Beginnings: When Things Went Wrong
Genesis 3:1-9
When we left the Book of Genesis in my last message, we were in paradise. We had been introduced to God, the Maker of the Universe, and discovered that all he made was good – indeed, very good. And, we stood in awe of the fact that people like us are the apex of his creation, i.e., people are made in the image of God. At the end of Genesis 2, people were living in:
*Right relationship with God – God was walking and talking with them;
*Right relationship with the world – people were the caretakers with a meaningful reason for their work – to maintain and further the goodness of the world God had placed us in;
*Right relationship with people – the man and woman were no longer alone but lived a life without shame.
We read this and we know deep down inside that this is how we were meant to live. But, then, we must stop and look at the world as we experience it – God seems far away; the world shows signs of a lack of care; human relationships are broken – and we must ask, “What went wrong?”
Those who tried to teach in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that the world is simply in a long evolutionary process in which all is making progress toward a utopia -- that the world is getting better through processes of natural selection and the survival of the fittest have had their worldviews exploded by the ongoing wars, genocide, and devastation in our world. There is no evidence at all that the world is getting better and better and human beings are becoming more and more moral people. Although we can make advances in technology and scientific knowledge, we seem to be in decline in matters like morality, good judgment, and integrity.
I visited the Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh last November – one of many sites of unimaginable cruelty and brutality under the regime of Pol Pot -- and I thought, “Who can believe that people and governments are less evil now than they were 1,000 years ago?” Maybe we can shut our eyes to genocide that continues in our world, global sex trafficking to be found almost everywhere, drugs and crime in our cities and believe the world is getting better and better. But, most of us come to church this morning knowing that human beings are as selfish and brutal now as we ever have been.
And it’s not just “out there,” is it? We look into our own hearts and know that if we are honest and paradise were offered us by God today, we like Adam and Eve, would spoil it in a day! Why? I contend that the only way to understand ourselves is to acknowledge that there is a warp in human nature that constantly frustrates us when we try to live well – to build a better world. Politicians this last week, after the President’s State of the Union address, kept talking about the “Other party who only work selfishly and foolishly making judgments only in the light of what will further their careers.” People get frustrated saying, “It’s Washington and the way ‘they do business’ in selfish and partisan ways.” “Let’s get Washington out of Washington!” is something I‘ve heard in every national political campaign in my entire life. I’ve finally learned that it’s not just Washington but the fact that people are in Washington that is the problem. The problem is the hearts of people.
But still, with this warp in us all, we all have a deep longing in our hearts to be good people – to live well – to overcome selfishness and evil. We long to build a better world for our children. How are we to understand all this?
Today, we begin a three-week study to discover the Bible’s explanation for this strange blend of longing for goodness and record of failure that seems to be the case wherever we find human beings. It’s recorded in Genesis 3. Many scholars try to ignore it calling it a myth. But, I have the suspicion that, as we look at it, even avowed non-believers will find that Genesis 3 resonates as being true.
I will begin by looking at how temptation toward evil happens in the lives of people. We’ve seen the story told in Genesis 3 so often: Someone who “has it all” – good reputation, great job, wonderful prospects for the future – then throws it all away for a piece of fruit (or some equivalent). I want us to see the brief description and I want you to look into your own heart and life to see if I am right in asserting that this is often the path that leads us to do wrong even when we thought we wanted to do right:
- I. The atmosphere in which temptation thrives (3:1-3)
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
Pastor Tim Keller calls this, “the sneer.” He says it conveys an attitude that permeates Manhatten – and I guess we’re not immune to it here in Southern California either. Do you see the attitude that the serpent is fostering in his question? The tone of voice? “Did God REALLY say…?” What we see is that the fall of the entire human race began not with an action but with the sowing of an attitude.
“Really?” Says the serpent. He doesn’t make an argument against what God has said. No, he mocks it! He wants Eve to think that this command from God is laughable! This is the kind of thing I have seen so often in the academy when issues of faith come up. “Really? Your pastor said that? What an out-of-date uninformed person he must be!” You see it, don’t you? An atmosphere is being developed in which anyone who would stand for what God says already begins to think, “No sophisticated, rational person would ever hold to such a thing!”
