Genesis 3 - Satan's Strategy and Man's Response
Tom Shrader examines the second half of Genesis 3, focusing on Satan's consistent strategy of tempting through the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and boastful pride of life. He demonstrates how this pattern appears both in Eve's temptation and Jesus' temptation in the wilderness, then explores man's response to sin: guilt, hiding from God, and blame-shifting.
“Your fundamental problem in life is not that I'm an abuser, or not that I'm an alcoholic, or not that I'm this, or not that I'm that. My fundamental problem in life is that I'm a sinner, and my problem is spiritual.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: Genesis
Recorded: December 05, 2002
Duration: 38 min
Themes: temptation, sin, guilt, blame, hiding, pride, deception, responsibility, struggling with guilt, making excuses, avoiding responsibility, new believer, feeling shame, parent, mentor, facing temptation
Scripture: Genesis 3, 1 John 3:8, 1 John 2, Matthew 4:1-11, James 1:13-15, Genesis 2:25
Theological Themes: hamartiology, sin nature, satanology, spiritual warfare, original sin, fall of man, temptation patterns, biblical anthropology
Full Transcript
What we're going to do is pick up the second part of Genesis chapter 3. Let me remind you, last time we were together, we read 1 John chapter 3, verse 8, and it says this: "The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil." What a magnificent verse for Christmas. I'll read it to you again. 1 John 3, verse 8: "The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy."
What we're going to do is look at Genesis 3. We've gotten to Genesis 3 by somebody in one of the studies saying, "Listen, I know you've got a couple of weeks here before Christmas. If you're looking for something to do, why don't you teach Genesis 3?" So that's what we're going to do. We're going to finish it up today. We covered the first five, six verses last time. Then we'll take the next two times that we're together, and we will look at a message that will prepare us for Christmas. It'll be a little bit of a different approach to Christmas, but something we'll look at over the next two weeks.
If you've got friends, again, this time of year, or acquaintances that you work with, or people that you know, and this is that time of the year when they get a little spiritual, this is a great opportunity for you to reach out to them. That sounded cynical, didn't it? I don't mean it that way, but that's a great opportunity for you to reach out to them.
Three Key Elements of Genesis 3
Here's what we said when we looked at Genesis 3. We said there's three things that we want to pull out of here. Number one, we want to see how Satan works. Then number two, we want to see man's response to his sin. And then lastly, God's reaction to man's sin.
Let me just tell you, we could spend, depending on how in-depth we wanted to go, we could spend six, eight weeks on unpacking this, and just layering it, and unpeeling, if you will, this onion in front of us. That's not what we're going to do. But I really encourage you to spend some time with it. The reason that I responded to the guy when he said, "Look at Genesis 3," is because Genesis 3 is such an important chapter. When you get Genesis 3, you're going to get a lot of the rest of the stuff you find in the Bible.
Satan's Standard Operating Procedure
So we said, here you go. What's Satan's standard operating procedure? Well, in 1 John chapter 2, John tells us this. He says, watch out in these areas: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life. Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, boastful pride of life.
When the serpent comes and tempts the woman, and then he leaves, we said in Genesis chapter 3 verse 6, the woman saw the tree was good for food—lust of the flesh, tastes good. It was a delight to the eyes—lust of the eyes, it's aesthetically pleasing. The eyes so often become part of what Satan uses to trap you, to entice you. And then she saw it would make her wise—boastful pride of life.
Here's what 1 John says: lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, boastful pride of life. Here's the first temptation that we have, obviously, in the history of man, and what do we see? Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, boastful pride of life.
Satan's Confidence in His Strategy
Here's what I want you to do. Take a trip with me, keep your finger in Genesis 3, we'll be back to Matthew chapter 4. I want you to see how confident Satan is of this procedure.
Matthew chapter 4, verse 1: "Then the Lord Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, and after He had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, He was hungry." It seemed to me, if it were me, I would have been hungry a little closer to day 1 than day 40, but it's interesting it reads that way.
