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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
sinner, and the a ttitu d e of the sinner tow ard God, and these have never changed. God seeks th e sinner. (Luke 19:10) “The Son of Man is come to seek and to save th a t which was lost.” God did not have to charge them w ith th e ir sin. His voice sta rtled them ; His presence sent them into hiding. Their hiding from God was a proof of th e ir guilt. Why should any man seek to hide from God? Why should he not seek God? Where are now th e boasted wisdom and reasoning powers which had been prom ised them by Satan as a resu lt of eating th e fru it of the forbidden, tree? The effect of th e fall was to make men moral cowards. In the fall man obtained a conscience, and “ Conscience doth make cowards of us all.” There is nothing in con science to bring us to God. It enables us to know the difference between rig h t and wrong, bu t gives no power to do th e rig h t or resist the wrong. God questioned Adam first because he was th e respons ible party. Dominion and au tho rity had been vested in him. Adam seeks to throw th e responsibility back upon God. He gave no sign of contrition or sorrow. He was only sorry th a t he had been found out. God questions him again, “Who told thee thou w ast naked? H ast thou eaten of th e tree whereof I commanded thee thou shouldest not e a t? ” Now Adam throw s the responsibility upon Eve (v. 12) “The woman thou gavest me to be w ith me, she gave me of th e tree .” God said to the woman, “W hat hast thou done?” and she follows in the footsteps of her husband and seeks to throw the blame upon the serpent. God does not question th e ser pent, bu t begins a t once to pronounce judgment. (5) THE SENTENCE UPON THE SERPENT, vs. 14, 15 “Thou a rt cursed * * * above every beast of the field.” The promised Redeemer is here announced (Luke 1:31, 35; Gal. 4:4, 5) H is So n, m ad e o f a w om an , m ad e un der th e law , To red eem th em th a t w e r e unde r th e law , th a t w e m ijr ht r ec eiv e th e ad op tio n o f sons*” The “seed of th e woman” will bruise S atan ’s head (Heb. 2:14, 15; Rev. 20:1-3; 7-10). H ere is God’s declaration of w ar between Satan, (the ru ler of th is earth , who ob tained th e sceptre by seduction of Adam and E ve), and the promised seed of th e woman; between the powers of darkness and of ligh t; between good and evil; between the children of God and the children of th e devil. The Bible is the story of th is w arfare. The promised Redeemer must be crucified, His h e e l,(o r human n atu re— the man) must die; bu t th e same Man m ust crush Satan and take from him th e sceptre. W ithout these verses the Bible could never be understood. W ith them , its history is easily understood. The cross reveals God’s righteousness and m an’s sin; the serpent, th e source of ru in ; the seed of th e woman, the source of redemption. In Gen. 3:15 (less th an th irty words) lies th e germ of all Messianic prophecy. Baised upon th is verse are 300 predictions, covering a period of forty centuries in th eir fulfillment. There is a universal belief in the principles of good and evil, and every religious system and cult has th is fact as the basis of th eir propaganda. The erro r of th e church is in its failure to recognize th is fact and th a t both the Bible and hum an n atu re emphasize th e necessity of a new natu re. In th e fall, Adam and Eve lost p articipation in the Di- w h en th e fu ln e ss o f th e tim e w a s co m e, God se n t fo r th
(2) THE SEDUCTION, vs. 2-5 “Yea, hath God said?” Satan moved w ith ad ro it skill upon the m ind of Eve, “Yea, h ath God said?” He tem pted h er to doubt th e "good ness of God. This is the introductory tem ptation in every life,— to doubt the love, the goodness and the wisdom of God. If we yield to this, then we are prepared for any subsequent lie of th e devil. Eve, in her reply to Satan, deceitfully used th e Word. She added to it, “N either shall ye touch it.” She changed it from “ In th e day thou eatest thereo f thou sh a lt surely die” (2 :1 7 ) to “lest ye die." She had commenced to reason. She was ready to believe a lie. (John 8:44; 2 Cor. 2 :11 ; 2 Cor. 11 :3 ). You can test any false system by th e th re e lies used by Satan in his tem ptation of Eve. (1) “Yea, h a th ? ”— denial of inspiration. (2) “Ye shall no t,”— denial of etern al punishm ent. (3 ) “Ye shall be as gods,”— deifying man, the sp irit of Antichrist. The first step in the tem ptation was to doubt God’s goodness in depriving them of the privilege of becoming like H imself and to believe th a t He had purposely w ith held th e fru it of the tree from a selfish motive. The second step was an attack upon the Word of God. Satan denied God’s statem ent, “Ye shall surely die.” He would not have dared do this before Eve had received the suggestion of doubt concerning God’s love. Notice th a t Satan did not deny God’s authority, or existence, bu t the rig h t of God to w ithhold anything from them. The th ird step was to arouse Eve’s ambition, and in doing th is he makes God a liar. He says in effect,^—“God doth know th a t ye shall be as gods. He is afraid you will be like H im .” Was th ere ever a baser lie? Does not the Word of God teach us th a t it is the highest wish and will of God th a t \ye become like H imself? (1 John 3:1, 2) The threefold characteristic of tem ptation is given us in 1 John 2:16,—-the lu st of th e flesh (appetite, good food); the lu st of the eye (esthetic p leasu res); pride of life (in tellectual attainm en t). Notice the steps in Eve’s fall,—-listening to Satan; look ing upon the fru it; lu sting for power; leading her husband into sin. The Scriptures tell us th a t Adam was not deceived, but the woman (1 Tim. 2 :1 4 ). Adam ate w ith his eyes open. He would not desert his wife, and it w as too late to save her. F o r her p a rt in th e fall, Eve is subjected to her husband. From henceforth he is to ru le over her. (3 ) THE SHAME OF SIN, vs. 6, 7 “They knew they were naked.” Their eyes were opened and they hid themselves. From th a t day to th is man has been engaged in th e fruitless effort of hiding his sin and shame from the eye of God. Fig leaves are b u t the symbol of works of the flesh,r— the hollow mockery of self-righteous efforts to clothe the sinner w ith an acceptable garm ent in th e eyes of God. Every human effort made to satisfy m an’s conscience has proven a failure, and no man-made effort will ever satisfy God. (4) THE SEEKING GOD, vs. 8-13 “W here a r t th o u ?” In these verses we see God’s relation to fallen man. He comes down to seek him. He had not taken up His abode w ith man, bu t visited him. There are th ree great, grave questions in th e th ird and fourth chapters of Genesis, which are always applicable to men: “Where a rt th o u ?” “Where is thy b ro th er?” “W hat hast thou done?” The first question introduces th e theme of God’s grace. We have the a ttitu d e of God tow ard the
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