The Doctrine of Man - His Fall into SIN.

A. The Temptation that lead to the Fall.

From Genesis 3:1 we learn that Satan in the serpent, deceived Eve who lead Adam to disobey and fall into sin.

Gen 3:1  Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which Jehovah God had made. And he said to the woman, Is it so that God has said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

Gen 3:2  And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden.

Gen 3:3  But of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.

Gen 3:4  And the serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die,

Gen 3:5  for God knows that in the day you eat of it, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as God, knowing good and evil.

Satan slyly caused Eve to doubt the Word of God and then he brazenly denied the Word of God.

Gen 3:4  And the serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die,

B. The Transgression that caused the Fall.

Transgression :an act that goes against a law, rule, or code of conduct; an offense.: "I'll be keeping an eye out for further transgressions"synonyms: offense,  crime ,  sin,  wrong,   wrongdoing,  lawbreaking  google dictionary

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In vv 2,3 of Gen 3  Eve makes the mistake of adding to the Word of God, she said, “Neither shall you touch it”.  Then she omits from God’s Word “ You will surely died”.

Gen 2:17  but you shall not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. For in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.

A. Clark  “Of the tree of the knowledge - thou shalt not eat - This is the first positive precept God gave to man; and it was given as a test of obedience, and a proof of his being in a dependent, probationary state. It was necessary that, while constituted lord of this lower world, he should know that he was only God’s vicegerent, and must be accountable to him for the use of his mental and corporeal powers, and for the use he made of the different creatures put under his care. The man from whose mind the strong impression of this dependence and responsibility is erased, necessarily loses sight of his origin and end, and is capable of any species of wickedness. As God is sovereign, he has a right to give to his creatures what commands he thinks proper. An intelligent creature, without a law to regulate his conduct, is an absurdity; this would destroy at once the idea of his dependency and accountableness. Man must ever feel God as his sovereign, and act under his authority, which he cannot do unless he have a rule of conduct. This rule God gives: and it is no matter of what kind it is, as long as obedience to it is not beyond the powers of the creature who is to obey. God says: There is a certain fruit-bearing tree; thou shalt not eat of its fruit; but of all the other fruits, and they are all that are necessary, for thee, thou mayest freely, liberally eat. Had he not an absolute right to say so? And was not man bound to obey?

Thou shalt surely die - מות תמות  moth tamuth; Literally, a death thou shalt die; or, dying thou shalt die. Thou shalt not only die spiritually, by losing the life of God, but from that moment thou shalt become mortal, and shalt continue in a dying state till thou die. This we find literally accomplished; every moment of man’s life may be considered as an act of dying, till soul and body are separated. Other meanings have been given of this passage, but they are in general either fanciful or incorrect.”

Rev 22:18  For I testify together to everyone who hears the Words of the prophecy of this Book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add on him the plagues that have been written in this Book.

Rev 22:19  And if anyone takes away from the Words of the Book of this prophecy, God will take away his part out of the Book of Life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which have been written in this Book.

Pro 30:5  Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.

Pro 30:6  Do not add to His Words, lest He reprove you and you be found a liar.

Gen 3:6  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasing to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make wise, she took of its fruit, and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

Genesis 3:6 The tree was good for food -

1. The fruit appeared to be wholesome and nutritive. And that it was pleasant to the eyes.

2. The beauty of the fruit tended to whet and increase appetite. And a tree to be desired to make one wise, which was,

3. An additional motive to please the palate.

From these three sources all natural and moral evil sprang: they are exactly what the apostle calls the desire of the flesh; the tree was good for food: the desire of the eye; it was pleasant to the sight: and the pride of life; it was a tree to be desired to make one wise. God had undoubtedly created our first parents not only very wise and intelligent, but also with a great capacity and suitable propensity to increase in knowledge. Those who think that Adam was created so perfect as to preclude the possibility of his increase in knowledge, have taken a very false view of the subject. A.C.

C. The Purpose of the LAW of God.

1. It is not given as a mean whereby we can be saved. Gal 3:21

2. It could not make us alive because of the weakness of man’s nature. Romans 83

3. It was given to intensify the knowledge of sin, to reveal the Holiness of God, and to lead a sinner to Christ. Roman 3:19-20; 7:7

4. The Law is a Paidagogos to bring us to Christ. Gal 3:24 In a Roman Household, the paidagogos was usually a trusted slave to whom the moral supervision of the Children was committed. As he trained and guided his ward with a view to the future, so the law prepared those under it to the reception of Christ. Theissen p.240

D. The Nature of Sin

The larger Catechism says, “ Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, any Law of God given as a rule to the reasonable creature. Q. 24. see these Scriptures.

1Jn 3:4  Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness, for sin is lawlessness.

