INTRODUCTION:

1. No one can properly understand human nature without understanding Genesis 3, which describes the fall of man.
2. Evangelist D.L. Moody always preached on the "Three R s" -- Ruined by the Fall, Redeemed by the Blood, and Regenerated by the Spirit.
3. Gospel preaching has to start with the fall of man. Sin came into the world in Genesis 3. There can be no "good news" without bad news.
4. Romans 5:12 says, "Wherefore, as by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned."
5. Since Adam's fall, all men and women have been born with a sinful nature. And just as we inherit our physical characteristics from our parents, we inherit our sinful nature from Adam.
6. When Adam fell into sin, the result was every one of his descendants was born tainted with a sinful nature. Genesis 8:21 says "the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth." The word "youth" refers to man's childhood and infancy.
7. Ephesians 2:3 says we "were by nature the children of wrath."
8. David said, "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me" (Psalm 51:5).
9. This does not mean that David was born out of wedlock. It means that David inherited his sinful nature from his parents, and they inherited it from their parents, and so on -- just as we all do.
10. The Bible teaches that men are sinners by birth and by choice.
11. James 4:7 says, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
12. If we resist the devil, he will flee from us. But if we yield to temptation, the devil wins and we lose!
13. A man can never say, "I was overpowered in spite of myself."
14. All that he can say is, "I was overpowered because of myself" (W.H. Griffith Thomas, Genesis).
15. The same people who dismiss Genesis 1 and 2, also dismiss chapter 3. They claim it is mythical or symbolic or poetic or allegorical, etc.
16. But Genesis 3 is historical. It is the inerrant Word of God.
17. The apostle Paul obviously understood Genesis 3 as literal and historical and factual (cf. Rom. 5:12-21; II Cor. 11:3; I Tim. 2:13, 14).
18. The apostle John believed Genesis 3 to be literal and factual. Revelation 12:9, "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world."
19. A.W. Pink said, "The divine record of the fall of man is an unequivocal refutation of the Darwinian hypothesis of evolution. Instead of teaching that man began at the bottom of the moral ladder and is now slowly but surely climbing heavenwards, it declares that man began at the top and fell to the bottom" (Gleanings in Genesis).

1. TEMPTATION
2. SIN
3. PUNISHMENT
4. REDEMPTION

I. TEMPTATION

1. In Matthew 4:3 and I Thessalonians 3:5, Satan is called "the tempter." As "the tempter," Satan is the immediate cause of human sin.
2. He crawled into the Garden of Eden disguised as a serpent (cf. Rev. 12:9; 20:2).
3. Satan ("Adversary") is very "subtil" (3:1), that is, he is shrewd and crafty. He is very skillful in deceiving people.
4. The apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth that "the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty" (II Cor. 11:3).
5. This same word is translated "craftiness" in Ephesians 4:14, where it refers to devilish men, who employ "cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive."
6. Satan disguised himself as a serpent. He is a master of disguise. Second Corinthians 11:14 says, "And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light."
7. Satan's temptation is based on doubting God's Word. Satan approached Eve, and said to her, "Yea, hath God said?" (3:1).
8. Eve should have simply replied, "Yes God said it and that settles it." But Eve was deceived by Satan.
9. Satan confuses people regarding the reliability and accuracy of God s Word. Here in Genesis 3:1 we find the first question mark in the Bible. Skeptics love to question the veracity of God s Word, and when they do that they are following the example of Satan.
10. Behind every religious cult, and behind every false prophet, and behind every skeptic and liberal and agnostic and atheist is the voice of the serpent Yea, hath God said?
11. Satan's methods have not changed over the years. He is still attacking the Word of God. M. R. DeHaan said, "'That is what God really meant,' suggests the enemy. 'Eve,' says the old deceiver, 'you must not take things so literally,' and Eve accepted the seemingly harmless help of Satan and believed the Devil's interpretation of God's Word instead of the simple 'Thus saith the Lord.' This initial stroke of deception in the Garden, however, was but the first skirmish in the battle of the Book" (Bible Versions and Perversions).
12. We can have confidence that the Bible is the inerrant, infallible Word of God. Psalm 119:89 says, "For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven."
13. John 17:17 says, "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth."
14. The devil began his conversation by tempting Eve (3:1) and getting her to doubt God's Word. Eve said to God, "The serpent beguiled (deceived) me, and I did eat" (3:13).
15. Three elements entered into the temptation -- physical desire, intellectual curiosity, and personal assertion. The devil uses "the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life" (I John 2:16) to entice sinners.
16. Satan is a master of deception. He is very good at confusing people and putting doubts in their minds. Those of us who are involved in soulwinning understand that Satan has blinded the minds of sinners.
17. The apostle Paul said, "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them" (II Cor. 4:3, 4).
18. Ephesians 6:11 says, "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." "Wiles" means, "deceit, craft, trickery."
19. James 4:7 says, Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
20. Revelation 12:9 says Satan "deceiveth the whole world. He is an expert in deception.
21. In John 8:44 our Lord said this about the devil, When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
22. Interestingly, two of Satan s lies are still very popular to this day: (1) Ye shall not surely die (3:4) reincarnation, no hell, purgatory, etc. (2) Ye shall be as gods (3:5) paganism, humanism, New Age, etc.
23. Also, while the devil questioned God s Word, and then denied God s Word; Eve was also wrong to add to God s Word (Gen. 3:3).
24. Proverbs 30:6 says, Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.
25. Satan told Eve, Ye shall not surely die (3:4). That was a lie.
26. Sin and misery, broken lives, war, and billions of graves attest that God is true and Satan is a liar.
27. The LORD told Adam, "For in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Genesis 2:17) -- not only physically, but die spiritually.
28. Just as physical death is the separation of the soul from the body, so spiritual death is the separation of the soul from God.
29. When Ephesians 2:1 says that we "were dead in trespasses and sins," it means sin had separated us from God.
30. Isaiah 59:2 says, "But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear."
31. The Bible warns of the "second death." This refers to eternal separation from God and everlasting punishment in the lake of fire.
32. Here we have the Biblical definition of death -- separation from God, evidenced by the expulsion of man from the Garden of Eden (3:22-24).
33. Adam and Eve disobeyed God and were excluded from the Garden of Eden and the tree of life.

