God’s Love Responds to the Fall of Mankind
After God created Adam and Eve - the first parents of the human race – something took place that changed everything. This event led to the fall of these two created beings which were made in the image of God, and has had a catastrophic effect on all human beings since then. In this study, we are going to be looking at what transpired after creation and how God responded. Did God turn His back on His creation? Or did He have a plan to save us? Let’s find out.
A. The Human Race Before the Fall
Man was made in the image of God.
Genesis 1:26
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
· What does ‘image’ mean? – internal and external characteristics. Reflecting perfections and character traits: in holiness, righteousness, dominion over the creatures, procreation, and the ability to reason and experience love. Human being’s nature and mind was perfect, holy, undefiled.
· What does ‘likeness’ mean? – it signifies the original after which a thing is patterned i.e. the human race (pattern) being created in God’s image (original).
- Before the fall, Adam and Eve’s natures would have loved the pure and good, and knew nothing of evil or wrongdoing.
2. The relationship between God and man.
§ God spoke directly to Adam:
Genesis 2:16, 17
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
§ God met with Adam and consulted him about big decisions concerning His creation:
Genesis 2:19, 20
19 And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
· The God of the universe, sovereign of creation, gave to the first man the privilege of naming every single animal.
· Adam could be trusted to make decisions which the Lord was content with.
· God made man His partner.
3. Adam’s relationship with Eve before the fall.
Genesis 2:22, 23, 24
22 And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Adam loved his wife.
He appreciated what God had done for him.
He understood the significance of God making Eve from his rib. She was a part of him.
Adam made solemn vows of love to Eve and set the standard for all husbands that came after him: he promised to ‘cleave onto his wife’ and they would be ‘one flesh’.
4. Adam and Eve had no reason to feel ashamed or guilty.
Genesis 2:25.
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
The pair were sinless; and guiltless.
5. Man was given useful work.
Genesis 2:15
15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
Even in perfection, man was not made to be idle. The Great Designer of man knew what His creation needed to live a fulfilling life.
And again, we can see here that God gave mankind a great responsibility and trust. Mankind was made a steward over the beautiful earth.
‘dress’ means to cultivate.
‘keep’ means to take care of, tend to, watch over, retain.
These were the roles that man was given in the Garden of Eden.
Before the fall, the human race maintained their holiness and perfection, had a loving and trusting relationship with their God, and with each other.
B. What went wrong?
§ Who came into this perfect picture of paradise?
§ How was the mind of this sinless couple affected?
§ How did this change the relationship between God and Man?
6. God gave one command/instruction that restricted the holy pair from only one thing.
Genesis 2:16, 17:
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
They were given every tree to freely eat from, except one.
7. Adam and Eve disobeyed this one command.
Let’s see what led up to this reckless decision:
Genesis 3:1-3
1Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of 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 hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
Who is spoken of in these verses?
Eve
‘the serpent’
What is the ‘serpent’ described as in verse 1?
The ‘serpent’ was called ‘subtle’, which means cunning.
‘Cunning’ means having or showing skill in achieving one's ends by deceit or evasion. (Oxford Dictionary)
Does the Bible tell us who this ‘serpent’ represents?
Yes. In Revelation 12:9 it says:
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
(also Revelation 20:2, 10)
This verse informs us that the ‘old serpent’ is also called the ‘Devil’ and ‘Satan’.
The name ‘Devil’ means the false accuser or slanderer (Strong’s Concordance).
The name ‘Satan’ means adversary or plotter, one who devises a plan for opposition, the accuser (Strong’s Concordance).
So we now know from this verse that the serpent is Satan.
What does this verse tell us about the work and intention of Satan? – he ‘deceiveth the whole world’.
To ‘deceive’ someone means to deliberately cause them to believe something that is not true, especially for personal gain (Oxford Dictionary).
From this information that the Bible has given to us, we can confidently say that the ‘serpent’ in Genesis 3:1-3 is an enemy of the human race, who may well be plotting a plan to deceive Eve in the following verses.
Let’s continue:
Who started the conversation?
Verse 1 tells us ‘that he said unto the woman’. The serpent initiated the conversation with the woman, orchestrating the situation which followed.
How did he begin the conversation?
‘Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’ (Verse 1)
The serpent asked his question in a way that opened Eve up to joining the conversation, by prompting her to fill in the parts that the serpent left out.
The serpent said only half of the truth. God did say that Adam and Eve could eat of ‘every tree of the garden’, however, he also said that there was one tree they should not eat from.
This naturally prompted Eve to engage and state the full command God had gave. She took the bait.
He led the discussion to the point he wanted to challenge, which we will see.
He had a plan.
Did Eve know the command of God?
Yes. In verses 2 and 3 it shows her reply:
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of 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 hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
Eve knew what God had commanded.
However, the Bible does not tell us explicitly why she added the part that said ‘neither shall ye touch it’.
How did the serpent respond to Eve restating God’s command?
Genesis 3:4
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
He directly attacked what God had previously said.
The serpent planted a seed of doubt in Eve’s mind.
He gave her an opposing thought to the one that her loving God had given.
Right here we see that the serpent is an enemy of God.
The serpent is implying that God is a liar.