My point is that people often begin to question their confidence in God’s Word not through good evidence or argumentation but through an atmosphere that makes issues of faith and morality seem absurd. I know this happens in some family settings or at work – but after so many years of my life in schools, I think this way of discarding issues of faith through making the whole thing laughable runs rampant in our higher ed institutions! We pursue knowledge in our schools – which is good – but this leads to us trying to act as if we have more knowledge than we actually have! Good schools are places where current ideas about the world are entertained. But, sometimes the wisdom of the ages is discarded out of hand. What happens all too often is that the students around us sometimes mock religious thought, scorn religious people and, of course, bring up examples of religious people who have said dumb things. Then, the professor makes some point that seems to hit at our belief system. For many people of faith in that setting, we think that all these people seem around to be so smart. Therefore, we begin to think, they must be right. We discover that, in that atmosphere, even to challenge anything being said against our faith immediately puts us into the camp of being a “fundy.” And we don’t want to be that! We don’t want our fellow students or our teacher to think we’re naïve.
Now, hear me out: Sometimes we wrestle with our faith because of genuine intellectual questions. But, I contend that our doubts about God begin more often the way they began with Eve; i.e., being in an atmosphere where we feel that even to take a stand for the Word of God will lead to us being mocked. As Tim Keller said, “For every one real argument I have to address against the Christian faith, I get 99 sneers.”
Of course, this kind of atmosphere of making God’s Word laughable hits at our pride. We don’t want to be among the unthinking – the unknowing. Look at Eve. Her first response in vv. 2-3 seems to be a defense of God. The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.
But do you notice that Eve distorts what God had said. God had not said, “You must not touch it.” Why did she emphasize that in her short speech? Was she resentful that God had taken away one of her rights? It’s like us as teenagers angry at our parents for giving us a curfew. “You never let me go out in the evenings. You don’t let me do anything?” Well, that’s not the case but we’re just frustrated that we can’t fully control everything. Our egos are easily wounded.
And, the adversary, as always, sees an opening and goes after it. “You could be like God,” he says. No restrictions. No rules. No curfews.
So, it was an atmosphere in which there was an attitude of making religion irrelevant and laughable that opened Eve’s heart toward disobedience. Now, second, I want us to look at the attack the plan of attack the serpent employs to exploit Eve’s pride.
- II. The specific attack that furthers temptation (3:4-5).
"You will not certainly die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
Notice here that Satan does not go after things we might have expected him to attack. He doesn’t try to deny God’s existence. Well, Eve knew God existed! And, of course, in spite of atheistic governments and some philosophers’ attacks against the existence of God, there are still very few atheists in this world. Most of us know intuitively that there must be a god of some sort out there.
And, Satan does not attack the idea of God’s holiness. He doesn’t try to get Eve to think, “Well, God doesn’t care how you live. Just follow your own cravings and desires.” She already knew that God had told her how to live. And, most people know that, if there is a God, then probably morality matters to him. Most think that evil will be judged and goodness will be rewarded. This also would not have been a very fruitful plan of attack.
What Satan attacks is the idea of God’s goodness. Essentially, Satan says, “You can’t trust that God’s way will be good for you. God doesn’t really love you. God doesn’t want the best for you.” And that attack went deep into her heart!
In my years of living and pastoring, I have come to the conviction that most giving in to temptation involves this attack on God’s goodness:
*We say, “I know this is what God would have me do with my money or my time, but… I know I would enjoy life so much more if I did that with it.”
*We think, “I know God would have me be sexually faithful to my spouse, but I’m sure I would be much more satisfied if I did….”
*We think, “I know I should not hold this grudge or try to get back at that person – that God said that is his responsibility – but I will not be happy until I…”
You see, in each one of these cases, the temptation to disobey God takes root because we don’t think we can trust God. We think, “If I obey what I know God has said I should do, I won’t be happy.” What Satan tries to undermine in us is a conviction that God loves us. I think this is at the heart of almost all sin.
I think I should share something from my own personal struggle with this. I don’t really want to but Pastor Annie Neufeld is holding me accountable to tell you. During my first 3-4 years of being a university president, I felt like things were not going well. Finances were awful – and we hadn’t even hit our current global financial crisis! Things were good everywhere fiscally – but not for us. Enrollments were struggling at the college because I wanted us to admit students more fully committed to Christ. I was struggling with understanding the job… Chris can tell you that I had ongoing sleepless nights. I couldn’t sit or lie still. I was not at peace.
Now that I look back on those years, I see more clearly what I did not want to see then. I now see that I was afraid that our 100+ year old school was going to fail under my watch. I began to think that the school could only survive if I would work harder and smarter. I began thinking of ways to make things happen (which is not necessarily bad).
I finally learned that God only asks us to be faithful -- to be good stewards of our time and gifts -- to make good and wise judgments given our human limitations. He wants us to trust him.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6).
I now see that at the root of all my anxiety in those years was a failure to trust that God is good. I somehow thought that I had to make the paths straight. I had to be the man of understanding. And God said, “No, I led you to this place. You: Be faithful. You: trust me to be good.”
