Wednesday AM Bible Study; August 27, 2025 – Genesis 3:1-24
Theme: The fall of our first parents brought about death and brokenness—but God brought about redemption.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
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1 This morning, we take up one of the ‘biggest’ stories in human history. It’s big, not only because of its impact, but also because it takes into its consideration the whole story of humanity from its beginning all the way to its final condition—all the way from Eden in the old creation to Paradise in the new heavens and new earth. It’s the story that explains all the sorrow and pain we see in the world today, but also what God has done to resolve our condition and turn our sorrow into joy.
It’s the story that answers the most fundamental questions of human philosophy. It explains why there is suffering and evil in the world. It answers the pressing question of why it is that, if there is a God, people feel such a desperate sense of alienation from Him. But most of all, it answers the question of whether or not there is hope; because it tells us why Jesus Christ—the Son of God—took human nature to Himself, was born into this world as a member of the human family, and died on the cross in our place.
It truly is the story that explains it all.
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Now; to orient ourselves rightly to this story—as it’s told to us in Genesis 3—we need to begin with the closing words of Genesis 2. There we find—after the creation of the first man and the first woman, and after they were brought together in marriage—that we’re told;
And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed (Genesis 2:15).
Whatever else these words might mean, they—at the very least—indicate to us that our first parents dwelt before God in a state of innocence. They had not eaten of the tree that God had forbidden to Adam—the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (2:9); and so, they had no consciousness of sin or shame or of having disobeyed God. They would have enjoyed a perfectly unhindered relationship with the God who had made them for Himself; and they would have been unspeakably happy in a glorious environment without pain or suffering or death.
How long it may have been that they enjoyed this blissful condition isn’t told to us. But it sadly came to an end. Genesis 3 begins by telling us the story of …
1. THE TEMPTATION (vv. 1-5).
The story begins with these words in verse 1;
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (3:1).
We naturally wonder, right away, how it could be that a serpent could speak. Some even immediately jump to the conclusion that this must be some far-fetched fantasy story. But it needs to be remembered that the Bible doesn’t present this serpent to us as just any ordinary serpent. This one was either indwelt by—or was the physical embodiment of—Satan; a powerful and malicious angelic being who is described to us as “that serpent of old” (Revelation 20:2), and “who deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9). The Bible often presents Satan as taking on deceitful forms and working through living entities in order to deceive those he wishes to influence. The Bible warns us that he “himself transforms himself into an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14); and that he is able to work through fallible human beings, through whom we wouldn’t have ordinarily expected that he might do his deceitful work. He once caused all Israel to fall into terrible suffering because of a temptation brought about through his influence upon King David (1 Chronicles 21:1). And he once sought to tempt our Lord through the Lord’s beloved disciple Peter (Matthew 16:23). If he wished to tempt the woman, it’s not surprising that he would have sought to do so through the unexpected agency of a creature that seemed—at that time—to be admirable for cunning and beauty.
We might also wonder how it was that Satan himself—a creation of God—came to fall into sin. It’s an important question; because Genesis 3 doesn’t describe the true origin of all evil. Rather, it only describes the origin of sin in the human family. Sin and evil must have had their origin before the events of Genesis 3. Evil seems to have made its entry through Satan; and Satan’s sin seems to have been the display of pride and rebellious arrogance in the angelic realms that we find described in passages such as Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:12-19. But we won’t get too distracted by this question if we remember that Satan’s story is not the concern of Genesis 3. Rather, the story is meant to show us how sin and death specifically entered into human history.
Satan’s temptation of mankind began through the woman by bringing into question the word of God. “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” The fact of the matter is that God had not said that. He told Adam directly, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17). It may be that Satan asked this question of the woman—who only would have heard this command second-hand from her husband after her creation—in order to take the spotlight off of all of the abundance that she and Adam were free to enjoy, and to shine the spotlight instead on the single prohibition that God gave. Satan’s tactic was to get her to doubt the integrity of God’s word; and he has been tempting people to question God’s word ever since; always asking, “Has God indeed said …?”
Verses 2-5 go on to tell us;
And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’” Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (vv. 2-5).