Gal 3:10  For as many as are out of works of the Law, these are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the Book of the Law, to do them."

Gal 3:11  But that no one is justified by the Law in the sight of God is clear, for, "The just shall live by faith."

Gal 3:12  But the Law is not of faith; but, "The man who does these things shall live in them."

Jas 2:8  If you fulfill the royal Law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbour as yourself," you do well.

Jas 2:9  But if you have respect to persons, you commit sin and are convicted by the Law as transgressors.

Jas 2:10  For whoever shall keep the whole Law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

Jas 2:11  For He who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." But if you do not commit adultery, yet if you murder, you have become a transgressor of the Law.

Jas 2:12  So speak and do as those who shall be judged by the Law of liberty.

E. The Court Trial In Eden.

Adam and Eve, sinners, attempted to hide from God. Now they confess and the trial begins. The man blames the woman and the woman blames the serpent. It is always someone else’s fault.

1. Upon the Serpent.

Gen 3:14  And Jehovah God said to the serpent, Because you have done this you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every animal of the field. You shall go upon your belly, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. cp. Isaiah 65:25

2. Upon Satan.

Gen 3:15  And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He will bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.

See EBC.

JFB’s Commentary - I will put enmity between thee and the woman — God can only be said to do so by leaving “the serpent and his seed to the influence of their own corruption; and by those measures which, pursued for the salvation of men, fill Satan and his angels with envy and rage.”

thou shalt bruise his heel — The serpent wounds the heel that crushes him; and so Satan would be permitted to afflict the humanity of Christ and bring suffering and persecution on His people.

it shall bruise thy head — The serpent’s poison is lodged in its head; and a bruise on that part is fatal. Thus, fatal shall be the stroke which Satan shall receive from Christ, though it is probable he did not at first understand the nature.”

Keil & Delitzsch say “the presumption of the tempter was punished with the deepest degradation; and in like manner his sympathy with the woman was to be turned into eternal hostility (Gen_3:15). God established perpetual enmity, not only between the serpent and the woman, but also between the serpent's and the woman's seed, i.e., between the human and the serpent race. The seed of the woman would crush the serpent's head, and the serpent crush the heel of the woman's seed. The meaning, terere, conterere, is thoroughly established by the Chald., Syr., and Rabb. authorities, and we have therefore retained it, in harmony with the word συντρίβειν in Rom_16:20, and because it accords better and more easily with all the other passages in which the word occurs, than the rendering inhiare, to regard with enmity, which is obtained from the combination of שׁוּף with שָׁאַף. The verb is construed with a double accusative, the second giving greater precision to the first (vid., Ges. §139, note, and Ewald, §281).

The same word is used in connection with both head and heel, to show that on both sides the intention is to destroy the opponent; at the same time, the expressions head and heel denote a majus and minus, or, as Calvin says, superius et inferius. This contrast arises from the nature of the foes. The serpent can only seize the heel of the man, who walks upright; whereas the man can crush the head of the serpent, that crawls in the dust. But this difference is itself the result of the curse pronounced upon the serpent, and its crawling in the dust is a sign that it will be defeated in its conflict with man. However pernicious may be the bite of a serpent in the heel when the poison circulates throughout the body (Gen_49:17), it is not immediately fatal and utterly incurable, like the crushing of a serpent's head.”

But even in this sentence there is an unmistakable allusion to the evil and hostile being concealed behind the serpent. That the human race should triumph over the serpent, was a necessary consequence of the original subjection of the animals to man. When, therefore, God not merely confines the serpent within the limits assigned to the animals, but puts enmity between it and the woman, this in itself points to a higher, spiritual power, which may oppose and attack the human race through the serpent, but will eventually be overcome.

Observe, too, that although in the first clause the seed of the serpent is opposed to the seed of the woman, in the second it is not over the seed of the serpent but over the serpent itself that the victory is said to be gained. It, i.e., the seed of the woman will crush thy head, and thou (not thy seed) wilt crush its heel. Thus the seed of the serpent is hidden behind the unity of the serpent, or rather of the foe who, through the serpent, has done such injury to man. This foe is Satan, who incessantly opposes the seed of the woman and bruises its heel, but is eventually to be trodden under its feet.

F. The result of Sin upon Adam and Eve - The Sevenfold sentence

a. Shame

Eve also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

Gen 3:7  And the eyes of both of them were opened. And they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made girdles for themselves.

