I love the books of Genesis and Revelation because in them we can see God's purpose and its fulfillment. These two books also reveal how the enemy, the subtle one, came in and how he will be cast out. The so-called modern critics, who do not believe in the Bible, mainly direct their attacks at the books of Genesis and Revelation. When we were young this higher criticism was quite prevailing, and we fought against it. The higher critics attacked the books of Genesis and Revelation because the subtle serpent within them knew that no other books exposed him as much. If you want to know how the serpent came in and what his destiny will be, you need to read the first chapters of Genesis and the last chapters of Revelation. Rev. 12:9 mentions "the ancient serpent, he who is called the Devil and Satan." The word "ancient" that describes the serpent refers to the time of Genesis 3. Therefore, if we did not have the books of Genesis and Revelation, the subtle serpent would not be fully exposed. Thus, the serpent invented the so-called modern criticism in an attempt to discredit these two books.
In Genesis 1 and 2 we see a garden and in Revelation 21 and 22 we see a city. By transformation and building the garden becomes a city. Between Genesis 2 and Revelation 21 are many ages or dispensations. The serpent first appeared in Genesis 3 and he has been active ever since; he never sleeps. Throughout all the generations since Genesis 3 the serpent has been working constantly. If you read through the entire Bible carefully, you will see that the serpent came in in Genesis 3 and that in Rev. 20:10 he will be cast into the lake of fire. Regardless of the age or dispensation Satan has always been active. In the first dispensation, meaning the first way in which God dealt with man, Satan was there. Satan not only corrupted the first human couple, but has corrupted man in every succeeding dispensation. When God initiated another age or dispensation, Satan was there to damage people. Throughout age after age and dispensation after dispensation Satan has been present, making it appear as if God has been unable to handle the situation. But this is not so. God is great. We only need to give Him a little time. As far as God is concerned, a thousand years are equal to a day. The period of time from Adam's creation until now is actually less than six days to God. We need to be patient with Him.
As we come to the church dispensation, we see the strongest conflict between Satan and man. What a battle is raging! The book of Revelation shows us that in the churches God has gained a group of overcomers who will defeat Satan. At the end of this dispensation the Lord Jesus will return in victory. The Lord Jesus has been unable to return because as yet there has been no victorious ground on which He can set His feet. He is waiting for this. The overcomers will establish a beachhead for the glorious Christ to return in a victorious way. According to Rev. 12, Satan firstly will be defeated by the overcomers. Then, at the time of the Lord's return, Satan will be bound and cast into the bottomless pit (Rev. 20:1-3). Eventually and ultimately he will be cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10).
In Genesis 3 Satan came in and in Revelation 20 he will be cast out. Immediately after the first two chapters of Genesis Satan came in, and immediately before the last two chapters of Revelation he will be cast out. Thus, in the entire Bible there are just four chapters in which we see no footprints of the contaminating enemy. Apart from these four chapters he has polluted every age and space. Only Genesis 1 and 2 and Revelation 21 and 22 are free from Satan's contamination. Between Genesis 2 and Revelation 21 we see all the activities of the subtle serpent. Have you ever noticed that Satan appeared immediately after the first two chapters of Genesis and that he will be cast into the lake of fire prior to the last two chapters of Revelation? In this message we want to consider how this crafty one first came in.
As we have seen, Genesis 1 reveals God's eternal purpose and heart's desire, and Genesis 2 reveals God's way of fulfilling His purpose. However, before God could accomplish His purpose, Satan came in. In everything Satan tries to be first. Anything that is real can afford to be somewhat slow, but that which is false always moves hastily. Therefore, in regard to many things it is better for us to do nothing at the first instance. Suppose a little boy comes to his father and says, "Daddy, I want to buy a new toy." The father should answer, "Son, wait for two days. Let us see what the Lord will say." Perhaps it is even better to wait an additional two days. Since Satan is always in a rush we should never accept the first proposal. If a brother comes to you seeking an answer regarding a certain matter, do not reply immediately. Perhaps that question is an instance of the rushing activity of Satan. You need to wait awhile. After a few days that brother might change his mind. I have seen this happen many times. The disposition of young men and young ladies is very quick; they have a hasty temperament. They like to act swiftly and get answers immediately. This haste has its origin in the subtle serpent. If you will wait, God will come in. In most things God is not present at the first instance. The serpent will always act ahead of God in an attempt to defeat Him.
