The Universal Consequence of the Fall

MAIN TEXT: GENESIS 3:9-19

HIGHLIGHT VERSE: GENESIS 3:19
“By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” (NIV)

TOPIC POINTS:

Mankind Runs Away From God – Genesis 3:9-11
Mankind Blames Another For Own Faults – Genesis 3:12-13
The Sentence of Curses – Genesis 3:14-18

INTRODUCTION:

Who you choose to obey matters a lot. In our lesson, we see how Adam and Eve choose to obey the devil rather than God. This initial sin plunged the whole human race into a slavery to sin.

Every human being descending from Adam inherits this slavery to sin (original sin) as a universal consequence of his Fall. As the Scriptures say, you are a slave to whatever you obey (Romans 6:16, 2 Peter 2:19, John 8:34).

MANKIND RUNS AWAY FROM GOD

– GENESIS 3:9-11, GENESIS 2:17, 1 CORINTHIANS 15:22

God created mankind holy and righteous to establish a communion with us. When Adam fell, that communion we had with God was broken. The first response of mankind was to run and hide upon hearing the sound of God approaching. This tendency to run from God did not end in Adam but even continues to this day.

We were made to worship God by thinking His thoughts after Him, imitating His character and living according to His wisdom and pleasure. We abandoned all that to follow Satan’s wisdom in living for our own pleasure.

Adam, while in the right relationship with God, had the glory of God to cover him. Only upon sinning was that glory removed. Finding himself naked, he ran and hid. This loss of glory and the resulting nakedness is what still prompts people today to flee and hide from God.

MANKIND BLAMES ANOTHER FOR OWN FAULTS

– GENESIS 3:12-13, ROMANS 3:9-20, PSALM 58:3, PSALM 51:5

The second response of mankind in the Fall was to shift the blame. Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent. This blame shifting was useless in providing any covering for mankind’s sin. Even today, trying to shift blame to anyone else for our sins still fails to vindicate us.

Every human being descending from Adam inherits the same sinful nature, even from birth as the Psalms teach. For this reason, Paul can say to the Romans, “There is no one righteous, not even one.” Blaming a fellow human who is also equally guilty for their own sin is therefore pointless. Blaming the devil, who also has to answer to God for his sin, is equally pointless.

THE SENTENCE OF CURSES

– GENESIS 3:14-18, GALATIANS 3:11-12, PSALM 143:2, ROMANS 8:3

It is interesting to note that the blame was passed downward but God passed His judgment upward. All of them broke God’s law and were all rightfully placed under God’s curse.

God said to:

The Serpent:

You will crawl on your belly
You will eat dust
I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and hers
He will crush your head
You will strike his heel

Eve:

I will make your pains in childbearing very severe
Your desire will be for your husband
He will rule over you

Adam:

Cursed is the ground because of you
Through painful toil you will eat from it
It will produce thorns and thistles for you
By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food
Dust you are and to dust you will return

In these curses, we see that sin brought enmity between God and man, man and woman, woman and serpent. Only through Christ, the unique God, the new Adam, the offspring of the woman, the serpent lifted up, is redemption guaranteed.

CONCLUSION:

The consequence of the Fall of mankind is that every human being has been placed under the curse of death. Broken relationships, hardships, and the toil of life is a result of that sin.

We all from conception inherit a sinful nature that is slave to sin which leads us to run and hide from God while blaming others for our own sin. No one is righteous before God and everyone is under His judgment.

Jesus Christ is the only one through whom redemption comes. Stop running, turn to God, own up to your faults and seek forgiveness in Christ so that you will live.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Give a summary of our main text
Recite our highlight verse
What sin did Adam commit?
What was the first thing God said to Adam after his sin?
How does man respond to God’s approaching presence?
Why does man run from God’s presence?
How does man try to deal with his sin when answering God?
What result of Adam’s sin does every human being inherit?
What curses were placed on the serpent?
What curses were placed on the woman?
What curses were placed on the man?
What themes do we see in these curses?
What hope of redemption do we have?