave the city, you will die, did he literally physically die that day? No. But he was as good as dead because of disobedience, the judgment had been passed, the sentence was there, he was a dead man, that wouldn't carry it out a little bit later when he got back. That's what happens in the garden. God says, when you eat this fruit, in the day you eat this fruit, you will die. And he's not saying literally physically that moment, but he's saying the process of physical death is initiated at that point. You're a dead man, you will die. And so physical death is a result of the fall. Now obviously, also, died spiritually. We'll get to that in just a moment. But right now, we're just focusing on the fact that he died physically. And God warned him that that would happen. He reaffirms it here. You came from dust, you're going to go back to dust. All right, physical death. Any questions, comments about that? Yes, John? They were good. Yeah, everyday's good for an animal. If you're an animal before the fall, you don't have to worry about a predator because all the animals are vegetarians. There's no death until after no death even in the animal kingdom, until after the fall. And quite likely, the first animal that died was the one used to close that underneath. As a result of the fall, it's a part of the curse, judgment on the animals. When did the land start eating the lamb? Somebody helped me out here. Was it before the flood or after the flood? After the flood is when man has allowed to kill animals to eat meat. Does it say in Genesis 9, the animals were also, that's when they started attacking each other? No, they didn't on the ark, but that was supernaturally divinely induced. Most Bible commentators believe what happened on the ark is the animals were put into some kind of supernaturally induced hibernation or stupor so that they didn't have to eat as much and they didn't attack each other. Now, I'm trying to, yeah, without just reading the first nine chapters, I'm not sure. I don't want to take the time to do that right now. And I'm struggling to remember to be honest. No, that's fine. That's fine. That would be my guess. I can't point to an evidence of it right away. I can't think of one, but certainly that changes when the curse is lifted. Line lays down with the lamb so forth. Children play with poisonous snakes and all that. So that happens when the curse is lifted. So that does seem to imply that all that began when the curse was, was, was, was gift. Yeah. It could have been a part of the, I would, I would lean toward that. It was part of the judgment on nature that animals began to function as they were not intended also just like the rest of creation. So they turned on each other. Anybody found a verse yet? Did you have an evidence of animals attacking each other before Genesis 9? In Genesis 9, 5 after the flood. Yeah. Yeah. They're accountable. They'll be put to death if they, if they kill person. Whether or not animals, man was not a meat eater until after the flood. For an animal to attack another animal and kill it would, would imply that the animal was a meat eater. Did animals eat meat before the flood? That's, that's I guess the real question. Steve, you got an answer for us? Really? I was hoping you had it, man. All of the above, okay? You're right about one thing. I was not there. That much I do know. I don't know. To be honest, I don't know. I would, you know, death began to happen after the curse. So for an animal to step on another animal and kill it, that's certainly within a realm of possibility. Whether or not they attacked each other for food and ate each other, that's what I'm not sure about. No. I don't think so. Answer for two smart and elephants for two kind. You know, I just didn't happen. Yeah. Yeah. The answer would have got tired of avoiding all the elephants. So it couldn't have been much time. Yeah. You just never know what direction our discussions are going to take on Wednesday night. Yeah. I mean, elephants and ants. Who would have thought it? Okay. Any more questions that I have no clue how to answer? All right. Let's move on to number eight. Okay. Maybe we'll have time to get this one at least. And that is one of the results of the fall was being excluded from the garden. And again, in verses 22 to 24, we looked at this a little bit earlier where God says the man has now become like one of us knowing good and evil. In other words, now he knows from, he knows by experience, you know, he knows by experience what evil is. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever. So the Lord God banished him from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the garden of Eden, Cherubim, and the flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. Now evidently, the tree of life also fell to the curse. At some point it began to decay and die. So at some point, this would no longer be needed. I don't think there's any place in the world today where you can go and find a flaming sword in the cherubim guarding something. But for a while, that was necessary so that man could not have access to the tree of life again. The very driving of Adam and Eve out of the garden shows that they are now separated from God. We're going to talk about that more when we talk about the next thing we'll get to. But it shows they were separated from God. They're no longer walking together in the cool of the day. Enjoying unbroken fellowship. Alienation is complete. They're driven out of the garden. Now they can have a relationship with God