Our text tonight will be found in the first book of the Bible. It's in Genesis chapter 3, the whole chapter, but I will just be reading to you verse 1 to 19. Hear now the word of the Lord. Genesis 3, the fall. Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said unto the woman, Did God actually say, You shall not eat of any tree in the garden? And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die. But the serpent said to the woman, 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. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. And she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord, God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, said to him, Where are you? And he said, I heard the sound of you in the garden. And I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself. He said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat? The man said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate. Then the Lord God said to the woman, What is this that you have done? The woman said, The serpent deceived me, and I ate. The Lord God said to the servant, Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock, and above all beasts of the field. On your belly you shall go, and thus you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. To the woman he said, I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing. In pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you. And to Adam he said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, you shall not eat of it. Cursed is the ground because of you. In pain you shall eat of it in all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken, for you are dust, and to dust you shall return. God bless the reading of his holy and inspired word. So tonight, I have two things for you. A bad news and a good news. And human as we are, we just want the good news. Don't we? We just want the good news all the time. We don't want to hear the bad news. But in order for us to understand the good news, we must first understand the bad news. We will lay down the bad news. And from the bad news, I believe, the good news will all the more be glorious and beautiful. In our passage tonight, we can find the bad news and also the good news. So Genesis 3 narrates to us the temptation and the fall of man, and we know the story. This is the turning point of the human history. It is here that Adam and Eve disobeyed God in his commands, and their disobedience brought curse and judgment to all mankind from all places, from all people of all times, no exception, including us here. So that is the effect of their disobedience. Originally, God made man good in every respect, but man rebelled against God and so corrupted himself in all creation. This is why the title of this sermon is Man Has Fallen. Man has fallen. And we are reminded tonight from our text, about the truth that God redeemed us from sin and saved us from death through His Son. Let me state that again. God has redeemed us from sin and saved us from death through His Son. And we will meditate on this truth in two points, the problem and the promise. So the setting of this narrative or this story, as we all know, is in the Garden of Eden. After God finished his work of creation, he pronounced them as very good, including man, Adam and Eve. And so he commanded Adam to work, to keep, and to guard the garden. And he added this commandment. You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but not the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. For in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die. That is the command of God. So now in Genesis 3, it is a new episode, a new story, a new narrative. He started, now the servant was more crafty than any other beast of the field. The narrator here is introducing a new character. The new character here is the serpent. And who is the serpent? We all know and we assume that it is Satan. And we are right, because according to Revelation 12.9, he is the great dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. That is the description of the serpent here. He is Satan, the devil. So the serpent's deceptiveness, he said the deceiver of the whole world, his deceptiveness is immediately in evidence, As he approaches the woman, take note, the servant asked the woman, Did God really say that you shall not eat of the tree of any tree in the garden? The woman responded, God said, You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it. He added those words, lest you die. But the servant said to the woman, you will not surely die. You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you will be like him, doing good and evil. Very contrasting to the very words of the Lord God in the previous chapter. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, we have a category for this. A loss of the flesh. And it was a delight to the eyes. A loss of the eyes. And was desirable to make one wise. The pride of life. She took from it of its fruit and ate of it. That's why 1 Timothy 2.14 says that the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. She became a transgressor. And on that garden, on that moment, she also gave some to his husband, Adam, who was with her. Who was with her. Adam was with her and he ate of the fruit. Remember, the Lord God commanded Adam to guard and to keep the garden. But what did he do? He disobeyed God. He willfully disobeyed God, a plain rebellion. That is why the Belgic Confession, as we all know, Article 14 says, they subjected themselves willingly to sin and consequently to death and the curse, lending their ear to the word of the devil. At that moment, outright rebellion was declared against the King of glory and the creator of heaven and earth. Rebellion. Creation is damaged and corrupted. And here is the explanation why there's so much evil in this world now. Don't be surprised. It all started in the Garden of Eden when Adam and the woman disobeyed God. Don't be surprised. This is the reason why, or explanation why, there's so much hate in all places around the globe. There's war between nation against nation. There's hate between a parent to his child or her child. And it's so sad that even inside the church, there's hate. That is the effect and result of sin. So man has fallen into sin, and sin now enters God's paradise. This is the bad news that I am saying, I am talking about. And the results of the fall into sin showed up immediately, immediately. And verse 7, the loss of childlike innocence. Before the fall, in Genesis 2.25, the man and his wife