“ Our Biblical Worldview” ( 6 ) The Fall of Man into Sin 10/17/2021

First Baptist Church Leominster

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I asked Pastor Jason instead to read for us Genesis chapter 3, the entire chapter out of the

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New King James Version because this is what we'll be addressing and you've got quite a few pages of notes there

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I thought this would at least trim it a little bit so it's not as long for me and this of course describes the entrance of sin into the world and so it speaks about temptation the transgression of Adam and Eve and the consequences of it there's a lot of lessons here for us

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I believe and so we want to read it in its entirety Genesis chapter 3 thank you

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Jason. Genesis chapter 3 now the serpent was much more cunning than any beast of the field which the

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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 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

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God has said you shall not eat it nor shall you touch it lest you die then the serpent said to the woman you will not surely die for God knows that in the in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God knowing good and evil so when the woman saw that the tree was good for food that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree desirable to make one wise she took of its fruit and ate 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 they heard the sound of the

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Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the

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Lord God among the trees of the garden then the Lord God called to Adam and said said to him where are you so he said

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I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself and he said who told you that you were naked have you eaten from the tree of which

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I commanded you that you should not eat then the man said the woman whom you gave to be with me she gave me of the tree and I ate and the

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Lord God said to the woman what is this you have done the woman said the serpent deceived me and I ate so the

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Lord God said to the serpent because you have done this you are cursed more than all cattle and more than every beast of the field on your belly you shall go and you shall eat dust all the days of your life and I will put enmity between you and the woman in between your seed and her seed he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel to the woman he said

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I will greatly multiply your sorrow in your conception in pain you shall bring forth children your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you then to Adam he said because you have heeded the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree of which

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I commanded you saying you shall not eat of it curse it is the ground for your sake in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you and you shall eat the herb of the field in the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground for out of it you were taken for dust you are and to dust you shall return and Adam called his wife's name

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Eve because she was the mother of all living also for Adam and his wife the

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Lord God made tunics of skin and clothed them then the Lord God said behold the man has become like one of us to know good and evil and now lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat and live forever therefore the

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Lord God sent him out of the Garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken so he drove out the man and he placed cherubim at the east of the

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Garden of Eden and a flaming sword which turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life let's pray our

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Heavenly Father as we read this passage we are reminded of the fall of man sin entering into the world and Lord we are reminded that sin affects us every day of our lives our own sin when we choose to do the things that are pleasing to us rather than pleasing to you and Lord we confess these things and we recognize that they are futile that they will never bring us satisfaction they will never bring us joy or contentment and so Lord we pray that we would see sin as you see sin that we would have a great hatred of it that we would have a great hatred of our sin

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Lord we pray that that we would flee from it that we would fight against it we pray that we would put it to death and Lord we thank you for the provision of Christ who lived the life and died the death that we could never do he fully obeyed your will he followed your law and Lord he is our righteous substitute and Lord we rejoice in this help us now

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Lord as we continue our study of this passage we pray that we would see things clearly we pray that the

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Spirit would teach us how to apply these truths to our lives so that we might live for your praise glory and honor we thank you

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Lord in Jesus name Amen. I need to climb up on my perch here.

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Well in the previous five Sundays that we have been dealing with this series biblical worldview we've given our attention primarily to God's initial work of creation and what it reveals about God and us the people he created and so we've given a fair degree of our focus to the initial chapters of Genesis and I thought about moving elsewhere today but then realized that we should address in some detail the entrance and nature of sin into God's good world and this is certainly a central component of a biblical worldview we see sin of course and as a great problem of mankind from which

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Jesus Christ saves us the problems that this world is having the problems that each of us are having stems from the root of this first sin of Adam as recorded here in Genesis chapter 3 and in this passage we can learn about the tempter the devil who would lead us into sin we may learn of the nature of temptation itself to sin and then of the causes and effects of sin itself once committed it's all here in Genesis 3 it's really a paradigm a picture of what we encounter in this world and so thankfully pastor

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Jason read the passage for us so we do not need to at this time and so let's consider what is declared what it teaches us how did evil come to exist in God's good world in a world that God made everything so very good why is there duplicity treachery and betrayal excruciating pain heart -wrenching suffering in God's good creation why is there hostility enmity division unspeakable acts of violence and injustice why is there certain death in the world in which

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God had created all living things the Bible provides the answer in this narrative here in Genesis 3 of the fall of Adam and Eve our first parents here is the fountainhead from which has flowed into history all that disappoints all the defeats all the dams and destroys this was the entrance of sin into God's good world and we believe this was a historic event as well

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Adam and Eve were real persons and they were the progenitors of our human race and Adam was the federal head of our human race and so what he did has had consequences upon and for us all

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God the Creator had graciously given life to Adam and Eve he placed him in a perfect environment having given them all things to enjoy but with one prohibition they were forbidden to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil and in Genesis 3 we read of the response of our first parents to their

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Creator who had been so gracious to them Eve being deceived by the serpent led

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Adam to transgress God's commandment and then through his sin Adam incurred for himself and all his posterity

