Genesis Blog

The first eleven chapters of Genesis tell a tragic story. God’s greatness is testified to in the first two chapters as we are told of His creative work. He simply speaks, and out of nothing comes everything! His power and wisdom are on full display as He forms and orders creation according to His divine will. He makes man in His own image to exercise His rule over His creation as His vice-regents—His royal ambassadors to His world. They exist in covenant relationship with Him, dwelling in the Garden He made for them to be with Him, where He provided richly for all their needs. There they would worship Him without hindrance forever. This is what man was made for!

But then we get to Genesis 3, and everything comes crashing down. The serpent comes and whispers in the woman’s ear—“God has lied to you. The fruit God told you not to eat won’t kill you. It will make you like Him.” You can almost hear these words bouncing around in her mind: “God is holding out on us! We can eat and then we won’t have to answer to anyone!” She believed the lie, took, and ate what God had forbidden. However, she was not alone with the snake. We learn that the man was standing right there with her as this whole scene played out (Gen 3:6). He did not try to protect his bride. He did not fulfill his duty of working and keeping the Garden by chasing away the lying serpent. No, his ears were tickled, and he rejected God’s precious covenant, taking and eating as well.

The consequences were immediate and tragic. They take and eat, eager for the knowledge promised to them, but all they gain is the knowledge that they are naked and filled with shame. God confronts them for their sin, which leads to finger-pointing—the man blaming the woman (and God too). Strife has now entered their marriage where previously there was none. The man’s toil will now be hard as the ground itself fights against him. The woman’s labor pains will be intensified. Of course, they will eventually experience death, returning to the dust from which the man came. These are all results of the worst consequence of all: they are removed from the Garden and away from the presence of the Lord. Whereas they had been able to enjoy Him to the fullest, they would now toil away in His creation, longing for the rest they could have had within the safe confines of covenant relationship with Him.

Their failure plays out over the course of several chapters. Cain, mastered by sin, grows angry and murders his brother (Gen 4:5-8). His son, Lamech, engages in polygamy, murder, and pride (Gen 4:23–24). Person after person dies (Gen 5). The heart of man is bent toward evil continually (Gen 6:4). The Lord’s judgment is poured out on mankind in the flood (Gen 7). Noah, who functions like a new Adam, fails in his own garden (Gen 9:20–21) before being shamed by one of his sons (Gen 9:22). Mankind spreads across the creation but still has hearts bent away from God and toward their own glory (Gen 11:4).

All of this because the man listened to the deceitful whispers of sin in the Garden. This is what sin does. It destroys what is beautiful and good. It ruins lives, it enslaves, it blinds, it deceives.

Sin does the same thing to us every day. It whispers in our ears that we would be more fulfilled, happier, or more at ease if we would just indulge whatever it is tempting us—whether that is greed, lust, anger, complaining, gluttony, gossip, despair, etc. It insists that God cannot be trusted and that true happiness lies in autonomy.

The aim of sin is to deceive us (Rom 7:11) and to dominate us (Gen 4:7). It tempts us from within our own hearts and minds (James 1:14–15) and is thrust upon us by that wicked serpent of old (1 Peter 5:8). And we, like Adam and Eve, can be easily convinced that the lies are true. We see the quick burst of happiness we might gain—anger will control my children, complaining will gain me sympathy—and miss that the path ahead is littered with death: broken relationships, loneliness, spiritual malaise, and eternal death for those who remain ensnared by sin their whole lives.

But praise God for His daily mercies to His people. He did not kill Adam and Eve in the Garden. Instead, He clothed them. He promised them a Redeemer—one to come who would crush the serpent’s head and bring mankind out from under the curse of sin. That One was the Son of God, who was wounded by the serpent at the cross but who rose from the grace victorious over sin, Satan, and death. Raised in triumph, He clothes His people, those who believe, in His own righteousness.

However, Jesus not only delivers us from the eternal consequences of sin—He delivers us from its present power. This is why Paul can write in Romans 12:2, “Be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Those who look to Jesus for redemption have their minds made new. We who once didn’t know our right hand from our left can now see sin in all its ugliness. By the grace of God and the power of His Spirit, we are able to know what is right, good, true, and beautiful. In the strength Christ supplies, we can deny the wicked impulses that formerly dominated us.

Yes, there are many times when we all fail at this. Sin whispers in our ear, and we forget the promises of God. Yet there is grace for us even then—we can confess our sins to the Lord, in full confidence they have been forgiven, and turn back toward paths of righteousness. Are you there today? Have you been ensnared by sin? Call out to Christ in repentance! Confess your sin and plead for His aid in putting your sin to death. He sets his people free (John 8:36)!

Christian, you don’t need me to tell you sin will whisper in your ear, and it will seem good. You know it because you experience it daily. We must wage war against the whispers, and by His grace and power, we will—because He already has. So, cling tightly to the promises of God—eternal life, peace with Him, rest in the presence of your Savior and Lord—and remember that in them, you hold a treasure infinitely more valuable than the moth-eaten trinkets sin is tempting you with.