WHEN SIN ENTERED THE WORLD.

Genesis 2 and 3.

Let us open our Bibles at the second chapter of Genesis, and the fourth verse. Our theme is " When Sin Entered the World/' and in the working out of it there will be four or five stages of development. We begin with

I.

THE CREATION OF MAN,

verses 4 to 7:

"These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens. * * * And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."

The phrase " These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth " refers to that which follows it rather than that which goes before. And the most important thing which follows is the record of the creation of man, where it is written that the Lord God formed him of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, so that he became a living soul.

We thus perceive, as was intimated a week ago, that man is as to his nature a kind of trinity; he has a body, a soul, and a spirit, and the soul seems to be the meeting-place of the body and the spirit.

The New Testament emphasizes the same truth, where Paul, in his prayer for the young Christians at Thessalonica, expresses the desire that their spirit, and soul and body may be preserved entire and without blame at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23). The early church expected His near return just as we should be expecting it, and it was Paul's wish that they might be on the earth when He came, entire as to their body, soul, and spirit, and thus be caught up to meet Him in the air.

To the same purport, the Epistle to the Hebrews speaks of the Word of God as quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit. (4: 12).

THE SOUL AND THE BODY.

There is, therefore, a distinction between the soul and the spirit of man, just as there is between his soul and body. What the distinction is, it is difficult to say, but psychologists speak of the body as the seat of our sense-consciousness, the soul as the seat of our self-consciousness, and the spirit as the seat of our God-consciousness. With our body in other words, we know things that are round about us, with our soul we know ourselves and with our spirit we know God.

It is significant in this connection that God speaks of the regenerated man as one in whom He will "create a clean heart " and " renew a right spirit," a spirit that can know Him, and hence hold fellowship with Him, as we have seen, in love, and service, and perfection.

Have you been born again, and do you thus know God? This is the first of questions. God help you to settle it now, and to settle it right.

II.

Let us now pass to

THE LOCATION OF MAN,

verses 8 to 15:

"And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; and the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it."

There are those who hold that the garden of Eden is simply a fancy and not a fact, and that the incident here recorded is not historical, but a myth or allegory.

It seems to me, in reply, that the Holy Spirit would hardly take the pains He evidently does to describe this locality, if that were true. Nor would He so trifle with the intelligence and credulity of His creatures. To my mind, no further answer is required to prove the historicity of Eden.

Just notice the particularity referred to. He speaks first of Eden, then of a location eastward in Eden, and then of a garden in that location, as though one alluded to the United States, then to the state of Illinois, and finally to the city of Chicago.

Notice the topographical data. Particular attention is directed to a river that went out of Eden to water the garden. And it must have been a great river, since it subsequently became divided into four, indicating the location to have been in the uplands in order to give rise to it.

WHERE WAS EDEN?

Even the names of the rivers flowing from the original are given. The last two are identified by everyone, and it is thought by many that the first two are the Kur and the Araxes, which flow into the Caspian Sea; and if this be so, then they compassed the land we know now as Armenia.

In further corroboration of this, I may say that modern science substantiates it in at least two ways: first, by affirming that the human race came from a common center; and second, that that center must have been in the tableland of central Asia.

I should like to repeat here what I said in the previous lecture, that while the Bible does not profess to teach science, or to give a history of the world, or even of the human race, yet modern research has not been able in any way to contradict any scientific or historical fact which the Bible has recorded.

THE MEANING OF THE TREES.

When God refers to " the tree of life," some suppose it means that the tree possessed the gift of physical immortality; that its " leaves were for the healing of the nations," to heal wounds, to counteract sickness, to repair daily waste and keep the springs of activity and enjoyment preserved in abounding fulness.

If this be so, then observe again God's kindness in excluding man, after the fall, from the garden. There was judgment in that act, but mercy too- for since man had come to possess the knowledge of evil, without the power of resisting it, had he still been at liberty to lay hold of and eat of the tree of life, might it not have meant a physical perpetuation in this condition of moral deformity forever?

When God speaks of "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil," it is supposed to be meant that by disobedience in the eating of it, man came to have a value of goodness and a sense of evilness which otherwise he had not, and could not have obtained. The opening of his eyes to preceive that he was naked, of which we read in a later verse, is an illustration of what is meant by his now coming into this experience.

III.

To pass to

THE MORAL TEST OF MAN,

verses 16 and 17:

"And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."

