The Origin of Suffering and Redemption

 

Genesis 3:1-24

The Fall of Man

Genesis chapter three is the very key chapter in the Bible where it records man’s fall and God’s salvation to redeem the fallen world. We shall divide this chapter into four scenes:

Scene 1: Temptation (vv. 1-5)

Now the serpent was craftier 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’?” 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.’”

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

God called Satan the ancient serpent (Revelation 20:2), as well as “the father of lies” (John 8:44). Satan (serpent) cunningly sowed the seed of doubt in Eve’s heart. God intended to protect them when he forbade them to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The serpent twisted it and said that it was out of God’s own selfish motive that He kept the best from man.

In fact, God allowed Adam and Eve to enjoy all things, but Eve made a mistake by talking to the serpent, exposing herself to temptation; and she added her own words, “you must not touch it,” unto the very words of God.

Eventually she became doubtful towards God, misunderstood Him of depriving of their welfare. They consequently ate the forbidden fruit.

Satan often disguised himself as a good guy in real-life situations. He sowed seeds of doubt in our hearts, and made us confuse and doubt God’s good intention for us, so that we choose to go our own ways.

Scene 2: A Tragic Choice (vv. 6-8)

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. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so, they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. 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. (vv. 6-8)

Satan deceived Eve and she followed her carnal desires and fell into temptation. When she saw that the forbidden fruit was “good for food”, her heart was weakened (this is called “the desire of the flesh”); Eve also felt that the forbidden fruit was “pleasing to the eyes” and “pleasant to her” (this is called “the desire of the eyes)’ Moreover, the forbidden fruit seemed to be able “to make her wise” (to set own rules for right and wrong, and to elevate oneself to become God).

All these pursuits are not pleasing to God. It was Eve’s desire to be as wise as God that drove her to rebel against God’s Word. This is the fundamental definition of sin—you yourself are God, so you yourself decide what is wrong and right to do.

We will not be able to see God’s good intention and His protection and provision if we ignore the Word of God and rebel against it. In the face of temptation, God says, “Believe in me and you will have life,” while Satan says, “Why not give it a try and see what the outcome will be?”

Satan lures us into the realm of senses (sight, hearing, smell, touch), but man’s spirit (by faith and not by sight) is what matters to God. The temptation of Satan causes us to make wrong judgment in our mind (doubts), and produce desires (selfish desires) in our hearts, so that we will react rebelliously (rebellion).

“But each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” （James 1:14-15）

The apostle John reminded us and said, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.” (1 John 2:15-16）

Scene 3: Confessed their Sins Reluctantly (vv. 9-13)

God questioned if the man and the woman had eaten the forbidden fruit. The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (vv. 12-13）

Adam and Eve put the blame onto others to rationalized their mistakes. They confessed their sins to God quite reluctantly. Likewise, we also accuse others frequently when we do wrong. We refuse to be responsible for our actions. It is human’s nature to deny our own wrongs and to shirk responsibility and push the blame unto others.

May God’s Spirit touch us today so that we will always be willing to confess our sins and repent before God for our mistakes or sinful acts.

Scene 4: The Consequences of Sin are Curses and Destruction (vv. 14-19）

So, the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” (vv. 14-15)

Woman has to suffer birth pains, and her “desire” will be for her husband, which also means that she will want “to control” her husband and dominate in their relationship (v.6).

Instead of building their relationship upon love, and with the husband taking lead and his wife submitting under him, husband and wife relationship has turned out to be a fight, and they dominate, manipulate and control over each other.

The overall consequence suffered by the man is that, they have to toil and labor in order to have produces from the land. Man shall return to the dust and ground (vv. 17-19), which means he has lost the eternal life given by God before he sinned.

God executed His judgment and punishment on the serpent, the man, and the woman. The offspring of woman and serpent became enemies since then (vv. 14-15）. The serpent was referred to more than the animal mentioned here, but the Satan behind it. The serpent shall wound the woman’s offspring, but the offspring of the woman shall destroy the serpent completely in the end.