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God's curse with its consequences and so what might have at first appeared to the reader of this early portion of Genesis a trifle prohibition don't eat of that tree and what might appear on the surface as an overreaction by God for man's insistence on eating some fruit in the following chapters of Genesis man's sin is shown for what it really is and so we should probably summarize some of the events that are recorded as the immediate result short -term result of sin in Genesis 4 say through chapter 10 or 11 and so with the entrance of this monstrous evil of sin came horrendous consequences for the human race and for the world in which it inhabits pride anger hatred murder arise in one brother toward another that's what we have in chapter 4 one brother killing another the world soon became a dangerous violent place even as a population of the world increased and civilization developed again according to Genesis 4 nevertheless there were some people at that time who called on the

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Lord for it is evident that God was preserving for himself some people who would serve him but they too became corrupted as Genesis 6 records over time their number became few and for portion to the mass of humanity whose wickedness and violence increases unabated and so God purpose to destroy all life that he had created and would have done so completely had not

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Noah found grace in his eyes and so God destroyed the inhabited earth by means of the flood but preserved

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Noah and his family and a remnant of all other living things through which

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God again began to populate his world and it was like a new creation they came forth in the similar language of Genesis 1 is repeated by God with Noah and his families coming out of the ark and after the floodwaters receded

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God made a covenant with Noah his descendants promising them he would never again destroy the world by means of a flood and then

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God commissioned Noah and his sons with the responsibility he had originally given to Adam and Eve he said to them be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth but it was apparent that the flood had not washed away sin from the earth it still was in it was in Noah and his family at that time

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God gave laws which precluded violence and death knowing what was before them and of course

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Noah's own son sinned grievously incurring a curse on his descendants as recorded in Genesis 9 again the population of the world increased the people again turned from serving

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God and finally when they made a tower which signified their defiance of God openly and it was clear that they would unify their rebellion against him

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God caused the people who had but a single language to be scattered over the face of the earth and thereafter speaking different languages thereby preventing their reunion and their united rebellion however through the whole course of this period of history

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God preserved himself a remnant through which his promise of redemption would be realized and so this section concludes with the genealogy of Shem leading to Abraham through whom

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God would work his purposes and so God was going to save his people as he promised

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Adam and Eve in the beginning now let's go back to Genesis chapter 3 and begin to trace some of the details of the entrance of sin and its consequences and again there this is paradigmatic of the nature of temptation and sin that you and I encounter we read in Genesis 3 1 now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the

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Lord God had made it would seem that no sooner were our first parents established in God's garden that they were at risk having paradise lost to them they're in danger this opening statement portends evil and danger and the need they had for vigilance but if they and their purity before the entrance of sin were vulnerable to deception and were in need of watchfulness how much more are we this side of sin insecure in our standing take heed he who thinks he can stand you're set up for the fall it's coming the serpent was more clever at deceiving than they were clever at detecting him they were ignorant of his devices they should have observed the serpent strove to be wise so as not to become its prey nevertheless in spite of the serpents cleverness and their own naivete things would have been okay had they maintained their obedience to God's Word that would have preserved them the evil one has no power over a man or woman who uses

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God's Word rightly and obeys it fully as demonstrated by Jesus himself in the wilderness using the

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Word of God to thwart the devil's temptations the Word of God is however where the serpent would direct his subtle efforts and so we attack the man through the woman by deceiving and leading her to stray from obedience to God's command

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Matthew Henry wrote about this it was his the devil's policy to enter into discourse with her when she was alone had she kept close to the side out of which she was lately taken she would not have been so much exposed there are many temptations to which solitude gives great advantage but the communion of Saints contributes much to their strength and safety try and be alone and live for Christ alone see how well you do he took advantage by finding her near the forbidden tree and probably gazing upon the fruit of it only to satisfy a curiosity those that would not eat the forbidden fruit must not come near the forbidden tree avoid it pass not by it

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Satan tempted he that by her he might tempt Adam so he tempted

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Job by his wife and Christ by Peter it's his policy to send temptations by unsuspected hands and theirs that have most interest in us and influence upon us well the serpent first broaches the subject indeed has

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God said you shall not eat from any tree of the garden in introducing the matter the servant first questions the content of God's Word which had been given to them it's a question of what

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God has said it's important for us of course that we know the substance of God's Word so we may have assurance and confidence when challenged or tempted in this fashion but underlying the question is the notion of why would

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God say it why would God forbid such a thing would it not all trees be available would

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God deny anything that you would desire God wants me to be happy how many times have we heard that over the years when the question of why

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God would forbid something is offered by some it really reveals the heart of a rebel looking for an excuse to violate

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God's command his response was a correct one in verse 2 granted she added a detail there that was probably superfluous but she reveals her clear understanding of what

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God had told them and moreover as one wrote she intimates that they would be most ungrateful if instead of being content with such affluence they should desire more than was lawful and God richly supplies us with all things lawful to enjoy it is in gratitude toward God when we long for forbidden things the servant would lead them away from faith in God he would sever them from God's Word the law which had been given to them to establish their boundaries this far no more but seeing that Eve knew what the content of the word was the tempter chose to deny the word forthrightly he said to her you shall surely not die he attempted to show that the consequences of violating

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God's Word which had been so clearly set forth would not be realized you can sin and get away with it he anticipated the resistance to such a notion that she might have posed how could this be that you will die and if you will not die and violate in this command why would

