The Sad Effects of Sin

Last week, Pastor Will introduced us to the tragic entrance of sin into the world (Gen 3:1-8). He taught us that temptation to sin appeals to our “fear of missing out,” offers an altered, distorted version of God’s good blessings, and causes us to act as judge or prosecuting attorney over God, one who doubts and questions the accuracy, goodness, truth, and reliability of what God has said. We also learned that in God’s wisdom, temptation to sin not only reveals our weakness, failure, and need for God, but it reveals the goodness, truthfulness, and wisdom of God, as well.

As we look at Gen 3:9-24 today, we’ll revisit the scene of this first crime in the Garden of Eden. In doing so, we’ll see how the Fall reveals our weakness and brokenness as sinful people, but we’ll also see how the Fall reveals the justice and goodness of God.

The Fall reveals the futility of self-reliance, self-rule, and self-determination.

When we examine the Fall in Eden, we discover that the root problem in Adam and Eve’s failure is an attempt to be and behave as a god on our own apart from God. In Rom 1:25, Paul refers to this failure as “the lie” when he says we “exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator …”

• “Sin is man’s declaration of independence from God.” (Anon)
• “Sin is self-coronation.” (Vincent Taylor)
• “The essence of sin is rebellion against divine authority.” (A. W. Tozer)

Rather than accept God as our sovereign king by accepting and obeying what he said, we attempted to take charge of our own lives and to decide for ourselves what is right and wrong. Rather than trust God to determine and dictate what is right and wrong, we attempted to take this responsibility for ourselves. In doing so, we behaved as a toddler replacing the pilot in the cockpit of an airplane or as a kindergarten student replacing the surgeon in a heart replacement operating room.

What happens when a toddler replaces a pilot in the cockpit of an airplane? What happens when a kindergartner replaces a surgeon in the operating room? No matter how confident and enthusiastic these children may be, the results of placing themselves into these outsized roles for which they are severely unqualified will not be good. In the same way, the results are not good when we attempt to displace God’s role as king in our lives. From the story of the Fall, we see three sad outcomes of our attempt to take charge:

• We withdraw ourselves from God.
• We experience guilt towards God.
• We make excuses to God.

About withdrawing ourselves, we see that Adam and Eve hid themselves from God (3:8, 10). This word means to “go into hiding” or to “flee or run away.” When we study, listen to, trust, and obey what God’s Word says, we draw close to God, but when we ignore, question, and disobey his Word, we run away from God instead.

About experiencing guilt towards God, we see that Adam and Eve were afraid of God (3:10). In this context, this word describes the feeling of being terrified, anxious, and scared. It describes the anxiety and guilt we feel in our conscience when we do things which are wrong or refuse to do things which are right. It is this shared human experience which reveals that God has placed into us a deep, personal awareness of his goodness and justice: “who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them” (Rom 2:15). Our conscience reminds us that we were made by God to be like God and to do God’s will – that is why we feel anxiety and guilt when we violate his will.

About making excuses, we see that Adam and Eve respond to God not with humble confession and repentance but by making excuses. In doing so, they attempted to deflect responsibility for their failure by shifting the blame elsewhere. Responding this way to personal failure does two things: (1) it acknowledges that something is wrong but (2) blames someone or something else for the problem. Instead of saying, “I was wrong, please forgive me,” we say, “Something is wrong, but it’s not my fault.” In this case:

• Adam blamed Eve and, in doing so, he also blamed God. (3:12)
• Eve blamed Satan. (3:13)

We do the same thing today when we excuse our sinful behavior and blame it on someone else or on some abstract condition or label which permits us to deny personal guilt and view our behaviors as the result of being a victim nor a responsible party. When we do this, we not only lie to God and to ourselves, but we distance ourselves from restoration and solutions.

“Blame-shifting is a universal human disease. Ever since Adam and Eve, it has been part of our sinful human nature: “I know I sometimes lose my temper. But that is just the way God made me.” “I know I shouldn’t talk to my wife that way, but I’m under a lot of stress at work.” “I know I shouldn’t read these racy romance novels, but my husband isn’t exactly a knight in shining armor anymore.” But anytime we begin a sentence with “I know I shouldn’t … but,” we are on dangerous ground. We ought simply to stop with: “I know I shouldn’t.” God has made himself clearly seen in creation, in the human conscience, and, most of all, in his Word, so that we are “without excuse” (Rom. 1:20) when we sin against him.” (Kurt Strassner)

The irony here is that in each case there is truth in the excuse. Yes, Eve did influence Adam to disobey God, and yes, God did give Eve to Adam. Despite these facts, the truth remains that neither God nor Eve forced Adam to sin. He sinned by his own choice. And for Eve, yes, Satan did deceive and trick her, but she had the capacity and knowledge to see the problem and avoid it, but chose to disobey anyway.

“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” (Rom 1:20-21)

Our sin moves us away from discovery mode into a defensive mode towards God. Rather than seeking to know, serve, and enjoy him more fully, we drift away, grow disinterested and afraid, and make excuses for our failures. Rather than trust him more, we trust him less. Yet even in our failure and sin, his justice and goodness are clearly seen.