Eve said that God’s command included the command not even to touch the tree. This wasn’t a part of what we’re told that God had said in Genesis 2. This may indicate to us that Adam had expanded God’s command, as he related it to Eve, in order to prevent her from being tempted. But it’s also possible that it may indicate a frustration in Eve’s heart over the command not to eat. In any case, Satan in the form of the serpent—a creature, by the way, over whom man and woman were originally mandated by God to have dominion—put doubts in the woman’s mind about the integrity of God and of His true care for her and her husband. He dared to call into question God’s word about the death that would result from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He lied to her in order to tempt her away from God’s command.
Here, we see the basic nature of all sin: a desire to live lawlessly from God. As it says in 1 John 3:4, “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.” Sin is essentially the act of breaking one’s self away from a dependence upon the Creator/Lawgiver, and of rebelling against obedience to Him and to His good laws.
This, then, led to …
2 THE SIN (v. 6).
We’re told;
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate (v. 6).
Here, we’re given a pattern of the first temptation. It is also the basic pattern that the Bible presents to us for all forms of temptation. When we’re told that “the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise”, these three areas of temptation are parallel to what the apostle John tells us elsewhere in Scripture. He wrote that the sins of this world are characterized by “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16). It appears that it was in these same three ways that the devil also tempted our Lord in the wilderness (see Matthew 4:1-11); that is through the craving to satisfy His hunger (lust of the flesh), the potential of having all the kingdoms of this earth given to Him (lust of the eyes), and of having the world see God perform a great miracle through Him (pride of life). Our Lord, however, though tempted in these ways, didn’t sin.
It’s important to understand that temptation itself does not become sin unless it is acted upon in a way that disobeys God’s instructions. As pastor James explains;
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death (James 1:13-15).
And so, in response to the devil’s temptations through the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, we’re told that the woman “took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” Some believe that the fact that Adam was called ‘her husband with her’ means that he was present with her at the time of her temptation—although this isn’t certain. It may simply mean that he was with her in the sense of his union to her. But if he indeed was present, it doesn’t seem that he tried to stop her. We’re given further insight from 1 Timothy 2:14; where we’re told,
And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression (1 Timothy 2:14).
Eve was fooled into sin by the tempter; but Adam walked into sin with his eyes wide open. Why then did he also eat? We’re not told. But it’s clear that it was through Adam—and not through Eve—that sin and death were declared to have entered and spread throughout the human family; “just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).
This, then, led to …
3. THE FALL (vv. 7-13).
The effects of the fall of Adam and Eve into sin began to show themselves almost immediately. First, there was a sense of a loss of innocence. We’re told;
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 coverings (v. 7).
Whereas before they were both naked and felt no shame—since there were no other human beings to be ashamed before—now they felt such an oppression of shame that they sought to cover themselves. What a picture of fallen humanity today! The offspring of Adam and Eve—in every culture and in every people group throughout the centuries—have sought ever since to create ways to ‘cover’ that internal, inescapable sense of guilt before God through false religions or outward rituals and good deeds.
And then, because of their sense of ‘nakedness’, the man and the woman sought to hide from the divine Lawgiver whose commandment they had broken:
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden” (v. 8).
To have been able to hear the sound of God walking in the garden would indicate how different mankind’s relationship with God must have been before the fall—and also what a terrible loss of relationship the fall brought about. God had said that, on the day they ate of the fruit of that tree, they would die; and though physical death came later, spiritual death began to show itself in the form of a broken relationship with the Creator. They sought to hide from Him.
The relational damage from the fall began to show itself in other ways as well. God Himself felt a loss. In what would have to be the most tragic question in all of human history, we’re told,
Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” (v. 9).
And the relational damage shows itself even further. Verses 10-13 tell us;
So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (vv. 10-13).
Adam blamed his wife—showing a breakdown in human relationships. And the woman blamed the serpent—showing a breakdown in the relationship with the creation over which Adam and Eve had been given dominion. The serpent blamed no one—he was pleased. These consequences have been showing themselves in the human family ever since.
And that leads us to …
4. THE CURSE (vv. 14-21).
In response, the holy Creator God issued forth a series of curses. And it seems that God’s curses followed the reverse order of Adam’s and Eve’s admissions. First, God issued a curse upon the serpent—the physical instrument of Satan; and thus upon Satan himself. Verses 14-15 tell us;
So the Lord God said to the serpent:
“Because you have done this,
You are cursed more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you shall go,
And you shall eat dust
All the days of your life.
