THE FRUIT OF THE FALLEN

Transcription

1 1 Dear Friend, this is a transcript of a sermon preached by Pastor Jeremy Tan from the pulpit of Amazing Grace Baptist Church Singapore. We are committed to expository preaching because we believe it is the most effective way to expose, explain and expound the Holy Scriptures. And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, [Jesus] expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself (Luke 24:27). Through careful systematic and sequential exposition, the preacher is able to declare unto you all the counsel of God (Acts 20:27), and Christians are blessed with a regular, well-balanced diet of God s Word. Expository preaching also helps us to have a high view of Scripture. We wish to extend a warm welcome to you to join us in our church services for a time of uplifting worship and helpful Bible study, which will bring rejoicing and refreshment to your soul. Do visit our church website at or write to us at amazingracebc@gmail.com. THE FRUIT OF THE FALLEN Genesis 3:8 13 We begin this study with an extended quotation from Arthur W. Pink, who penned the following comments in his book, Gleanings in Genesis. The third chapter in Genesis is one of the most important in all the Word of God. What has often been said of Genesis as a whole is peculiarly true of this chapter: it is the seed-plot of the Bible. Here are the foundations upon which rest many of the cardinal doctrines of our faith. Here we trace back to their source many of the rivers of divine truth. Here commences the great drama which is being enacted on the stage of human history, and which well-nigh six thousand years has not yet completed. Here we find the Divine explanation of the present fallen and ruined condition of our race. Here we learn of the subtle devices of our enemy, the Devil. Here we behold the utter powerlessness of man to walk in the path of righteousness when divine grace is withheld from him. Here we discover the spiritual effects of sin man seeking to flee from God. Here we discern the attitude of God toward the guilty sinner. Here we mark the universal tendency of human nature to cover its own moral shame by a device of man s own handiwork. Here we are taught of the gracious provision which God has made to meet our great need. Here begins that marvellous stream of prophecy which runs all through the Holy Scriptures. Here we learn that man cannot approach God except through a mediator. To some of these deeply important subjects we shall now give our attention. (p. 33). And that we shall do! In Genesis 3:1-7 we have the intrusion of the serpent to the garden-temple of Eden. This serpent, under the control of Satan, totally mesmerized Eve with the promise of the forbidden fruit. Satan promised her that eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil would open their eyes to know good and evil, to become wise, and to be as gods (Genesis 3:5). Satan aroused doubt in Eve about the goodness and gracious provision of God to her and her husband. God had created everything to be very good, but she began to believe Satan s claim that God was withholding something good from them. Doubting God s Word

2 2 then led to the denial of God s Word, which is that eating the fruit results in certain death. Her doubts and denial ended with their disobedience to God. Perhaps the fruit tasted good and sweet, but Adam and Eve immediately found out the bitter truth after eating it. Satan, the master of false advertising, always promises more than he can deliver. Now that the man and the woman have chosen to listen to the serpent instead of obeying God s command, they will taste the fruit of the fallen, and this is the subject of our study. Our study begins with I. The Sequence of the Fall. Instead of the ideal blessedness of Genesis 2:25, when the man and the woman were both naked and were not ashamed, they now saw good and evil through the eyes of sinners. The need of clothing had never occurred to them, for there was nothing as beautiful as the human body. But now they sewed fig leaves together to cover up the shame of their nakedness. Why was there shame between Adam and Eve? Surely there is no shame in a relationship as intimate as that between a husband and his wife. The answer is that they now knew evil in addition to the good. Instead of innocence, they have become corrupt and depraved in their moral nature. At this point, God announced His presence to them. Genesis 3:8 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. Notice here the name of God: it is the LORD God who walked in the Garden. In Genesis 2:7-3:1, we see the name LORD God, beginning at the sixth day of creation. This name, the LORD God, is Yahweh Elohim, the covenantal name which indicates God s personal relationship with man. But both the woman and the serpent avoided the personal name of God, as if to keep Him away from what the serpent was tempting Eve to do. Both of them addressed God only as the Creator with the name Elohim. But now in the aftermath of their disobedience, the man and the woman heard the voice of the LORD God and the presence of the LORD God. What is the point? It is that God is always faithful to His people. Even as they tried to ignore, forget, and avoid Him; and even as they are about to hide themselves in the trees, the reappearance of God s personal name means that the LORD God did not forget them. The expression, they heard the voice of the LORD God, implies that there is more to the voice of God than merely hearing Him. The Hebrew word for heard can also mean obey. Hearing God s voice requires our obedience to Him, which is precisely what Adam did not do. We see the meaning of this expression in two places in Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy 13:4 Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. Deuteronomy 15:5 Only if thou carefully hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all these commandments which I command thee this day.