We inquire, perhaps, why God should have put a moral test upon man at all? The answer is that man is a free agent. Such is man's glory although it is also his peril. If he were a mere machine, God might command his obedience, and do with him what Orville Wright does with his airship, causing it to ascend into the air as he wills, and to go wherever he pleases. But if man is a free moral agent, as God Himself is, then should he obey God at all in a way to glorify Him, it must be by a cheerful, loving act of his own volition.

So, in order to determine that, God gives him this moral test. It was given in love, and it was dignifying to man.

When God says, " The day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die," or, as the margin puts it, " Dying thou shalt die," He meant just what He said; and man did die that day in a spiritual sense, for he was then excluded from the presence of the Lord in being driven from the garden of Eden. Exclusion from the presence of the Lord meant, of course, exclusion from His communion and fellowship. That is always what is meant by spiritual death. It is not annihilation, as some would have us believe, but eternal exclusion from the presence of the Lord, and, of course, communion and fellowship with Him.

But Adam died also in a physical sense, for there, no doubt, the seeds of disease entered his frame, and being no longer in a position to eat of the tree of life, there was no other outcome but that of returning unto the dust from which he came.

IV.

We hasten on to the most important part of the lesson,

THE TEMPTATION OF MAN,

chapter 3, verses 1 to 7:

"Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit 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. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 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. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they know that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons."

It is thought by some that the serpent originally moved upright like a man, that it was very beautiful to look upon, and perhaps possessed the organs of speech. We do not know that this is so, although to a certain extent naturalists confirm it, saying that the serpent, while one of the latest creations of the animal kingdom, is at the same time a kind of retrogression in that kingdom, as though the work of creation were turned back in its case.

However that may be, we know that more than the serpent is here. We know it not only because of the possession of the organs of speech, and the intellectual acuteness and subtlety we discover, but because of the spiritual nature of the temptation and especially what the New Testament teaches on the subject, identifying the old serpent with the devil and Satan. (See Revelation 12: 9; 20: 2). Satan found it most to his advantage to use this particular beast for his hellish purpose in the seduction of our first parents.

THE FIRST INTERROGATION POINT.

In that connection, notice how Satan employs the interrogation point for the first time in sacred literature. Have you ever observed particularly the formation of this punctuation mark? How it resembles a serpent, erect, neck arched, mouth open, fangs protruding as if ready to inject its poison into one! And that is precisely what Satan now does in a moral and spiritual sense, saying to the woman:

"Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden?"

The inference from his words being that God hath not said anything, and if He hath, what difference doth it make?

I would have you observe that the devil has been using the interrogation point ever since in the same way and for the same purpose. The question he is continually raising before the minds and hearts of men and women is the same old question, " Is the Bible the Word of God?" and " Is there any obligation resting upon human beings to obey it?"

You will observe further, that the poison had already entered Eve's soul, as indicated in her reply, since she says:

"We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit 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."

That was a lie. God had not forbidden them to touch the tree, but simply to eat of it. But from that time on mankind, in a similar fashion, has ever been charging God with unkindness, and claiming that His commandments are more grievous and His burdens heavier to be borne than they really are. On almost every corner you meet men and women putting up this argument for their disobedience and unbelief.

You will observe, too, the deep and acute reason which Satan presents for disobeying God, adding:

"Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God (R. V.), knowing good and evil."

Aye, there is the rub! It was by pride that Satan himself fell, for he snatched at the very Godhead itself. And now he seeks by the same kind of pride and ambition to bring man down to his own level, and in so far succeeds.

WHAT IS THE ROOT-SIN?

Pride is the root-sin of the human heart, and its essence consists in the desire to be as God; not indeed to be as He is in personal holiness, but in carnal knowledge, in self-importance, in freedom from restraint, and in the power to command worship.

To quote another, this is the trump card in the hand of the arch-fiend. " Sensuality might be thought to be a stronger temptation of man; but, in the long run, intellectual pride and vaulting ambition, are as much stronger as mind is superior to body.

"An eagle's wings may be tied to the ground, and become bedraggled with the mud and soot of its surroundings, just as sensuality may ensnare a man and smut him; yet the captive bird has ever an eye for the sun, and is impatient to mount and soar away into the heavens.

"That even sinless minds, as Adam and Eve, may be fascinated by the dazzle of self-deification is proof of its extraordinary witchery."

We have an illustration on a national scale of man's desire to be as God in the history of the French revolution, where only one hundred years ago, " a people in the front rank of learning and culture, with profane excitement, enthroned human reason as their god, and deified even a harlot!" And we have illustrations of it continually in individual cases, in what we know of anarchism for example.

