Hath God said? (Genesis Chapter Three - Part 1)

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. One of the questions we're going to be addressing this morning is why do people suffer? I think this is probably one of the biggest questions that people have.

Why do people suffer? Well, the simple answer is because of the fall. We live in a fallen world. So turn, if you would, to the book of Genesis chapter 3. Genesis chapter 3 records the temptation of Adam and Eve and the fall of the human race into sin.

Last time we looked at the subject of the Garden of Eden and how man lived in a perfect environment. Adam and his wife experienced no pain, no suffering, and as of this moment there's no such thing as death.

And obviously that's what we want. We want a life or a world with no pain, no suffering, no tears, no nothing, no death. Well, it's just not the way it is. Romans 5 .12 says death entered into the world through sin.

So that's why people suffer. Because, ultimately, because of sin. And of course it's not always a cause and effect type of a thing. That if you're suffering it's because you sin. That's not necessarily true.

It could be because of what someone else did. And certainly we can say it's because of what Adam did. Look at Genesis 3 starting in verse 1. Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.

And he said to the woman, has God indeed said you shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said to the serpent, we may freely eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said you shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.

And then the serpent said to the woman, you will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and it was pleasant to the eyes, in a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.

And she also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. And may God add a blessing to the reading of his word.

So this is why suffering exists. This is why people suffer. This is why death exists, because man chose to rebel against God. And because of that, the earth, the whole universe now is under the curse.

So that's the bad news. The good news, though, is that God through Christ is doing something about it. But until that work is complete, here on earth, life is difficult. Here on earth, you're going to suffer.

Here on earth, in this age, bad things are going to happen. And at times things seem unfair. We can all relate to that. Things seem unfair and unjust. Do you know what Jesus said in Matthew 5, 45? He said that God makes his son rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

So based on that, and this is our common experience, good things happen to good people, good things happen to bad people, bad things happen to bad people, and bad things happen to good people. That's just the way that it works.

And in light of God's standard, let's be honest, the Bible says what? There's none good, there's none righteous, no, not one. All of us have sinned and have come short of the glory of God. Here's the problem, people think, maybe not everybody, but in general, people think that God owes them something.

You know, we think that God owes us something. He created us, he should be up there fixing all of our problems, even the ones we create for ourselves. Isn't that true? You know it is. Again, that's not the way it works.

And before someone is tempted to blame God, let's just go through these verses and we'll see, number one, it's not God's fault. And number two, he is going to make everything right. He is going to fix everything through the redemptive work of his son.

Okay, so in verse one, we begin with the mention of who? Okay, a new character is introduced in the Bible, and it's the serpent. In Revelation chapter 12, verse 9, and Revelation 20, verse 2, the devil is called that serpent of old.

So there's no question about who the serpent is. This is Lucifer, which means light bearer. Lucifer was originally created a holy angel, an angel of light, who at some point prior to this, because of his pride, he sinned, he rebelled against God and became Satan or the devil.

Those two terms mean adversary and accuser. So he comes, Satan comes in the form of the serpent. I assume he entered into this creature, so he's possessing the creature's body, whatever the case. The scripture says that he was cunning.

He was subtle.

He's crafty. Satan is able to deceive people. He can trick them into doing things they wouldn't normally do. And it's significant that the first thing the devil does, I mean, this is his main strategy.

The first thing that he does is what? He casts doubt on the word of God. Satan's workers, Satan's ministers, they always want to cast doubt on this. Over the years as a pastor, I've seen it again and again.

People, they know what God said. They know what the Bible says, and yet they are tricked or they are misled into some false ideology or some offer of pleasure that lures them in and it's just like a mousetrap.

Notice the devil didn't come to Eve and say, hey, let's rebel against God and let's hate God together. He doesn't do that. That's too obvious. You never would have fallen for it. Instead, he comes and he offers something.

