Welcome to part two in this Gospel Message series! If you missed part one, please click here. Otherwise, let’s review the five areas that cover the good news of Jesus Christ:

1. Creation
2. Fall
3. Redemption
4. Restoration
5. Yourself

Today, we will learn about the Fall. I always recommend following along in your Bible and taking notes. When ready, let’s take a moment to pray:

Dear Jesus, thank You so much for bringing this reader here! I ask that whatever he or she has on their mind right now may be left at Your feet- all distractions, to-do lists, and cares are given over to You at this moment so that there may be focus on what You are trying to speak. May no one miss the blessing of hearing Your Word this day! Thank You, Jesus! In Your Name, Amen.

Scripture Teaching

Let’s begin! We will be navigating through these four areas on the Fall:

• The Choice
• The Enemy
• The Sin
• The Curse

The Choice

>>> After God created man, He gave him a very important command. In Genesis 2, we read:

¹⁵ Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. ¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; ¹⁷ 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.” (bold added)

The Hebrew word for ‘die’ in the above Scripture is muth, which means ‘to die, to kill, to be dead’ (G4191). God gave man the choice of eating from a tree that could kill him. Why? Because God equates love with being obedient to Him (1 John 5:3). If Adam and Eve obeyed God, it meant that they loved God. But if they disobeyed God, then it meant that they did not love Him. So mankind was given the choice to love God through the simple act of abstaining from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They could have any other tree that God made in the garden, just not that tree.

So what about this particular tree was so terrible to begin with? After all, God made it and declared it good along with the rest of His creation (Genesis 2:8-9). In fact, Eve declared it to be good for food, pleasant to the eyes, and able to make one wise (Genesis 3:6). So why was this tree bad? The tree itself was not bad, but eating the fruit from this particular tree was bad because God told them they would die from it (Genesis 2:16-17).

Again, God gave Adam and Eve the choice to obey Him. But I want to point out that Adam and Eve and all of creation was made good and very good by God (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31). In other words, man was not created evil nor did man have the knowledge of evil. Man was created good and only had knowledge of good. In fact, God commanded man to eat only good things so that man would know to refuse the evil and choose the good (Isaiah 7:15). So God did not set man up to fail, but He gave man everything needed to refuse evil and to remain good, thereby demonstrating a genuine and sincere love for Him.

Let’s pause a moment and elaborate on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God said that eating its fruit would cause them to die. Why? The Hebrew root word for ‘knowledge’ in the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is the same word used when Adam knew Eve and conceived Cain (see H3045 and word origin for H1847). So knowledge consists of intimacy (agreement, unity, fellowship with). God created intimacy as something good, not shameful or perverse, but a oneness that leads to fruitfulness and blessing. In the case of Adam and Eve’s oneness, they were blessed by a son (Genesis 4:1). Unfortunately, man can also have intimacy with evil; it’s an intimacy that leads to the conception and birth of sin and eventually, death (James 1:14-15; Romans 6:23). So what God said is true: eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil causes death. Yet, it’s the choice God has given to man.

The Enemy

>>> Now that we know mankind was given a choice of either obeying God or not, let’s read further in Genesis 3:

⁴ Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. ⁵ For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

We learn earlier in Genesis that the serpent was created by God and craftier than any of the beasts of the field (Genesis 3:1). Notice the words ‘beasts of the field’; this serpent was compared to and categorized with the beasts made in Genesis 1:24-25. So the serpent was not a creeping creature like we see today; he was a beast of the field.

Something I also want to bring attention to is how the serpent and Eve could communicate with one another, and how Eve was not shocked, surprised, or even fearful of this. Let’s use another Scripture to understand this “anomaly”; in Numbers 22:28-31, we know that a beast of the earth (a donkey) had his mouth opened by God in order to speak to Balaam (a human). Balaam, just like Eve, was not shocked, surprised, or fearful, and he was fully aware he was speaking to a donkey. We witness other living things being declared as mute or without speech throughout Scripture such as dogs, people, demonic spirits, and lambs/sheep (Isaiah 56:10; Proverbs 31:8; Mark 9:25; Isaiah 53:7). Jesus even heals and delivers many mute people (Matthew 9:32-33; Matthew 15:30). There’s many examples in Scripture, but we know that ultimately, God can open and close any mouth for His purposes (Exodus 4:11). In the case of the serpent and Eve, God allowed the serpent to speak to her.

So why did the serpent speak to her? We glean from other Scriptures in the Bible that God tests His people and even allows “that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan” into that testing process (Revelation 12:9; Job 1:8-12; Matthew 4:1-11). Let’s pause for a brief moment to clarify something…

So God tests in order to know what’s in a person’s heart, and the enemy tempts in order to steal, kill, and destroy that person (Deuteronomy 8:2; Psalm 7:5; John 10:10). As I mentioned before, God allows the enemy into that testing process; however, the nature of the enemy is to do anything to lure man into sinning, especially through deception. Let’s observe what the enemy (the serpent) said to Eve:

1. The lie: “you will not surely die” (Genesis 3:4).
2. The truth: “you will become like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5; Genesis 3:22).

If there is a lie, even if it’s mixed with some truth, all of what is spoken is a lie because a little leaven (lie/sin) leavens the whole lump (Galatians 5:8-9). And remember, the nature of this spirit is deceptive because it is the enemy known as Satan, who is the Devil, coming into the garden of Eden as the serpent.

