Basic Bible Stories: Adam & Eve

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Basic Bible Stories

Adam & Eve Genesis 1-3

Today we begin a series of messages designed to remind people of the basics; the basics of the Bible. A knowledge of the basic characters and events of the Bible which is foundational

to our understanding as believers, and foundational to those who would know more about God, the Bible and His Son Jesus Christ (comp. w/ John 5:39, 46-47; Luke 24:27).

Today we start with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

1. In the beginning God … The Bible never tries to defend or “prove” the existence of God or the fact of Creation, and

neither should we be so involved in this trying to “defend” God that we lose sight of simple faith, the faith of a little child who believes that God is and that all things were made by

Him (Hebrews 11:3). Our role is to “go ye into all the world and TEACH …” We weren’t told to go and prove. We forget that it is GOD who reveals Himself to people. It is God who opens the eyes of understanding so that people may believe (comp. w/ Ephesians 5:18,

1Corinthians 2:11-14, John 6:65, Isaiah 53:1).

2. We read in Genesis 1:26 that God created man.

Not only that, but we were created in God’s image. Many people will say that means “body, soul, and spirit.” Some will say, “intellect, will, emotion.” While these things may be true, I do not see that specifically mentioned in the Bible, whereas I do read that we were made in

God’s image in three ways:

1. Righteousness (Ephesians 4:24)

2. True holiness (Ephesians 4:24) 3. Knowledge (Colossians 3:10)

In other words, man was created in the image of God; image meaning “reflection.”

Therefore, although body, soul, and spirit or intellect, will, and emotion may play into it, clearly the image of God goes beyond those terms. We know that God is holy (Isaiah 6:1-3; et. al.) and righteous (Ezra 9:15 et. al.) and all-knowing (Psalm 147:5). Thus Adam and

Eve were made with these qualities in image form.

In other words, Adam and Eve were created righteous (without sin), truly holy(from the inside out, in contrast to those who errantly try to be holy from the outside in, comp. w/ Romans 10:3) and with knowledge (e.g. Adam named all of the animals in one day; but

also had an intimate knowledge of God). And, since Adam, there has been no one else who has been the perfect image of God until Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:15, 3:10; Hebrews 1:3).

3. Man was also appointed to have dominion over the earth(Genesis 1:26-28).

God made man (male and female) to rule over His creation. But, have we been doing that?

All we have to do is look around at the condition of the planet and our treatment of the environment and animals to know that we have horrifically failed. Hence all of creation

groans (Romans 8:22). Something happened between then and now to cause such untold suffering upon the earth.

4. Adam was made to work (Genesis 2:6; 2:15-17); Eve was made to help Adam do the work (Genesis 2:18; 1Corinthians 11:9).

So, as we have seen in previous messages, that work is what men were created to do. Our job is to work (no pun intended) and provide for our families (comp. w/ 1Timothy 5:8 et.

al.) And women (specifically our wives) are to help or support us in doing this. Yes, believe it or not, like it or not, there are gender roles in the Bible. This is where the concept of a

housewife began, because it is biblical. The problem comes when men and women fail to follow God’s appointed divine plan for the

family. Look at the world around us and we can see the results of men failing to behave as men and women acting as men. This was not the way it was supposed to be. Again,

something must have happened to bring us to the state we are in today.

5. Adam and Eve had fellowship with God (Genesis 3:8).

How sweet it must have been to walk in the Garden with God! Can you imagine? Nothing else could compare with it. But now, as a race, we do not have fellowship with God. We lost

it. But how?

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6. God commanded Adam not to eat of the fruit of one particular tree (Genesis

2:16-17). The command was given directly to Adam, the man. And, it is the man who was

responsible for his wife. But as we will see later, Adam failed in his duty to guard his wife from temptation.

Eve and the serpent (Genesis 3:1-7)

Before we go any further, notice that the serpent did not address the male, but he went to the female. When an enemy attacks an army or a fortress, what is SOP (standard operating

procedure)? Exactly! Enemies attack the weakest parts of an army or fortress in order of course to succeed in their conquest.

It was the same here. Satan went to the woman, who God says is the weaker vessel (1Peter 3:7; comp. w/ 1Timothy 2:12-14; comp. also w/ her response in verse 3 “neither

shall ye touch it” which indicated that she was unclear as to the exact command or that she added to it). The lesson here, is that men need to guard their wives from temptation, and

woman might do well to refer such questions to the elders of a church. Nevertheless, Eve made a few mistakes here:

1. She answered the serpent; she replied to the tempter

Apparently it was not a strange thing that the serpent could talk. But Eve answered and entered into a dialogue that took a wrong turn at verse 4 when the Devil outrightly

contradicted the commandment of God. At this point, Eve should have stopped the conversation. But she listened and the rest follows.

How about us? Do we do as Eve did, or do we do as Christ did when He was tempted? Eve

conversed with the Devil; Christ rebuked him with the Word of God. Our only defense, actually offense is the Word of God, the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17). Therefore,

when we are tempted, the Holy Spirit brings to mind the Word of Christ in order to fend off the temptations. However, if there is nothing there for the Spirit of God to bring to mind, we are sitting ducks!

2. She did not know the Word of God regarding their conduct in the Garden

In other words, when the serpent lied to her in verse 4 and contradicted the character of God in verse 5, she did not show any doubt, but went straight ahead.

How often do we do the same? Without an understanding of God’s word or will, we just go

off into something and get into trouble? 3. She allowed herself to be deceived

As a result of her unpreparedness, she allowed herself to be deceived. I think of the words

of 2Timothy 2:15 here: “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” Not long after this

conversation she was ashamed. And it is the same for us today. Without the Word of Christ dwelling in us richly, we are apt

to fall (comp. w/ Psalm 119:11; Colossians 3:16).

