Mankind Experienced the Consequences of Sin – Part 1
In our last topic, we saw that we want to help our physical and spiritual children learn to explain that mankind committed the first sin and brought the consequences of sin upon all people. In this topic and the next, we will see what those consequences were and how they have affected every person since the time of Adam.
Adam and Eve began to experience the consequences of sin as soon as they finished eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 3:7-10 says, “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. And they heard the sound 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 among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, ‘Where are you?’ So he said, ‘I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.’” As soon as Adam and Eve sinned, their eyes were opened and they suddenly knew they were naked. This nakedness was really before God because they suddenly felt exposed. As a result, they sewed fig leaves together to make coverings for themselves.
However, they could not cover their sin and hide it from God. God usually came in the cool of the evening to enjoy fellowship with them. He knew what they had done, but He wanted to give them the opportunity to confess their sin. As a result, God made a lot of noise as He walked through the garden to meet them. Instead of going to meet God and confessing their sin, Adam and his wife hid themselves from God among the trees of the garden. That day, Adam and Eve fully experienced spiritual death. They suddenly realized that their sin had separated them from God and they did not want to be in His presence. Galatians 6:7-8 says, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” Here, we see that they were beginning to reap the consequences of their sin.
Separation from God was just the beginning of the consequences of sin. God called to Adam to give him the opportunity to confess his disobedience. Instead, he answered by revealing how sin had changed his inner person. He said, “I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” Here, we see three changes that happened in the inner person and in every person since that time. First, Adam said “I was afraid.” His inner man had become controlled by fear. Second, Adam said “I was naked.” His inner man had become controlled by shame. Third, Adam said, “I hid myself.” His inner man was controlled by guilt.
In Genesis 3:11-13, we read, “And He said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?’ Then the man said, ‘The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.’ And the Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ The woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate.’” God began to talk to Adam by asking him two questions. God asked these two questions to give Adam the opportunity to confess his sin. The first question was, “Who told you that you were naked?” Before sin came into the world, Adam and Eve did not even give a thought to the fact that they were naked. There was no shame because that was the way God had created them. They enjoyed daily fellowship with God. Once Adam disobeyed, no one needed to tell him that he was naked; his life immediately became controlled by shame.
Second, God asked Adam, “Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” This question gave Adam another opportunity to confess his sin to God. Instead of confessing, Adam blamed God by saying, “The woman whom you gave to be with me...” Here, we see that Adam blamed God by saying that God had given him this woman who had caused him to sin. In addition, Adam also blamed Eve by the second part of his answer when he said, “She gave me of the tree, and I ate.” Suddenly, the life of Adam had become totally changed and he experienced five changes in his life. He had a changed relationship with God. He experienced separation from God. He had a changed relationship within himself. He now experienced fear, guilt, and shame. He had a changed relationship with others. He now blamed others for his sin. These five things - separation, fear, guilt, shame, and blame - have motivated and controlled every person, except Christ, since Adam.
Only Christ can reverse the effects of original sin in the life of a person. That begins to happen when a person comes to God, through Christ, in repentance and faith. Christ died to pay the penalty for sin so a person can receive forgiveness of sin by repentance. 1 Thessalonians 1:9 says, “For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.” Repentance is turning from the sin of unbelief and coming to God by faith. Faith in Christ happens when we believe that Christ died for our sins and that the Father raised Christ from the dead to show that He was satisfied with the payment Christ made for our sins. True repentance will give us a desire to serve the living and true God instead of continuing to live to satisfy ourselves.
God next asked Eve a question, “What is this you have done?” Here, we see that Eve blamed the snake, but her answer was the truth because 1 Timothy 2:14 says, “And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.” Adam chose to sin, but Eve was deceived by Satan who spoke through the snake. Even though she was deceived, we see that it still caused her to fall into transgression. The word translated “transgression” means the breaking of a law. God had only given Adam one law and one consequence for breaking that law. Genesis 2:17 says, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” The only sin Adam and Eve could commit was to disobey that law, which is exactly what happened - Eve chose to do so because she was deceived and Adam made the choice to disobey what God had said.
Genesis 3:14-15 says, “So the Lord God said to the serpent: ‘Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.’” Here, we see that God began by pronouncing judgment on the snake and then on Satan, who spoke through the snake. We see that the snake was cursed by God more than all of the rest of the animals because of the sin of Adam and Eve.
This curse certainly changed life for the snake. God said that the snake would go on his belly for his entire existence. In addition, he would also eat dust throughout his existence. Romans 8:20-22 tells us how the sin of Adam and Eve affected the other animals, as well as the rest of the creation. Those verses say, “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.” As a result, everyone and everything within the entire creation suffered because of the sin of Adam and Eve.
Then, God spoke to Satan, who had spoken through the snake. He told Satan that one day, he would be defeated by One who came from the woman. First, God told Satan that He would put enmity between Satan and the woman. The word translated “enmity” means hostility or hatred. Numbers 35:21-25 makes a distinction between those who kill with enmity and those who kill without enmity. Those verses say, “‘“...or in enmity he strikes him with his hand so that he dies, the one who struck him shall surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him. However, if he pushes him suddenly without enmity, or throws anything at him without lying in wait, or uses a stone, by which a man could die, throwing it at him without seeing him, so that he dies, while he was not his enemy or seeking his harm...the congregation shall deliver the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall return him to the city of refuge...”’” Here, we see that God said that one who strikes another with enmity is a murderer, while one who does it accidently is not a murderer.
Satan has great enmity against the Seed of the woman. Notice that this verse does not say the seeds of the woman, as that would be all of the descendants of Adam and Eve. Instead, this refers to one particular Seed, Christ. Those who have followed Satan have always shown a great hatred for Christ and for anyone who faithfully follows Christ. John 10:10 shows the contrast between Christ and Satan when that verse says, “‘The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.’” The goal of Satan has always been to steal, to kill, and to destroy. That was why he tempted and deceived Eve. Many times, Satan tried to destroy the family line from which Christ would come. In contrast, we see that Christ came to give us abundant life. When Christ died on the cross, Satan thought He had defeated Christ, but that was like a bruise to the heel because Christ arose on the third day. However, we see that God promised Christ would crush the head of Satan and judge him for all of his murderous and other sinful acts. Revelation 20:10 says, “The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” This is the completion of the crushing of the head of Satan. We want to help our physical and spiritual children learn to explain this first promise of Christ coming to defeat Satan. May the Lord richly bless you as you help your children learn to explain this verse.