II. SIN

1. In Genesis 3:9 we read, "And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?"
2. This tells us God cannot and will not overlook sin. The Bible says, "Be sure your sin will find you out" (Numbers 32:23).
3. Sin is dirty and nasty. Job 15:16 says, "How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?"
4. The foundation of all sin is found here in Genesis 3, and it lies in man's desire of self-assertion. The basis of all sin is self-will, and man's determination to be independent of God.
5. God gave to Adam and Eve only one restriction -- "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it" (Genesis 2:16, 17).
6. Adam and Eve chafed at this one restriction. In defiance of God's commandment, they asserted themselves, and they fell.
7. Today, sinners defy God and they mock the Word of God. The distinction between right and wrong has been blurred.
8. Over the years, many people have told me they were offended that I refer to people as "wicked sinners." But the words "wicked sinners" are found hundreds of times in the Bible!
9. Today, sin is condoned, excused, redefined, and promoted.
10. Adultery is called "having an affair." Sodomites are "gay." Drunkards are alcoholics. Promiscuous young people are "sexually active." Whoremongers are "swingers" and playboys. Prostitutes are "sex workers." Abortion is "terminating a pregnancy," etc.
11. When we consider the universality of sin, and the persistence of sin, and the ugliness of sin, we must note that the world has no explanation and the world has no solution.
12. Genesis 3 gives us the explanation. W.H. Griffith Thomas said, "There is scarcely any part of God's Word which is more in accord with the known facts of history and science than the story of this chapter" (W.H. Griffith Thomas, Genesis).
13. God is not the author of sin. Genesis 1:31 says, "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." "It was very good" because there was no sin.
14. But once sin came into the picture (in Genesis 3), things went quickly from "very good" to very bad. In the very next chapter we read that "Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him" (Gen. 4:8).
15. Genesis 6:5 says, "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."
16. In Genesis 7 we see that the world was so wicked, the LORD had to send a flood to destroy it.

