Introduction

In the last lesson we looked at our relationship with creation and today we’re going to look at our relationship with sin.

Now what is sin? Well to put it simply sin means to transgress, or break, the law of God, 1 John 3:4. We’ve all sinned, we’re all guilty of breaking God’s law, Romans 3:23 / 1 John 1:10, but how does sin work?

John says the things that don’t come from the Father but come from the world are ‘the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life’. 1 John 2:16. These are all temptations that lure us away from our love for God.

‘The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.’ Genesis 2:19

Now, why do you think God placed these trees in the middle of the garden? He placed them there so that Adam and Eve could learn the value of moral exercise. He placed them there so that they could learn the value of accountability.

Notice what God commanded Adam not to do.

‘And the LORD God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.’ Genesis 2:16-17

Sadly, as we know they choose to disobey God but look at how it happened and compare it to what John says.

‘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.’ Genesis 3:6

‘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 2:16

Notice lust of the flesh, she saw it was good for food. Lust of the eyes, she saw it was pleasing to the eyes. Pride of life, she said it was desirable for gaining wisdom. There was appeal there because if there is no appeal, there’s no temptation, sin had an appeal.

Why doesn’t God just remove all the temptations from the world? Well, it all has to do with free will, it all has to do with choice and it’s the same choice that Eve faced in the garden. God could easily remove all the temptations from the world, but in doing so, he would be removing our choice to love Him.

This wasn’t the first time Adam and Eve saw this tree, but one day Satan came along, and Eve began to see the tree through Satan’s eyes. And the consequences of breakings God’s law not to eat from that tree were devastating.

‘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. But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” Genesis 3:7-10

Before they sinned, Adam and Eve were naked, Genesis 2:25, and felt no shame but after they sinned, they realised they were naked and covered themselves because they now feel shame.

Before they sinned, they couldn’t wait to spend time with God, but after they sinned, they are now hiding from God. Before they sinned, they had no fear of God but after they’ve sinned, they are now afraid of God.

‘And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 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.” Genesis 3:11-13

Before they sinned, they loved one another and respected one another but now they’re blaming everyone except themselves.

‘To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labour you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” Genesis 3:16

Before they sinned, Eve could have given birth to child was pain free, but after they sinned giving birth was going to painful. Before they sinned, they shared equal authority, but after they sinned Eve was now in subjection to her husband.

‘To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” Genesis 3:17-19

Before they sinned, Adam could enjoy working but his work was now going to be painfully hard. Before they sinned, they could have lived forever with God, but after they sinned, they were going to die.

‘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.’ Genesis 3:23-24

Before they sinned, they enjoyed a close relationship with God, but after they sinned, they were banished from the garden and lost that relationship with God. That’s what happens when we sin, it ultimately cuts us off from God, Isaiah 58:2.

But it’s not all bad news, God in his infinite wisdom had a plan.

‘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.” Genesis 3:14-15

The curse of the serpent was humiliating, for he was given the lowest status of life among all animals. And then we have the promise of the Head crusher, that is Jesus.

The Seed of woman, Jesus, would eventually crush the head of Satan by His death on the cross, and so, freeing mankind from the control that Satan has over mankind through sin.

In crushing the head of Satan on the cross, Jesus would bruise His heel by His own death, Romans 16:20. However, His heal would only be bruised because He would be raised from the dead.

‘The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.’ Genesis 3:21

This is the first recorded sacrifice in the Bible by God, which tells us that animal blood needed to be shed because of the sin. And from this time on we know that animals were commissioned to die as sacrifices for the sins of people until the final death for all sin on the cross of Calvary, Hebrews 7:27.

‘Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.’ Genesis 3:20

There was the hope of a posterity through Eve, since she, through childbearing, would be the one through whom humanity would be preserved.

It must have broken God’s heart to throw Adam and Eve out from His presence, and it still breaks his heart today that people are still separated from Him because of their sin.

Let me ask you, how is your relationship with sin? Can’t you see that your relationship with sin has separated you from God?

If you don’t believe that He is the Christ, the Head crusher, then you will die in your sins because death is the penalty for sin, John 8:24.

But if you believe that Jesus really is the Christ, The Head crusher, whom God promised would come to die for your sins, then you will receive the gift of eternal life, Romans 6:23.

Let me put this as simply as a can, we were all once walking corpses, we are all walking around like we were living, but the truth is we were dead.

Do you remember the film, ‘Sixth Sense’ with Bruce Willis? In the film there’s a little boy called Cole who says he sees dead people walking around. Bruce Willis is his councillor but it’s not revealed to the end of the film that he himself is actually dead. That’s why the young boy can talk to him.

Now let me be honest with you, I see dead people walking around all the time and they don’t even know it. I see people getting drunk, using foul language, stealing, and getting involved in pornography.

I see people murdering other people, raping children, telling lies, and blaming everyone else for their actions.

I see respectable people feeding the homeless, giving to charity and people who never swear. I see respectable people playing golf, raising their children well and are pillars of the community.

The problem is, they are still dead, they are the walking dead, they are what Christians were. We all were dead in our transgressions and sins, and we lived like it, Ephesians 2:1-5.

But now, because of God’s great love for us, we’ve been made alive in Christ even when we were dead. Before we were made alive in Christ, we all stood condemned but now in Christ Jesus, there is no condemnation, Romans 8:1.

The question is, who are you doing to listen to, the devil or God?

‘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’?” 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.” Genesis 3:1-5

Satan says, hey, what does God know? Don’t worry about sin, you just enjoy your life and live however you want to because you will certainly not die.

‘And the LORD God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.’ Genesis 2:16-17

God says, listen, sin really is that bad, if you don’t obey me, you will certainly die.

Let me encourage you to think seriously about who you would rather have a relationship with. The devil who offers nothing but death or Christ who offers eternal life and much more.