The Fall reveals the justice and goodness of God.

Through the Fall, even though mankind receives attention for sad and shameful reasons, God’s goodness shines through in bigger, brighter ways. He remains the protagonist. He remains the main character and central focus of the story, and we see this in two ways:
We see God’s justice in the penalties he assigned.

The way that God responded to this first sin and failure in Eden reveals that on one hand, God did not overlook the problem and hope for the best, but on the other hand he did not respond in an uncontrolled rage or fit of violence. Instead, he responded in a measured, focused way, handing out penalties that matched the crime.

• Satan would be disgraced and defeated.
• Eve would struggle in motherhood and marriage.
• Adam would struggle in work and health.

Regarding Satan, he first penalized snakes in general as a perpetual reminder of this first sin. Snakes would no longer be viewed as exalted and sophisticated creatures to be admired but would be viewed as lowly, repulsive creatures to be avoided instead. We should note that this curse encompassed the entire animal world, since it includes both tamable and untamable animals, assigning the worst of the curse to serpents.

“Eating dust” alludes to eating food with dirt on it direct from the ground. It’s an idiom for ultimate humiliation but may also signal the shift in God’s focus from the animal kingdom to Satan himself and his demonic allies, evicting him from heaven to earth. It is on earth that he would go on to wage an epic battle against the woman and her offspring. Though he had hoped the woman would ally herself with him, she would become his nemesis instead. Throughout this struggle in history to come, he would win many battles, but she would triumph in the end, defeating him once and for all through a child who would be born as God’s Messiah and Chosen One, Jesus Christ. More on this in a future sermon.

Regarding the woman, God first penalized her in the realm of motherhood. As a mother, she would experience increased emotional and physical pain, or painful toil. This uncomfortable experience of anxiety, sorrow, and suffering would be a perpetual reminder of the lasting, persistent effects of her sin. It would also apply not only to the earliest stages of conception and childbirth, but to the entire experience of motherhood and parenting. Raising godly children and generations would not come easily.

Regarding the woman, God also penalized her in the realm of marriage. “Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” This penalty does not establish men to the head of the home to be the penalty, for men were called and created by God to be the head of the home before the Fall. Instead, it observes that the “husband as head, wife as supporter” relationship would become a difficult struggle. The same words for “desire” and “mastery” occur in the very next chapter, when God describes the relationship of sin to Cain when he murdered his brother Abel: “[sin’s] desire is for you, but you should rule over it” (Gen 4:7). Pastor R. Kent Hughes explains this way:

“The woman would now desire to control her husband, but she would fail because God had ordained that man should lead.”

In other words, because Adam – the first husband – had failed to lead his wife well in response to her first temptation, giving way to her rather than guarding and guiding her to the truth of God’s Word, she would perpetually struggle to follow his leadership role in the home.
Regarding the man, God assigned the penalty of increased emotional and physical pain, or painful toil (same word as used for the woman in motherhood) in connection to his work. Again, as with childbirth, parenting, and marriage relationships, the responsibility to work was not the penalty. As we have already discovered from Gen 2, work as well as marriage were original blessings from God, a key part of our purpose as human beings. What changes here is not the responsibility to work but the degree of difficulty and satisfaction we should expect from our work. Work would no longer be a joyful, pleasurable experience but would become a painful, difficult process instead.

“The ground that was under the man’s care in the garden as his source of joy and life (2:15) becomes the source of pain for the man’s wearisome existence.” (K. A. Matthews)

“A little sin will add to your trouble, subtract from your energy, and multiply your difficulties.” (Anon)

Regarding the man, God also assigned the penalty of eventual physical death: “for dust you are, and to dust you shall return” (3:19).

Between the penalties assigned to Eve and to Adam we see both new challenges unique to each gender and role as well as overlapping, shared challenges. To men, for instance, God has assigned the role of headship in the home and being the primary provider, whereas he has assigned the role of support and motherhood to the woman. At the same time, both man and woman share in marital and parental duties, including the struggle and pain these entail, and both man and woman also engage in work, though men must bear ultimate responsibility for this. And – of course – all of us die, man and woman alike.

“… through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned …” (Rom 5:12)

Now, it is important that we accept how these penalties and difficulties came about. They came about because God assigned them to be this way in his perfect justice.

“For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope … for we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.” (Rom 5:19-22)

In these penalties, we see the blessing of God’s creation, of work, and of marriage (seen in Gen 1-2) negatively affected because of our sin. This is the just consequence of our distrust of God and our choice to act independently of him and his Word.

“Sin has turned the world from a paradise to a thicket; there is no getting through without being scratched.” (Thomas Boston)

We see God’s goodness in the loyalty he displayed.

Not only does the Fall of mankind into sinfulness provide us with a firsthand experience and glimpse of God’s justice, but it reveals to us to goodness of God as well as God demonstrates his loyalty to us in response to our disloyalty to him.

• He pursued mankind.
• He preserved mankind.
• He promised mankind salvation.