3 3 We must not be passive hearers of God s voice; God s voice is to be obeyed. Do we still hear the voice of God today? Most certainly! God s voice is heard in His written Word, the Bible, and His words must be obeyed. Next in Genesis 3:8 we notice God walking. This description is an anthropomorphism, which is used to describe the work or activity of God in human terms. The Bible often uses human terms to help us relate to God, such as the arm of the LORD for our protection (Deuteronomy 4:34; Isaiah 59:1, etc.), the eyes of the LORD that see us in every place (Proverbs 15:3; Psalm 34:15, etc.), and so on. God is a Spirit, and He does not have a human body. So the description of God walking is used for His approach to the man and the woman. Now, God is present everywhere, so we must not think that He descended to the Garden. This place is His garden-temple, the special place of His presence on the earth; so God was already present there. Then the expression, the cool of the day, may indicate the time of day when it is pleasant, perhaps toward the evening; but this is literally the wind or spirit pointing us to the presence of God. We recall in Genesis 1:2 that the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. After their disobedience, God announced His presence to the man and the woman in the Garden. The Gardener has not abandoned his garden. The proof of love is the unwillingness to abandon the object of love even when love fails to achieve its desired end. (Genesis: A Commentary, Bruce A. Waltke with Cathi J. Fredricks, p. 92). In a sense, everything that follows Genesis 3:6 is the result of the disobedience of Adam and Eve to God. Everything that follows includes the rest of the Bible, and the rest of human history. Their first experience in the sequence of the Fall is shame. Eating the forbidden fruit opened their eyes to see their nakedness, and they had to wear fig leaves to cover their shame. The second experience in the sequence of the Fall is their desire to hide from God. Genesis 3:8 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. Let us be clear that hiding is not an admission of guilt, but it is their response to guilt. They would not be hiding, if they were not guilty of disobeying God. Genesis 3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? When God asked them for their whereabouts, it is not that He did not know. God knew exactly where they were hiding. Nothing can be hidden from God (Hebrews 4:13). The psalmist well understood the omniscience and omnipresence of God, and in Psalm 139 he wrote about these two attributes of God, which are in Psalm 139: Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. 11 If I

4 4 say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. 12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. So God s question, Where art thou? is not to seek information, but it is a question of accountability. God could have passed sentence for their sin with immediate physical death. Instead, He is graciously calling the guilty pair to come forward to confess and repent of their sins. To God s question, Adam replied in Genesis 3:10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. Where once Adam and his wife enjoyed fellowship with the LORD God, now they were afraid of Him. Genesis 3:11 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? Indeed, who told them? No one did. God s questions led to the next step in the sequence of their Fall, which is the shifting of blame. 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. Here we recall Adam s enthusiasm when God brought the woman as a gift to him. In Genesis 2:23 Adam said of the woman, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She was the helper, the suitable companion whom God made for him, but now Adam separated himself from his wife; he shifted to her the blame for his own sin. This woman, who was the suitable helper You gave me, is no help at all. Look at the trouble she caused me! It was her fault that I ate the fruit. But more than just shifting the blame to Eve, Adam subtly shifted the blame to God; he said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me. Is God in any way responsible when we are tempted? We have the answer in James 1: Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Temptation is our common experience, and the source of temptation is three-fold. According to the apostle in 1 John 2:16 these are the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Satan our adversary may use any of these to tempt us. Instead of taking personal responsibility, Adam blamed the woman and God for his own disobedience. Adam was given headship to lead the woman, and he was present during the serpent s dialogue with her. He witnessed the unfolding of the temptation, but he did nothing to stop her. Instead, he blamed her. The passing of the buck originated with Adam! Friend, were there times when we blamed God instead of taking responsibility for our sin? There are all sorts of reasons that people give to pass the blame to God. God, how could I have controlled myself when You gave me my hormones? God, it is not my fault that I am angry. God, I am poor and needy, so it is not my fault that I stole. Instead of admitting guilt and taking responsibility, people paint themselves as the victims of their own sins. There