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God have given this prohibition and so the serpent deceptively declared for God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be open and you will be like God knowing good and evil and so before us then are some ways in which we see may see the devil who is the tempter he's described as a tempter come to us in order to lead us into sin let's consider a few ways the temptation comes to us first the tempter will come to you when you do not suspect and address the temptation in your weakest area for Adam it was through Eve to whom he would likely yield as Calvin wrote

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John Calvin wrote long ago his subtlety and tempting was that he set it upon Eve first because he thought she was weakest he knew he could more easily insinuate and wind himself into her by a temptation an expert soldier went about to storm or enter a castle observes rarely where there's a breach or how he may enter with more facility and so did

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Satan the weaker vessel he tempted Eve first because he knew if once he could prevail with her she would easily draw her husband

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Satan knew a temptation coming to Adam from his wife would be more prevailing and would be less suspected

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Oh bitter sometimes relations prove temptations a wife may be a snare when she dissuades her husband from doing his duty or entices him to evil second temptation will come in a manner that leads you to doubt the essential nature of God as he revealed himself in Scripture you need to be discerning to recognize this when it comes we've already considered what

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God is like as he revealed himself as the Creator the serpent would have

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Eve question the nature of God that had already been solely clearly demonstrated to her through creation first the serpent would have

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Eve question God's goodness and thereby his love his kindness and generosity thinking that God would deny her something that was in actuality good second

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Eve was to discount God being righteous and just in punishing her transgression if she did eat of the fruit will you truly die third perhaps a serpent would have her doubt

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God's sovereignty and that he could bring about the consequences which he had declared to her and fourthly certainly the serpent would have her doubt

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God's right to rule and restricting her behavior how could God forbid this to her fifth

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Eve was to doubt God's wisdom and withholding something that would make her wise and she was to doubt his immutability and that she could eat of the forbidden fruit yet God would change his mind about the consequences if we've been grounded in our understanding of the nature of God we should make effort to reinforce that understanding lest it erode and make us vulnerable when the tempter comes to us as it did with Eve apparently knowing what

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God is like provides one with protection and preservation through much temptation to sin and then third temptation will come in a manner which would lead you to elevate your reason above God's revelation when making decisions which affect your life this is the air of rationalism which claims you're capable through the thinking process to come to truth about God and how we would have you live apart from Scripture now we don't reject reason or logic but we subordinate it to God's revelation of his will in Scripture John MacArthur pointed this out rightly in his excellent book on discernment he wrote when

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Mark Luther was summoned to the Diet of Worms in 1521 this is the 500th anniversary of that event by the way and Luther was asked to recant his teaching he replied unless I'm convinced by Scripture and then and plain reason my conscience is captive to the

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Word of God I cannot and will not recant anything for to go against conscience would be neither right nor safe God help me here

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I stand I can do no other and MacArthur went on to write

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Luther's well -known formulation Scripture in plain reason is the only basis on which we can properly ground true spiritual discernment discernment is the ability to understand interpret and apply truth skillfully discernment is a cognitive act a thinking act and therefore no one who spurns right doctrine or sound reason can truly be discerning authentic spiritual discernment must begin with Scripture revealed truth without a firm grounding in divine revelation human reason always degenerates into skepticism which is a denial that anything can be known for certain rationalism the theory that reason is a source of truth secularism an approach to life that purposely excludes

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God or any number of other anti -christian philosophies when Scripture condemns human wisdom first Corinthians it's not it is denouncing not reason per se but humanistic ideology divorced from the divinely revealed truth of God's Word in other words reason apart from the

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Word of God leads inevitably to unsound ideas but reason subjected to the

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Word of God is at the heart of why spiritual discernment amen fourth temptation will suggest to you that you yourself must experience something in order to understand it or to determine whether it's true good and right we wrongly think how do

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I know unless I've tried it how will they know unless they're exposed to it that's how the world thinks the temptation is for you to think that by experiencing something you will be better able to deal with it

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I've known Christian parents who thought it's an okay thing to allow their children to be exposed to a measure of evil thinking thinking it's gonna somehow enable their children to deal with life better this is never the case being exposed to evil so as to incite imagination and defile the conscience is never good it is not true that you're able to assess evil more completely and fully by having been exposed to it or having bikes experienced it it's always better to be pure holy and undefiled because once innocence is lost it can never be restored you cannot unsee some things and as a pastor

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I've encountered this notion frequently by Christians my assessments of issues or circumstances have been challenged on numerous occasions based on this principle you've not experienced it therefore you cannot possibly know and how to speak to my situation others have charged me with being inept to deal with problem because as a pastor

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I've lived a sheltered life and really do not know what it is to live in the real world they bought into the serpents lie in which he said that by tasting the fruit they would be better able to know good and evil the opposite is true experiencing sin always has detrimental effects on assessing truth it is the one who knows the

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Word of God thoroughly who is best equipped to assess and speak to the problems of sin and related to this is the notion in these days that education is the answer to all societal ills they say that ignorance is the greatest of evils not so they say you must hear know all perspectives one must be aware of all experiences before you can make an intelligent judgment on matters this underscores sex education philosophy they think all sexual behavior even deviant behavior must be thoroughly discussed and graphically portrayed in order for children to be able to make decisions respecting these things in life it's a lie of the devil this fails to distinguish between innocence which is good and should be preserved in children for once innocence is lost it's never regained and it fails to separate it from ignorance which must be replaced with truth again

