What's Wrong With The World? (Genesis 3:1-13)
This sermon was preached by Caleb Yap.
This morning we kick off a short December series on Life’s Big Questions that looks at some of the foundational questions and answers of the Christian faith.
Especially if you are not a Christian, we’re glad you are here and hope you find this series helpful. Over the next four weeks, we will examine the Bible’s answers to questions about the human condition, pain, healing and hope. These are not questions unique to Christians and are asked by people of all backgrounds. But they actually sit at the heart of this Christmas season, and what the birth of Jesus is really about.
Today we consider “what’s wrong with the world?”
IPSOS is a global research firm surveys “what worries the world” every month across 29 countries. In October, they found that the top worry was: inflation, followed by crime and violence. While these bread and butter worries may be top of mind for now, but they actually only rose to the fore in the last three years. Also inflation and violence may point to the ongoing conflicts in Europe and the Middle East right now. So the real answer could be war that makes things cost more.
Perhaps another answer is found in the frequent catastrophic floods, earthquakes or wildfires. A massive survey of 1.2 million people from 77 countries found that 80% of respondents were deeply concerned about the climate crisis, and support more immediate, ambitious actions.
Still others suggest we are living through “a loneliness epidemic” or with diseases of despair. According to one article I read, almost a quarter of Singaporean adults live with social isolation and loneliness. One British author has written: “We live in a more materially prosperous time than any other. Life expectancy is at an all time high, and we have constant and ubiquitous access to the kind of technology that our ancestors would have considered nothing short of magical. Yet statistics tell us we are more unhappy than we have ever been, and that’s especially true of young people.”
What is wrong with the world? Well we need answers. And we all seek them. Realise too that your answer to this question determines what you spend your waking hours trying to fix, escape, or hedge against.
So turn with me to Genesis 3, which tells us that human beings experience and live out of a deep brokenness. Because we do not have peace with God.
Listen to what God’s Word says in Genesis 3:1-13.
Let us pray together. Heavenly Father, we humbly ask that you would send your Spirit to bless the preaching of your Word. Help this broken man trust fully on the sufficiency and merits of your Son. And magnify Jesus today among us for the honor of your name, Amen.
We have dishonoured God in sin, how we now hide from Him and yet, God’s hope endures.
What is wrong with the world? Together, we will meditate on how we have dishonoured God in sin (Gen 3:1-6), how we now hide from Him (Gen 3:7-13) and yet, God’s hope endures.
We dishonour God (Gen 3:1-6)
Genesis 3:1 reminds us that the “Yahweh Elohim”, LORD God — LORD all caps — is the One who made all things, including all the beasts of the field. Moses who wrote Genesis, begins with God, and He is the reason all things exist. By Him and for Him all things were made, and thus all are in God’s debt. In Psalm 90:2 Moses writes, “before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”
Moses wrote Genesis to explain God to the Israelites, who had grown up as slaves in Egypt, where they learnt about Ra the god of the sun and Osiris the god of the underworld. Like our pluralistic society, Egypt too was full of many gods and religions.
So Genesis wants us to have the right view of the one true God: human beings were made in His image and belong to Him. Egypt may have imposed oppressive work on slaves, but He designed Sabbath rest. God loved man and gave them a garden of paradise with every tree for good food, the gift of work and help, and of marriage. All this was very good.
Believing the liar of lies (Gen 3:1)
So where did the crafty serpent come from? The word crafty, “arum” in Hebrew, can be translated shrewd, sly or scheming. It appears eleven times in Scripture and refers to spoken words: the tongue of the crafty, the devices of the crafty. How do we understand this crafty serpent?
Bible interpreters broadly fall into two camps: one argues the serpent was a biological snake possessed by a spiritual power. Another thinks “serpent” is used as a title, the way we would call a crusty villain that “snake”. They are not mutually exclusive. Either way this is the key point: there is an enemy whose craft and power are great, and he is out to wreck Adam, Eve, you and me with lies. Listen, the Christian’s warfare against spiritual forces looks less like a mighty adversary with a weapon than a quiet ploy to cause you to doubt God’s goodness. Do not be ignorant or outwitted by the enemy’s designs. We need to hear this in our information saturated age. Be very careful of what you watch and listen to, the people and content you’re influenced by.