The Sin

>>> Now that we have identified the enemy and distinguished his nature versus God’s nature, let’s learn what happens next in Genesis 3:

¹ Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” ² And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; ³ but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” ⁴ Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. ⁵ For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” ⁶ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. (bold added)

Adam and Eve were tested by God through the serpent. Sadly, Eve was deceived by the serpent’s lie and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; conversely, Adam was not deceived, yet he heeded the voice of his wife instead of God’s command and ate as well (Genesis 3:17; 1 Timothy 2:14). Both sinned against God. Sin is the Hebrew word ‘hamartia’, meaning ‘no part of, to forfeit, to miss the mark’ (H266). In other words, sin means falling short of the glory of God, forfeiting one from dwelling with Him and having eternal life (Romans 3:23; Psalm 5:4-5; Genesis 3:22-24). Remember, the knowledge of evil requires intimacy with evil. Eve lusted and desired after what was forbidden by God; she seized the fruit from the tree, ate it, and then Adam ate because he heeded her voice instead of God’s voice (Genesis 3:6). In result, they now acquired the knowledge of both good and evil, and they now both conceived and gave birth to sin and essentially, death (James 1:14-15; Genesis 3:22).

Something I want to mention: God said that Adam and Eve shall surely die in the day that they eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. However, after they both ate, Scripture states that Adam dies much later at the age of 930 (Genesis 5:5). So what did God mean when He said ‘surely die’? Earlier, the Hebrew word ‘muth’ was introduced, which means ‘to die, to kill, to be dead’ (G4191). In the Greek, muth corresponds with the word ‘aposthnéskó’, which also means ‘to die, to perish’ (G599). I make this correlation because aposthnéskó is used in Hebrews 9:27, declaring that all people are appointed to die once. So Adam and Eve were appointed to die in the day that they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but that appointment was not completed until much later. Still, in that same day mankind and all of creation was sold under sin in bondage to decay, for death began to rule since Adam (Romans 8:21; Romans 7:14; Romans 5:14). Therefore, when Adam and Eve sinned, the process of death began the moment they ate from the tree.

The Curse

>>> Now that we know that Adam and Eve sinned against God, we can read again the fallout from this decision in Genesis 2:

¹⁷ 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.”

Now death was not all that occurred after Adam and Eve sinned against God. You can read further the specific curses that came forth in Genesis 3:14-19. Curses are the result of sinning against God. In the garden of Eden, man sinned by disobeying God through eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Disobeying God is equal to not loving Him, and not loving God means that one would choose death instead of life, and cursing instead of blessing (1 John 5:3; Deuteronomy 30:20). Therefore, everything was cursed after eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Although Genesis 3 elaborates on specific curses, God reveals later in Scripture what ultimately happened as the result of Adam and Eve sinning in the garden:

1. Man no longer had access to eternal life (Genesis 3:22-24).
2. From Adam and Eve, sin spread to all people and death through sin (Romans 5:12).
3. Adam and Eve lost their rulership and dominion over the earth; now there was a different ruler of the world, Satan (Genesis 1:28; John 12:31; John 16:7-11).
4. All of creation groans and is awaiting redemption; this includes the heavens and the earth and all its fullness (Romans 8:18-22).

But is that all to the story? Is all of creation just cursed and that’s it? Not at all! The fall of mankind and all of creation is a small (though crucial) part of our story… yet this story was never meant to be about man’s failings. This story was meant to be about God; more specifically, about who He is, who He is not, and how He responds to the problem of sin and death. We will explore more about God in the next teachings on redemption and restoration, but for now let’s revisit important points in this teaching on the Fall, as well as important points on the previous teaching on Creation. If you have not read the first teaching on Creation, please click here.

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>>>Let’s review Creation:

• Who is God? He is the Creator of all things (Genesis 1:1).
• How did God create mankind? He created mankind with eternity in our hearts, which means that each person will exist forever as he or she stands (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
• How did God not create mankind? He did not create mankind with eternal life in our hearts because eternal life is a choice (John 3:16; John 17:3).

>>>Let’s review the Fall:

• What was the choice God gave man? God gave man the choice to obey Him or not; to love Him or not (Genesis 2:15-17; 1 John 5:3).
• Who was the enemy in the garden? Satan, who is the serpent of old (Genesis 3:4-5; Revelation 12:9).
• What was the sin that occurred in the garden? Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:6-7).
• What was the curse that came upon all of man and creation? Sin and death (Romans 5:12).

Prayer & Encouragement

Dear Lord, thank You for this teaching today and I ask that the reader leaves with clarity and understanding concerning the things that happened in the beginning. I also ask that the reader is encouraged, that even though the situation for the world seems so discouraging at this point, that they come to know that You are good and that You have always had the good plan of redeeming all things. I pray that he or she continues on this journey to discover what those good plans are and what it means on a personal level. I praise You, Lord, for this reader! Please bless them in his/her week. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.

Be encouraged, dear reader, for you have just finished The Gospel Message- Fall! Take this time now to write down anything you have learned or maybe what God has put on your heart to remember. It is my hope and prayer that you continue on with the third teaching ‘The Gospel Message- Redemption’, where you will learn about God’s good plans for mankind. So stay tuned for that teaching sometime in the near future!