# Need help on first sermon: Genesis 3:1-7



## TheElk (Mar 2, 2012)

Fellow BPers, I need your assistance. I have to write a sermon for my Genesis class on Genesis 3:1-7 keeping in mind the Church today (make sure to apply the text to their lives, considering the revelation of Jesus Christ). I haven't written a sermon or a homiletical outline before and am seeking your assistance. 

I have thought about doing a sermon on temptation and supplementing the Genesis text with James 1:13-16. 

What is the proper way to expound this text?

God Bless!

Added text:

[The Fall]
[3:1]*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[f1] 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, [v]‘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]*[w]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.” [6]*So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise,[f2] she took of its fruit [x]and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, [y]and he ate. [7]*[z]Then the eyes of both were opened, [a]and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

(Genesis 3:1-7 ESV)

[Cross References]
=======================================================
 Matt. 10:16; 2 Cor. 11:3; Rev. 12:9; 20:2
[v] ch. 2:17
[w] ver. 13; John 8:44; [2 Cor. 11:3]
[x] 1 Tim. 2:14
[y] ver. 12, 17; Hos. 6:7
[z] ver. 5
[a] ch. 2:25

[Footnotes]
======================================================= 
[1] 3:1 In Hebrew you is plural in verses 1–5
[2] 3:6 Or to give insight


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## Romans922 (Mar 2, 2012)

First you need to ask "What is this passage about? What is the point of this passage for Israel who is receiving this from Moses? What is the point of this passage for God's people?

So when I come to Genesis 3:1-7, I ask questions about what is happening...

What does Satan do? 
What does Eve do?
What does Adam do?

Now this particular passage, I am preaching through Genesis now, I had 4 sermons on verses 1-6. There is a lot here that you could cover. But you need to ask these questions before you can determine how to preach here. MAIN THING: What you preach has to be the point God is making.

To make it applicable to hearers, you need to ask yourself questions about yourself.

So you could ask, what does Satan do here that he does to me (everything he does here he does to men and women, and me). Asking lots of questions is a good way to start.


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## TheElk (Mar 2, 2012)

What does Satan do?
He deceives by questioning God's word that was given to Eve through Adam. He is acting as an authority when he declares that she will not surely die.

What does Eve do?
She adds to God's restriction. She then looks at the tree, touches it, eats it, and then gives some to Adam.

What does Adam do?
He is there while Eve is deceived. He eats after Eve does.

Point of passage to Israel:
To show how sin entered the world and why there is a separation from God and man.

Point of passage for God's people:
I think this passage is historical, meaning it shows the theological consequences of sinning against a holy God. However, applications for today can be drawn such as "the importance of knowing and trusting God's word"....

Is this kind of what you are talking about?

Here is an idea:

Proposition: Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden because:

I. They didn't know the word of God.
II. They didn't trust that He had their best intentions in mind.
III. ?


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## A5pointer (Mar 2, 2012)

I wouldn't go the "word of God" or the "Satan" relationship to the believer.(I think although well intentioned there are far too many "modern applications" brought into texts that just don't exist.) I would focus on the ramifications of the event in redemptive history which should launch to an historical account of how God's presence and dealing with His people would never be the same until final restoration of Eden in the new Jerusalem. Of course only made possible by God sovereignly working through history culminated in the coming, death and resurection of Jesus Christ. The only way that the resultant curse of the sin in the garden could be reversed.


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## Romans922 (Mar 2, 2012)

TheElk said:


> What does Satan do?
> He deceives by questioning God's word that was given to Eve through Adam. He is acting as an authority when he declares that she will not surely die.
> 
> What does Eve do?
> ...




I think you are on the right track, you may want to make your points a little more applicable to your audience. 

I. We need to know God's Word
II. We need to trust God's Word
III. We need to obey God's Word (or something like that). 

Instead of We, you could use You. 

From here, I would make some subpoints, how does Gen. 3:1-6 flush those points out, which are all there in the text? How does the rest of Scripture flush this out (since there are great consequences from this passage)? I think this is a good general sermon outline, good for preaching to an audience one time.


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## TheElk (Mar 2, 2012)

Romans922 said:


> TheElk said:
> 
> 
> > What does Satan do?
> ...



Thanks. I wanted to mention that I did find it interesting that the steps that Eve took to sin are almost exactly the same steps that David followed to sin in 2 Sam 11.


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## TheElk (Mar 2, 2012)

A5pointer said:


> I wouldn't go the "word of God" or the "Satan" relationship to the believer.(I think although well intentioned there are far too many "modern applications" brought into texts that just don't exist.) I would focus on the ramifications of the event in redemptive history which should launch to an historical account of how God's presence and dealing with His people would never be the same until final restoration of Eden in the new Jerusalem. Of course only made possible by God sovereignly working through history culminated in the coming, death and resurection of Jesus Christ. The only way that the resultant curse of the sin in the garden could be reversed.



So you would suggest something more along these lines:

I.	Consequences of the Fall
a.	Separation from God
b.	Sin enters the world.
II.	Law given to Moses
a.	Sacrificial system points to Christ
III.	Christ’s propitiation imputes His righteousness on us.


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## Wayne (Mar 2, 2012)

And if you have the time, here's how some of the masters treat that text:

3:1, 4
Dabney, Robert L., "The Popular Argument Against Endless Punishment," Discussions, i.654-669.

3:5
Whitefield, George, "The Seed of the Woman, and the Seed of the Serpent," Sermons on Important Subjects, pp. 34-45.