"The tempter came to Him and said, 'If You are the Son of God...'" Now the word that's translated "if" there, in our language, has this potential maybe, maybe not. The word is better translated "since." Since You are the Son of God. In other words, the devil is not wondering if Jesus indeed is or isn't. There's no doubt in Satan's mind who Jesus is, and that is a key part of the design of the temptation here.
"Since You are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread." If You're the Son of God, then here's what I want You to do. Command these stones to be bread. Prove it to me—lust of the flesh. You're hungry, eat. And Jesus said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.'"
The Second and Third Temptations
Verse 5: "Then the devil took Him into the holy city, and he stood Him on a pinnacle of the temple, and he said, 'If You are the Son of God,' since You are the Son of God, 'You throw Yourself down, because the Bible says He will give His angels charge concerning You, and on their hands they will bear You up, lest You strike Your foot against a stone.'" If You are really the Son of God, You prove it to Me. You throw Yourself off here, because the word says that God will protect You, the angels will protect You. If You're really Him, do it—the boastful pride of life. And again, Jesus answers. "On the other hand, it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'"
A little side note there: it's very interesting to see that as Satan comes, he's not afraid to quote Scripture. He's not afraid to take Scripture. Now, he's going to take it out of context and convolute it, but he's certainly not worried about doing that.
Again, verse 8: "The devil took Him to the very high mountain and showed Him the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and he said, 'All of this I'll give to You if You'll fall down and worship me.'" Look at all this, it could all be Yours—lust of the eyes. "Be gone, Satan, for it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.'"
Here's what I want you to see: lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, boastful pride of life. He comes in contact, Satan comes in contact with Eve, where's he go?
Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, boastful pride of life. When Satan comes in contact with Jesus, the order changes a little bit, but what does he see? Lust of the flesh, boastful pride of life, lust of the eyes. This is his standard operating procedure. It's a process of enticement. Do you see that? It's a process of luring you, and I picked those words specifically.
The Process of Temptation
How does this temptation process work? Keep turning, you're in Matthew, turn almost all the way to the back of the book. When you get to Hebrews, slow down. Next book is James, and you get a perfect picture of sin and temptation here in James chapter 1, verses 13, 14, and 15.
James chapter 1, verses 13, 14, and 15. James writes this: "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God,' for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone." I want to stop there, because although that doesn't directly deal with what we're talking about, it's an important statement. God, two things James tells us about God. Number one, He can't be tempted. Number two, He doesn't tempt anyone.
The other night on Christian television, one of the false teachers was on, and here's what he was saying. This is a magnificent statement. I'm telling you, I don't know how much of this stuff we have to listen to before we can just say, can we shut the heresy network off? Here's what he said: Jesus didn't sin, not because He's the Son of God, but because He hated sin. That's why He didn't sin.
Why Jesus Couldn't Sin
Let me help you out here. Do you hate sin? I hate sin. Jesus didn't sin for one reason: because He's the Son of God. This is so destructive. This is so damning, this teaching, that they just perpetrate over and over and over again.
Be very careful here. Jesus is God. Jesus did not sin. Why? Because He was born of a virgin. Because He was God. If He'd been like you or me, He would have sinned, no matter how much He hated it. He wouldn't have hated it if He wasn't God.
Jesus didn't sin. I'll give you something stronger. Jesus couldn't sin. There was absolutely no possibility that Jesus could sin. It was impossible for Jesus to sin. Well, then why would Satan tempt Him? Well, Satan may or may not know this. He can't sin. Why? Well, we're going to show you a process here, and then you tell me why Jesus couldn't sin.
The Mechanism of Temptation
Look at verse 14: "But each person is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lusts." He's carried away. Some of your translations will say drawn away. It describes a wild game that's being lured into a trap. It's like you take an animal and you lure him in and you catch him and you cut his head off and put it on your wall. That's the kind of idea.
