THE SERPENT’S TALE
Pastor Dennis Clanton
Woodland Church
Sunday, July 30, 2023
(Genesis 3:1-15, NLT) “The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”
“Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”
“You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”
The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.
When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”
“Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”
The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”
Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”
Then the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all animals, domestic and wild. You will crawl on your belly, groveling in the dust as long as you live.
And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”
THE FALL OF HUMAN BEINGS…
1. …BEGAN WITH A SNEERING QUESTION IN THE HEART.
(Genesis 3:1, NLT) “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”
2. …CONTINUED WITH A LIE IN THE MIND.
(Genesis 3:4, NLT) “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman.
3. …WAS COMPLETED WITH AN ACT OF THE WILL.
(Genesis 3:6–7, NLT) The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.
WHAT IS SIN?
1. SIN IS REFUSING TO BELIEVE WHO GOD IS.
(John 16:9, NLT) The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me.
2. SIN IS OPPOSITION TOWARDS GOD AND HIS WILL.
(Psalm 111:7, NLT) All he does is just and good, and all his commandments are trustworthy.
(Job 34:10, NLT) “God doesn’t sin! The Almighty can do no wrong.”
(Matthew 24:12, NLT) “Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold.
(James 3:16, NLT) “For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.
THE PROBLEM OF SIN
1. WE WERE BORN WITH A DESIRE TO SIN.
(Romans 7:14, NLT) “I have a corrupt nature, sold as a slave to sin.”
2. SIN BREAKS OUR FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD.
(Isaiah 59:2, NLT) “It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.”
3. EVERY TIME I SIN, SOMETHING DIES INSIDE OF ME.
(James 1:15, NLT) “Our desires make us sin, and when sin is finished with us, it leaves us dead.”
4. I MIGHT KEEP MY SIN A SECRET, BUT IT WILL BE REVEALED.
(Numbers 32:23, Message) “You can be sure that your sin will track you down.”
(Galatians 6:7–8, NLT) “Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.”
(Proverbs 10:23, ESV) “Doing wrong is like a joke to a fool…”
THE CURE FOR SIN
1. BELIEVE IN WHAT JESUS DID FOR YOU AT CALVARY.
(1 Peter 2:24, NLT) “He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right.”
2. RECEIVE THE NEW LIFE GOD OFFERS YOU.
(1 John 3:9, NLT) “Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them.”
3. THINK OF YOURSELF AS DEAD TO SIN’S POWER.
(Romans 6:10–11, CEV) “When Christ died, he died for sin once and for all. But now he is alive, and he lives only for God. In the same way, you must think of yourselves as dead to the power of sin. But Christ Jesus has given life to you, and you live for God.”