The Gospel, Part 2 — Man Sinned | Podcast | Episode 2

Listen

---

Read the Transcript

Hello, my name is Nate I’m a youth pastor from the Detroit area and the Content Manager at OnTrack Devotions, and you’re listening to the OnTrack Devos Pulse Podcast.

Thanks so much for joining us. Once again, my name is Nate, and I am thankful you’re here. 

We started this podcast to publicly practice the skill and discipline of personal Bible study by engaging collision points between biblical truth and culture. So, each week we will take user submitted questions and attempt to answer them using the Bible!

Today’s Question

This week we will continue answering the question, “What is the Gospel?” Throughout this series you will hear me repeat the statement:

• God Created
• Man Sinned
• Jesus was Promised
• Jesus Came
• Jesus lived a sinless life because He is God
• Jesus died as a sacrifice for Sin
• Jesus resurrected
• Confess, Repent, Believe by Faith we are saved

We will be breaking down the Gospel using these mental flashcards as our framework. Last week we talked about God creating. And this week we are going to address flashcard number two which is: Man Sinned.

So what is sin?

Short Answer

Well, the short answer is that sin is breaking God’s law. There are different areas and classifications for sin but in the end all sin breaks God’s law.

So, let’s dive in and examine where sin came from and its seriousness for us today.

Long Answer

Genesis 3 is our main account for understanding the origin of sin. Take some time, pause this, and read Genesis 3 on your own and then when you’re ready let’s jump in.

We need to review some quick context as Genesis 3 starts off talking about Satan and his questioning of God’s command regarding the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

In Genesis 2:16 and 17 we see that “16 the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

So, we need to identify the EXACT command that God gave Adam and Eve.

• Adam and Eve could eat of every tree of the garden
• Except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
• If they eat of that tree, they will SURLY die.

Seems simple enough. But oh, how complicated things would become. Keep all this in mind.

Observation | Say What? What do I see?

Here are some quick observations to make in this passage:

• The serpent (Referred to as the Devil and Satan) is crafty
• The serpent twists God’s statement from Genesis 2 in the form of a question.
• Eve incorrectly says that she is not allowed to touch the tree of the knowledge of Good and evil. This is never stated by God
• Eve (and by implication Adam) both see that the tree was good for food. They focus on one thing when they have everything else
• Adam and Eve show shame by clothing themselves
• Adam passes blame for his sin to Eve, Eve passes blame for her sin to the serpent
• God makes a promise to all three
  • To the serpent he is cursed and there is a statement that he will bruise someone’s heel and that his head will be bruised- We will get to this more later.
  • Eve will have great pain in childbirth and her desires would become contrary to her husband and her husband will rule over her.
  • Adam will have to work hard and be in pain fighting to live and work the ground.
  • He will die physically and be placed in the ground.
• Adam and Eve were removed from fellowship with God in the Garden that He had created.

Interpretation | So what does all this mean?

So what does all this mean? Wow! There is a lot to get into here! Let’s take it step-by-step.

• First, we see immediately the way that Satan works. In verse 1 he asks Eve if “God really said” what she thinks he said. He causes doubt to be formed in Eve’s mind. She doubts the character of God and God’s design for them.
• We know this because that is the lie that Satan plants in verse 5 when he says that God knows he has kept something from you and that if you take it you will be like God.
• We also see that she ADDED to what God said. She states that if she touches the tree she will die. But that is NOT what God said in chapter 2.
• After she adds to God’s word Satan then takes away from what God said by stating that she will not die.
• Ultimately Adam and Eve were led to doubt that God wanted what was best for them and was keeping something from them. So, they sinned. They broke God’s command. And in that moment the world was instantaneously changed.
• So what changes happened?
  • Well, for Adam, his work became far harder. When before he worked and walked with God in naming the animals, the plants, and tending the garden, now he would have to break his back, sweat, deal with thistles and thorns, just to survive. Adam would experience the curse of sin in creation. And in the end all men would die and return to dust.
  • For Eve, her consequences of sin included death, pain in childbirth, and a promise that because of sin her desires would be against her husband. In other words, marriage would no longer be a perfect union but would be enveloped in conflict
  • For Satan, God gave the first prophecy of a coming Savior. We will dive more into this next week. For now, understand that God promised that from the line of Eve would come an offspring who would be “bruised” or hurt in by Satan but would in the end crush Satan’s head. For some cross references clarifying this prophecy look at Romans 16:20, Heb. 2:14, Rev 20:1-3, 10.
• Finally, what did the consequence of sin actually mean. Well, it meant that man could no longer fellowship with God as he had before. God chose to expel Adam and Eve from the garden.
• It also meant that man was destined to die.
• Some might argue that this is a cruelty of God to remove man when he could still live forever with access to the tree of life. But imagine a world where one could not die but lived forever suffering the consequences of sin to live in sorrow and toil. It is an act of grace that God chose to limit the number of years that man would live and yet still promised a way for man to be saved from eternal death.
• God also showed grace by clothing Adam and Eve before they were expelled from the garden.