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Calvin wrote because the desire of knowledge is naturally in all happiness is supposed to be placed in it but Eve erred in not regulating the measure of her knowledge by the will of God and we all daily suffer to the same disease because we desire to know more than that is right more than God allows whereas the principal point of wisdom is a well -regulated sobriety and obedience to God again this just shows how the whole world is skewed in its perception of things and then fifth the tempter's design is to lead you to first desire and then grasp for that which is forbidden thereby causing you to really lose all that he's freely given you how many have lost all they have because they've coveted that which was unlawful soon

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Eve would have none of the fruit from any of the truths to which she had full access because she would have that one fruit that God had forbidden her and many forfeit

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God's best because they long to have what appears to be better but what God has forbidden to them they lost it all one once said all of Satan's apples have worms the tempter will entice you with sin that he makes to look attractive and satisfied but is only to lead you into committing that sin so as to enslave you further to sin and to himself sin never satisfies temptation fully never sin may temporarily cause temptation to subside but then it comes back stronger than before it doesn't stand still that which gives the thrill ten years ago isn't sufficient to give the same thrill today and that's why there's perversity degradation in people in society and then remember the devil has a hatred for man because man is the image of God whom he hates he would destroy you if he could for he would destroy

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God if he could his hatred of God led to a hatred of man and his hatred is seen is in his ingenuity to make you fall into sin as Spurgeon once wrote when a man is determined on revenge it's strange how cunning he is to find out opportunities to vent his spite let a man have enmity against another and let that enmity thoroughly possess his soul and pour venom as it were into his very blood and he'll become exceedingly crafty in the means he uses to annoy and injure his adversary and nobody can be more full of malice against man than Satan is as he proveth every day then that malice sharpened his inherent wisdom so that he becometh exceeding subtle one might think that Adam and Eve had little chance of withstanding this foe but had they simply trusted

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God that God had dealt with them and instructed them rightly had they simply obeyed his word they would have been okay the responsibility of their fall was fully upon them and we have been suffering because of their transgression ever since however we acknowledge if any one of us would have been in their position we would have done the same thing that's temptation now let's consider the transgression itself the serpents ploy was successful having had

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Eve's thinking adjusted to view matters in a different perspective in a different light she saw that the tree was good for food and that it was desirable make wise she took from its fruit and ate and gave to her husband with her and he ate there it is after she received her education from the servant having embraced its reasoning

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Eve now viewed this fruit a different way before there was no desire for the tree for a loving all wise

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God who ruled over her had placed it off -limits she and her husband had been content with that prohibition but now she was making the decisions of good and evil apart from God's will now the fruit of the forbidden tree was desirable for her and she would not deny herself but she would have it and Adam too with what seems to be no hesitation no compunction to resist joins in that Eve gave the soul poison to him and he ate it down Eve was as many wrote

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Matthew Henry those that have themselves done ill are commonly willing to draw others to do the same when they both tasted the fruit they both tasted death but it was through Adam's sin that death passed upon all men he was our federal head mother

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Eve was the mother of all living Adam was the head of all humanity and so when he sinned we sinned in him and the fall resulted now a natural response might be okay man sin granted but is

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God's reaction fair play would God should God punish the world because of this infraction is death and eternal damnation a just recompense for eating a piece of fruit and it's this kind of natural response which characterizes worldly thinking and our natural thinking and this has an incredible important buried upon our growing to become mature

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Christians a mature Christian according to the Word of God is a Christian who has become a discerning

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Christian one who has acquired the ability over time to discern or distinguish between truth and error good and evil right and wrong if we were to be mature discerning

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Christians we are to shift our understanding from our own perception and assessment which is adversely affected by sin to perceive and understand the world in which we live from God's perspective based on what he's revealed in his written word one of the major impediments to discernment is the inability or refusal to see sin as exceedingly sinful it's just a piece of fruit what difference does it make and therefore it's important that we consider the nature and gravity of the transgression of Adam's sin they didn't see it at the time because our sin also renders us incapable of right thinking we tend to see the great gravity of other people's sin but we tend to excuse it in ourselves it's their sin it's my mistake this is how people generally think and so let's consider their sin first Adam and Eve's sin was in the truest sense dehumanizing

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God created mankind to live before him in holiness and happiness and actually ruling creation on his behalf this is what

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God had destined for humanity to experience but it was lost to him through sin thankfully his people yet enjoy this purpose of God realizing them to the kingdom of God sin however initially robbed man of his exalted place as a master of creation he was the co -regent of God Adam and Eve were the king and queen over the world but they defaced the image of God in themselves so they were no longer what they could be or should be should

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God not have regarded their defection in the most serious and severe manner and second

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Adam and Eve sin resulted in the dimming of their knowledge of God and his will the result of this was ignorance and foolishness respecting the true nature of God from that time onward

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God dealt with the people who were ignorant uncaring unresponsive to him we would quickly become impatient with someone who we invited into our home but who would soon forget whose house it was and began to behave as if your house were their house but that's what people all over the world do we're in God's world after this initial sin of Adam and Eve God would have to deal with the mass of humanity living in his world in this way irrespective of him and his laws and then third

