Genesis 2 records the account of God’s creation of man, and how God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to care for it. In Genesis 2:7 we read, “Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” Verse 15 continues, “Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.”

God told the man that he could eat fruit from every tree of the garden. However, he was not to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or he would die. Verses 16-18 tell us, “The Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.’

“Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.’” Because it was not good for man to be alone, God built a woman from the rib he had taken from the man. Then God brought the woman to the man. Chapter 2 ends with verse 25 telling us, “And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.”

Genesis chapter 3 begins with the serpent, Satan, coming to the woman and questioning her about what God had said. The woman answers the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die’” (Genesis 3:2-3).

The woman responds to the serpent, but incorrectly quotes what God had said about the tree of knowledge of good and evil. There is no record in Scripture of God telling either the man or the woman that if they touch it they would die.  God told Adam, the man, about the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the midst of the garden in Genesis 2:16-17, while man was still alone. The woman may not have heard it directly from God, but perhaps only secondhand, from her husband.

“The serpent said to the woman, ‘You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil’” (Genesis 3:4-5). It was the serpent’s contention that God was not a good God and that He was withholding the best from Adam and his wife, Eve.

Being deceived by the serpent, Eve began to see that the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil was good to eat, a delight to look at, and very desirable to make one wise. So she touched it. Nothing happened. So she ate of it and gave some to her husband, Adam, and he ate of it.

Immediately upon rebelling against God by disobeying His command not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the eyes of Adam and his wife were opened, and they knew they were naked. Mankind now had received an inner innate knowledge of good and evil. This knowledge made them aware of their nakedness, and they were ashamed.

They sewed fig leaves (vegetation) together to try to cover their nakedness. But when they became aware of God’s presence, the covering of vegetation didn’t help. They still felt ashamed and felt naked before God. Because of their shame and their sense of guilt, they were afraid and tried to hide from God’s presence.

Genesis 3:9-13 says, “Then the Lord God called to the man and said to him, ‘Where are you?’ He said, ‘I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.’ And He said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?’ The man said, ‘The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.’ Then the Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ And the woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate.’”

Then God cursed the serpent because he had deceived the woman. He said to the serpent in Genesis 3:15, “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” (KJV). This statement by God to the serpent, Satan, the devil, is one of the most extraordinary passages in all of Scripture. God is revealing something of His plan to use the seed of the woman to destroy the serpent, Satan. Few verses in Scripture contain a greater promise or more hope than this verse! In the midst of overwhelming darkness and despair, God provides a ray of light, a glimmer of hope.

After confessing their sin of rebellion and disobedience, God passes judgment on Adam and Eve. He tells them that their lives would become painful and full of hard labor. Even though their confession was filled with excuses, God had mercy on them and made garments of animal skins and clothed them both, covering their nakedness. This process of making the garments required that animals be killed and their blood shed. By shedding this blood to cover the guilt and shame of their sins, God has revealed to man what He requires for man’s atonement, for sins to be forgiven, so that man might, at least outwardly, be at peace with God.

Hebrews 9:22 says, “And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” Even though their sins are confessed and covered through the shedding of blood, disobedience often carries a heavy price.

Genesis 3 ends with verses 22-24 telling us that “God said, ‘Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever’— therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.”

Adam sinned. He disobeyed God. Therefore, God put man out of the garden to keep him from eating from the tree of life. He drove man away from His presence to prevent man from eating from the tree and receiving eternal life that he might live forever. Man’s sin resulted in him being separated from God. It also resulted in his life being transformed from one of fellowship with God, enjoying God’s abundant provision for his every need, to a life of hardship, suffering, sin, guilt, and death.

As a consequence of sin, man was driven out of God’s kingdom of life, light, and peace, and into Satan’s kingdom of this world; a kingdom of darkness, death, and fear. Hebrews 2:14 tells us that Jesus, the seed of the woman,  became flesh and blood, “that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”

Man’s disobedience had made him a slave to sin. Paul writes in Romans 6:16, “Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?”

Paul tells us in Romans 5:18, “Through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men.” He continues in verse 19, “Through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners.” These verses reveal that through Adam’s one transgression, through his one act of disobedience, condemnation resulted to all men, and that all were made sinners.

By Adam’s one act of rebellion and disobedience, we were all constituted as sinners. We were made sinners because through Adam’s one act, the nature of mankind was changed. Our nature was transformed in the moment of disobedience from innocence to sinfulness. We now sin because we are sinners by nature. There is a thing within us that is not good. It is this sin within us that causes us to sin. The sin within us causes us to do the things that we don’t want to do. Mankind has become slaves to sin.

In Romans 7, Paul explains perfectly the experience of the sinner, of the unregenerate man. In Romans 7:14-24 Paul writes, “For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good.

“So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.

“I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.” Because man is now enslaved to sin, dominated by it, he finds himself doing things that he does not want to do. Sin in the flesh has taken dominion over man.

Satan, the serpent, had gained what was apparently a huge victory. Through his deception of the woman, he had caused man to sin, to rebel against the God that created them. Man was now in the world, in Satan’s kingdom of darkness and under the power of the evil one. I John 5:19 confirms this saying, “The whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”

In Genesis 4, we see that Adam had passed the lesson of the shedding of blood down to his sons. One son obeyed and followed the teaching about the shedding of blood, but the other son rebelled and tried to appease God by his own efforts according to his own understanding.

“In the course of time Cain presented some of the land’s produce as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also presented an offering—some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but He did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he looked despondent.

“Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent? If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it”’ (Genesis 4:3-7).

Cain brought an offering of vegetation to the Lord. Abel brought the firstlings of his flock and their fat portions. God accepted Abel’s sacrifice because it honored God by acknowledging the need for the shedding of blood for sins to be forgiven. Cain’s offering showed no acknowledgement of sins or of the need for a blood sacrifice. Because Cain saw nothing wrong with his offering, he believed that God had treated him unjustly, and became angry. In anger, he rose up and killed his brother. Cain’s refusal to acknowledge the sin that was crouching at his door, prevented him from mastering it.

From the first four chapters of Genesis, it has become clear that mankind has two very serious problems that keep him separated from God and prevent him from having any permanent peace with God. First, there is the problem of the sins that he commits. These sins, like Adam’s sin, separate him from the presence of the righteous and holy God, and prevent man from partaking of God’s eternal life. These sins also defile man’s conscience, preventing him from having any real peace with God.

Second, there is the problem of the sin nature that dwells within the heart of mankind. It has enslaved him. It dominates his will and causes him to sin. Even if something can be done to atone for the sins that man commits, he still continues to sin because he has become constituted a sinner by nature. The sin nature within us has dominion over us and causes us to do what we don’t want to do. It causes us to sin! However, through the promised seed of the woman that God spoke of in Genesis 3:15, God would fully address each of these problems.

Writings By Jon von Ernst

The Lord of All Things Series - A Trilogy of Truth 
Books in this series:
Book 1 - The Gospel of the Kingdom
Book 2- The Victorious Christian
Book 3 - Walking in the Light  -  Following in His Steps

*- Audio of these books are available free of charge at thepureword.net.