John Gill says “And the eyes of them both were opened,.... Not of their bodies, but of their minds; not so as to have an advanced knowledge of things pleasant, profitable, and useful, as was promised and expected, but of things very disagreeable and distressing. Their eyes were opened to see that they had been deceived by the serpent, that they had broke the commandment of God, and incurred the displeasure of their Creator and kind benefactor, and had brought ruin and destruction upon themselves; they saw what blessings and privileges they had lost, 1) communion with God, 2) the dominion of the creatures, 3) the purity and holiness of their nature, and what miseries they had involved themselves and their posterity in; how exposed they were to the wrath of God, the curse of the law, and to eternal death:

and they knew that they were naked; they must know before that they were naked in their bodies, but they did not perceive that their nakedness was at all uncomely, or any disadvantage to them; but now they were sensible of both, that whereas they could look upon it before, and not blush or feel any sinful emotions in them, now they could not behold it without shame, and without finding evil concupiscence (selfish human desire for an object, person, or experience) arising in them; and it being now the cool of the day, and their spirits also seized with fear of the divine displeasure, they might feel a shivering all over them, and wanted something to cover them: but more especially this may respect the nakedness of their souls they were now conscious of, being stripped of that honour and glory, privileges and power, they were vested with; and having lost the image of God that was upon them, and that robe of purity, innocence, and righteousness, the rectitude of their nature, with which they were arrayed, and finding themselves naked and defenceless, and unable to screen themselves from the curses of a righteous law, and the fury of vindictive justice:

and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons; not to cover their whole bodies, but only those parts which, ever since, mankind have been ashamed to expose to public view, and which they studiously conceal from sight: the reason of which perhaps is, because by those members the original corruption of human nature has been from the beginning, and still is propagated from parents to children. The leaves of the fig tree were pitched upon because of the largeness of them; the leaves of the common fig tree are very large, as everyone knows; and perhaps those in the eastern countries, and especially in paradise, were much larger than ours. Pliny (m) says of the fig tree, that its leaf is the largest, and the most shady. Some think the Indian fig tree is meant; so John Temporarius, as Drusius relates; and so our Milton (n); and according to Pliny (o), the breadth of the leaves of this tree has the shape of an Amazonian shield.

And when they are said to sew these together, it is not to be supposed that they sewed them as tailors sew their garments together, since they cannot be thought to be furnished with proper instruments, or that they tacked them together with some sort of thorns, or made use of them instead of needles; but they took the tender branches of the fig tree with leaves on them, as the word signifies, see Neh_8:15 and twisted them round their waists; which served for "girdles", as some render the word (p), and the broad leaves hanging down served for aprons; but these, whatever covering they may be thought to have been to their bodies, which yet seem to be but a slender one, they could be none to their souls, or be of any service to hide their sin and shame from the all seeing eye of God; and of as little use are the poor and mean services of men, or their best works of righteousness, to shelter them from the wrath of God, and the vengeance of divine justice.

b. Fear

Gen 3:8  And they heard the voice of Jehovah God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Jehovah God in the middle of the trees of the garden.

Gen 3:9  And Jehovah God called to Adam and said to him, Where are you?

Gen 3:10  And he said, I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I am naked, and I hid myself.

c. Discord  - the Blame Game.

Gen 3:12  And the man said, The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.

Gen 3:13  And Jehovah God said to the woman, What is this you have done? And the woman said, The serpent deceived me, and I ate.

d. Death (Both Physical and Spiritual)

Gen 5:5  And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years. And he died.

cp. Ps 90 :10

Spiritual Death [Separation from God and under eternal condemnation]

Rom 5:12  Therefore, even as through one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed on all men inasmuch as all sinned:

Mat 7:22  Many will say to Me in that day, Lord! Lord! Did we not prophesy in Your name, and through Your name throw out demons, and through Your name do many wonderful works?

Mat 7:23  And then I will say to them I never knew you! Depart from Me, those working lawlessness!

Rev 2:11  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.

Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the Lake of Fire. This is the second death.

e. Suffering in child-birth.

Gen 3:16  To the woman He said, I will greatly increase your sorrow and your conception. In pain you shall bear sons, and your desire shall be toward your husband, and he shall rule over you.

f. Weariness of Labour

Gen 3:17  And to Adam He said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it! The ground is cursed for your sake. In pain shall you eat of it all the days of your life.

Gen 3:18  It shall also bring forth thorns and thistles to you, and you shall eat the herb of the field.

Gen 3:19  In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.

g. Separation from God’s protection and provision

Gen 3:22  And Jehovah God said, Behold, the man has become as one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever,

Gen 3:23  therefore Jehovah God sent him out from the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he had been taken.

Gen 3:24  And He drove out the man. And He placed cherubs at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

Chased from the Garden - God's provision and Protection

If you recognise your sin and acknowledge you have Broken God's law, then Turn to Him in Repentance and see that Jesus took your Punishment at Calvary and you can be forgiven and cleansed.

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be delivered and saved for all eternity. Acts 16 :31