Genesis 3:5
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
What did the serpent actually attack here?
He’s attacking God’s character.
How?
He’s accusing God of holding back something from Eve that would benefit her on purpose. She could be a god.
He’s insinuating that God is selfish – but we already know that this is a lie because of the things we saw God do out of love in the last study.
If God withholds anything from us, it is for our benefit. We will see this in the following verses.
What was the instant result of this evil seed that the serpent had planted in Eve’s mind?
Genesis 3:6
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
What happened in this verse?
Eve now saw that tree was 1. ‘good for food’, 2. ‘pleasant to the eyes’, 3. ‘desired to make one wise’.
Did she think these things before having this conversation with the serpent?
No. Her thoughts and feelings changed towards the forbidden tree almost immediately after the conversation.
This is the power of deception.
She was deceived. She chose to believe the lie and distrust God.
Did she keep her wrongdoing to herself?
No. It says that she ‘gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.’
Adam also chose to disobey God.
A lesson can be found here. When we choose disobedience/sin, we become agents of sin and our influence on others is negative.
What changed immediately after they ate of the forbidden fruit?
Genesis 3:7
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
What happened?
Their ‘eyes were opened’.
But what were they opened to see?
That they were ‘naked’.
Was this different?
No. They were naked before, but it did not even come to their minds.
What did they do when they saw that they were naked?
‘they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.’
They were attempting to hide their nakedness.
Why did they do this?
Well, before they had disobeyed God’s command, in Genesis 2:25 it says:
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
They were not bothered or ashamed that they were naked at this point.
What changed in chapter 3?
Their minds had changed. They were now ‘ashamed’ of their nakedness. Something that they had never experienced before.
Sin brings shame and guilt.
‘Shame’ is defined as:
1 A painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behaviour.
2 A regrettable or unfortunate situation or action.
(Oxford Dictionary)
‘Guilt’ is defined as:
A feeling of having committed wrong or failed in an obligation.
(Oxford Dictionary)
What did Adam and Eve do when their loving God came to find them?
Genesis 3:8
8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
They hid from God, the one who loves them.
They ran from their creator. Not because of anything God had done.
Sin made them afraid of God.
What does this tell us about sin?
Whenever sin comes into the picture, it has the power to make God appear like something He is not.
They did something wrong and the first thing they did was run from the presence of God. In their mind, they had changed their loving God to an enemy.
Satan was successful in changing the way man thought about God. He distorted our first parents view of God’s character. This has had a ripple effect on the minds of all human beings that came after.
Satan questioned God’s authority and honesty and he persuaded Adam and Eve to use their free will / power of choice (a gift from God) to decide to act against Him.
After the Fall
8) What were the consequences of eating the forbidden fruit?
The relationships between God and man / husband and wife were negatively affected. Let’s look at three changes that took place:
GUILT:
This was the first time guilt was experienced by humans.
Sin brings guilt.
Guilt overwhelms the mind and can make us believe that running from God is better than going to Him for help.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HUSBAND AND WIFE CHANGED:
Genesis 3:11, 12
11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
How did Adam respond?
Instead of Adam confessing what he had done through his own choice to take the fruit which Eve gave him, he put all the blame on his wife, and even implied that the blame was partly God’s.
Adam showed selfishness here. His action portrayed someone trying to save themselves at the expense of others.
In addition to this, Eve also did not own up to her part in the wrong that had been done:
Genesis 3:13
13 And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
Eve did not take responsibility for her actions, but put all the blame on the serpent.
Human beings after the fall have a hard time taking ownership and responsibility for the wrong actions or sin they commit. Self had become very precious – something to protect at all costs.
MAN AND WOMAN BECAME CORRUPTED BY FOLLOWING SATAN’S IDEAS RATHER THAN GOD’S; AND BY CHOOSING TO DISOBEY GOD, THEY ALIENATED THEMSELVES FROM HIM AND BECAME SLAVES TO SIN:
Isaiah 59:1, 2
1 Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
Romans 6:16
16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
When Adam and Eve yielded to sin, it corrupted their pure minds, and the minds of all humans that came after:
Romans 8:6, 7
6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
‘Carnal’ describes the natural mind of mankind after the fall, that is not influenced by or converted to God.
‘Enmity’ means a state or feeling of active opposition or hostility.
It is impossible for this type of mind to truly follow God, because it is naturally against Him. Something supernatural has to happen for a change to take place in an individual.
Because mankind’s mind was corrupted after the fall, the natural path of every person that comes into the world, is one of sin:
Romans 3:23
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Romans 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Death is the consequence of sin. So if all have sinned, all deserve to die. This is a very depressing and hopeless thought, isn’t it?
But did God leave it there?
9. God gives hope.
Thank God that He did not! In the second half of Romans 6:23, it says ‘but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ God did not leave us without hope.
And in the same way, He did not leave Adam and Eve without hope.
Before pronouncing the consequences for what they had done, God spoke words to the serpent that have been the hope of the human race since the fall:
Genesis 3:15
15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Within this promise is found the life line of the human race. Our one and only hope.
In our next study, The Great Promise of God, we will look deeper into this verse and allow the Bible to explain itself.
We hope you enjoyed this study.
by LetterBox Bible
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