Genesis 3:8 And they heard the voice 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.

The Problem Remains

As a general rule, each of us naturally think we are at the center of the Universe. Even as believers, we have to constantly fight the temptation to always want our way. When Adam and Eve chose to disobey, the temptation was not simply an invitation to break a single rule, though it was that. It was an invitation rather to begin a revolution, to start thinking differently about where the center of everything is. Before, God was the center of everything for them; now, that is changing.

Unless we keep central what the chief problem is that the Bible addresses, we will inevitably begin to distort what God’s Word is about. Unless we come to grips with Genesis 1-3 and the Fall, we will not reach any agreement as to what the solution is, if we can’t agree as to what the problem is. There would be no need for what the New Testament says of Christ if we do not have a real, historic Adam and a historic fall.

Satan is Always Trying to Fool Us

Genesis 3:5 Satan says, “For God does know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”

Satan continually tries to make us think it is OK to rebel, because “God is holding out on us.” Whether the Serpent symbolizes the Devil or embodies the Devil, we cannot exactly know. However, what is clear from additional Scripture is that the Serpent was certainly the locus by which Satan himself was manifest.

The Bible does not set things up as if there is a good person, God, and a bad person, the Serpent, or the Devil. It’s not simply that these two sort of fight, and then you hope the good guy wins. That’s not the way the Bible sets things up.

God made the whole show. You begin to have rebellion amongst the created beings that God made, whether in the Serpent or in his own image-bearers, the human beings who were made in His image and likeness.

Satan tires to insinuate that God is a killjoy. It is the concept that He exists to make life as miserable as possible for you. Therefore, you have the right to rebel. After Satan speaks to her, Eve begins to entertain the possibility of standing in judgment of God. It is the ultimate “tale as old as time.”

Genesis 3:4 And the serpent said to the woman,
“You shall not surely die…”

Now for the first time, Satan had introduced a flat-out contradiction of what God says. The first doctrine to be denied is the doctrine of judgment. It is common: if you want to escape the authority of God in Scripture, begin by denying His truth or sanctions. Then it’s safe to rebel against Him.

The incentive is to become like God, to refuse to recognize my place as a creature and become like God.
The temptation then and now is for man to revolt, to start thinking differently about where the center of life is. Is the center me, or God who created me?

And there is also the beginning of idolatry. Because I believe I am at the center of the universe and you think that you’re the center of the universe, pretty soon we start fighting for the center, which only belongs to God. It is not long then before there is death among brothers. In the next chapter, we also see war, hate, lust, greed, and animosity.

Me at the Center is Rebellion Rebellion Brings Us Consequences

Genesis 3:17b And God said to Adam, “The ground is cursed because of you. You will eat from it by means of painful labor all the days of your life.”

There are entailments to sin that now drag in the entire created order. Death is introduced, thorns and thistles, pain, and suffering. Shall God instead turn away and say, “You can defy Me. I don’t really care. It doesn’t really matter. I love you, so I don’t mind.” Would that make Him more noble, or more moral? The answer is no.

God still remains completely sovereign.

God is not jeopardized by our rebellion. His sovereignty remains undiminished. We are not written off, though God could have simply destroyed us, pronounced the death that was our due and done no more. With perfect justice He might’ve done that. Already even in His initial pronouncement of the curse on Satan, there is a sign of hope for the future that will unfold in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Rebellion Has a Long Term Curse
The problem is still here

The long-term effects that flowed from this first temptation continues. At the end of the chapter, we have
the picture of the cherubim with a flashing sword, forbidding reentry into the garden. This is a vivid display, and it means there is no way “back” to innocence, no way back to eternal life, no way now that we can enjoy the presence of God forever. All the rules of the game are transformed.

Something must be done to correct the problem!
Thankfully, The Cross is Coming.