GOD'S DEALING WITH MAN

THE ADAMIC COVENANT

Gen 3:14-19

            Man continues in his fallen and corrupt condition.  He is alienated from God.  He has abdicated his position as king over all the earth and every living creature.  Instead he has bowed to the Lordship of Satan, the God of this world.  Rom 5:12 tells us that we all sinned in that one man.  We need to look at some of the circumstances that made the background for this covenant.

            The serpent was the most subtle of all the beasts.  He was no doubt a very beautiful creature.  In Ezekiel 28:13 he is said to be clothed with the Sardis, topaz, the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, the carbuncle, and gold.  Perhaps it was because of this beauty and subtlety that Eve took time to listen to this deceiver.

            The serpent was beguiling.  He probably had talked with the two humans before, because Eve did not seem to think it strange that the serpent talked with her.  We have no idea how long they had lived together on earth from their time of creation until the day of temptation.  The first thing the serpent did in the temptation was to put a question on what God had said.  It is recorded in Gen. 3:1 "...And he said unto the woman, Yea hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?"  He set a precedent that many so called ministers today question as to whether God has said, that is whether He has spoken at all.  Then the serpent and those false ministers question what He did say.

            His question fell on open ears.  How many are there today who will listen to an attack on God's word quicker than they will listen to a true proclamation of His word.  Surprisingly Eve already had the seed of rebellion in her heart.  When asked this question, she answered, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die."  This is what I meant by seed of rebellion.  Eve said, God won’t even let us touch it.  God had said nothing about touching it.  They could have rubbed up against it all day long and not offended God.  Eve was in effect saying, God is holding out on us.  She also added "lest we die."  This seems to water down the results God had predicted.  He did not say lest ye die.  Instead God said, in the day thou eatest thereof, you shall surely die.  Men still follow their mother and rebel claiming that God says what He doesn't say and watering down what He does say?

            Eve came to grips with what John called all that is in the world, the three categories into which all temptations may fall.  It is said in Gen. 3:6, "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat."  Note the three categories of all temptation.  They are 1. Desire of the flesh, food.  2. Desire of the eyes, pleasant to the eyes.  3. Pride of life, a tree to be desired to make one wise.  She ate and so did he.  Adam and Eve having become a fallen race, in our next post we shall see how God handled them.