But to come still closer home, what shall we say of the false religious teachings of the day which are so general, and which give encouragement to the same sin by elevating man in his own estimation, and exalting humanity to an equality with God?

As one of the moderns expresses it in verse:

"Men have professed their love of God, of king,

     Of church, of state, of friends, of family.

A loftier strain than all of these I sing:

     I love Humanity.

 

"Divide not and exclude not. Build no wall.

     No special tie shall bind me from the Whole.

Love's garment has no rent. It clothes the All.

     I love the Cosmic Soul."

Finally, when the Antichrist shall at last arise, that secular despot who shall be at the head of the nations of Christendom, the culminating act of his iniquity will be the avowed dethronement of God. He himself shall be found sitting in the temple of God, giving out that he is God. (2 Thessalonians 2.) In that day, thank God, the true Church, as distinct from Christendom, will have been translated to meet the Lord in the air, but Christendom itself will be bowing down to the Antichrist recognizing in him a kind of incarnation and hence a deification of humanity. Satan's lie will for a time be in the ascendant.

THE FORMULA OF THE PIT.

Notice, in the next place, what may be described as the natural history of sin:

"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, arid gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat."

Here are three steps in sin's development: When she saw (1) that the tree was good for food; (2) that it was pleasant to the eyes; and (3) to be desired to make one wise. You recall that formula of iniquity which John gives in his first Epistle (chapter 2), speaking of it as " the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life."

Behold Satan acting in accordance with it here. The tree was good for food the lust of the flesh; pleasant to the eyes the lust of the eyes; to be desired to make one wise the pride of life.

Observe how he acted upon the same plan in the temptation of the second Adam in the wilderness. " If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread" the lust of the flesh. Then he " taketh him up into a high mountain and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, and saith, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me " the lust of the eyes. Then he carrieth him to the temple, and placeth him upon a pinnacle of it, and saith unto him, " Cast thyself down, for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee, and they shall hold thee up in their hands, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone " the pride of life, as evidenced in the doing of a great miracle.

Satan still works upon the same plan. There are some he can ensnare by the lust o>f the flesh, taking them through the lower and baser appetites of the body. There are others he can ensnare by the lust of the eyes, setting before them the glamour, " the vain pomp and glory of the world." There are still others, however, he can only take by the snare of intellectual pride, entrapping them through the puffing up of their fleshly minds, and the assertion of their own philosophy against the revelation of God and the cross of Jesus Christ.

We want to be on our guard against him at each point, for by one or another is it in his power, through sin, to bring us all into captivity to his will, except as we place our trust in Jesus Christ.

V.

Let us now pass, in closing, to the last stage of the development of our theme, namely,

THE TRIAL, PENALTY, AND REDEMPTION OF MAN.

It runs from verses 8 to 21, but I will ask you to read only verses 14, 15, and 21:

"And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."

*      *      *      *      *

"Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them."

First, God gives a trial to the man and to the woman, and then to the serpent. The penalty in each case follows the trial, but it is that upon the serpent which especially interests us because in connection with it, God gives us the earliest promise of redemption through His Son.

When He says: " Thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go," we have another intimation of what was alluded to previously, that the serpent may originally have moved erect, like a man.

And when He says: "Dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life" we may emphasize the last phrase, for it is remarkable that even in the millennial age, when the curse will be removed from all the rest of the animal creation, as from man, it will still rest upon the serpent. In corroboration of this, note the words of Isaiah, referring to that day, " The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat" (Isaiah 65: 25).

THE FIRST PROMISE OF REDEMPTION.

When, however, we reach the fifteenth verse, it is not the serpent that God is dealing with, but Satan, who is back of the serpent.

"The seed of the serpent " may easily be identified as the generations of evil men in all the days, even as Jesus says in the parable of the wheat and the tares, " The tares are the children of the wicked one."

And so, in like manner, it might be supposed that " the seed of the woman " represents the generations of the righteous, a thought not to be excluded in view of such a teaching as that of the 22d Psalm, " a seed shall serve him;" but the strict application of the phrase is to the person of Jesus Christ Himself.

In the first place, the emphasis on " woman " in the verse suggests the virgin birth of Jesus, but whether or no, the whole story of the Bible, and hence the whole story of redemption gathers round this " seed."

It is referred to again in connection with the call of Abraham and the founding of the nation of Israel as we see in Genesis 12: 3 and elsewhere. Isaac, the son of Sarah, was the immediate realization of this promise, and yet he was only the type of the true Isaac who was to come. This is shown by Paul's words to the Galatians where he says: " Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ."