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Adam and Eve sin was the cause of all subsequent sin it was a root sin all of the sin of all the sinners of all time had their first source in this first sin all violations of God's will may be seen as stemming from this sin it was a root sin that's grown and born every ugly and poisonous fruit that mankind has consumed since that first sin all heartache all misery and all suffering due to sin has come into the world by this one sin initial sin sin doesn't stand still it didn't for them didn't in the world it doesn't in you or me either we think we can sin and then stop get away with it enjoy it without consequences never happens fourth

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Adam and Eve sin brought misery and suicide for themselves and by it they caused the murder of all their posterity all death passed on all humanity because of their failure it really is their sin was against a holy

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God and it separated them from God who alone in whom alone is life there's no life apart from God unholy sinners abide in death if a father caused suffering for his children due to his purposeful neglect or failure would he not be held in contempt by the world and he is compound all the misery of all time due to Adams neglect and failure heaped upon all the innocents should not

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God hold Adam in contempt and bring great wrath upon him if only Adam and Eve could have known the horror that they were unleashing upon the world the unfathomable and inestimable measure of sin that would follow from that one deed they would have agreed with God immediately that no penalty or punishment would be too severe coming from him and then fifth the sin of Adam and Eve crucified

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Christ God's son ultimately their sin led to and caused

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Christ's suffering and death as does all the sin of all God's people so God's severity upon their transgression was justified if not mercifully tempered in the light of what

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Christ would have to endure due to their sin and then sixth sin itself is an abhorrent thing in the sight of God not merely the result of sin is a cause of God's displeasure sin itself is viewed with infinite contempt infinite contempt the sin of Adam and Eve was a thing abhorrent in the sight of God and then seventh

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Adam and Eve sin is an affront to the glory of God God had a personal interest in this matter it was an affront to him it was a blow against him and everything he stood for their sin denigrated his name it was an insult to his character it was a rejection of his person they chose to accept the word of the devil as more true and relevant for ordering their lives and God's own word and so it was an act of immense dishonor against an infinite

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God but further it was a of course an act of rebellion against his authority it was a revolt a rebellion an effort to overthrow the government of God and set themselves up as God's if not in his place at least on equal footing with him you will be as God it was a dismissal and refusal of God's law as others have described it every departure from the law of God is an affront to the glory of God and no sin may ever be called small the greatness of Adam sin as of every other transgression must be measured not by itself but by the offense that containeth against God's majesty and the sensitive believer will be apprehensive of the dishonor of God by his sin sin is a practical blasphemy of all the name of God it's the dare of his justice the rape of his mercy the jeer of his patience the slight of his power the contempt of his love it is every way contrary to God the serpent charged

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God with falsehood and unkindness as one not worthy to be trusted and obeyed he was forbidding something that would bring benefit to them and our parents accepted that testimony and an aid of the fruit they believed the devil rather than God it was an act of disobedience which was born of unbelief they refused to order their lives submitted to the word of their

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God their sovereign creator they would order their own existence and choose for themselves which course they would take they would be gods to themselves and at first how innocent it all seemed what a trifle infraction it was only a piece of fruit but with only a little examination we can see it from God's vantage point viewpoint but again have we performed a similar examination of our own sin in this way do we see our sin is exceedingly sinful we should can we see the fruit of our failure that will be born in our acquaintances our children our society sin always gives way to more sin sin in private is never totally a private thing but has broader and often communal ramifications sin never stands still but always marches step -by -step sin by sin right into the grave unless God stops it in Christ do we see what our sin does to the glory of God does it not defiantly challenge its authority to pose his rule and set up Satan's rule in its place well after the transgression of Adam and Eve we then read of the consequences of their fall the fall the fall of mankind and the effects of sin began to show themselves immediately then the eyes of both of them were opened and they knew that they were naked they sewed fig leaves together made themselves loin coverings they heard the sound of the

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Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day and the man and his wife hid themselves in the presence of the

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Lord God among the trees in the garden Arthur Pink said it well no sooner had

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Adam revolted from his gracious maker and benefactor than the evil effects became apparent his understanding originally enlightened with heavenly wisdom became darkened and overcast with crass ignorance his heart formerly fired with holy veneration toward his creator and warm with love to him now became alienated and filled with enmity against him his will which had been in subjection to his rightful governor had cast off the yoke of obedience his whole moral

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Constitution was wrecked had become unhinged perverse in a word the life of God had departed from his soul his aversion for the supremely excellent one appears in his flight from him as soon as he heard his approach his crass ignorance and stupidity were evinced by his vain attempt to conceal himself from the eyes of omniscience his pride was displayed in refusing to acknowledge his guilt his ingratitude when he indirectly uprated

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God for giving him a wife so in one sense their understanding was darkened but in another sense their eyes were open open to the fact that they had sinned they knew instantly they had done wrong they saw the happiness they had fallen from in the misery they had fallen into wrote

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Matthew Henry there was now shame remorse guilt a loss of peace but although they were aware of their sin at the same time there was a loss of clear and true understanding their consciences had condemned them they knew in fact they were guilty but they did not know fully the degree of their guilt or the measure of the consequence of their action for all time and each experience in response of our parents to their sin is typical of all their children when they sin like father like son like Adam like you and me first there is shame and a sense of guilt or at least there should be unless the conscience has been seared through repeated sin and hardening of one's heart they knew they were naked this itself is a blessing from God is it not that sinners might be humbled so seek mercy and grace whose law they had violated mercy and grace from God is a shame when sinners have so sinned they no longer feel shame and that's where our world is isn't it