We do not know why God allowed the serpent to deceive Eve. Ezekiel 28 explains that a wise and beautiful angelic being was in Eden. Because he was proud and wanted to be God, he rebelled and became God’s adversary. Just as Satan entered Judas Iscariot in John 13:27, this being could have taken possession of a snake. Or as the Lord opened the mouth of Balaam’s donkey in Numbers 22, the snake could have been given power to speak. We just do not know.
The apostle John explains twice in Revelation 12 and 20 that the ancient serpent is called the Devil and Satan by name. These names are titles, literally meaning malicious or slanderous one — Devil and Satan, adversary or enemy. “Serpent” could be another title for this deceiver of the whole world whose falsehoods are poison.
But this we can know surely: this crafty enemy will one day be cast down. God tolerates his crafty lies, but only temporarily. His opposition to God is like a spider weaving a web to ensnare an eagle. Rest assured, God will extend His wings and crush the works of the Devil.
But that web can still ensnare. He makes two statements in Genesis 3. First, “did God actually say you shall not eat” (Gen 3:1). Second, when Eve says, if we touch the tree we die, he says, “you will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God knowing good and evil” (Gen 3:4-5).
The question “Did God actually say” plays tricks on Eve’s memory and suggests to her that God’s Word is not trustworthy. It questions whether Eve heard God right — what did God really mean and are you sure of what you know?
A little bit of truth can be deadly, especially religious truth. Notice that the serpent does not discuss economic data or public policy. He wants to talk about God and His Word. Friends, our religious talk is at the heart of spiritual warfare. What we believe about God and His Word is the battleground. And Eve’s reply in Genesis 3:2 exposes her to assault. Compare her words with Gen 2:16-17, and you will see she has misquoted God in three ways.
The key thing Eve gets wrong is that God no longer seems good to her. God’s goodness to provide, warn and care have been forgotten.
First, she leaves out that God said you may surely eat of every tree of the garden. God’s great goodness is forgotten. Second, she leaves out “you shall surely die”, which downplays God’s severe warning. Third, she adds to the command, “neither shall you touch it”, which makes God seem miserly and far less generous. The key thing Eve gets wrong is that God no longer seems good to her. God’s goodness to provide, warn and care have been forgotten.
Whether naive or irresponsible, Eve would have done well to heed the apostle John not to add or take away from the words of God (Rev 22:18-19). Friends, how diligent are we in ensuring that we hear and heed God’s Word, and that we never forget the goodness of our God to us?
No wonder Moses is always warning Israel in Genesis of what happens when we do not cling to the Word of the Lord: God speaks to reveal Himself, and instead of trusting good God and obeying His Word, the people fail to trust God, they doubt God’s goodness, and they disobey. Things fall apart.
Think about Abraham and Sarah interpreting God’s promise of offspring for themselves because God did not seem wise enough. So Hagar suffers and Ishmael is born.
The Israelites are told to collect manna just enough for each day, they disobey and their food rots. At Sinai they were told to consecrate themselves and wait for Moses’ return, instead they make a golden calf.
Friends, what about us? Deuteronomy 11:18 says: “lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, bind them as a sign on your hand and as frontlets between your eyes”. When tempted, Jesus said, “man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
Can I suggest some application? I pray that every one of us feel the burning need to get plugged into a good Bible study, or meet regularly with a brother or sister to read and understand the Bible and grow our trust in the goodness of God. All of us need this kind of help because we are tempted like Eve is to disbelieve God, no matter how experienced we may be.
Can I also say a word to Bible teachers of all kinds? If you are involved in preaching, teaching or reading the Bible with others — friends, thank you for your labor of life. It is precious to the Lord. If you feel discouraged because of criticism, opposition, people questioning your motives, or maybe you just feel there’s no fruit: don’t give up. Please keep on going. Your labours are how this church stays true to Scripture.
There is a beautiful Anglican prayer that I commend to you. It goes: “Blessed Lord, who caused Scripture to be written for our learning: Grant that we may hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life in Christ Jesus.”