It was this same seed that Nathan had in view when revealing the divine promise to David that his son should sit upon his throne and his kingdom be established forever; and indeed " to him bear all the prophets witness."

SHALL SATAN EVER DIE?

But God goes on to say: " It shall bruise thine head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." The bruising of Satan's head began when Christ overcome him in the wilderness; another stage was reached in His resurrection, when he spoiled principalities and powers, making a show of them openly, triumphing over them in the cross. (Colossians 2: 15). Another will come when at His second coming Satan shall be bound in the bottomless pit for a thousand years. (Revelation 20: 1); but the final stage only will be accomplished when, after the millennial age he shall be " cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, and be tormented day and night forever and ever." (Revelation 20: 10).

We thus see that as the bruising of the head of the serpent means its destruction, so the bruising of the head of Satan means that Jesus Christ shall utterly destroy him. Nevertheless, such destruction is not annihilation, if, according to the scriptures quoted, he is to be tormented forever and ever, but Christ destroys him in the sense in which it is written in the Hebrews (2: 14 and 15).

"Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, 'he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them, who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage."

The moment a man accepts Christ, the seed of the woman, as his personal Redeemer and Saviour, he comes out from under the power of the devil, knowing that there is therefore now no condemnation upon him, because he is in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1).

Nevertheless, God says of Satan: " Thou shalt bruise his heel." We know the kind of bruising Satan did. From the very infancy of Jesus until the day when upon the cross He exclaimed: " It is finished," Satan bruised Him. " He was despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." " But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53).

Praise be to God for the first promise of redemption, and for the first revelation of the Redeemer! Have we yet laid hold of Him by faith?

THE SYMBOL OF THE COATS OF SKINS.

But God does more than this. He not only gives us a promise of redemption, but a symbol of it as well, for we find in the twenty-first verse that, " Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them."

When their eyes were opened to behold their nakedness, they sought to cover their shame in God's sight by the aprons of fig leaves.

What is meant by nakedness in this case? May it have been that when God first breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life, with such inbreathing of His Spirit, as with the light in a porcelain globe, there shone round the man the glory of a lustrous halo? Was he covered with light as with a garment? And is it possible that when he lost his inner glory through sin he lost this outer glory also?

At all events, we see him trying to make up for his loss by a substitute so inadequate. And behold here an illustration of man everywhere when awakened to perceive what sin is, and brought under conviction for it. See how he tries to hide his moral nakedness in the sight of God by the covering of his own good works, his morality, his self-righteousness, his church-membership, his prayers, his repentance, his tears.

THE FOUNDATION OF THE GOSPEL.

What are any and all of these things, except the apron of fig leaves? God only can cover a man's spiritual shame. And how did He do it in this case, and what means did He use? To obtain that covering must not the slaying of an innocent victim have been necessary?

Thus at the very beginning of man's sin God lays down the truth that " without shedding of blood there is no remission" (Hebrews 9: 22), and points us to the Lamb of God Whom Peter has in mind when he says: " We were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish, and without spot." (1 Peter 1:18, 19).

Because of the shedding of the blood, God is now able to cover Adam and Eve, that the shame of their nakedness should not appear, and so He covers you and me in Christ Jesus, as we receive Him as our Saviour. He gives unto us " the garments of salvation " and covers us " with the robe of righteousness." " For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." (2 Corinthians 5: 21).

Behold, the mercy and condescension of God, His grace and love, at the very beginning of man's need, since he supplies that need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus!

THE TRIAL OF ROJESTVENSKY.

You recall what occurred in that great sea battle off the coast of Japan, in the Russo-Japanese war. The commander of the Russian fleet was Admiral Rojestvensky. When he and his captains returned home they were court-martialed for their humiliating defeat.

But do you remember this further fact? As each captain presented himself in court he was accompained by counsel, who presented a defense and made a plea for exoneration and freedom, but in every case he was found guilty, and sentenced to death.

When, however, the admiral himself appeared he was unattended, and standing before his judges he simply said: " Sirs, Russia's fleet has been humiliated, the people have confidence in you, I await my punishment."

There was no plea, no excuse, no extenuation. And yet the admiral alone was exonerated and granted liberty.

It is written in the Scriptures that "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. (Proverbs 28: 13).

I plead with you who are out of Christ, that on the basis of this promise of a Redeemer, and this fact of redemption which God has set before us, you come to Him through Jesus Christ. Confess your sin, and forsake it and receive Him, of Whom it is written, that "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God."