So, I say to you, my people: Look at the temptations you face – to the places you sometimes give in to temptation. And, more often than not, I imagine you will find that at the heart of the temptation is this same plan of attack we see in Gen. 3. Humans find it hard to trust the love and goodness of God.
- III. The act of the will that is the sin (3:6-7)
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it (Proverbs 3:6-7).
21st century people read the account of the fall of the human race and ask, “What was the great sin? Eating fruit from a tree in the garden: What’s so bad about that? Why would such a small thing (in our perspectives) have ruined the human race?
And we look in vain in Genesis 2-3 for God providing a clear explanation. We don’t see him saying, “Oh, it’s because I knew that people couldn’t manage this kind of knowledge in their infancy.” Nor does God talk about the outcome of the sin, “Oh, I know this will lead to infinite suffering, selfishness, and death for the human race – so don’t do it.”
No, God does not provide an explanation. Instead, the people were called upon to acknowledge that God is God and to trust him and obey. God called for trusting obedience to his word. The issue is not, “I want you to obey me if it makes sense to you.” It is: Will you obey my word?
Boiling it down: God was communicating, “I am God. Your life is a gift from me to you. The world you are in is a gift from me to you. If you will truly live, you must live knowing that I am God and you live only by my will and power. Therefore, don’t eat from that tree!”
God says, “I give you a choice: Treat me as God and obey my Word. Or put yourself in my place and go your own way.” Treat God as God – or make yourself God. That’s the choice Adam and Eve were called to make. And they had a choice. They were made in God’s image. They had been created with the ability to rule the world. But there was no resistance to the temptation. The disobeyed like falling off a log. Yes, the serpent created an atmosphere that led to mocking God’s word. Yes, Satan knew the right plan of attack. But, from the beginning to end, we witness in Gen. 3 a surrender without a fight:
*“You’ll enjoy it,” said the tempter. “We will,” said the people.
*“You want it,” said the tempter. “We do,” said the people.
*“You can get away with it,” said the tempter. “We can,” said the people.
*”You’ve earned it. You’ve worked hard for this God. You deserve it,” said the tempter. “We have,” thought the people.
*“It’s a ridiculous rule anyway,” said the tempter. “It really is,” said the people.
And then they gave in. And so, we too give in.
And then the consequences set in: The loss of good conscience. The need to lie in order to cover up. The shame. The broken relationships. And we do have a choice! Will we obey God or will we make a choice to disobey.
I was having lunch this past week with Dr. Cliff Penner and he told me a remarkably insightful story from his 8-year-old granddaughter, Karinn:
After watching news stories about abductions of children, Karinn’s mother Jolene was tucking her into bed.
K asked her mom: "If I pray that God will make sure a man doesn't take me away in my sleep, will He definitely make sure it doesn't happen?"
J answered: "God wants us to ask for protection. He promises to be with us in all situations. Because of sin in the world, bad things sometimes happen--which is why we take precautions like locking our doors--but we know for sure that God will comfort us no matter what happens.
Jolene had been teaching K about Adam and Eve in the Garden when there was no sin. That God had commanded that they not eat of the fruit, etc. etc. But that Eve wanted to, so they did, etc.
K said, disgustedly: "I can't believe that Eve would have eaten that apple. There were lots of other things to eat. I wouldn't have eaten it"
J broadened the discussion to how K might treat her brothers and other ways we disobey God.
A few days later, Karinn brought up the topic out of the blue and said, "Mom, I was thinking about Adam and Eve. I realized that every single day I have to choose whether to eat the apple or not."
I want you to look at this text and ask, “What is the fruit I am tempted to eat? Where are the places I feel that temptation? What fruit have I eaten in recent days?”
- IV. The hope in spite of temptation and sin (3:8-9).
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" (Genesis 3:8-9)
We will return to the consequences of the sin and to the hope we have in spite of our sin in coming weeks. But, just notice two things here:
First, sin makes us hide. We hide the truth from ourselves from others. We sometimes even try to deny it and hide it from ourselves. The one act leads to other acts of deceit. We are noever free and open and whole when we hide.
Second, God seeks. I’m quite sure God knew what had happened. But, he didn’t ignore them or reject them. He came after them. Here we see what many of us have discovered; i.e., when we find God, it’s really God who has found us. This has found its ultimate expression who would declare, “Let me tell you why I have come into this world filled with sinners who are hiding. I have come to seek and to save the lost. I have come to heal those who are sick. I have come to give eternal life to those who are perishing. And what you must do is make a choice – a choice to believe in me. A choice to trust me. Will you do it today?To His glory,
To His glory,
Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor