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Bible speaks about those who glory in their shame the shame of conscience is designed by God to lead a sinner to repentance second we seek to cover our shame and hide our nakedness from God and from one another just like Adam and Eve it's possible that Adam and Eve saw they were naked and that the former glory the radiant light that emanated from their bodies had departed from them and given the nature of sin we seek out many devices to avoid dealing with the consequences of sin we employ every effort to mask our sin using any and all manner of inadequate means as fragile and temporary as fig leaves in order to clothe our shame we resort most frequently to wrap ourselves in coverings of morality hypocrisy religiosity philanthropy and like there's a large wardrobe of garments for every possible occasion but all we have is inadequate to deal with our conditions

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God himself must clothe us in righteousness if you're reading through the Bible following our reading chart you know

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Isaiah speaks about the garments of salvation the robe of righteousness that is given to us in Christ God must clothe us in his righteousness in order for our shame and nakedness to be covered so when

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God approached the weakness of their covering became obvious fig leaves didn't do the job and all our sham coverings and lame excuses will be stripped away one day and what we are in reality will be judged by God there can be no creature hidden from his sight but all things are naked and laid open load they bear to the eyes of him with whom we must render account but we just as soon face it later than sooner and so third we attempt to run from God rather than face him with our guilt they heard

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God coming so they fled from his presence sinfulness cannot and will not dwell with holiness righteousness and unrighteousness cannot be yoked together in fellowship there are an equal unsuitable incompatible partners and then fourth we ignorantly think that we can flee from him how foolish is that we wrongly believe that we can avoid his detection or the consequences of our sin as Adam and Eve hid from God sinners flee from the true presence of God but we feel we must flee for fifth we fear

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God's wrath due to our sin after God called for them Adam voice their concern

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I heard the sound of thee in the garden I was afraid because I was naked so I hid myself and then six we might be willing to confess the effects and pain of sin brought to us but were resistant to confess outright the sin itself as was

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Adam God has to drag a confession from us and all the while God was very gracious in his dealings with this fallen pair he came to them in the cool of the day to commune not in the day and the heat of the passion not at night when fear would have been compounded he came walking and calling it was the approach of a friend not an enemy he gave them ample opportunity to confess and face their sin who told you that you were naked as if he didn't know have you eaten from the tree of which

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I commanded you not to eat God knew what they had done but he wanted to hear their confession this leads us to the seventh response to sin we avoid assuming full responsibility by shifting blame to another it's my parents fault it's in my

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DNA this society's fault it's your fault and we still do that today on a society level it's their fault

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Adam said the woman whom you gave to be to be with me she gave me from the tree and I ate and so Adam reveals he now loves himself supremely he does not love his neighbor as himself for he blames

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Eve rather than assuming responsibility it was her fault that's what that's what husbands do when they fail in their responsibility it's her fault yeah granted

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I'm not doing what I should I haven't done I should but she started it you know neither does he love the

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Lord as God with all his heart mind soul and strength for he blames God for having given him the woman it was God's fault but then

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Eve learns well from her husband she blames the serpent he did it we think the blame game serves us well when we've been discovered but it doesn't appease

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God for we say he dealt with each one according to his or her works your ability to discern will be greatly enhanced if you can identify these actions and reactions that fall in men and women exhibit when they sin we do the same thing and we are to do as God did toward them in that he dealt with them directly and forthrightly when you're trying to help somebody don't settle with diversions and lame excuses go to the heart of the matter what have you done that's a good question of a parent to a child what did you do get them to say it in what ways have you failed or violated

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God's word let me hear from you but of course avoid doing these things yourself you know unless you also be tempted to says the scripture but go after them in the manner

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God did persistently yes but patiently seeking their reconciliation by getting them to face their failure lead them to recognize and acknowledge their transgressions of God's Word that resulted in them being in the mess they find themselves now presently and then assure them

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God can lead them out of it there's mercy with the Lord he's able to give recovery isn't it well let's consider

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God's pronouncement upon each of them in the last few minutes we have and so he

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God begins to speak to the threesome he first addresses the serpent and then Eve and lastly

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Adam God spoke to the serpent Genesis 3 14 and 15 a pronouncement of judgment the

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Lord God said to the servant because you've done this you're cursed more than all cattle and more than every beast of the field on your belly you shall go you shall eat dust all the days of your life

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I will put enmity between you and the woman between your seed and her seed he shall bruise your head you shall bruise his heel so God addressed the serpent first for the first time here we see a clear indication of a spiritual personality having animated the serpent and to this point we've been careful not to identify the serpent as the devil because it's described as a serpent and yet of course as a

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Christian reader we know it was Satan the further scripture declares that the devil's called that old serpent he's referred to as having been a liar by the

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Lord Jesus and a murderer from the beginning a clear allusion to the serpent God cursed the serpent but in doing so he gave indirectly a word of promise to his people a time would come when a champion a conqueror who will be born of woman would render a fatal blow to the serpent the devil implying the deposing of the devil's authority and the recovery and restoration of the fall of all