Believing lies about God (Gen 3:4-5)
Well, we also dishonour God when we believe lies about God. Look back at Genesis 3:4. The serpent’s second statement “you will not surely die” is much stronger. The liar now makes the God of truth out to be the liar.
Deception is indirect. It gets around our natural defenses to strike us. So the serpent’s questions speculate about God’s motives and he poisons Eve’s sense of contentment.
Look at what the serpent says in Genesis 3:5. God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. This is how distrust of God grows. Your God can’t mean what He said, because that would keep you from being happy. God knows how much you’ll enjoy what He’s keeping from you.
If you think about it, the truth of what God said has nothing to do with whether it makes us happy or not. But it is persuasive in arousing discontentment with God.
The lies of the serpent emerge from a view of God that does not know Him personally or relationally.
Notice how the serpent refers to God. He calls Him God, or Elohim, the name for the Creator. Never does he use the personal, covenantal name of the LORD God, Yahweh Elohim. The lies of the serpent emerge from a view of God that does not know Him personally or relationally.
God is relational and He loves you. He made you for Himself. He desires your true joy and happiness. Psalm 36:7-8 should counsel us: “How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights.” More than that, Romans 8:32 reasons that if God has not withheld His greatest treasure, His only Son, why would we think He is holding anything else back?
You may be tempted to believe that happiness is found in some forbidden fruit that promises joy. It may be a relationship that God opposes. Or a view of yourself or lifestyle so fun and rewarding, but is slowly killing your heart and corrupting your conscience.
Friends, do not believe the lie of discontentment with God as if the forbidden fruit will truly make you happy. Do not believe this lie about God. God seeks your highest joy and your greatest good. It is the insidiousness of sin that makes God out to be your enemy. Dishonouring Him is to believe a lie about Him.
Preferring created things over God (Gen 3:6)
Dishonouring God also means preferring created things over the Creator.
Look on with me at Genesis 3:6. Dishonouring God also means preferring created things over the Creator. Eve takes the fruit drawn by three desires: that it was good for food and sustenance, it was a delight to the eyes and pleasurable and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise. Bible commentator Dale Ralph Davis says that the temptation to understand undermined the duties of obedience.
The apostle John probably alluded to this verse when he described all that is in the world — the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes and the pride of life in 1 John 2:16. What pleases the senses, draws the eyes and feeds the ego: they won’t last and will soon. But the joy of living in God’s will, pleasing Him that’s for eternity. If only Eve had someone to tell her not to give God up just for some pretty fruit!
Genesis 3:6 tells us that Adam, her husband was right there with her. But while she was deceived, he failed to protect the bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. Being formed first and hearing God’s Word, he should have spoken the truth. 1 Timothy 2 tells us clearly that in his transgression, he was not deceived as Eve was. So it was out of own sinful desire that he simply said nothing and gave in.
Because of Adam’s wilful disobedience, all mankind now lives in this broken estate. We inherit from him a sin nature and an addiction to be our own god. So God is right to treat us as rebels and enemies.
It is easy to think that Christianity, like the major religions of the world, describes our human condition in mostly horizontal terms. We tend to focus on the human dimension: we are imperfect, immoral or unjust, or we are in factions, the righteous and the unrighteous and we must fight it out, or we are obtuse or too attached in desire to the material. Thus we have wars, climate crisis, inequality and who watches the watchmen — because human beings are selfish and flawed.
The real root of our horizontal brokenness is actually vertical. Because we have dishonored God, we now have Him as our enemy!
But the Bible’s answer is much more nuanced. The real root of our horizontal brokenness is actually vertical. Because we have dishonored God, we now have Him as our enemy! The lives we live of brokenness we live because we are hiding from our Maker, which takes us to our second point.
Hiding from God (Gen 3:7-13)
What does hiding from God mean?
Guilt and shame (Gen 3:7)
Moses tells us in Genesis 3:7 that the immediate effects of dishonoring God are guilt and shame. Adam and Eve’s eyes were opened and they knew they were naked. They did not suddenly become naked, but their consciences were awakened by paradise lost. They experienced transgression. They felt the guilt of disobeying their Maker and destroying one another. They experienced spiritual darkness.
