Impugning God’s Character: The Fall Pt. 2 - Pastor Dan Cravillion

Impugning God’s Character: The Fall Pt. 2

2-15-2015

Genesis 3:1-5

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" 2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" 4 But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

Sly dog now becomes a savage wolf.

·      Went from a subtle suggestion, to planting a doubt, to a lie - slandering God’s character.

o   Satan says God is liar who restricts you out of wicked motives. Gen 3:4

The 1^st lie in the Bible assaults God’s word & the doctrine of eternal judgment.

·      Ultimate lie: There is no punishment for disobedience/sin.

o   He is the God of love, it can't be possibly mean life or death for such trivial matter.

·      God was using the surety of judgment as a restraint for Adam and Eve.

Satan authoritatively “removes” the restraint (judgment) & then “reinterprets” God’s reason behind the command.

·      There will be no punishment; these are simply mere threats of a self-centered, envious deity, who resents anybody who seeks to be His equal.  Gen 3:5, Is 14:13-14

o   Satan has a dynamic delivery and no assurance of doctrinal accuracy.

·      Satan is saying God lied outright (no judgment), & implies there is a new & higher level of existence: become “like God” in nature (deity)....Buddhists, Mormons, other false religions

o   He is accusing God of keeping Eve from happiness & full potential.

This statement is deliberately elusive & vague to stimulate curiosity.

·      The problem is Satan left out an important detail: The fact that they will obtain “knowledge of good/evil” in exchange for death.

·      They really cant grasp the specifics of the offer when they do not know what ‘evil’ was.

·      Ironically they will become less like God because would know evil by doing it…experience.

o   God knows evil like a surgeon (outside) not a patient (experience).

Evil did not come from some magic potion in fruit, but from her heart.

·      Adam and Eve fell when they believed God was flawed and had corrupt motives.

o   sin was conceived in the mind (fallen) > will > behavior. Jam 1:13-15

§  Eating fruit is not the essence/source of the sin, but merely its expression/symbol of it.

In a sense, tree of good/evil is still in the midst of our lives.

·      Almost daily we ponder what forbidden fruit we might partake of.

o   We often feel cheated, deprived of something God should give us. 

·      Satan encourages us to mistrust God’s goodness, character & motives, and to believe there are no consequences for sin.  Prov. 6:27-28, Gal 6:7, Rom 6:23 & 8:32

o   Grace does not eliminate sowing & reaping, even for Christians.

§  Delayed judgment does not mean it’s not certain.

Remember: Sin is not usually instantaneous, but sequential.

• Subtle sins like assuming God’s word is subject to our judgment, or believing God needlessly restricts us.
• By the Holy Spirits power we can remove the seeds of unbiblical thinking and doubt before it produces sinful/evil fruit.

Don’t believe the lie that holiness keeps you from happiness.

• If we obey God, we will not miss out on something good.
• Instead we will have abundant life here & in eternity.