Regarding his pursuit of mankind, we see that after Adam and Eve had sinned, God came to the garden looking for them: “they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden” (3:8). And God not only came looking for them, but he spoke to them and communicated with them, as well: “then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him …” From this point onward, we see that it is God who is seeking mankind, and it is God who continues to speak and reveal himself to mankind, even though we had rebelled against him and run away from him.

Regarding his preservation of mankind, we see that God did not respond to the Fall by destroying mankind. He did not wipe them out and throw them away. Instead, he not only preserved them alive, but he maintained their original, God-given purposes, even within the penalties he assigned:

• The woman would suffer, but in the end, she would triumph over Satan.
• Mothering would be difficult, but she would still “bring forth children.”
• Marriage would be difficult, but it would still be attainable.
• Work would be difficult, but it would still be possible to do so successfully.
• Death would happen to us all, but not immediately – more life would still occur.

So, in God’s justice we see mercy equally applied, and in this we see his goodness. We also see that he removed Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden so that they would not continue to eat from the Tree of Life and benefit from its ongoing effects of preservation (3:22-24). Why did he do this? Because he did not want them to live forever in their sinful state. He desired for them to live long enough to experience the effects of their sin while also carrying out his will, overcoming that sin and experiencing his goodness. But in the end, each person would die, providing a clear end and reset to our sinful existence.

“Were it not for sin, death would never have had a beginning. Were it not for death, sin would never have had an ending.” (Anon)

Regarding his promise of salvation to mankind, we see the promise that someone would be born to the woman who would ultimately crush Satan and defeat evil once and for all (Gen 3:15). More on this in a later sermon. But in summary, we should know that God’s goodness and justice in the penalties he gave for sin point forward to Christ. And in doing so, these penalties cause us to know and understand our need to return to God and trust in his Word now more than ever before.

• Your struggles with anxiety, sorrow, and pain remind you to trust in Christ.
• Your struggles in marriage and parenting remind you of your need for Christ.
• Your struggles in work and existence remind you of your need for Christ.
• Your coming death reminds you of your need for Christ.

“The punishment would be a perpetual reminder of the sin.” (Allen P. Ross)

In other words, the consequences and penalties we have received from God because of our rebellion against him and his Word are specially designed not to harm us but to turn us back to him in full faith and obedience.

The Fall points forward to Jesus Christ.

• He provides salvation from judgment.
• He provides help for a godly life.
• He provides hope for a restored creation.

It is Christ who lived free from the power of sin, died in the place of our sin, and rose again – defeating death and the power of sin once and for all. All who believe on and trust in him completely as God and Savior receive complete forgiveness of sin and the promise of life after death forever.

It is also Christ who gives those who believe on him the ability to desire, think, and live according to God’s good will and purpose for our life. He makes it possible for us to be good spouses who understand and live out our roles in a godly way and to be good parents who raise children in a godly way. He also makes it possible for us to do our work in this world in a successful and satisfying way.

Finally, it is Christ who gives us the hope that he will one day restore not only our physical bodies but our entire universe free from the influence, effects, or possibility of sin forever.
As followers of Christ, we know that Christ is the second Adam who reversed the wrong that Adam brought into the world (1 Cor 15:45). We also know that he is the seed of the woman who will defeat Satan completely (Gal 3:16-19; 4:4).

“With the revelation of the New Testament, we are able to see how the human race would ultimately gain victory—it would come through one who took upon himself the curse of the whole world. The motifs in this chapter—toil, sweat, thorns, the conflict, the tree, death, dust, and the seed—all will be reflected in the experience of the Christ, who became the curse, sweat great drops of blood in bitter agony, wore a crown of thorns, hung on a tree until he was dead, and was placed in the dust of death (cf. Ps. 22:15).” (Allen P. Ross)

In closing, let me urge you to let these sad effects of the Fall reveal to you not only the futility of self-determination, self-rule, and self-reliance, but even more, may they reveal to you the perfect justice and supreme goodness of God. And may this truth and these realities of our sinful condition encourage you to move from independence from God to dependence upon Christ as God. May the effects of the Fall encourage you to turn to Christ for salvation, help for a godly life, and hope for a restored creation.

Discussion Questions

• Is it possible to sorrow too much over sin? How can one sorrow over sin and its effects, and still maintain the joy of the Lord?
• Why does sin cause us to withdraw from God?
• Anxiety seems to be an epidemic. Often, anxiety can be caused by guilty consciences. What is it about the guiltiness we feel over our sin that causes one to be anxious?
• When we sin, what is the alternative option that we have instead of feeling guilty, and then getting anxious? What is the contrast between the two?
• Are blame-shifting excuses always totally false? If they can be true at all explain the "truth” of sinful excuses. Which parts are untrue?
• Contrast victimhood with the character and posture of Jesus.
• How do we naturally feel about responsibility? What does it seem like to us?
  • How is responsibility (especially when it comes to ownership of our sinful choices) freeing?
• How does the wife’s desire to rule over her husband actually contradict her nature?
• Is work an effect of the fall of Adam?
• Where do we see God’s grace evident in the midst of His explanation of the effects of sin?
• What is a habit that we could implement in our lives that helps us to reframe sin and death with God’s mercy and grace to show us our need for Jesus?