And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel” (vv. 14-15).
It may have been that, before this, serpents didn’t crawl or slither. But now they would. And what’s more, in these words, the doom of Satan himself is assured. The woman’s Seed—her offspring—would crush Satan’s head (a fatal blow); but Satan would only bruise His heel (a non-fatal blow). This shows us the beginning of the curse upon creation itself. As it says in Romans 19-22;
For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now (Romans 8:19-22).
If God had created all things good, why then are there such terrible and tragic natural disasters as we see on the news? It’s because Man—the God-appointed dominion-keeper of God’s handiwork—fell into sin and brought a curse upon Creation itself.
Then, God issued a curse upon the woman. Verse 16 goes on to say;
To the woman He said:
“I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception;
In pain you shall bring forth children;
Your desire shall be for your husband,
And he shall rule over you” (v. 16).
God had given Adam and Eve the mandate to ‘be fruitful and multiply’. That mandate would still be kept; but it would now involve pain and sorrow. And what’s more, it appears that she would vie for a position of authority over her husband; and contention and disagreement and rivalry would now sadly characterize their relationship.
And finally, verses 17-19 go on to tell us;
Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:
“Cursed is the ground for your sake;
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.
Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,
And you shall eat the herb of the field.
In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return” (vv. 17-19).
Adam would still fulfill his task of tending the ground; but it would now no longer be a pleasant task. He would eat and feed his family only through the hardness of labor and frustration; and would eventually die and return to the ground from which he was taken.
God’s mercy is shown, however, in that the life of the human family continued. We’re told in verse 20,
And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living (v. 20).
Her name means “Living”; and at the beginning of the next chapter, we’re told that she conceived and bore Adam children. God’s mercy is also shown in that He himself provided an adequate covering for them. Verse 21 tells us;
Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them (v. 21).
Leaves were not enough. Skins were provided; suggesting that, since ‘the wages of sin is death’, something else died in their place for the atonement of their sin.
Nevertheless, the loss was great. The chapter closes with the story of …
5. THE EXPULSION (vv. 22-24).
We’re told in verses 22-24;
Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life (vv. 22-24).
This, too, was an act of God’s mercy.
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Now, at the beginning of our study, we affirmed that this story not only explains all the sorrow and pain that we see in the world today, but also tells us what God has done to resolve our condition and turn our sorrow into joy. We find hints of this in this crucial chapter of the Bible.
We see it first in the fact that the promised Seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head. The promise of Genesis 3:15 is often referred to as the protoevangelium—that is, the gospel before the gospel. It gives us the promise that a Redeemer would be born from fallen humanity who will be humanity’s Savior. To some degree, Adam must have understood this; which is why Eve—who prior to this point hadn’t apparently been named—was called Chavvah (which means “Living”). This is because she was “the mother of all living”, including the Seed who would be mankind’s Redeemer—“born of a woman” (Galatians 4:4).
We also see it in the fact that God provided a covering of skin for Adam and Eve. They sought to cover their sin in a superficial way. But God provided a true covering—an atonement—in that something else paid for their sin by dying in their place. Since later on, in chapter 4, Abel—their son—would bring forth an offering of the flock to God, it’s most likely that they were clothed with the skin of a sacrificed lamb. And that picture to us the sacrifice of Jesus—the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
And finally, we see it in the fact that Adam and Eve were prohibited from eating of the tree of life. This same tree is found at the end of the Bible—Revelation 22:2—in the new creation that God will eventually bring into being. Fallen man needed to be kept from access to this tree until redemption for sin could be provided—lest they take of that tree and exist eternally in a state of separation from God. But as the Lord Jesus promises in Revelation 2:7, “To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” And how does one ‘overcome’? As 1 John 5:4-5 tells us;
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 John 5:4-5).
Truly, then, the story of Genesis 3 is the story—the grand, overarching metanarrative—that explains it all!
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1Much of the material for this study was adapted from the Bethany Bible Church study, Genesis & A Biblical Worldview (2012), Lesson 11.
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