Scholars have generally agreed that the woman’s offspring here is Jesus Christ, who will ultimately overcome Satan through his death on the cross (Revelation 19:1-5; Galatians 3:16,19; Hebrews 2:14; 1 John 3:8）. This is the earliest form of the gospel declaration of Christ’s redemption on the cross.

The offspring of the woman refers to God’s people as well. God’s people has been waging war against evils throughout all generations. They are to fight against and destroy the work of devil.

Today the Church is God’s people. The Church carries with her the mission of Jesus to preach the good news in the world, and to be salt and light that defeats the work of Satan, so that it can bring forth abundant life to all.

Scene 5: Separation and Death (vv. 20-24）

And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” So, the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. (vv. 22-24)

Adam and Eve were supposed to bear the image of God and enjoy an intimate fellowship with Him. Nevertheless, after they had taken the forbidden fruit, they realized their nakedness instead of knowing all things.

They still bore the image of God, but they were distanced from Godim. They were expelled from the Paradise. Physical death is the consequence of one’s rebellion against God, and he/she is to be separated from God spiritually.

Application:

There were depictions of curses, sin, death, pain, etc. in the narration of the fall of our ancestors. All these shall phase out one day when Christ returns. When that Day comes, nothing of these will be found in the new heavens and the new earth.

We will discover God’s faithfulness in redeeming the fallen world when we compare chapter 1-3 in Genesis and chapter 20-22 in Revelation.

Genesis	Revelation
“for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” （2:17）	There will be no more death（21:4）
Satan appeared and deceived mankind（3:1）	Satan is destroyed forever (chapter 20)
The relationship between man and God was broken after man’s fall.	The relationship between God and man is restored (chapter 21）
Satan’s (serpent) temporary victory（3:13）	The Lamb of God shall triumph ultimately (chapter 20,22）
“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe…” （3:16）	There will be no more mourning, crying or pains（21:4）

 

Genesis	Revelation
“Cursed is the ground because of you” (3:17）	No longer will there be any curse（22:3）
Man lost his authority when Adam sinned.	Jesus Christ (the second Adam) restored the authority
（The first）paradise was closed（3:24）	The new paradise was open (chapter 21）
The tree of life was supposed to be enjoyed by Adam (3:22）	Man is entitled to enjoy the tree of life once again (22:2）
The ancestors were expelled by God （3:23-24）	Man shall dwell with God (22:4）

Adam and Eve had failed. But the merciful and gracious God sent the Lord Jesus to mankind, and He restored whatever the first Adam had lost with the identity of the second Adam.

Matthew narrated that Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit when He went into the wilderness and be tested. Satan tempted Jesus thrice, and he twisted the Word of God. He used food, protection, and power as baits to tempt Jesus so that He would yield to him. However, the Lord Jesus used the Scriptures in Deuteronomy to refute the evil one (Matthew 4:1-11)

The first Adam failed the test, but the second Adam won over it. Since the Lord Jesus has overcome Satan, God enables men to receive salvation through His victory on the cross. God’s Word shall be fulfilled, and Satan shall be defeated ultimately.

But before the coming of that day, we carry with us certain fallen nature, and hence, the world is still under the bondage of sin. That is why we see that the world today is full of conspiracies, battle and sufferings. Nation fights against nation and people against people. The ecology of the environment is impaired, and the virus is widespread.

How shall we be settled and established in this world, and how shall we live happily and hopefully for the future? If we are only confined by what happen now in the world, we will lose faith and doubt God’s goodness, unable to overcome all kinds of temptations in our lives, and our lives, thoughts and feelings will be dominated by the world.

The only way out is for us to acknowledge our sins and weaknesses before God, and to choose to trust the salvation that was accomplished on the cross by Jesus. There is no hope in this world other than hope that is found in Christ alone. We are helpless in this world, but we can find help in Christ.

We must entrust our lives unto Jesus, and walk with Him, and allow Him to become our Savior and Lord of our lives, so that He shall master and guide our lives with biblical truth and the Spirit’s indwelling in us.

Only then shall we be able to lead a life that is full of happiness, joy, and hope in this troubled time. And we look forward to a New Heaven and New Earth that Christ will usher in when he returns.