5 5 was a case in the United States about two brothers who murdered their parents, and then they asked the judge for mercy on the grounds that they had become orphans! (R. Kent Hughes, Genesis: Beginning and Blessing, p. 80). No, we cannot blame God for our temptations. There is the saying that birds may fly over our heads, but we do not have to let them build their nests in our hair. But the blame game did not end with Adam. 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. The woman was quick to follow the example of her husband. She tried to pass the buck to the serpent. Eve gave the original excuse that people sometimes use, The devil made me do it! Now that we have seen the sequence of the Fall of Adam and Eve, we turn our attention to II. The Symptoms of the Fall. A symptom is an indicator or manifestation of something, especially that which is bad or abnormal. In medical terms, a symptom may reveal ill-health or bodily disorder. For Adam and Eve, their conduct revealed the symptoms of their sin nature. The first symptom of their sin nature is spiritual death. God warned them of death if they ate the forbidden fruit. They ate, and they suffered immediate spiritual death, and ultimately physical death. The evidence of spiritual death is a depraved nature that loves sin. Romans 3: As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. These verses reveal the four aspects of human depravity. Notice that the words none, not one, and all are universal terms that include everyone. In our natural state as lost sinners, we are all depraved. First, there is none righteous. This does not mean we are as utterly wicked as we can be; instead, it means that our moral nature is fallen from the perfect standard of God s righteousness. Total depravity in our moral nature means that every part of our being is tainted with sin. Our sin nature affects and influences our lives in every way: morally, mentally, physically, and spiritually. Then, there is none that understandeth. This does not mean intellectual deficiency. People can read the Bible and listen to Bible preaching with mental understanding, but without the internal work of the Holy Spirit, they cannot understand spiritual matters. Without the ministry of the Holy Spirit, biblical truths make no sense to an unsaved person. 1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

6 6 The natural man is the unsaved person. In Matthew 13 we have the Lord s Parables of the Kingdom. In Matthew 13:13-15 the Lord Jesus described the spiritual inability of the people, especially the religious leaders of Israel, to understand the truths and meaning of His parables. Matthew 13: Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: 15 For this people s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. These people have the natural ability to read and hear, but they could not understand spiritual truths that they have read or heard. Their heart waxed gross, their ears were dull of hearing, and their eyes were closed; these are all the symptoms of spiritual death. Spiritual death means being dead to God in the spirit, dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). To have spiritual life, one must be regenerated in the spirit, which means to be born again. Just as there are symptoms of spiritual death, there are symptoms of spiritual life. The symptoms of spiritual death may be seen by contrasting the evidence of spiritual life. People who are spiritually alive will stop hiding themselves from God, but they will confess and repent of their sins. They will live to obey and please God. They love to hear the voice of God by reading the Bible and attending to the preaching of God s Word. They have the desire to communicate with God in prayer. They look forward to the worship of God in the local church. They have the desire for fellowship with other believers in Christ. Friend, do you have the evidence of spiritual life? Now, it is possible for a born-again person to backslide, but this person will not be satisfied with the condition of his life; instead, he will be like the so-called prodigal in Luke 15, who learned the cost of his sin and returned to his father. Third, there is none that seeketh after God. Adam proved that his spirit died when he hid from God. This is true of all his descendants. But not seeking after God does not mean a person is irreligious. There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of each person. People turn to religion to justify themselves with God. Religion is one of the fig leaves that people use to hide themselves from God. Spiritual death results in separation from God. In Genesis 3:10 Adam hid when he heard God s voice because he was ashamed and afraid. Adam knew that his clothing of fig leaves did not cover him from the judgment of God. It is the depraved nature of sinners to hide themselves from God. In John 3:19 the Lord Jesus exposed those who loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. More than the shame of their sins, the reprobate and the unrepentant hide from God because they love their sins and want to continue with their sins. In contrast, the born again person, the believer in Christ who is spiritually regenerated by the Holy Spirit, will step into the light.