Eve was tempted in three areas common to all of us today: 1. Lust of the eyes

She saw that it was pleasant to the eyes. Are not the eyes where it all begins; either the

eyes of our flesh or the eyes of our imaginations? It festers and grows in our hearts until we cannot control ourselves anymore and we must have it.

How many women have done this with jewelry or clothes, or other? How many men have done this with women or cars, or other?

2. Lust of the flesh

She saw that the food was good for food, to the satisfying of the flesh. She didn’t need this fruit. Surely the garden was filled with other delicious fruit. Yet, she saw something that

she wanted and did not consider what she had. Covetousness would fall into this category. How often do we desire something so strong that it eventually consumes our thoughts and

even our behaviors, and fail to be content with such things as we have (comp. w/ 1Timothy 6:8; Hebrews 13:5).

3. Pride of life

Finally, she saw that it was a fruit that would make her wise. Is this not where we are weak as well? Do we not seek special knowledge? For example, “did you know …” or “Have you

heard …” or when people tell you that they have some special knowledge about something, do we not follow after that.

You’ve heard it said that “knowledge is power.” I have to agree. Thus, to have knowledge

sets you above or apart from the average person, giving you cause to boast or glory in yourself. But oh how the Lord dispels such false glorying (Jeremiah 9:23-24). Hence, when Eve took the fruit and ate of it, then gave it to Adam who also ate, they gave up that

intimate “knowledge” of God for the things of this world. Is it not the same today?

Interestingly, all three of these are found in John’s warning in 1John 2:16. Oh, the devil knows where to tempt us. The world is filled with people who are so

distracted by these things that they won’t even consider the word of God.

So what happened to bring about all of our problems? Our (federal) disobedience to God’s word: the essence of sin.

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Notice the results of their (our) sin:

1. They tried to fix the problem They sowed fig leaves together to hide their nakedness, not realizing that God sees and

knows everything (in their sin, they lost touch with reality; they lost touch of the truth, that God is omniscient and omnipresent; they lost that “image” of God, that “knowledge”

(comp. w/ 1Corinthians 2:14); which is why God must now “reveal” Himself to us. He revealed Himself in the face of Jesus Christ (John 1:18), and now He reveals Himself through His Word which points to Jesus Christ. Therefore, as we saw earlier, we must be

renewed in the image of God in knowledge. It’s also interesting to note that Jesus Christ is the image of God, therefore to be renewed into God’s image, is to be like Christ. Awesome!

We as a human race try to “fix” the problem of sin by trying to reform ourselves, trying to make it right, exercising good morals, or any number of behaviors designed to recover

what we lost in the Garden (and what did we lose?). People try to promote their own righteousness (Proverbs 20:6; Romans 10:3) in order to say to God, “see, I did it!.” But as

we see later in the chapter, their aprons were insufficient. God had to make coats of skins. And it is the same message today. Our works are insufficient, only God’s work is

acceptable.

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2. They were afraid

When faced with the presence of God, our natural response is fear. God is thrice holy, and when Isaiah saw Him, his response was “woe is me.” And there are more instances in the

Bible when people came into the presences of God, especially Jesus Christ in the New Testament and they fell on their faces in fear. Awesome! Our natural sinful corrupt condition is to be in fear of holy God.

3. They hid themselves (shame)

How about in the book of Revelation; the response of the inhabitants of the earth was to flee from God (Revelation 20:11). Our response as people, sinful humans, is to run away

from the light (comp. w/ John 3:20-21 and John 1:5).

4. They lost intimate fellowship with God At that moment when Adam and Eve ate the fruit, they lost that intimate fellowship with

God. They could no longer walk with God in the garden because they were no longer righteous or holy. They lost that great treasure, which is what salvation is all about (John

17:3). To know Christ is the prize (Philippians 3:9-14). And all of us from Adam on do not have it. The only way is to be born again: a second chance with God.

5. They died physically

Although Adam did not die instantly, he did die. And everyone after Him except Enoch and Elijah died. We all have a death sentence (Hebrews 9:27); the result of sin (Romans 5:12).

6. They were separated from God (they died spiritually)

The end of the story is that they were driven out from the presence of God in the Garden. Forever separated; a sad ending to a beautiful story of creation and perfection. It is the same for all of us as we read in Isaiah 59:2. And, no matter what we do, we cannot recover

that. There is a great gulf between us and God, that we cannot bridge and frankly speaking, God doesn’t desire sin in His camp. There is really no hope for us to be with God

again. There is nothing we can do to recover what we lost. We are condemned already (John 3:18) from birth (Psalm 51:5).

7. But God did not give up on them or us!

If God had left us to ourselves, we would all be born, live, and die separated from God. We would die in our sins and be condemned to the only other place available after death

besides heaven: hellfire: the place of eternal punishment for disobedience to eternal God. But God made a way:

Ephesians 2:4-8

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his gracein his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it isthe gift of God:

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Galatians 4:4-6 4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. 6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts,

crying, Abba, Father. God has made a way to restore us to our original condition. He sent His only begotten

Son, “that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” If we will by faith look to Jesus Christ as our Perfect Sacrifice for our sins, as our Saviour from

the punishment meant for us: put upon Him (Isaiah 53:4-6); if we will believe and rest upon the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord says we will be born again, that we will be forgiven, that we can be righteous again, that we can have fellowship, and that

we can be with Him forever.

To God be the glory forever and ever, Amen.