According to Genesis 3, Satan came in first. In the Bible we have the principle of the first mention. Whatever is first mentioned in a particular field establishes the principle for all the subsequent items in that field. Thus, Genesis 3, the first mention of Satan's activity, reveals the principle that Satan comes in before God.
According to Genesis 3 through 11 mankind had four falls. In this message we shall consider the first of them.
Most people have at least some knowledge of the Bible. Even some non-Christians know about Adam and Eve's eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge. However, not many people, including Christians, know the significance of man's first fall. Hence, we must approach this subject from three directions. First, we must determine the cause of the fall. What was the cause, the basic factor, of man's first fall? Second, we must learn the process, the way in which the first fall transpired. Third, we need to discover the result of man's first fall. This is my burden in this message. I realize that it is a difficult message to give because of the battle that is raging. The enemy is within us. Even the knowledge that we already have of Genesis 3 may frustrate us from penetrating into the depths of this chapter. We must probe into the depths of the significance of man's first fall and not look at it superficially.
If I were to ask you the cause of man's first fall, you would undoubtedly reply that the cause was Satan. This is correct. However, we should not place the entire blame upon Satan. As we shall see, the cause of man's first fall was not primarily on Satan's side, but on man's side. We may use the illustration of catching a cold. In order to catch a cold you must have cold air. However, cold air itself is insufficient to cause a cold. You need to have the cold germs. A chair cannot catch a cold even if it is exposed to a chilly draft because it is unaffected by cold germs. It is easy for people to catch a cold because we have cold germs. We should not put all the blame on the cold air, for most of the blame belongs to the cold germs. Likewise, we should not blame Satan for the fall, since much of the responsibility rests with man. Nevertheless, I have put Satan as the first cause of man's fall. Satan was the initial factor in this fall. Satan is simply Satan. We should never expect him to be better or different.
Satan has a specific name, "the tempter" (Matt. 4:3). Wherever he goes he acts like a tempter, for he is such by disposition and make-up. The Lord Jesus spoke of him as a liar saying, "When he speaks a lie, he speaks out of his own self; for he is a liar and the father of it" (John 8:44). Whatever comes out of Satan is a lie. We should never expect him to be improved. We must stay away from him.
In the Bible Satan is called "the Devil" (Rev. 12:9; 20:2) which means "the slanderer." He slanders God to man and also slanders man to God. His talk with Eve implies some slandering of God (v. 5). His slander is always a lie. It is by slanderous lies that he tempts man, and in this way he tempted Eve.
When Satan approached Eve he was very crafty, pretending to be what he was not and appearing in an incarnational way. When the Lord Jesus was incarnated He was God become man. Although everyone could see the man, few realized that this man was God. Before God Himself was incarnated Satan acted first to incarnate himself. God was incarnated in John 1 Satan was incarnated in Genesis 3. With regard to many of the things which God intended to do, Satan acted first and in a similar manner. Thus, before God was incarnated Satan was incarnated as a serpent which was crafty ("subtle," KJV).
The serpent was crafty. That means he was clever, cunning, and subtle. He was pretending to be what he was not in order to deceive Eve. We need to beware of anything that is crafty. We should be cautious of anyone who is clever, for it is easy for clever people to be taken over by the serpent. Satan did not assume the form of a turtle, because a turtle is stupid. We must remember to be careful of anything that is clever and crafty, because Satan may be hidden in such a thing.
Therefore, outwardly speaking, the cause of man's first fall was Satan. As we shall see later, the inward cause of the fall was man himself.
I hope that especially the young people will take these points seriously. These points are basic principles.
The way Satan tempts is firstly to make a proposal to man (vv. 1, 4), a proposal which invariably questions God's Word. Satan will always try to tempt you, induce you, and trap you by making a proposal which raises questions about God's Word. Any time you doubt the Word of God you must realize that that doubt does not originate with you; it comes from the serpent. Years ago I read an article by a Baptist minister in the United States in which he said, "The question mark is shaped like a serpent standing up and asking, `Has God said?'" We should not question any of the words in the Bible, but should say "Amen" to every word. It is safe to say, "Amen"; it is dangerous to raise questions. A question mark on the Word of God is a suggestion that originates from the tempter.
Satan's proposal always causes man to doubt God's Word and God's heart. The subtle one is like a scorpion, and his questions are like the poison in the scorpion's sting. The serpent told Eve, "You shall not surely die." The serpent actually said to Eve, "Why has God prohibited you from eating the tree of knowledge? Because God knows that once you eat it you will be like Him. You will be as wise as God." These words were poison, the poison from the scorpion's sting. Eve was stung, and poison was injected into her. Thus, she looked at the tree of knowledge and found it good and pleasant (v. 6). That was Satan's way of tempting her.
Now we must see the inward cause of man's first fall. I am strong on this point. The inward cause of man's fall was the woman's assuming the headship (vv. 2-3, 6). Eve was ensnared by the serpent because she forgot her husband. The Devil was crafty, knowing that the woman was weaker than the man (1 Pet. 3:7), and he chose her as his target. Regardless of what the woman said to the serpent, as long as she stood there and spoke to him, she was wrong, for it indicated that she had assumed the headship. The safest way for her would have been not to talk to the evil one, but to turn to her husband and hide behind him. If Eve had done this, the subtle one would have been frustrated. Therefore, the basic cause of man's first fall was the assuming of the headship by the wife. Although she had a husband, she nonetheless stood on her own.
The significance of the woman is that she represents man before God. In the life-study message on Romans 7 we pointed out that Isaiah 54:5 says, "For thy Maker is thine husband." God is the unique, universal man. Whether we are males or females we are all a part of His wife. Man's position is not the position of the husband; it is the position of a wife. God is our husband. The headship is with God, not with us, not even with the men. Before God, the position of the brothers is the same as that of the sisters. Both sisters and brothers are females in the eyes of God.
God is our Husband and our Head, and we must always keep ourselves under His covering. The woman must cover her head and never assume the headship (1 Cor. 11:3, 5, 14-15). Since God is our Head we should always turn to Him. By the Lord's mercy, I have learned of Him. If I had been Eve in the garden and the Devil had come to me, I would not even have looked at him. I would have turned to my husband and hidden myself behind him. I would have let Adam be the head and let him exercise his headship. Then there would have been no problem.
The failure of the woman consisted in being over the man and assuming the headship (cf. 1 Tim. 2:14). This failure on Eve's part typifies man's assuming the headship and signifies his being over God and putting God aside. This same principle operates today. Whenever we act on our own, putting the Lord aside, we are defeated. If we try on our own to be victorious, that very effort is a defeat because it keeps us away from our husband, our Head. Never do anything by yourself. To try to do anything by yourself means that you are assuming the headship and forgetting your position as a wife. We should be wise and never take the position of the husband.
Eve in the garden was our representative. Nearly all of us on occasion have acted in the way she did. We have become Eve. Whatever situation occurred we faced it by ourselves. Although we might have prayed a great deal, when the problem presented itself we forgot our husband and acted as if we had none. Why do you not turn to your husband? Why do you always meet the temptations alone? As long as you confront situations by yourself you stay away from your husband. That was the basic cause of man's first fall. As a minister of the Word, I must learn the lesson of not speaking by myself. While I am speaking I must rely upon my husband. I must hide myself in Him and be one with Him. If I fail to do this, I will become another Eve and will be defeated.
Now we can see that we should not blame Satan too much. We all must blame ourselves because we have assumed the headship and have not respected our husband. We assumed the headship, forgetting that we are the wife. When mothers deal with their little children they may deal with them independently. They may say, "I know how to take care of children. I have been a mother for years. I know what to do and I know how to do it." If you adopt this attitude, you immediately become Eve. Although you may do a good job, in fact you are defeated. We must remember the principle of man's first fall: man renounced the wife's position and assumed the husband's position, making himself the head and the husband. Whether our efforts succeed or fail makes no difference. As long as we stay away from God and presume that we can act apart from Him, we have been defeated already. We must see this.
