What Does Genesis 3 Teach Me About Sin and Redemption? (Genesis 3)

A Few Thoughts to Consider

What is sin and how did it originate?

In Genesis 2, God created a perfect world but gave humans the free will capacity to sin. In Genesis 3, Eve takes advantage of this and with Adam looking over her shoulder she gives into the temptations of an evil snake. Now, it’s here we should pause and address the obvious question. Was this snake actually real? 

Some would say no, but as John Walton notes,

“Unless one is willing to consider the whole of Genesis 1–11 as myth (which I am not), the face value of the text suggests that the author wants us to believe that this event really happened. Moreover, the reality of the Fall is an essential foundation to Pauline theology, and the New Testament consistently shows it considers the events of Genesis 3 to be true, as historical realities.”^[1]

Regardless of your view, Eve has a back-and-forth exchange with a serpent that tells us a lot about her mindset.

Commentator Gordon Wenham makes the following observations:

The woman corrects the snake, but not quite accurately. Whereas the Lord had said, “You may freely eat of every garden tree,” she omits “every,” saying simply, “We may eat of the fruit …” She also adopts the snake’s description of the Lord God, describing him simply as “God,” and most significantly, she adds to the ban on eating of the tree of knowledge a prohibition on even touching it “lest you die.” These slight alterations to God’s remarks suggest that the woman has already moved slightly away from God toward the serpent’s attitude.^[2]

Verse 6 says, “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, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.”

The immediate result of their sin is an emotion they had never experienced: guilt. Verse 7 says they suddenly feel the shame of being naked, and verse 8 reveals the response to this shame and guilt is to hide from God. And as a result, Adam and Eve’s bodies begin to decay, they are removed from the garden, and they and their descendants live under the curse that sin brings.

This is the power of sin. To sin is to miss the mark of God’s perfection. It is to choose chaos over order. It is to live out of sorts with how you were created to live.

As Saint Augustine famously stated, “The essence of sin is disordered love.” It’s putting something, such as forbidden fruit, before God. James 1:14-15 teaches us that sin starts with desire, shifts to a decision, and ultimately ends in death. Sin is inevitably a part of our world. The question is not if we will encounter sin. The question is how we will respond.

Genesis 3 is the most tragic passage in all of Scripture. As we read, we should feel the weight and pain of this account and increase our gratitude for what Christ did on the cross to overcome sin’s curse.

A Meditation to PRAY

Praise | I praise you for creating a plan of redemption when mankind chose sin. Thank you for your mercy and grace.

Release | I trust your timing in things I do not understand. You are a good God who will give me all I need exactly when I need it.

Ask | Please forgive me for the times, like Eve, I have begun to rationalize something that will ultimately lead to destruction and sin. Help me die to my flesh and live according to your Spirit.  

Yield | Show me areas where I tend to change the narrative from your words and thoughts to my own understanding. I give you my will. Please lead me in your perfect way.

A Challenge to Act Like Christ  

As John Walton notes,

“God’s prohibition of the tree need not lead us to conclude that there was something wrong with what the tree gave.”[1]

It’s possible this tree might have been good to eat at a later date. But Adam and Eve did not trust God’s timing.

Walton notes,

“One can compare this to the temptation of Christ, [Gen, p. 206] when Satan offered him all the kingdoms of the world if Jesus would bow down to him (Luke 4:5–7). There was nothing wrong with Christ’s ruling all the kingdoms of the world—it was his destiny. The temptation involved bypassing appropriate process and timing, seizing them through deviant means.”^[2]

Because Christ lived a sinless life and paid the ultimate penalty for sin, we can experience the gift of eternal life. He broke the curse of sin. And yes, while we live under the weight of sin in this world and our physical bodies will die, our spirits will live on, and we look forward to the day we experience our resurrected bodies.

Sin brings death, but God’s Word calls us to a different kind of death. It calls us to be dead to sin. Romans 8:13 says that while we will die if we live according to the flesh, if we live according to the Spirit, we will live. Romans 6:2 says that as born-again believers we are to be dead to sin. Romans 6:11 says we are to reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:19 says as servants of Jesus we must yield all of our members as servants to righteousness unto holiness. Romans 13:14 says make no provision for the flesh to gratify its sinful desires.

So place all your trust in Jesus today, knowing that because of Him, we have the power to overcome sin.

*Unless you specify otherwise, comments and questions you ask may be featured in upcoming podcast episodes.

[1] John Walton, NIV Commentary

[2] Gordon Wenham, Word Biblical Commentary, Genesis 3:2–3 (WBC Vol. 1):

[3] John Walton, NIVAC

[4] John Walton, NIVAC