He says something that sounds good. He's deceptive. He's cunning. He says something that sounds good. It almost sounds right, and it's very close to what God said. So he said, the serpent says to the woman, has God indeed said, so he's kind of raising the question about the word of God, has God indeed said, you shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

Now, is that what God said? Well, no, it's not the exact words that God said, but it's very, very close. It's not exactly what he said. Just go back to chapter 2, verses 16 and 17. Here's what God actually said.

So the serpent says, has God indeed said, you shall not eat of every tree of the garden? What God said is, of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat.

So, right, you are not to eat of every tree. That's true. God framed it in a positive sense that you may freely eat everything, except for this one, and then Satan frames it in a negative sense in that God won't let you eat of all the trees, which is true, but he frames it in a negative way where why would God do that?

Why would God want to withhold something from you? So he's casting doubt on God's word and making it seem like God is not good. He's holding back on you. Why would God do that? So in a sense, okay, in a sense, they are saying similar things.

One could argue they're saying the same thing, except it's framed differently, and it's just enough to kind of create doubt in Eve's mind. Okay, what did God say? Because when she responds, you notice what she did.

She adds a little something to it. So God said one thing. The serpent says something a little different. Now Eve is saying what God said, and that's just a little different.

What does she do?

She adds that you're not even supposed to touch the tree lest you die. Now did God say that?

No.

I mean, it might stand to reason if you shouldn't eat it, you shouldn't touch it. I mean, it makes sense, but that's technically not what God said. So hopefully you can see it's just kind of getting a little more cloudy, right?

It's not as clear. And keep in mind that Eve didn't actually hear God say this. God gave the commandment to who? To Adam. God said this to Adam before Eve was even created. So Eve is receiving this second hand, and it's all meant to get her right where the serpent wants her.

And the serpent's still doing this type of thing today. How many times have you heard people quote the Bible, and they're not even doing it intentionally, but they don't quite quote it accurately? I mean, we all do this probably, and we're not trying to.

Some people do do that intentionally. People take the Bible out of context. Something gets repeated that isn't quite right, but it's repeated so often, you've heard it so often, it seems true. But it's not quite the truth.

Or critics of the Bible will say, because we didn't receive this revelation directly from God, we received it second-hand or third-hand. So you've heard people say that the Bible, you know, something is lost in translation.

Or it's a copy of a copy of a copy. And Satan has all these different angles to create doubt in your mind. That's what he wants to do. Satan wants to create doubt in your mind. Is everything in this book true?

That's his strategy. Remember when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, what did the devil come to him? Hey, let's just do a bunch of horrible stuff to get, no, I mean, he came quoting scripture. The devil came to Jesus in the wilderness, quoting scripture.

But what did he do?

He quoted it out of context. And Satan pit, he would pit one verse against another. So here Eve is in a bad place. She's having a conversation with the devil, which not wise thing to do. As soon as the serpent approached her and said this, she should have ran back to Adam.

I mean, this is not a good idea. You can't get into a conversation with the devil and win. Don't even talk to the devil. Don't even consider what the devil is saying. What does the scripture say? Resist the devil.

Don't argue with him. Don't debate him. Resist him and he will flee from you. So she's in a bad place. The devil has already framed this in such a way where he's making God seem like he's holding something back.

I mean, why would a good God create this good fruit and not allow you to eat it? God wants you to be happy. And I think we hear this today as well. God just wants you to be happy. So if something brings you pleasure, it must be of God.

That's the devil's lie. So Eve says, no, no. God said, if we eat it, we will die. Look at verse four. Then the serpent said to the woman, you shall not surely die for God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be open and you will be like God knowing good and evil.

Don't miss this.

If you take notes, write this down because you need to know the devil's plot, his plan. It starts with a conversation. Then it moves to half truths. And then finally outcomes the blatant lie. The half, what's the half truth that their eyes would be what?

Opened.

That they would become like God. Now, is that true? Were their eyes opened? Yeah, just not. And they were, they were in a sense like God knowing good and evil, just not in the way that they had hoped for.

Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Coronet Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, morriscoronetchurch .com.

And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, with the grace of God be with you.