Origins – Genesis 3:1-24

Genesis: Origins – Week 3 — The Fall: When Sin Enters the Story

Genesis 3:1–24 (CSB)

¹ Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”

² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden.

³ But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’”

⁴ “No! You will certainly not die,” the serpent said to the woman.

⁵ “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

⁶ The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

⁸ Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

⁹ So the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”

¹⁰ And he said, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.”

¹¹ Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

¹² The man replied, “The woman you gave to be with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate.”

¹³ So the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”

And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

¹⁴ So the Lord God said to the serpent: Because you have done this,
you are cursed more than any livestock and more than any wild animal.
You will move on your belly and eat dust all the days of your life.
¹⁵ I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.

¹⁶ He said to the woman: I will intensify your labor pains; You will bear children with painful effort. Your desire will be for your husband,
yet he will rule over you.

¹⁷ And he said to the man, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘Do not eat from it’: The ground is cursed because of you. You will eat from it by means of painful labor
all the days of your life.
¹⁸ It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.
¹⁹ You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow until you return to the ground, since you were taken from it. For you are dust, and you will return to dust.”

²⁰ The man named his wife Eve because she was the mother of all the living.

²¹ The Lord God made clothing from skins for the man and his wife, and he clothed them.

²² The Lord God said, “Since the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he must not reach out, take from the tree of life, eat, and live forever.”

²³ So the Lord God sent him away from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.

²⁴ He drove the man out and stationed the cherubim and the flaming, whirling sword east of the garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life.

Big Idea: Sin distorts God’s design, but God promises redemption.

• Today, we will start with one question and end with a second
• This first question
• Has quietly shaped
• Every human heart since the beginning of time.
• It’s not loud.
• It’s not aggressive.
• It doesn’t come with a warning label.
• It sounds reasonable.
• Curious.
• Even thoughtful.

“Did God really say…?”

• That question has ended marriages.
• That question has wrecked faith.
• That question has justified sin,
• Softened conviction,
• And reshaped morality.
• Genesis 3 is not ancient mythology
• It is a spiritual diagnosis.
• It explains why we:
• Distrust authority
• Hide when we fail
• Blame others
• Feel shame we can’t shake
• But Genesis 3
• Is also where God speaks hope into human ruin.
• This chapter shows us how sin enters
• And how grace refuses to leave.
• Lets break it down:

(Genesis 3:1–5)

Genesis 3:1 (CSB)
“Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made…”

• The word “cunning”
• Comes from the Hebrew ʿārûm (עָרוּם).
• It does not mean foolish or reckless—it means:
• Shrewd
• Crafty
• Subtly intelligent
• This is deception with intention.
• The serpent does not attack God directly.
• He attacks confidence in God’s Word.

“Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden?’”

• That is not a neutral question.
• It is a loaded distortion.

God had said:

“You are free to eat from any tree… but not this one.”

• Satan reframes God from:
• Generous → Restrictive
• Loving → Controlling
• Protective → Threatened

This is how temptation always works.

Eve responds:

Genesis 3:2–3 (CSB)
“We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’”

• Notice something subtle but important.
• God never said, “Do not touch.”
• When God’s Word is doubted or questioned
• It soon becomes edited. (culture does this a lot)
• Legalism often follows skepticism.
• Then the serpent escalates:

Genesis 3:4–5 (CSB)
“‘No! You will not certainly die… God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God.’”

• The phrase “you will not certainly die”
• Directly contradicts God.
• The Hebrew word for die is mût (מוּת)
• Meaning death, separation, loss of life.

Satan [reframes] death as:

• Progress
• Enlightenment
• Freedom

This is the lie beneath every sin:

• God is holding out on you.
• Jesus later names this strategy plainly:
• Satan is “a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).

Sin always begins by doubting God’s goodness before denying God’s authority.