Application | So what? What does any of this matter to you?

Wow. There’s a so much to think about here. But let’s acknowledge a few things:

• First. You’re a sinner. I’m a sinner. Everyone is guilty of sin.
• Sin’s ultimate curse is death. Physically and spiritually.
• Sin has affected the way that you live in more ways than you probably realize.
  • Stubbing your toe is due to the curse of sin.
  • That fight with a family member is due to the curse of sin.
  • Depression and anxiety are due to sin.
  • Moldy bread…. SIN.
  • Societal fighting is due to the curse of sin.
  • Distrust of other is due to sin.
  • I could go on and on, but I think you get the point.
• Sin corrupts every aspect of life and ultimately results in death.
• We also see that when we sin, we are questioning God’s character, motives, and design for our lives and thus we break God’s commands. I hope you understand the seriousness of sin when you see how it has infected every aspect of our lives.
• Finally, sin leaves us hopeless. Adam and Eve while given grace from God had NO hope outside of the promise of a coming Savior.

Integration | How can we put this knowledge to practice?

It seems bizarre to ask, “How do we put the knowledge that man sinned into practice?” But let’s do a couple things
Think about your past week. How have you questioned God? How have you twisted what you know God has said to fit your desires? I’ll give you an example from my own life.

Scripture teaches that children are a heritage and blessing from the Lord and are something to be valued and cared for. I have 2 boys and one was sick this past week. He’s only 18 months old and so while he was sick, he loved to snuggle and just be held. Frankly, I soaked it all in. Something about being a father and being able to hold your child who isn’t feeling so hot is a huge blessing.

You might say, aww that’s beautiful how does this relate to sin? Well, the little stinker got better. And you would be correct and saying, “that’s a good thing, right?” Yes of course! But when he got better the sweet little cuddly guy went into full rage monster. Basically, he got used to being held and cuddled and fawned over and so anytime we set him down after he was better, he would lose his mind. When I say rage, I mean unfettered rage.

After about 40 hours of hearing a NOT sick child screaming, crying, keeping us up for hours at night my wife and I were at whit’s end. I know this sounds horrible, but I was tempted to resent this little guy. To be bitter. To question God’s promise that children are a blessing and His command to value them. I just wanted to be away from him. Here I am a 30 something year old being offended by an 18-month-old. That’s questioning God’s design.

Thankfully, he’s doing better and of course I don’t hold bitterness toward my little man, but I think you can see the point.

Here’s what you can do at home:

• Confess the sin in your life. Acknowledge its seriousness before God.
• Write out the areas where you might add or take away from God’s word. Why do you do that? What is the consequence? What’s the consequence of NOT adding or taking away from God’s word?
• Listen to the song Lord Have Mercy (For What We Have Done) by Matt Boswell.
• Identify three ways the world continues to go against God’s commands. What are the results?

Wrap-up

For now we are going to pause. I recognize that stopping on a topic like sin is depressing, but hope is coming. It’s not a bad thing to reflect on sin and our need for a Savior. Don’t forget the promise. There will be one who would come and crush Satan’s head. We will check that out next week.

Remember:

• God Created
• Man Sinned
• Jesus was Promised
• Jesus Came
• Jesus lived a sinless life because He is God
• Jesus died as a sacrifice for sin
• Jesus Resurrected
• Confess, Repent, Believe, by Faith we are saved.

This podcast was written and recorded by me, Nate King. The editing and music are provided by Evan Braddock.

For more answers to questions and access to integrated Bible study tools download the OnTrack Devos App!

All source material is provided in our transcripts.

From all of us at OnTrack Devotions this has been the Pulse Podcast. Be Well.