Back to Eden (The Temptation and Fall of Man)
With Rev. Brian Moseley
Genesis chapter 3 NKJV
3 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’?”
2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 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.’ ”
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 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.”
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was [a]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. 7 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 [b]coverings.
- Eve was lied to/convinced that she didn’t have everything she needed in God, to be happy, but how? They were perfect, living in a perfect world. They didn’t really know God, even though they walked and talked with him every day. They didn’t know his nature and his character! If they did, they would have never believed the lie that God was keeping something good from them. We do the same thing today! The fruit of our lives reveals what we believe and who we believe in. This shows the true power of belief! They had no reason to doubt him. They didn’t know what bad was and had nothing to compare God’s goodness to. Eve wanted an experience, instead of trusting God.
8 And they heard the [c]sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the [d]cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”
12 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
13 And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14 So the 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.
15 And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”
- This is the first prophecy of the coming of Christ and his crucifixion. The seed of the woman means all of humanity and the seed of Satan are all the enemies of God. All of this became necessary due to Adam’s treason.
16 To the woman He said:
“I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception;
In pain you shall bring forth children;
Your desire shall be [e]for your husband,
And he shall rule over you.”
17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:
- Adam received his curse for not exercising his authority, and instead giving it away to satan. He showed no faith in the word of God!
“Cursed is the ground for your sake;
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.
18 Both thorns and thistles it shall [f]bring forth for you,
And you shall eat the herb of the field.
19 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.”
20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve,[g] because she was the mother of all living.
- Adam had not been given a name by God until Genesis 2:19, after all of the creatures had been created and he had been placed with authority over all things separate from him. Adam had not given her a name before this happened, because they were one in spirit and perfect in harmony with God, and not separate. This act separated them from each other and God defined what she would be. I’m sure at this point they spent the rest of their lives trying to get closer to one another across the chasm of sin. Notice that God still allowed Adam to maintain his authority.
21 Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.
22 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”— 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim 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.
- God did not drive them out of the garden due to judgment and condemnation, but out of love so that they would not live in sin, pain, and suffering forever by eating the fruit of the tree of life. This was a separate tree in the midst of the garden, besides the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. I believe God had both of these trees in his creation, because everything he does is made with order and balance. These were both very powerful things he had placed in his creation, and expected his children to rely on him to provide eternity and the knowledge they needed. This is the genesis of God being pleased by Man’s faith in him!
John 3:16 New King James Version
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
- Jesus became the fruit of knowledge and of everlasting life, that was hanging on the tree. We must eat of him and drink of him, knowing him and receiving eternal life. Their knowledge of God was very limited to what we now know of him it’s combination point we can now know him more completely and intimately than Adam and Eve did. God has revealed himself to us through his word who is Jesus, in a way that makes us infinitely more prepared to resist satan’s lies than Adam and Eve were!
John 17:1-3 New King James Version
Jesus Prays for Himself
17 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, 2 as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He [a]should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
2 Peter 1:15-21 King James Version
- Knowing him through his word is better than having some physical experience. Peter is assuring us that the gospel he communicates to us was not a fable or tradition he had heard. He knew Jesus personally! He saw Jesus on the mountain and began to radiate light and heard the audible voice of God! Most of us would settle for just that experience. But Peter went on saying we also have a more sure word of prophecy what could be better than seeing or hearing for yourself? In verse 20 he says that the more sure word is the scriptures. The scriptures are more reliable than our own senses! Most of us do not have this perspective. Most people study the word hoping to attain some experience. If that happened, they would set the word down and revel in the experience right then. We are so dominated by what we can know by our own senses, that it overrules everything else in our lives! That is what eve did. She wanted to experience for herself what was good and evil, instead of relying on God’s goodness. She wanted knowledge by experience. God’s word wasn’t good enough, she had to feel it. Satan is still doing the same thing to us today. He tells us that what we have isn’t enough, by deceiving us with lies and temptation. We keep our eyes on his lies and not on God. We can experience God in a physical way and there isn’t anything wrong with that, unless you make that your goal!
15 Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.
16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
17 For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.
19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
Romans 2:4 New King James Version
- By God’s word, we can know him in a way that Adam and Eve never did. If we truly know him, Satan is powerless to lead us away from God because it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance.
4 Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and long suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
Hosea 4:6 New King James Version
The root of the problem is that we don’t know God as we should. He doesn’t move away from us, the problem is that we don’t move closer to him! He has been deeply involved in the affairs of man and has meticulously documented his dealings in his word. He gave us the Holy Spirit, to reveal his truths and mysteries to us by his word. We just have not cooperated! The Lord said my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge.
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being priest for Me;
Because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
Galatians 5:6 New King James Version
- The specific knowledge we need, is about the very nature of God and his character. Faith works by love! If we really knew the love of God in a personal and intimate way, our faith would work!
6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.
2 Peter 1:3 King James Version
- Peter summarizes in the scripture below. If we are missing some “thing” that God has promised us, then we have a knowledge problem!
3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
Colossians 2:6 King James Version
- In the past I have mentioned that as we begin to pray, we must remember the moment of our Individual salvation. The same fate that flowed through us at the moment of our salvation, is the same faith we must walk in every day to receive all the blessings in heavenly places that have been provided to us through Christ Jesus. None of this is possible without first knowing him intimately! He has created a new spiritual Eden for us to enter into, but the gate of this garden can only be entered by the faith that he has placed in us with the Holy Spirit.
6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
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