We may experience this even as we deal with our temper. To be defeated by our temper is a small thing. However, if we try by ourselves to overcome our temper, we commit a sin. The attempt itself is a great sin. Your trying to defeat your temper means that you are assuming the headship. You must learn to say, "Lord, I do not care whether or not I can defeat my temper. Lord, I rely upon You for this. It is not my responsibility to deal with my temper. Lord, I am not the husband. You are my husband. I simply rely upon You. I don't assume that I have the headship. Lord, You are my Head. Lord, You take care of my temper." If we all learn this lesson and maintain this stand before the Lord, our temper will disappear. The Devil will be defeated. We must learn this one, basic principle.
Adam and Eve failed because they did not use their spirit. If Eve had turned to the spirit, there would have been no problem. Our husband is with our spirit. However, if we remain in our mind it means that we are assuming the headship, setting our mind to behave independently. This is awful and sinful. We must realize that our husband is with our spirit and exercise our spirit accordingly. Even when your temper is stirred within you, you need to turn to the spirit. Although you may say that it is difficult to turn in such a circumstance, I would reply that in such difficult times it is all the more necessary for us to turn to our spirit. Do not deal with your temper; turn yourself to the spirit. Learn to use your spirit. All Christians know how to pray and ask God to help them, but few of them know that they have a spirit to which they can turn. We do have such an organ, and it has a wonderful function. Since God is with our spirit, we need to turn to it. If we will learn to turn to our spirit and to exercise our spirit in every situation, the results will be marvelous.
How do you know when you are using your spirit? It is very easy. Whenever you do a certain thing or contact a person without being with God it proves that you are not using your spirit. Regardless of what you do, if you are independent of God and not contacting Him while you are doing it, it proves that you are not in the spirit. Be assured that in such a case you will suffer loss. We all must learn to contact God in everything. As long as we contact Him, we are in our spirit. As long as I walk, I am using my feet; as long as I see, I am using my eyes; and as long as I contact God, I am using my spirit, since my spirit is the organ by which I contact Him (John 4:24). If I see, it means that I am exercising my eyes. Likewise, if I am contacting God, I must be exercising my spirit. This is very precious in our daily walk, and we all must learn to practice it.
Thus, the first step in the process of man's fall was failing to use his spirit. Adam and Eve did not contact God in eating of the tree of knowledge, but instead paid attention to things other than God, not taking Him as the Head.
Although man did not use his spirit, he did exercise his soul, signifying that man, represented by the soul, assumed the headship. Many times people refuse to pray or exercise their spirit. Instead they think, consider, and study. They find it difficult to pray because their mind is too active, filled with many thoughts. They are unable to quiet their mind. All of us are familiar with this situation. Many Christian wives find it easy to talk. They talk to their husbands, friends, and relatives. However, if you ask them to pray, they find it difficult to do because their soul has been exercised so much. The best lesson for us all to learn is to be quiet in our thinking. If we are able to stop our thinking and turn to prayer, it proves that we are a person walking with the Lord and living in His presence. However, if you are a talkative person, so active and strong in your mind, it will be difficult for you to calm yourself for a few minutes of prayer. Such a person exercises his soul continually.
During the process of the fall Eve exercised her soul. As she spoke with the serpent her mind was reasoning (vv. 2-3). Then her emotion was pleased with the fruit of the tree of knowledge (v. 6). Eventually, her will made a decision, deciding to take the fruit and eat it (v. 6). Our experience is the same. As we are tempted by a particular matter, our mind reasons and considers, our emotion is aroused and comes to like the thing, and our will makes the decision. Our mind, emotion, and will are the parts of our soul. We should not trust any of these items. Do not trust your mind, emotion, or will, but turn your whole being to the spirit. As you are reasoning about matters, you must turn to your spirit.