obviously as they come into God's presence through the proper means. They can have a relationship with God. But I don't think there was that same unbroken fellowship that there had been with nothing in between them. So they are excluded from the garden that shows their separation from God. But it also shows God's mercy. So they cannot get to that tree anymore that would enable them to live forever. And that's really of God's mercy. I mean, to live forever in a dying state, a decaying state, even if it did take a thousand years, which it almost did for most of those antiballuvians, those ancient people. We see it today, don't we? Don't we see loved ones who have just suffering horribly and they're a hundred years old and they're ready to go home and they just can't die, it seems. And how tragic that can be. We know that by experience, don't we? And can you imagine living forever in that kind of further decaying, dying state? I mean, that was really of God's mercy that he did that excluded them from the tree of life. Okay, questions, comments about that. Tommy? Evidently. And evidently, that was the only way to access it once he excluded them. What else he did to guard or to protect, you know, the circumference of the tree of life? I don't know. But it does seem to imply there was only one way to get there. And that is guarded on the east side of the Garden of Eden, the cherubin and the flaming sword guards the way. So there must have been only one way to get in there. Yeah. Here's what I think that means. And it's a feeble attempt at best. Please, please bear with me because this is a difficult concept. Man has now become like one of us, the Trinity. I mean, he warned about that in chapter two. Knowing good and evil. Okay. Let's let's let's back up and start here. God is omniscient, which means God knows all things. He knows even in eternity past, God has always known what good was and what evil was. He knows what good looks like. He knows what evil looks like. He's never experienced evil. He has never done evil. But because he is omniscient, he knows everything about evil. He knows what it is like. He knows what it will do to you. He knows everything about evil. What's happened now, man in this created state does not know anything about evil because he's never experienced. He's not omniscient like God. He has limited knowledge and his knowledge is based primarily upon learning what's around him from what's around him. So he's had no experience with evil. All he knows is good. God's good creation. God's good gifts. Once he disobeyed God, now he knows evil by experience. So only in that limited sense does he become like God in the sense that he now knows there is both good and evil. Prior to the fall, Adam didn't know that. He only knew there was good. He had been warned not to eat of one tree, but he had never experienced evil. You can't make an exact likeness here or you put yourself in the position of saying God knows evil by experience, which he doesn't. But neither does man know like God knows because he's omniscient. So the only way I can explain that is God knows both good and evil because of his omniscience. We can only know evil because of the experience of disobeying God. And in that sense, now we know there are two realms both good and evil. I think that's what that means. Yes. Yes. As the Bible says, God cannot be tempted by evil nor does he tempt anyone. So because God is perfectly holy, he cannot sin. But because he knows all things, he knows what sin is and he knows what it will do to you. He knows that. He's just never experienced it. But I think man now knows it because he's experienced it. Before the fall, he couldn't have experienced it. So he couldn't have learned it. That's my best effort to understand that. And it's a bit of a puzzle, quite frankly, how we become like God, knowing good and evil. Wait a second. Has God sinned? Has God no evil? No, no. God only knows evil through his omniscience, not through his experience. But there is a sense in which there is a likeness here. Now man has entered that realm where he knows there's not only good, there's also evil. The tragedy is man knows it by experience. Would there have been any knowledge gained from eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? No, no knowledge that man needed. When we, when we talked about the provision of God in the garden, there was nothing withheld from man that he needed to live a full, complete life. So there would have been no knowledge gained that could increase or add to his benefit or welfare. The only knowledge he gained was the knowledge of evil by experience of disobeying God. So in that sense, there was new knowledge. But not new knowledge in the sense that, oh, I'll learn something now, a better person. Times up, we need to stop. Okay, that's pray. Father, we are grateful for the foundational chapters and truths in your word that help us to understand the reason why things are the way they are now. Lord, if we understand Genesis 3, it explains a lot about us and about the world that we live in, about creation, about the way things happen and the way we work. So help us to learn what we need to learn from this, this amazing chapter so that we will be not only better informed but warned of what sin in our experience will do to us as well. May we always flee to you and to your cross where Jesus died to pay for our sins and to give us new life. May we be satisfied with you every day and not seek to learn what evil will teach us in Jesus' name, Amen.