3:6,7
Boston, Thomas, "Of the Fall of Our First Parents," Commentary on the Shorter Catechism, i,242-255.

Boston, Thomas, "Of the First Sin in Particular," ibid, i,267-272.


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## A5pointer (Mar 2, 2012)

TheElk said:


> A5pointer said:
> 
> 
> > I wouldn't go the "word of God" or the "Satan" relationship to the believer.(I think although well intentioned there are far too many "modern applications" brought into texts that just don't exist.) I would focus on the ramifications of the event in redemptive history which should launch to an historical account of how God's presence and dealing with His people would never be the same until final restoration of Eden in the new Jerusalem. Of course only made possible by God sovereignly working through history culminated in the coming, death and resurection of Jesus Christ. The only way that the resultant curse of the sin in the garden could be reversed.
> ...



Something like that. If you can focus on how drastically this event impacted all of following history. God would never appear or dwell with His people in the same way again until the end made possible by the atonement of Christ. ie, God's future manifestations would be vailed, the Holy of Holies is vailed excepting limited access through the sacrificial system, even his presence in the person of Christ and the Holy Spirit is never the same as in Eden and as told to be in the new Eden. I would end with the picture given by John of Heaven where God dwells again with his people sans sin and therefore the barriers brought on by sin. Again think of it as Eden restored complete with imagry from the original Eden. Preach all biblical texts in their place in redemptive history. This mindset will lead to all preaching trajectory through Calvary and sound Gospel preaching. Just my 2cents. I am not a preacher.


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## Jack K (Mar 2, 2012)

You've noticed that sin involves a failure to trust and obey God. There's a suspicion we have that maybe we can't trust God to always have our best interests in mind: "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened..." Therefore, we don't obey. It's because we trust ourselves more than we trust God.

But you haven't yet mentioned the other root of sin that's evident in Genesis 3... that we don't really believe sin is as horribly bad as it actually is: "You will not surely die." The functional belief that sin really isn't killing us—that we can do some amount of sin and it won't hurt us all that much—is one of the devil's big lies. I think it's just as damaging as the lie that you can't fully trust God.

I wrote about "You will not surely die," and what Jesus does to that lie, in "The World's First Lie." It's just a very short article, but if I was having a good day there might be some thoughts in it that help.


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## TheElk (Mar 6, 2012)

Thanks PB friends! This is what I ended up going with:


Introduction:

Whether or not we know it, we were all born on a spiritual battlefield. Unfortunately, when we were all born we were entered into service as pawns for God’s enemy. When God regenerates our hearts, we have enlisted in the Lord’s army. Since we are still here on earth, we will be participating in spiritual battles in this spiritual war between good and evil. In order to be affective, we are going to follow the Apostle Paul’s exhortation and be good soldiers for Christ Jesus. We are going to do that by looking at who the enemy is, the strategies he uses, and how we can defend against them. Our text today is Genesis 3:1-7 in the New American Standard Bible which reads:

1. Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?"
2. The woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;
3. but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'"
4. The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die!
5. "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
6. When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.
7. 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 loin coverings.

I. Who is the serpent
i. What does the passage tell us?
ii. What does the New Testament tell us?
II. How does he deceive
i. Chooses a weak target (Eve)
ii. Disguises himself (angel of light)
iii. Attacks the word of God
iv. Attacks God's character
III. How can we defend against his attacks
i. Know the path of sin in order to avoid it (Parallel Eve's deception with David's sin with Bathsheba and Uriah) 
ii. Follow Jesus' example in Luke 4 (Know and use the word of God)


This is the jist of it. It was my first sermon so I felt like I was throwing a dart blindfolded. We will see what my Prof thinks of it.


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## fredtgreco (Mar 6, 2012)

Providentially, I preached on this passage two Sundays ago.

Christ Church, PCA: Katy, TX > Sermons > The Fall


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## Romans922 (Mar 6, 2012)

Looks like a good outline. 

However, I'd encourage you to read the Word and then preach the Word.


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## TheElk (Mar 6, 2012)

Romans922 said:


> Looks like a good outline.
> 
> However, I'd encourage you to read the Word and then preach the Word.



If you aren't suggesting "preaching" a running commentary, then what is it you mean exactly?

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fredtgreco said:


> Providentially, I preached on this passage two Sundays ago.
> 
> Christ Church, PCA: Katy, TX > Sermons > The Fall



Great! I listened to the first half of your message today and will finish it tomorrow. So far you did a good job of covering the material that I had found. It will be interesting to see how you handle the rest of the message.


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## Romans922 (Mar 6, 2012)

TheElk said:


> Romans922 said:
> 
> 
> > Looks like a good outline.
> ...



I'm suggesting you read Scripture and then start your sermon.


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## TheElk (Mar 6, 2012)

Romans922 said:


> TheElk said:
> 
> 
> > Romans922 said:
> ...



I see. That is what I did. I included the rough sermon outline to show everyone here the general layout of the sermon.


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## Romans922 (Mar 6, 2012)

TheElk said:


> Romans922 said:
> 
> 
> > TheElk said:
> ...



Ah, my reading of your introduction didn't suggest that.


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## TheElk (Mar 14, 2012)

I wanted to give a quick follow-up. I received a 96 out 100 on this sermon.


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## Romans922 (Mar 14, 2012)

What did God grade you at?


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## TheElk (Mar 14, 2012)

Romans922 said:


> What did God grade you at?



Depends... Is He a stickler on grammar?


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