We may use the example of shopping. As many brothers and sisters are shopping and see a particular item they want, they reason with themselves, saying, "I need this. It is on sale now and the price is quite low. This is my only opportunity to buy it at this price." The more they reason about the item, the more precious it becomes. We have all experienced this. Nevertheless, after we buy it and bring it home the thing soon loses its attraction and we repent. While you were reasoning, the little serpent was present, stirring up your emotion, strengthening your will, and saying, "Go and buy it." Whenever you are in this situation you must realize that you are repeating Eve's history. We should not laugh at Eve, for our own home is the garden of Eden and we ourselves at times are Eve. Many sisters are not Martha, Mary, or Ruth — they are Eve. Although some sisters may select the name Mary, it seems that no one chooses the name Eve. What was Mary's characteristic? It was that she was calm and quiet in the presence of the Lord, not reasoning excessively in her mind. We all must learn this basic lesson.
The third step in the process of the fall was the action of the body. When the spirit is neglected and the soul is exercised, the body becomes a slave serving our purpose. The eye sees, the hand takes, and the mouth eats. If in the matter of shopping we forsake our spirit and use our soul, our body will take us to the department store.
It is very important that we understand the result of man's first fall. If we know the result, we will understand where we are and what we are today.
The first result of the fall was that the soul of man was corrupted, contaminated, and ruined. It was contaminated because the soul accepted and received the Devil's thought and word (v. 7). Eve should not have spoken to the evil one, for while she was talking with him his wicked thought entered into her mind. Thus, even before Eve partook of the tree of knowledge her mind had been polluted by the enemy's concept already. Do not think that it was not until Eve ate of the tree of knowledge that she was contaminated. While she was talking to the serpent, the serpent's concept penetrated her mind and defiled it. Hence, her mind was ruined. Eventually, her mind was fully corrupted after she ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge.
The body was then changed in nature, having the element of the tree of knowledge, the element of Satan, added to it, making it the flesh (v. 7). As originally created by God, the human body was a pure vessel containing one essence, the element created by God. As a result of eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge, a foreign element was injected into man's body, transmuting it into the flesh. The body which once was pure and sinless now contains the evil element of Satan. According to Romans 7, this element is the indwelling sin which makes its home in man's flesh. In Romans 7:17 Paul says, "So now it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells in me." This evil substance, the nature of sin that has contaminated our body, still dwells in our flesh. Therefore, we should have no confidence in our flesh because it has been fully occupied and saturated with the sin of Satan.
We may use a parable as an illustration. A little boy has been charged by his mother not to touch a certain bottle because it contains poison. One day, while the mother is away, the child takes the bottle and drinks some of the poisonous liquid. He transgresses his mother's prohibition, but that is actually a small matter. The truly serious thing which happens is that poison has entered into his being. Likewise, in the day that man partook of the tree of knowledge an evil substance entered into his body. Thus, it is not merely a matter of transgression, but a matter of a poisonous element, sin, the nature of the evil one, having entered into the human body. No one can deny or argue the fact that, although we might have been saved for years, we still have this evil element in our flesh. Even as you are reading this message the evil substance of sin dwells in your body.
As a consequence of the fall man's spirit was deadened, becoming insulated from God and losing its function toward God (vv. 8, 10). Although the spirit was deadened, neither sin nor Satan himself entered the spirit of man. We thank God for this. Nevertheless, man's spirit within him was deadened. Ephesians 2 tells us that before we were saved we were dead (vv. 1, 5). In what part of our being were we dead? We were not dead in our body or in our soul, but in our spirit. What does it mean to be dead? To be dead simply means to be without function or sensation. If my hand is without function, it is a dead hand. By God's creation we all have a human spirit (Zech. 12:1) by which we may sense God and contact Him. However, as a result of the fall man's spirit was deadened; it became functionless and senseless, no longer possessing the ability to contact God. The God-contacting function of the human spirit was deadened. When we repented and applied the redeeming blood to cleanse our conscience, our deadened spirit was quickened. Then our spirit began to sense God and contact Him. Now the more we say, "O Lord, I love You," the more alive our spirit becomes. The more we say, "Lord, cleanse me, wash me, and cover me with Your prevailing blood," and the more we confess our sins and praise the Lord, the more living our spirit will be.
