Day 4 – The Fall

• Oh dear, oh dear. It was all going so well, wasn’t it? Today we read those familiar, and yet still distressing, words that recount the story of what’s often called “the Fall” – the entry of sin into the world as Adam and Eve made themselves the master of their own lives, rather than God.
• When I was younger, I often found myself resenting the choices that Adam and Eve made on that fateful day. Do you catch yourself thinking that sometimes too? I wonder, perhaps, if every single person before you had lived a perfect, sin-free life, and now it was your turn. How are you doing? Let’s be honest – we would all admit very quickly that we are just like Adam and Eve. We all too often give in to the temptation of the world about us.
• How were Adam and Eve tempted into their sin? A snake, of course, but look at the words it used: “Did God really say…?”. Who was behind the words of the snake? Satan often causes us to doubt – or purposefully ignore – things that we know God has clearly told us to do or not to do. In the end, whose fault was it that they ate… theirs or the snake’s?
• Think back to God’s order in creation. God is at the top, then humans, and then the rest of creation. God has authority over man, and man is told to have authority over creation. But look what is happening here – the creation (in this case the snake) is telling mankind what to do, and mankind is rebelling against God. It’s completely upside-down; the opposite of God’s good plans.
• What did Adam and Eve desire to cause them to eat? Did they get their wishes when their eyes were opened?
• What sort of way did the two of them act after they sinned? What sort of defensive words and actions can you spot? Have you used tactics like this with your parents when they told you off?
• What price did Adam and Eve, and the snake, pay for their actions? Think about the specific details that God spoke about for each of the three protagonists, but also think on to the biggest penalty of all – banishment from the garden, and from the presence of God. Would they ever be able to get back to the garden through their own efforts? What verses show this to us?
• Why did God take the sin so seriously? Why was the punishment so severe?
• Verse 21 shows us something interesting you may not have spotted. God, immediately after punishing Adam and Eve for their sin, provides for them by making for them garments from animal skins. This meant that an animal would have been sacrificed to cover up their shame – the first such instance of this in the bible, and certainly not the last. What do you know about animal sacrifices in the Old Testament? Don’t worry if it’s not much – we’ll study this more later in the year. It might, however, remind you of an even greater sacrifice in the New Testament…
• Today’s three passages work wonderfully together. Genesis is telling us that sin came into the world, how it happened and its consequences. 2 Corinthians reminds us how we are like Eve – sin whispers in our ears and we are led astray. The wonderful passage in Romans reminds us that although sin is powerful, God’s power is greater still. Make sure you make and understand the connection between the first man, Adam, through whom came sin and condemnation, and the perfect man, Jesus, whose astonishing act of grace on the cross is the culmination of the God’s plan of salvation from that condemnation and sin. Verses 18 and 19 are ones to jot down in the page you set aside at the front of your book, perhaps. Next to it you might want to write that it’s a good passage to turn to when you are struggling with feelings of guilt.

The separation of Adam and Eve from God is the same for us now too, of course. If we, like Adam and Eve, can’t save ourselves from the sticky situation our sin has caused, what (or whom) do we need? Can you spot the hint in Genesis 3:15 that God had already planned a “serpent-crushing” Saviour? Like many of the readings we’ll do this year, Jesus is referenced in all three passages!

We know we live in a messed up world. Non-Christians will often point to sin, illness and death as reasons to doubt God.

Christians can, however, give a reason for the existence of all those things, and why they exist in a world made by a perfect Creator, and the joy of knowing that there will one day be a time when the effects of the fall are dealt with once and for all in Jesus… whose name is whispered in these verses and throughout the entirety of scripture. Whilst sin is serious and the words of Genesis 3 should make us rightly saddened, God’s message to us in Romans today is deeply encouraging and should live your ears ringing with the good news of Jesus and of the grace that is offered in the Christian gospel.

Why not finish off your readings today by enjoying What’s In The Bible‘s take on the Genesis story so far?