And what do guilty sinners do? The text says: they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
With their best efforts, they tried to cover up the most intimate and shameful parts of their bodies. Body parts that were meant for intimacy and relationship, meant to be used in the safety and security of marriage, now needed to be covered up in shame. Spouses could not be naked before each other. That is the painful picture of betrayal.
Moses’ words convey a quiet sense of grief, of innocence lost. They felt dirty and unclean. They just wanted to cover up their shame.
When our vertical relationship with God is broken, our horizontal relationships also fracture. It can be so painful we desperately try to hide it.
This is a picture of what happens when our vertical relationship with God is broken. Our horizontal relationships also fracture. It can be so painful we desperately try to hide it.
So we scramble around pretending all is well. Desperately we make it seem like we are okay. But we are not. Deep down, we know we are broken.
Avoiding God’s presence (Gen 3:8-13)
Hiding from God also means we cannot be in His presence. When we hide from God, we are cut off from Life itself. Genesis 3:8 says that as God comes to walk in His creation, He initiates fellowship with Man and woman. He calls to them to meet Him. Adam speaks in Genesis 3:10 for the first time in this chapter: “I heard the sound of you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself.”
Guilt and shame makes us hide from God, because we are afraid of Him.
Guilt and shame makes us hide from God, because we are afraid of Him. This is the fear of self-preservation, not the healthy reverent fear of God. It is a fear of what will do to us if we have to give an account for what we’ve done. There really are only two ways to respond: either we come humbly, submitting to Him and coming clean, or we try and evade capture. We try to wish God away, or not think about him, maybe try to get as far away from God as we can.
We see Adam and Eve doing the latter in v8 as they try to hide from God amid the trees of the garden. In the same way that loincloths could cover their shame they thought, perhaps trees would shield them from judgement.
Before we laugh at their absurdity, do we not recognise ourselves doing the same thing? A billion human beings on this earth are hiding from God and trying to ignore Him. We do this through higher education and advancement for a sense of achievement, through therapy, sound baths and wellness to find inner peace. We numb ourselves to spiritual things with entertainment and comfort. We even push death and the afterlife to the very edge of society, far away from our cities for the simple reason: I don’t want to have to think about God. Because if I did, I would have to admit I’m spiritually bankrupt.
Running from God, or hiding from Him, confirms what the apostle Paul said in Romans 1:18-20. My paraphrase: what we know about God is plain to us. We know that God’s wrath is being revealed against all ungodliness and wickedness in this world. But instead of acknowledging God and our sin, we would rather suppress the truth in unrighteousness.
Blame shifting (Gen 3:10)
Another way we do this is by blame shifting.
In Genesis 3:11 God launches a fact finding mission to unravel what His children did. His asks why they feel naked, and if they have indeed disobeyed His Word. They respond by blaming each other, downplaying our sin, even faulting God.
In their confession, the words “I ate” appear only at the end of their answers. Both of them do this. The woman blames the serpent, the man the woman, then in a way that is uncomfortably serpent-like, the man suggests that God is ultimately at fault.
Spiritual corruption has begun to set in. The children of God sound more like the liar than their Father. They use suggestions and slander. Friends, how do we react when we are confronted with sin? What does your reaction reveal about your heart?
Adam and Eve’s response reminds me of what Proverbs 19:3 says “when a man’s folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the Lord”. If we feel the instinct to blame God when we are confronted and exposed, could we be the fool? Could your unwillingness to see your fault be evidence of spiritual blindness? May God grant us soft hearts that are teachable, never evasive or defensive.
The heart that hides from God is desperate to evade judgment.
The heart that hides from God is desperate to evade judgment. We always look for ways to self-justify. What strategies do we use to prop up self-righteousness? To blame others and cover up guilt?
I know I sometimes put others down to prop myself up. Gossiping, slandering and enjoying the scandals and flaws of others. Or I can reinforce the prejudice I already feel about someone I do not like to make myself feel good about me. Do you do that too? We are sometimes like the Pharisee in Luke 18 who prayed, “I give thanks to God that I not like other men”.
There are also digital versions of this behaviour. Internet call-out culture and mocking comments that aim to expose, cancel and condemn. Or posting content to signal virtue and share my wisdom — these could be variations of the same heart — ways that we hide our own nakedness and blameshift.
