ADAM - EARTH’S FIRST SINNER

ADAM

EARTH’S FIRST SINNER

Genesis 3:1-5 Now 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? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 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. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 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.

Susan: The seed of doubt planted by Satan resulted in the miscarriage of God’s plan. Both Adam and Eve were participants in the distortion of God’s plan. (Of course, as we will see, God had provided for man’s sin from before the creation of the earth and of man.) Because of their failure to exercise their dominion over all the creatures (specifically the serpent) and their adherence to other voices instead of God’s voice alone, the opportunity for the seed of doubt was planted by Satan.

Susie: Being the father of lies, Satan told half-truths to the woman. He said she would not die, her eyes would be opened, and she would know good and evil. We will see later that this was a twisted partial truth.

Genesis 3:6-7 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.

Susan: Adam and Eve forfeited their trustworthy relationship with God, thinking that the attribute of pseudo-wisdom would be a greater source and provider than the Source for all wisdom and all good things, who is God.

Susie: It may be that once Eve touched the fruit and did not immediately keel over dead, she thought it would be okay to taste it. Eve did not make the decision to taste the fruit while by herself as much artwork depicts the event.

Susan: Adam was right there with Eve when she ate the forbidden fruit, offered it to him, and he, also, ate.

Susie: Adam did not speak up and remind Eve of what God had said. He did not say, “Stop! You’re making a big mistake. And why are you listening to a creature we are supposed to have dominion over anyway? Do you really think God would tell it something He has not shared with us on our evening walks?”  No, he just opened up his mouth and took a bite!

Susan: Because Adam’s stomach took priority over his wisdom and intelligence, Adam is held primarily responsible for sin entering into the world according to New Testament teaching.

Romans 5:12 (KJV) Wherefore, as by one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

1 Corinthians 15:22 (KJV) For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Genesis 3:7 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.

Susan: For one bite of beautiful fruit, Adam and Eve forfeited their innocence. The command God had given to not eat of this tree was truly to protect His children from the burden of becoming aware of evil.

Susie: They did become “wise,” as Satan through the serpent had told them, wise to the fact that they were now naked. They became aware of guilt and shame. They had been “covered” by their relationship with God, but now that trust had been violated by both of them. Therefore, they made what sounds like loin cloths out of leaves. They did not immediately keel over and die, but from that moment their bodies began the process of dying, slowly decaying. Also, their union with the Lord died, man became dead in sin.

Susan: Mankind was now separated from the life and light of God when prior to this, they had enjoyed regular nightly strolls with the Creator and Sustainer of all life, in liberty and freedom.

Genesis 3:8-11 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. And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 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?

Susie: Whereas prior to eating the fruit, Adam and Eve had enjoyed the presence of God, they now feared it. They hid from Him, as if that were even possible.

Susan: Daddy’s home, and He is not happy. God did not address Eve at this point. He confronted Adam. He knew the answers to His questions, but He made Adam delineate what they had done.

Genesis 3:12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

Susan: Adam did not take responsibility for his actions but instead played the blame game.

Susie: There are only two people on earth, and they are already failing to take responsibility for their own actions! Notice that Adam not only blamed Eve but called her “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me,” which is blaming God.

Susan: He threw God’s gift of a suitable, complementary companion back in His face!

Susie: Yoo-hoo, Adam! Remember the part about her being bone of your bone and flesh of your flesh? She is a part of you!

Genesis 3:13 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.

Susan: Eve did not take personal responsibility, but she did give an honest account of what happened.

Susie: Of course, she should not have listened to the serpent in the first place, and she could have said, “No!”

Susan: Eve had gotten the command about the prohibition of eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil second-hand from Adam which may be why she added the part about not touching it.

Susie: Since Adam was standing right there with her, he could have corrected her and urged her to just step away from the tree.

Genesis 3:14-15 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 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.

Susan: We felt the Amplified made verse 15 a little clearer:

Genesis 3:15 (AMP) “And I will put enmity (open hostility) between you and the woman, And between your seed (offspring) and her Seed; He shall [fatally] bruise your head, And you shall [only] bruise His heel.”

Susie: We finally get to the point of why Adam should be included in the study of Christmas! Adam and Eve were the first to hear of God’s plan for the Messiah as they listened to His curse upon the serpent who was Satan in disguise.

Susan: The promise that Eve’s descendant, who we know as Jesus, would crush the head of Satan while Satan would only be permitted to bruise His heel foreshadowed the crucifixion.

Susie: Crucifixion was the only form of execution that literally bruised the heel as the feet were nailed firmly to the cross, and Jesus would have to push up against the cross with His feet in order to raise Himself up to breathe. Yes, Jesus was born to die, but we know the rest of the story that He was raised from the dead.

Susan: Meanwhile, Satan may be alive and active, but he knows his time is short. He is a dead devil walking! He will ultimately be cast into the lake of fire never to be seen or heard from again when Jesus triumphantly returns.

Susie: At Christmas, we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We love to focus on the cute, perfect baby lying on the hay, but we need to remember this baby was born to die. He came for the express purpose of dying in our place, my place, your place, on the cross. This was promised to Adam and Eve and was planned before they were even created!

Revelation 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

QUESTIONS FOR

ADAM – EARTH’S FIRST SINNER

1.         What phrase did Eve add to God’s command about the forbidden tree?

2.         What did the serpent promise Eve concerning the fruit?

3.         Who was right beside Eve during her conversation with the serpent?

4.         Who does the New Testament credit with introducing sin into the world—Adam or Eve?

5.         What happened immediately when Adam and Even ate the fruit?

6.         Why did Adam and Eve try to hide from God?

7.         What questions did God ask to get Adam to admit what they had done?

8.         Did Adam take responsibility for disobeying God? Who did he blame?

9.         Who did Eve blame for their disobedience?

10.    What promise to mankind is tucked into God’s curse upon the serpent?

11.    When did God make the plan of sending Jesus to earth to die for our sins?