III. PUNISHMENT

1. Sin produces guilt. Immediately Adam and Eve experienced guilt. They realized they had sinned against God, and they tried to hide (3:8-10).
2. Now for the first time Adam and Eve experienced guilt, shame, fear, sorrow, and misery.
3. Because man was made in the image and likeness of God, he has a conscience. Now for the first time, Adam and Eve had a guilty conscience.
4. The reference to nakedness and clothing indicates their shame and embarrassment (3:7).
5. When confronted by God, Adam blamed Eve (3:12).
6. Then Eve blamed the serpent (3:13).
7. The serpent had no one to blame (3:14, 15).
8. Eve was judged, and condemned to sorrow and subjection (3:16).
9. After the serpent, and after Eve, Adam was judged. He was told he could expect nothing but hardship, suffering, sorrow, toil, and death (3:17-19).
10. Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden (3:22-24). Before the fall, they enjoyed close fellowship with God, but their sin ruined that fellowship.
11. Sin ruins everything -- fellowship with God, and fellowship with other believers.
12. Sin destroys marriages, and families, and friendships, and sometimes even churches.
13. Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden. The Cherubims and the flaming sword (3:24) meant they could no longer return. They were banished for ever.
14. Sin has consequences.
15. Paradise was lost, and could not be regained.
16. Adam's sin brought guilt, condemnation, and separation.
17. The Bible says, "But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear" (Isaiah 59:2).

IV. REDEMPTION

1. Genesis 3:15 is the first prophecy in Scripture. This prophecy embraces both the first coming and the second coming of Christ.
2. "It (the seed of the woman; i.e., the Messiah) shall bruise thy head" when Christ returns. When our Lord bruises Satan's head, Satan will be cast off into the lake of fire.
3. Revelation 20:10 says, "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone."
4. "Thou (Satan) shalt bruise his heel" (Gen. 3:15) means Christ suffered on the cross. He suffered and died for you and for me.
5. In conception "the seed" is delivered by the man, not the woman. But in Genesis 3:15, God refers to "her seed." What seems impossible biologically is explained theologically in Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew 1:23 -- "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son..."
6. Redemption is not only promised in the words of this prophecy; it is also pictured in deed. Adam and Eve tried to cover their shame by sewing fig leaves together, and making themselves aprons (3:7).
7. But no human covering would be sufficient to cover their guilt and shame, so Genesis 3:21 says the LORD God make coats of skins for Adam and Eve, and the LORD clothed them.
8. This is very significant. The divine clothing took the place of Adam and Eve's self-made clothing. Now they were properly covered.
9. The mention of "skins" (3:21) indicates that an animal was slain. This suggests the fact and necessity of the death of an animal. This is the first reference to sacrifice and it is developed throughout the Old Testament (cf. Genesis 4:1-5; 22:8).
10. Later on the pictures become clearer and clearer. All these sacrifices point to Mount Calvary.
11. We see this principle of sacrifice all the way through the Bible, till we get to John 1:29, and John the Baptist introduces the Lord Jesus by saying, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."

CONCLUSION:

1. Mrs. Ethel Taylor wrote that beautiful song, "Calvary Covers It All."
2. From 1918--1936, Walter Grand Taylor and his wife Ethel directed the famous Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago.
3. One night in the early 1930 s, a drunken dancer named Walter Happy Mac MacDonald stumbled into a meeting at the mission.
4. He was called "Happy Mac" but he was very unhappy, and in bondage to sin.
5. Mac was talented, but he was addicted to alcohol. When an invitation was given for those present to trust in Christ as Saviour, Mac did not respond. But he returned night after night, and the mission workers gradually came to know more about him.
6. Ethel Taylor, the mission director's wife, watched Mac, and her heart went out to him. She prayed, Dear Lord, please help us say and do the right things, so that we may win Mac to Thee.
7. Finally, MacDonald did seek counseling, and Ma Taylor listened as he struggled with his past. You don t understand, he prayed. You don t know how bad I am, Lord. Really I m the worst man in the world. You can t save me; I m too bad.
8. Mrs. Taylor recalled a message she had heard weeks before. Evangelist Percy Crawford had been a rebel in his youth. But one day he accepted Christ as his Saviour. The theme of Crawford s testimony was, Calvary covers it all, and Ethel Taylor shared those words with MacDonald.
9. He asked her to repeat them, and suddenly the light dawned. Oh! Mrs. Taylor, I m so glad it s true, and you told me. Calvary does cover it all! My whole past of sin and shame. The former dancer and drunkard trusted in Christ that night in 1934, and lived to become an outstanding servant of Christ.
10. A few days later, Ethel Taylor went into the mission chapel, sat down at the piano, and created the words and music of a gospel song.

Far dearer than all that the world can impart
Was the message that came to my heart;
How that Jesus alone for my sin did atone,
And Calvary covers it all.

Calvary covers it all,
My past with its sin and stain;
My guilt and despair
Jesus took on Him there,
And Calvary covers it all.