7 7 John 3:21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. However, we notice that Adam, though he died spiritually, responded to the call of the LORD God. How was that possible? Adam responded because of God s efficacious or effectual calling. Without God s gracious call that overcomes the sinner s depravity and natural resistance to Him as revealed in Romans 3, no person would ever respond to God in saving faith. Fourth and finally, we find in Romans 3:12 that there is none that doeth good. God is the standard of good, and we have all fallen from the glory of God. This is the reason why we can never earn merit with God through our works. Adam never admitted his guilt as a sinner to God. He pushed the blame to his wife and to God Himself. Like Adam, we have the tendency to think less of our sins. But sin is our nature, so we think it is normal to be sinners. Our nature leads many of us to think of sin as a mistake, a shortcoming, a wrong turn, a wrong decision, a moral defect, a character flaw; or if we are into passing the buck, we blame our parents, our upbringing, the society, the government, and other excuses. After all, to err is human, right? But sin is an offence against the holiness of God. Sin is the transgression of God s law. According to Romans 3:23, we have all sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Our casual attitude toward sin may be likened to those who refuse to admit they are sick. Just like those who refuse medical treatment because they think the doctor s diagnosis and prognosis are wrong or not as serious as it sounds, we think that sin is not such a serious matter. Instead, we are quick to compare ourselves with one another, and we often look at those whom we think are worse than us, such as the thieves, murderers, terrorists, and so on. Compared to these bad people, we are good. There is the reluctance to admit that we are sinners under the wrath of God s judgment. Like those who are in denial of their physical illness, people would rather suffer the pain of sin until it becomes unbearable, or it becomes too late and they perish. Friend, if the doctor informs us that we are sick, we are foolish to refuse treatment. Sin is a terminal disease that affects all of us, and this world is a terminal ward. We are sin-sick to the core of our being. Without the treatment that God offers for our sins, we are sure to perish. Conclusion The English preacher W. H. Griffith Thomas ( ) pointed out the significance of God s searching question to Adam to us all. God s question to Adam still sounds in the ear of every sinner: Where art thou? It is the call of Divine justice, which cannot overlook sin. It is the call of Divine sorrow, which grieves over the sinner. It is the call of Divine love, which offers redemption from sin. To each and every one of us the call is reiterated, Where art thou? (Pink, p. 41). Friend, where are you? Are you hiding from God? If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, it is foolish to hide your sins from God. Moses said in Numbers 32:23, Be sure your sin will find you out. Stop hiding because God

8 8 knows who you are, where you are, and what you have done. God is calling you to confess and repent of your sins, and to be restored in fellowship with Him. If you are not a believer in Christ, you remain lost in your sins. You are spiritually dead and separated from the life of God. But if you hear the call of God to repent of your sins, we urge you to answer His gracious call to you to be saved. Heed the call of God to you, and ask Him to forgive you of your sins in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour. Permission: We share our materials with you as a blessing from the ministry of our church. You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format, provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document on our website is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be explicitly approved by Amazing Grace Baptist Church. Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: Copyright: Amazing Grace Baptist Church Singapore. Website: Used by permission as granted on website.