• In other words,
• The fall does not begin
• With rebellion in the hands.
• It begins with suspicion in the heart.
• Before humanity ever disobeys God’s command,
• They stop trusting God’s character.
• Before we move on,
• We need to remember something important.
• Genesis was written by Moses
• To a group of people who had just come out of slavery.
• These were former slaves from Egypt.
• They had been physically freed
• But they were still learning how to trust.
• And that matters.
• Because every time
• God gave them instructions in the wilderness
• Whether it was about food, rest, worship, or boundaries
• The temptation was the same one we see in Genesis 3:

“Can we really trust God?”

• To the people who lived under Pharaoh,
• Authority always meant oppression.
• Commands always meant pain.
• Obedience was about survival, not relationship.
• So when God says,

“Trust Me. Obey Me. Follow Me,”

• Their hearts struggled.

Genesis 3 explains why.

• Moses is showing them
• That the problem didn’t start in Egypt.
• It started in the garden.
• The same lie whispered to Eve

God is holding out on you”

• Is the same lie Israel believed when they said,

“Why did you bring us out here to die?”
“Why can’t we go back?”
“Why should we trust this God?”

• Genesis 3 reframes everything.
• It teaches them that God’s commands are not chains
• They are protection.
• That disobedience doesn’t lead to freedom
• It leads to shame and separation.
• And that even when humanity fails,
• God is already moving toward redemption.
• For a wandering people,
• This was hope.
• They weren’t just escaped slaves.
• They were part of a story
• God had been writing since the very beginning.
• And church,
• That’s our story too.
• Lets keep going

(Genesis 3:6–7)

Genesis 3:6 (CSB)
“The woman saw that the tree was good for food, delightful to look at, and desirable for obtaining wisdom…”

• This verse echoes

1John 2:16

¹⁶ For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions—is not from the Father, but is from the world.

• Sin never appears ugly at first.
• It often appears reasonable.

Then comes the most devastating line of vs 6:

“So she took some of its fruit and ate it… and he ate it.”

• No debate.
• No repentance.
• No delay.

Genesis 3:7 (CSB)
“Then the eyes of both of them were opened…”

• The word “opened” is pāqaḥ (פָּקַח)
• To become aware.
• But awareness does not lead to wisdom.
• It leads to shame.
• They “knew they were naked.”

The word “naked” (ʿêrôm – עֵירֹם) implies:

• Exposure
• Vulnerability
• Loss of protection
• So they sew fig leaves together.
• This is humanity’s first religious act
• To try to fix themselves
• And it fails.
• Fig leaves wither quickly.
• Self-salvation always does.

James explains this progression clearly:

James 1:14–15 (CSB)
“Desire… gives birth to sin… and sin… gives birth to death.”

• Sin breaks more than rules.
• It fractures trust, intimacy, and belonging.
• So what we see in these verses is this:
• Temptation promised wisdom,
• But delivered shame.
• What looked like freedom
• Resulted in hiding.

Genesis 3:9 (CSB)
“So the Lord God called out to the man and said, ‘Where are you?’”

• This is not information-seeking.
• It is invitation.
• Then comes

Genesis 3:15—the heartbeat of redemption history:

“He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”

• The Hebrew word for “strike” is šûp (שׁוּף):
• To crush
• To bruise
• To overwhelm
• The serpent wounds.
• The offspring crushes.
• This is what the church
• Has recognized for centuries as the proto-gospel.
• Proto meaning “first.”
• From the earliest days of the church,
• Believers have seen this verse
• As God’s first announcement
• That a Savior is coming.
• It is the first promise that evil will not have the final word.
• Then in verses 16-19
• God hands out consequences (Labor pains, Hard difficult work)
• And at first glance,
• One might say “isn’t God just being harash”
• It’s important to say this clearly.
• These words are not God being cruel.
• They are God, being honest.
• This is not God prescribing suffering.
• This is God describing the broken world sin creates.
• But Then God does something profound:

Genesis 3:21 (CSB)
“The Lord God made clothing from skins… and clothed them.”

