Where Did It All Go Wrong? Interpreting the Story of Adam and Eve

1. Where did itall go wrong? (Genesis 3) Mike Taylor Forest Community Church Sunday 3 March 2019

2. Let’s start with a digression! How should we interpret the story of Adam and Eve?

3. Let’s start with a digression! How should we interpret the story of Adam and Eve? • Adam and Eve were literal people, who God created separately from the animals.

4. Let’s start with a digression! How should we interpret the story of Adam and Eve? • Adam and Eve were literal people, who God created separately from the animals. • Adam and Eve were the first sufficiently evolved apes who God put his spirit into. (John Stott speculated that “The suggestion does not seem to me to be against Scripture and therefore impossible that when God made man in His own image, what He did was to stamp His own likeness on one of the many “hominoids” which appear to have been living at the time.”)

5. Let’s start with a digression! How should we interpret the story of Adam and Eve? • Adam and Eve were literal people, who God created separately from the animals. • Adam and Eve were the first sufficiently evolved apes who God put his spirit into. (John Stott speculated that “The suggestion does not seem to me to be against Scripture and therefore impossible that when God made man in His own image, what He did was to stamp His own likeness on one of the many “hominoids” which appear to have been living at the time.”) • Adam and Eve represent all of humanity in an allegory.

6. Which is correct? It doesn’t much matter. Paul tells us about the experiences of the Israelites, then says: These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age. — 1 Corinthians 10:11.

7. Which is correct? It doesn’t much matter. Paul tells us about the experiences of the Israelites, then says: These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age. — 1 Corinthians 10:11. In the same way, the purpose of the story of Adam and Eve is to teach us about who God is, who we are, and the nature of the relationship between us.

8. What can we learn from the passage?

9. What can we learn from the passage? The Fall is […] the only encouraging view of life. It holds, as against the only real alternative philosophies, […] that we have misused a good world, and not merely been entrapped into a bad one. It refersevil back to the wrong use of the will, and thus declares that it can eventually be righted by theright use of the will. Every other creed exceptthat one is some form of surrender to fate. [Thestory of the Fall tells us that] happiness is notonly a hope, but also in some strange mannera memory; and that we are all kings in exile. — G. K. Chesterton, As I Was Saying.

10. What can we learn from the passage? Six things.

11. 1. We start out close to God When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. — Genesis 3:8a. To be close to God is our natural state.

12. 1. We start out close to God When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. — Genesis 3:8a. To be close to God is our natural state. We all have the opportunity to live like this every day.

13. 2. We are led astray by lies The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden”, the woman replied. “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die’.” “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” — Genesis 3:1–4.

14. 2. We are led astray by lies The serpent tells two lies here: an obvious one and a subtle one. • “You won't die” directly contradicts what God told Adam.

15. 2. We are led astray by lies The serpent tells two lies here: an obvious one and a subtle one. • “You won't die” directly contradicts what God told Adam. • “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” is clever. That is not what God said.

16. 2. We are led astray by lies The subtle lie may be the more dangerous one: • It was a credible distortion of the truth. • It suggested that God was harsh. • It opened the path to the more blatant lie.

17. 2. We are led astray by lies The subtle lie may be the more dangerous one: • It was a credible distortion of the truth. • It suggested that God was harsh. • It opened the path to the more blatant lie. We need to be solidly established in truthso we are not misled by such distortions.

18. 3. We make it worse by forgetting the truth Eve's response to the serpent: “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’” — Genesis 3:3.

19. 3. We make it worse by forgetting the truth That is not what God said at all! The Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden — except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.” — Genesis 2:16.

20. 3. We make it worse by forgetting the truth That is not what God said at all! The Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden — except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.” — Genesis 2:16.Eve added the part about not touching the fruit. Her forgetfulness or misunderstanding made God's requirements seem more onerous. And so she persuaded herself it was reasonable to disobey.

21. 3. We make it worse by forgetting the truth See the progression: • Started with the serpent misrepresenting what God had said. • Then Eve misremembered what he had said. • Then the serpent outright lied. • Then Eve disobeyed.

22. 3. We make it worse by forgetting the truth The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. — Genesis 3:6-7.

23. 4. When we get it wrong, we blame others “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?” The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.” Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.” — Genesis 3:11-13.Passing the blame down the line is natural for us.

24. 4. When we get it wrong, we blame others The question is always: why did you make the choice you made? We are each responsible for our own conduct. — Galatians 6:5. He will judge everyone according to what they have done. — Romans 2:6.

25. 5. When we are our worst, God is merciful Here is the warning that God gave: 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.” — Genesis 2:16–17, NASB.

26. 5. When we are our worst, God is merciful Here is the warning that God gave: 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.” — Genesis 2:16–17, NASB.But did they die on the day they ate the fruit? No: their sentence was commuted. God is patient.

27. 5. When we are our worst, God is merciful So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made. After sending them out, the Lord God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. — Genesis 3:23–24.

28. 6. Our most fundamental problem What is the big deal about eating a fruit?

29. 6. Our most fundamental problem What is the big deal about eating a fruit? The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. — Genesis 3:6.The issue is trusting God. Adam and Eve did not trust that God's plan for them was best.

30. 6. Our most fundamental problem Someone or something whispered that they could become as gods —that they could cease directing their lives to their Creator … They wanted, as we say, to “call their souls their own”. But that means to live a lie, for our souls are not, in fact, our own. They wanted some corner in the universe of which they could say to God, “This is our business, not yours”. But there is no such corner. — C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain.

31. 6. Our most fundamental problem They chose their own way ahead of God. Not just “ahead of God’s way”, but “ahead of God”.

32. 6. Our most fundamental problem They chose their own way ahead of God. Not just “ahead of God’s way”, but “ahead of God”. That is the most fundamental sin. It lies at the root of everything we ever do wrong.

33. The way back home But God is patient. As he was with Adam and Eve, so he is with us. He is still waiting for us to trust him.

34. The way back home That's why the Bible, which began with the tree of life, also ends with it: Blessed are those who wash their robes. They will be permitted to enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life. — Revelation 22:14.We have another chance to trust him.

35. Where did itall go wrong? (Genesis 3) Mike Taylor Forest Community Church Sunday 3 March 2019