Due to the fall man's soul was corrupted, his body changed in nature, and his spirit was deadened, losing its function toward God. We must realize that this was not merely a matter of outward transgression; it was an inward damage to man's being. Each of the three parts of man — the body, soul, and spirit — was affected by the fall. The body was changed in nature, the soul was contaminated, and the spirit was deadened. We all were such persons. If you are not saved, you are still like this. Your body is indwelt by sin, your mind is corrupted, your soul is contaminated, and your spirit is deadened. How we thank God that we have been redeemed by and washed in the blood of Christ, that our spirit has been made alive, that our soul is under the process of renewing and transformation, and that our body will be brought under the direction of our spirit.
The fallen man was constituted a sinner (Rom. 5:19). There is a certain constitution within the being of fallen man, and the main element of this constitution is the satanic nature. The very satanic nature has entered into man's being, becoming the element to constitute him into a sinner. Do not think that you are a sinner simply because you are wrong or sinful in your outward doings, in your behavior. Before we do anything sinful we are sinners already. If a tree is not a corrupt tree, it cannot bring forth evil fruit (Matt. 7:17-18). Likewise, if you are not a sinner, you cannot sin. A tree is not corrupt because it brings forth evil fruit; it brings forth evil fruit because it is corrupt. In like manner, we are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners, because we have been constituted sinners. Because we are sinners we have the sinning function.
As constituted sinners we have the evil life of Satan inwardly. This is what Paul describes as the "sin that dwells in me" and "the evil present with me" (Rom. 7:17, 20, 21). Paul discovered that there was an evil element within him and he termed it the "sin that dwells in me." Paul learned that whenever he tried to do good the evil was present with him. The Greek word translated "the evil" in Romans 7:21 is kakos, a word denoting that which is evil in character. This must refer to the evil character of Satan himself. Whenever we try to do good, "the evil" is present with us. We have a life of sin within us and, as a result, we have been constituted sinners.
Since we have transgressed God's prohibition we not only have a sinful element inwardly, but also a court case outwardly (Rom. 5:18). We have a case in the heavenly court, a case that was built up by Adam, not by us. We were all in Adam; therefore, this case not only concerns Adam, but us all.
The first fall of man brought in the curse (vv. 17-19). We may count the items of the curse: the curse itself, sorrow, thorns, thistles, and sweat. These are the items of the curse. Although we are Christians, we often confront harsh circumstances in our attempt to earn a living. In farming, the crop does not grow quickly, but the weeds do. What encourages the weeds to flourish? We pluck them up one day and they reappear soon afterward. This is a sign that the ground was cursed thousands of years ago. Furthermore, in nearly all that we do we must sweat. Without sweating it seems that we cannot accomplish anything. Sweat is the sign that man is under the curse.
As a result of the fall man was also cast out of paradise, out of the realm of life (vv. 23-24). Paradise was the realm of life which included the tree of life and the sphere in which man may receive life. Thus, to be cast out of paradise means to be driven away from the sphere of life.
According to Gen. 3:23-24, we see that when man was expelled from the garden God guarded the tree of life with cherubim and a flaming sword. The cherubim signified God's glory, the sword God's righteousness, and the flame of fire God's holiness. This means that God's glory, righteousness, and holiness guarded the sphere of life from sinful man until the time that the Lord Jesus came. The Lord Jesus died on the cross to fulfill all the requirements of God's glory, righteousness, and holiness, opening the way for us to enter into the realm of life once again. Now we have a new and living way to enter into the holy of holies to contact the living tree of life (Heb. 10:19-20).
The ultimate result of man's first fall was death (Gen. 3:19; 5:5; Rom. 5:12). Firstly, man's spirit was deadened and eventually his body will die. Through Adam's transgression sin entered into the world and death through sin. Death reigns over all men (Rom. 5:14, 17). Thus, "in Adam all die" (1 Cor. 15:22).