were both naked, but were not ashamed. There was nothing to hide. There was an intimate relationship. But now, in verse 7, the eyes of both were opened and they knew that they were naked. And they were ashamed of themselves. They were ashamed of their nakedness. So, what happened here? The deceitful words of the serpent came into reality. But it was not what they expected. They did not become divine beings. Instead, rather, they lost their innocence and became guilty. That's why they made coverings. They made coverings for themselves and they hid from God. There's now guilt and shame. As we read in 8, verse 8 to 10. Innocence has been replaced by guilt and shame. There used to be a great fellowship between God and them. But now there is a great cousin. A great cousin. Therefore, when they heard the sound or the voice of the Lord, they ran away and hid from God. So when God asked, where are you? They were afraid and they hid themselves. As a servant of the Lord God and as a representative of God, He should have responded, here I am, Lord. But no, he feared God. He ran away and hid from Him. So, in verse 9 to 10, the initial response of Adam and Eve when brought into judgment was blame-shifting. Blame-shifting. There is now blame-shifting here, happening here. Adam, so when asked by the Lord God, he said, I was afraid because I am naked. And the Lord God asked him, who told you that you are naked? Have you eaten of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? He blamed the woman. The woman whom you gave to me to be with me. Not just the woman, but God himself. He blamed God himself. And the woman blamed the serpent. And the serpent has no one to blame. Let us pause for a moment and evaluate ourselves. Aren't we like Adam and Eve? Like when we commit sin, we justify our own sins. We make excuses. We blame others. When everything is not alright, we blame the situation. And we question God and we ask, why, Lord? We even blame Him. Again, that is the result and effect of sin. It remains our first sinful instinct when confronted with our own sin. Blame shifting. So now, what happened? Judgment. Here is now the judgment of God. In verses 14 to 15. The holy judge in his holy courtroom giving his divine verdict sentence and sentence to the guilty. This is the first time we read in the Bible about God's curse. The first, he judged the serpent. He cursed the serpent and on your belly you shall go. This is a guarantee of a defeat. And not only that, but he said that he shall be bruised by the seed of a woman. The seed of a woman will strike his side. God declares war between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent here. But we will get more to it when we move on to the second point. And the next person of whom God judged here in verse 16 is the woman. Her judgment, the pain of childbearing, is multiplied. Childbearing is not a result of sin, but because of sin, the woman will experience great pain in childbearing. And it serves as a reminder for Eve, for the woman, that she disobeyed his Creator. And though the woman was created to be man's companion, she is told that her desire for independence will cause her to resist submitting to her husband's rightful authority. She shall be ruled by his husband. That is the punishment for the woman. And for Adam, two things as well. Painful work, hard labor, and the second one is death. Work is not also a result of sin. That's why for our Sunday school teachers, don't teach the children that work is a result of sin. I grew up in a church where my Sunday school teacher taught us that work is a result of sin. But no, no. Work is creation. Remember God commanded Adam and Eve to work the garden. The result of sin is hard labor, painful work. There was a time when the work is not exhausting. And there was a time when the ground was not cursed yet. But that time has gone. It's over. Man has to live in an earth that God has cursed. That is the reality now. And you can feel it. Those of you who work in the field, it's very exhausting, tiresome, toilersome. Not only in the field, but also in the offices. Just by sitting down with your computer, it's hard, it's painful. Work has become painful. By the sweat of your face, you shall eat bread. That's the word of the Lord here. And then comes the ultimate punishment. This is the worst. For you are dust, and to dust you shall return. Death. The reign of death ruling over man. Every human being is made from the ground and will return to the ground. The ultimate punishment for sin is death. Romans 6.23, for the wages of sin is death. And according to Apostle Paul in Romans 5, sin came into the world through one man in death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sin, all men. Adam and Eve made themselves guilty and subject to physical and spiritual death, having become wicked, perverse, and corrupt in all their ways. That's the Belgic Confession. Article 14. And we believe that by the disobedience of Adam, original sin has been spread to the whole human race. That's why there's what we call inherited depravity. We are born by sinful nature. And the sad thing, it infects even the infants. So those are the punishment of God, to the Lord God, to the serpent, to the woman, and to Adam. And for both of them, Adam and Eve, in verse 24, God drove them out of the garden. He drove them out. They were banished from the presence of God. And the next thing is God put cherubim and a flaming sword to guard the way to the tree of life. Adam failed to guard the garden. And now his duty to guard the garden is given to the cherubim. God put the cherubim to guard the garden, the way to the tree of life. And if you remember our series at Exodus, Pastor Gordon preached about this, that the images of cherubim were skillfully worked on the curtains of the tabernacle, warning people that sinners are not allowed in the presence of God. Remember that curtain that separates the holy of holies to the holy place. And when Christ came, his death on the cross, that veil was torn into two. So he opened the way. He is now our mediator. But in here, he placed the cherubim to guard the presence, the holy presence of the Lord God. These features anticipate the design of the tabernacle and regulations associated with it. Like the Garden of Eden, the tabernacle was a place where the presence of God is. So those are the problems that we can see here in Genesis 3. The disobedience of our first parents brought forth sin and death. Their disobedience brought severe consequences that any man cannot solve. No one can solve