Our assigned text stops at Genesis 3:13 before God the Judge hands down a righteous verdict. Satan’s deception must be brought into the light. God is a good and loving Father who must discipline disobedience. Yes, Adam and Eve have suffered painful guilt and shame but justice demands an account. We pick up in the text next week as elder Jon explores the question: why is life so hard?
Yet hope (Gen 3:8-9)
Still our passage holds out a faint glimmer of hope. Look back at Genesis 3:8-9 and at the character of our good and wise God. Notice that after the disobedience, God actually waits for some time till evening in the cool of the day when He comes forth to walk. Then He calls out to the man “where are you”?
Listen, God the all-knowing already knew what had happened. He knew exactly where Adam and Eve were hiding, what they were feeling. But patiently He waited to set the stage. Even with the Fall, our wise God was in sovereign control.
Genesis 3:8 goes back to referring to God as LORD God, Yahweh Elohim, back to that L-O-R-D all caps, covenant, relational name of God. He is a wise and compassionate God of covenant love, and He is not done with His people. Yes, His call to them is an uncomfortable invitation, but it is safe to come to Him. More than that, it is an invitation to come and see what this God will do about their sin.
The Prince of Preachers, Spurgeon has the most beautiful passage on this text: “But now, the Lord himself comes forth to Adam, and note how he comes. He comes walking. He was in no haste to smite the offender, not flying upon wings of wind, not hurrying with his fiery sword unsheathed, but walking in the garden. “ In the cool of the day ” — not in the dead of night, when the glooms of darkness increased the terrors of the criminal; not in the heat of the day, lest we imagine God came in the heat of passion; not in the early morning, as if in haste to slay, but at the close of the day, for God is longsuffering, slow to anger, and of great mercy;... the sun was setting upon Eden's last day of glory, when the dews began to weep for man's misery, when the gentle winds with breath of mercy breathed upon the hot cheek of fear; when earth was silent that man might meditate, and when heaven was lighting her evening lamps, that man might have hope in darkness; then, and not till then, forth came the offended Father.”
He is offended by sin. But in wisdom He has a plan to show you mercy today.
My non-Christian friend, this is the kind of God we have dishonoured and hide from. Yes He is offended by sin. But in wisdom He has a plan to show you mercy today. Years later, God came again to the world He made, taking on flesh and born as a baby to be our Savior. Every supermarket playing Christmas carols declares that Christ was born to bring us peace, to reconcile God and man. God offers you hope not fear, as you turn from your sins and trust Jesus Christ. You can do this right now, today if you want to dishonour God no more and stop hiding from Him. I would love to chat with you after the service if you want to find out more, or you can talk to the Christian who brought you here right after this.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, ours is this good news of great joy. It does more than just tell us what is wrong with the world. The Gospel has both diagnostic power and delivering power. We have been saved in Jesus. So let us not pretend for one more minute we are not sinners. It’s too exhausting pretending we’re better than everyone else because we’re not. We who dishonoured God and hid from Him, we live for the honour of Jesus in His presence.
The world is broken, and the church of Christ should broadcasting Gospel hope. Our business is to get this news of peace out to everyone we know. Go and tell it on a mountain, over the hills and everywhere. Is there someone God is calling you to speak of Jesus this December? Let us go out and share it, send out missionaries, plant churches so the Gospel goes to the ends of the earth. And as we do that, let us keep trusting our good wise God.
Allow me to conclude. What’s wrong with the world? All of us need an answer for this question: why war, corruption and moral failure, why we hurt one another, why we feel so lousy sometimes, why life feels empty. Why society is broken, and why inside, we feel so broken?
We are a people who have dishonoured the living God. Our condition is to hide from Him in lives of spiritual confusion and corruption, everyone one of us. But praise God that hope springs eternal.
God’s Word says we are a people who have dishonoured the living God. Our condition is to hide from Him in lives of spiritual confusion and corruption, everyone one of us. But praise God that hope springs eternal:
O mystery of the cross,
That God should suffer for the lost
So that the fool might shame the wise, And all the glory might go to Christ.