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God's people from which that he had caused that day and so here's the first word of redemption in the

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Bible Genesis 3 15 it's an obscure intimation of a promised

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Messiah but it's there it is often referred to as the proto evangelium the first gospel

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God said I'll put my enmity between you and the woman between your seed and her seed he shall bruise your head you shall bruise his heel but a few words but glorious and prospect right at the entrance of sin its exit is declared the expression seed of the woman may best be understood at this point in Scripture not to be an immediate reference to a single individual hence

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Jesus Christ but it speaks of collective collective humanity although humanity will suffer affliction and pain you should bruise him on the heel nevertheless ultimately humanity which springs from the woman will encounter victory over the serpent however down as the

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Bible unfolds through sacred history the seed ceases to be identified with all humanity through physical descent but through God's narrowing selection a spiritual seed emerges which eventually culminates in Jesus Christ in this way he may be regarded as the seed of the woman singular and who is the seed of the serpent it's probably a reference to the reprobate all those that align themselves with the serpent and do his bidding all those damned by God on judgment day are the serpent seed his offspring

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Jesus said to the Pharisees that the devil is your father he was a murderer from the beginning and you're just like him they were they were unconverted the

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Jewish Pharisees they were the seed of the serpent the devil is your father well then

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God spoke to the woman next God spoke to the woman say to the woman he said

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I'll greatly multiply your sorrow your conception and pain you'll bring forth children your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you the

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Lord declared that the woman would have difficulty in childbirth with hard labor that a mother gives birth and it's through hard labor a child comes into the world in which he faces more labor all his days and in addition to difficulty with childbirth a woman has difficulty with her husband she desires her husband and is placed in subordination to him the woman had also broken through her divinely appointed subordination to the man she had not only emancipated herself from the man to listen to the serpent but had led the man into sin and for that she was punished with a desire bordering on disease and with subjection to him and he shall rule over you created for the man the woman was made subordinate to him from the very first but the supremacy of the man was not intended to become despotic rule crushing the woman into a slave which has been the rule in ancient modern heathenism and even in Mohammed's ism old

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English a rule which was first softened by the sin -destroyed grace of the gospel and changed into a form more in harmony with the original relation that of a rule on the one hand and subordination on the other which had their roots in mutual esteem and love which clearly the

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New Testament teaches now the idea that a woman desires her husband is not in the sense that she loves him intensely but rather she desires to control him wives want their husband to lead them but wives want their husband to lead them in the way they want to be led that's the problem we won't talk about song of Solomon there the

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Hebrew word is used clearly that you know the young maiden desires her her loved one but really the occurrence of this

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Hebrew word is found in the very next chapter Hebrew or Genesis 4 Cain was warned about the danger of sinning due to his anger toward God for having rejected his sacrifice and so sin is personified as a ravenous beast crouching at the door it desired him behold you know beware

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Cain the the beast is at the door sins at the door ready to pounce upon you master or rule over it but he told

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Cain you have to master it you have to you have to conquer it and so just as sin wanted to master

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Cain but God had commanded Cain to master rule over it so Eve would want to master her husband but her husband was appointed to rule over her

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God has ordained that a husband be the head of his family and a man is no man of God who lets his wife dominate him she'll desire to do so but if he lets her they'll both be miserable the man who obeys his wife to do wrong rather than to obey

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God to do right duplicates Adam's sin I don't misunderstand most of the time a man a husband ought to listen to his wife

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Pilate should have listened to his wife but to listen to the wife to do wrong is never right the fall resulted in a wife not willingly submitted submitting but it resulted in the husband also not lovingly leading he wants to dominate and so does she hence the potential for conflict and this is my own personal opinion behind every angry woman feminist

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I look for a jerk of a husband or a father a series of boyfriends who tried to crush her through domination and through his abuse and her rebellion bitterness she became an angry unforgiving living protest of him take that for what it's worth my own subjective perverted observation well lastly

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God spoke to Adam he spoke to the worst last the serpent then

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Eve and then Adam then to Adam he said because you have heeded the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree which

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I commanded you say you shall not eat or it curves to the ground for your sake in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you usually at the herb of the field and the sweat of your face usually bread till you return to the ground for out of it you were taken for dust you are to dust you shall return could

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Adam be the greatest offender of the three what's he as guilty as Eve much more so for although she was deceived

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Adam was an out -and -out rebel but he was worse was he worse to the devil himself yes the devil could only tempt him to sin the devil could not make a single sinner

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Adam made a whole race of sinners and it was a whole lot worse at least on this occasion

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Adam took an entire race which should have remained willingly submitted to God and transferred his loyalty to the service of the devil and since that time humanity has chosen to serve the devil the devil might have used the serpent thereby consigning through God's judgment to crawl in the dust throughout its existence but Adam corrupted the whole cosmos

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Adam was a sinner above all sinners no one has ever sinned since who sinned against more knowledge or more privilege no one has ever sinned since who had more ability not to sin than Adam he didn't have sin nature like you and I have due to his sin as one wrote this is

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Thomas Watson top ten books body of divinity Thomas Watson his fall was voluntary he had a posse non picari that is a power not to fall free wills a sufficient shield to repel temptation the devil could not have forced him unless he had given his consent

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Satan was only a suitor to woo not a king to compel but Adam gave way gave away his own power and suffered himself to be decoyed into sin like a young gallant who at one throw loses a fair lordship

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Adam had a fair lordship he was Lord over the world have dominion over the fish of the sea over the fowl of the air or every living creature or every living thing that moveth but he lost all at one throw and soon as he sinned he forfeited paradise one older writer sought to show the hideousness of Adam sin by showing how

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Adam in his one sin violated transgressed all Ten Commandments Dr.