this problem. So what are we going to do now? That is the problem. The narrative does not end all here. The Lord God did not leave Adam and Eve without hope. The Lord God gave promised. He promised a seed of a woman. And this leads us to our second point, the promise. In the curse, in verse 15, in the curse that God pronounces on Satan in the first announcement, It's the first announcement of the gospel of hope, salvation, and deliverance from sin, death, and Satan. Embedded in the curse is the hope of mankind. This is what we call the Protoevangelium, the first gospel. This is the good news that evil will not rule forever, but the seed of a woman will fatally crush the serpent's head. So, we believe that God himself revealed the gospel already in paradise. Later, we revealed and proclaim it by the holy patriarchs and portrayed it by the sacrifices and other ceremonies of the law. And finally, he fulfilled it through his own dear son, Jesus Christ. Haderberg Catechism, answer 19. So in the history of redemption, especially in the covenants that God gave, Jesus is the seed of the woman. He is the seed of Abraham. He is the son of David. And he is the son of man who came, which is also the son of God. That's why angel Gabriel said to Mary, You shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. And for the Son came to seek and to save which was lost. And yet John the Baptist announced, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Referring to the Lord Jesus Christ. He came. And he also promised this in verse 20. It says, In spite of the pain in childbearing, God's blessing of procreation would remain and continue. That's why in verse 20 it says, The man named his wife Eve because she was the mother of all living. And indeed, in Galatians 4.4, it says, That in the fullness of God's time, He sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoptions as sons. God kept his promise. He fulfilled his promise. And in verse 21, we also see God's grace in care for Adam and Eve when he made garments of skins for the man and his wife, and he clothed them. Having seen their guilt and shame, he clothed them with the garments of skins. This shows that God cares for them even though they disobeyed Him. This is also a picture of God's act of saving grace. A beautiful picture of God's taking away the guilt and shame of their sinfulness and clothing them with the garments of righteousness that Jesus would come to provide. Very beautiful. Our pastor preached this morning about the great exchange. Our sin for him and his righteousness for us. The great exchange. So here, Jesus is not just the promised seed of a woman, but he is also the obedient Adam, the second Adam. He was also tempted by Satan when he was in the wilderness fasting for 40 days and 40 nights. But unlike Adam, Jesus withstood Satan's temptations. He was victorious, but more so in his death on the cross and in his resurrection. On that cross, there was a battle. On that cross, he said, it is finished. The battle is over. It is finished. Jesus Christ is Lord. He conquered death in His resurrection. He defeated Satan, sin, and death. Jesus, our Lord, was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. Romans 4, 24 and 25. And according to Paul, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, listen to this. So one act of righteousness leads to justification in life for all men. Romans 5, and the same thing in 1 Corinthians 15. This is why I believe that Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15 is a good commentary of Genesis 3. Paul explained the contrast between the first Adam and the second Adam. And this morning, the second Adam, we heard he committed no sin at all, but he was mocked. The people laughed at him, and then he was mitten. He was crucified on the cross without having any sin. He took the curse of the sin of the first Adam. He suffered the consequences of the sin of the first Adam. So that we who are in Adam, who are dead in sins and trespasses, will be saved, will have life, will be delivered from the power of sin and death. Beautiful. God sent forth His Son to die on the cross and suffer the punishment for our sin. He came to bear the wrath of God so that He might obtain for us and restore to us the righteousness and life so that we can say that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law being made sin and he was made a curse for us that is the message that we can hear from Genesis 3 it is not just about the problem but it is also about the promise which is Jesus Christ and someday through Jesus Christ Paradise will be restored. And we will once again enjoy the full communion with our God. That's why in Revelation 22, verse 3, No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it. And His servants will worship Him. We are looking forward to that new heavens and the new earth, where there will be no more presence of sin. We will be with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who saved us from sin and death. So in conclusion, Congregation of Christ. Because God has redeemed us from sin and saved us from death through his Son, then we ought to believe and thank him for what he has done. Let us greatly rejoice in the Lord and our souls so exalt God, for He has clothed us with the garments of salvation and has covered us with the robe of righteousness. That's from Isaiah 61, verse 10. We belong now to our Savior and Jesus Christ, both body and soul. That's what we've memorized, question and answer. One, the Hallowberg Catechism. That is our hope and that is our comfort. And to borrow, to end this message, I will borrow the words of the Apostle Paul. And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we ascribe all glory to you for everything you have done for us. We humble ourselves before you and acknowledge ourselves to be such as we really are, without presuming to trust in anything in ourselves or in anything merit of ours, relying and resting upon the obedience of Christ crucified alone, which becomes ours when we believe in him by faith. For for our sake you made him to be sin who knew new sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. We ask, dear Lord, that you would continue to guide us in our pilgrimage in this sinful world and preserve us until the day when we see Christ face to face and reign with him in the new heavens and the new earth, where there will be no pain, no more pain, no more sorrow, no more crying, and no more death, And nothing accursed will be found anymore. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.