• The word “clothed” (lāḇaš – לָבַשׁ) means to wrap, to cover fully.
• This required death.
• Blood was shed.
• Shame was addressed by God—not ignored.
• From the very beginning:
• Grace is costly
• Covering comes from God
• Redemption precedes obedience

This points forward to Jesus as we will see in a moment

• But first Let’s pause and make sure we see what God is showing us.
• We’ve seen deception.
• We’ve seen disobedience.
• We’ve seen shame.
• And now—we are about to see grace.
• It is the story of how God refused to abandon the world He loves.
• The gospel is not God fixing Adam.
• The gospel is God replacing Adam.
• From the very moment sin enters,
• God begins to preach the gospel.
• First

1. Jesus Is the Promised Offspring (Genesis 3:15)

When God says:

“He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel,”

• He is announcing that redemption will come through a Person,
• Not a process.
• This offspring is:
• Born of a woman
• Wounded in conflict with evil
• Victorious through suffering
• That promise is fulfilled in Jesus.

At the cross:

• Satan strikes Christ’s heel — suffering, crucifixion, death
• Christ crushes Satan’s head — defeating sin, death, and the grave
• The cross looks like defeat.
• But it is actually the decisive victory promised in the garden.
• The gospel begins not with human repentance,
• But with divine initiative.
• God does not say, “Fix this and then I’ll help.”
• He says, “I will send One who will win for you.”
• Second

2. Jesus Is the Better Covering (Genesis 3:21)

• Adam and Eve sew fig leaves.
• God provides garments of skin.
• That covering required:
• Innocent death
• Shed blood
• And God’s direct action
• This is the pattern that runs through all of Scripture.
• Sin exposes.
• But God covers.
• Every sacrifice in the Old Testament echoes Genesis 3.
• Every lamb points forward to the Lamb of God.

At the cross:

• Jesus is stripped
• Jesus bears shame publicly
• Jesus sheds blood willingly

So that we could be:

• Covered
• Forgiven
• Restored
• We don’t cover our sin.
• We are clothed in Christ’s righteousness.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (CSB)
“He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

• Third

3. Jesus Is the Second Adam Who Did Not Fail

• Where Adam failed in a perfect garden,
• Jesus triumphed in a broken world.
• Adam listened to the serpent.
• Jesus resisted the tempter.
• Adam grasped for wisdom.
• Jesus trusted the Father.
• Adam brought death.
• Jesus brings life.
• Paul makes this connection explicit:

Romans 5:19 (CSB)
“For just as through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.”

• Christianity is not about trying harder than Adam.
• It is about trusting the obedience of Christ.
• Forth

4. The Gospel Answers our second question….God’s Question: “Where Are You?”

• When God asks Adam, “Where are you?”
• He is not asking for information.
• He is asking for honesty.
• The gospel is God’s answer to our hiding.
• In Jesus, God steps fully into our brokenness.
• God does not shout from heaven.
• He comes near.
• God does not ignore sin.
• He bears it.
• God does not leave us naked.
• He clothes us in grace.
• Genesis 3 doesn’t just tell us what happened.
• It confronts us with a question God is still asking:
• “Where are you?”
• Not where are you sitting.
• Not where do you attend.
• But where are you with Me?
• In the garden,
• Sin didn’t begin with bad behavior.
• It began with misplaced hunger.
• They listened to a different voice.
• They wanted something more than God.
• The most honest response to this text is prayer.
• Prayer that says,
• “God, restore my hunger for You.”
• Because if our hearts are not anchored in Him,
• We will always look for life somewhere else.
• (have them get in groups)

PRAYER PROMPT 1 — CONFESSION (FROM GENESIS 3)

“Lord, where have I listened to another voice?”
“What have I been feeding my heart instead of You?”
“Where am I hiding?”

PRAYER PROMPT 2 — RESTORATION OF HUNGER

“God, restore my hunger for You.”

“Jesus, help me trust Your voice again.”

“Lord, I don’t want substitutes anymore.”

PRAYER PROMPT 3 — SURRENDER (THE REVERSAL)

Lord, help me trust You.
Lord help me come out of hiding.
I receive Your covering.