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Lightfoot expressed at this Adam at one clap breaks both the tables that is both the tablets of stone the

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Ten Commandments first he chose him the devil as another God when he followed the devil second he idolized and deified his own belly as the

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Apostles phrase his belly he made as God third he took the name of God in vain when he believed him not for he kept not the rest in a state wherein

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God had set him talking about Sabbath rest fifth he dishonored his father which was in heaven wherefore his days were not long in the land which the

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Lord God had given him six he massacred himself and all his posterity thou shall not murder seven in eyes and mind he committed spiritual fornication eight he stole that that like which

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God had set aside not to be meddled with and thou shall not steal and this his stealth is that which troubles all

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Israel the whole world nine he bore witness against God when he believed the witness of the devil above him now shall not bear false witness and last he coveted an evil covetousness which cost him his life and all his progeny

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God's judgment on Adam and all his posterity had two aspects first the earth was cursed due to Adam's sin

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Adam's existence would be one of hardship the ground was no longer cooperative with man's efforts before his head fruit sprung up naturally afterward only with difficulty there's resistance a kind of battle the way between mankind and the world it was as though the world itself was in revulsion from the presence of fallen man treading on its surface as one wrote it was of course from the soil that he was taken and so with its gift the soil is the motherly basis of his old life but his relationship has been broken resulting in estrangement which is expressed in a silent combat between himself and the soil

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Adam would no longer bear fruit to God without much difficulty and the earth would no longer bear fruit to Adam apart from toil he rebelled against God whose rule he had been under and the earth would rebel against him which had once been under his rule

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Adam had been made the ruler of the world but when he fell that which was under him fell and similarly we would say if the leader of a nation is ungodly the true blessing of God will not be upon that nation if the leadership of a church is corrupt the full blessing of God will not be upon that church if the head of a family is corrupt the full blessing of God will not be upon that family however although the full blessing of God may have been forfeited

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God and his mercy may spare a full reprisal on a whole group for the sake of a godly remnant within the group

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God will be merciful to a non -christian husband because of a Christian wife and then the second consequence man would return to the earth from which he had come

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God had warned them if they transgressed by eating that tree they'd surely die and here

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God confirms his word dost thou work the dust thou will return and it's been recited millions of times over millions of graves

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Joshua one day said about his approaching death I'm going the way of all the earth and so will each of us unless the

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Lord returns first that day is coming and we can thank Adam from which we sprung nevertheless after God pronounced judgment on all parties involved he showed himself wonderfully loving and compassionate and gracious to this guilty pair although he had been defied although his creation had been spoiled his image defaced

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God condescended to them and comforted them he would not have them ashamed and naked in his or one another's presence and so he clothed them the

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Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them and many seeing this act as God's instruction to them regarding the matter sacrifice the need for sacrifice to atone for their sin and clothed them in righteousness and I think that's a truism and so although some would scoff at such a notion we won't for several reasons first the very next chapter and thereafter sacrifice is seen as the normal way of worship surely

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God instructed them in this manner of worshipping him and then secondly God told them the very day they violated his command they would die they did die spiritually of course but they didn't die physically but rather death occurred to this substitute this sacrifice and so as one wrote by selecting the skins of beasts for the clothing of the first men and therefore causing the death or slaughter of the beasts for that purpose

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God showed them how they might use the sovereignty they possessed over the animals for their own good and even sacrifice animal life for the preservation of the human so that this act of God laid the foundation for the sacrifices even if the first clothing did not prefigure our ultimate clothing upon nor the coats of skins the robe of righteousness however although God was compassionate toward them gave them words of comfort and promise they were now unfit to dwell in the garden of God God drove them out alienation from God and exclusion from the presence of God are the results of sin a sinner one who would be

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God the Lord of his own life cannot dwell in God's presence and so man place was placed in exile from paradise and it's from exile that God is calling people now from all over the world to return to paradise to our heavenly

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Zion a sinner one who would be God has no hope alone and into a hostile world

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Adam and Eve went forth to make a life together God would in a measure bless them he did but their life would be one of difficulty and sorrow especially as they saw the effects of sin increase in themselves and their posterity may we ever thank our

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God for his unspeakable gift in Jesus Christ amen this is what he saves us from may the

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Lord deliver us from temptation and not be so foolish to think that somehow we can sin and enjoy it and get away from escape the consequences it just doesn't happen because the

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Lord loves us too much thankfully let's pray thank you our father for your word and the passage such as this such as this it is so revealing and instructive to us we just pray you'd help us to meditate upon these things our

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God preserve us our God from sin and thank you again for the Lord Jesus Christ who came and bore our sin all our sin our

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God and sufficiently satisfied your justice through his life and his death and that through his resurrection our

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God his power is available to us to live a godly life before you and that you are our

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God now and that we are in covenant relationship with you through your son and so now our