Each one's tempted when he's carried away or enticed by his own lust. And then this idea of enticement is the idea, it's actually a fishing term. It means to capture, to catch with bait. So here's what happens. Along comes this thing, this event, this moment, this person, this place. And Satan uses it to appeal to the lust that's in you to draw you into a trap or to hook you.
Now do you see why Jesus couldn't sin? There was nothing in Him that would be attracted to it. He was repulsed by sin. That was the agony of the cross. The agony of the cross was He became the very thing that He hated.
Our Vulnerability to Sin
But see, you and I, we're different. We have in us a desire to sin that competes with His desire for holiness. And we have this flesh that is weak, that is attracted to sin. So along comes Satan and he drops this bait in front of us. Boom.
I've used this illustration with you before. Years ago, I was invited up to Montana to go to a dude ranch. That's where dudes go. So we were all there, all us dudes. And I got up early. In those days, I was drinking coffee. And I got up early. And I've been coffee-free now almost three years. That's amazing to me. Hardest thing I ever did. And I have no moral objection to it. I buy it and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on it for my family, it seems like. But I don't drink it.
And so it's just a small thing. It will be December 11th. That's next Wednesday. Al Gore's on with Chris Matthews on Hardball. That's one thing. That's not significant. What is significant is it'll be 22 years ago next Wednesday since I had a drink. So that is a little more significant. I didn't. That's not that big a deal. No, I think you would have clapped more if you would have seen me drink. It was a very pretty thing to watch.
Satan's Fishing Strategy
But I'm up there. I'm drinking coffee. I get up early. I go down. And there's this guy there. And he's got this chest on with this case. It's about this high. About five, six feet high. Two big doors on it. You open it and there's these little packages, these little drawers in it. And this guy's in these drawers. And I go, what are you doing? And he's got lures. There's thousands of lures in there.
And he is the fisher boy. He gets up in the morning and he grabs the different lures. He goes down and fishes the stream for a half hour or so. Then he comes back and tells the guests, this is the day they're hitting on the reds. The reds do little red and orange, you know. No greens. They're not hitting on the greens today.
And I thought, what a great illustration of Satan. He's out there casting. And some days you're going to hit on the reds. But not every day. And not every person. Every person's different. Some people, power. Boom. They're going to hit. Some people, it's the opportunity for cash. They're going to be compromised. Some people, it's a sexual thing.
You know, I think the old thing is, it's basically either gold or glory or God. I mean, you want to either have one of those three things that you seem vulnerable to, the idea of power. And then he comes. And he drops that in front of you. Isn't that amazing?
And I'll tell you how sick it is, because I watched it the other day. I'm driving down the street. I'm at a stoplight. And I see down, probably about a half a block, there's
Satan's Standard Operating Procedure
A girl hitchhiking. Now, to most of you in the room, at least 50% of you, that means nothing. To the other 50%, that is a problem. I'm watching. I'm at a stoplight. So they're turning and coming through. I'd see a gal in a van. And she'd go. A guy in a car. And he'd hit the brake lights. I'd watch every brake light hit. I'd watch them hit. And just look at this girl. Nobody picked her up. But I know, not because I think this way, but I've had others tell me how they think. I know they're enticed. They're wondering. It's a temptation. It just is. You can't explain it.
You could have sit there. It would be a great study in human nature. You could sit there all day and watch that take place. That's how that sin... Satan just drops in something. Maybe it's a woman. Maybe it's a deal. Whatever it is, he drops it in. And now he waits for you. He lures you in. That stuff that's inside of you becomes enticed by your lust. And when the lust is conceived, it gives birth to sin. And when a sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.
James uses here the physical picture of conception and birth to equate for us something we can get our arms around and give us the idea that sin is not a spontaneous act, but generally the result of a progression. And it leads to death. All of that to say, that's Satan's standard operating procedure. As Satan begins to work in your life, that's how he's going to work. Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, boastful pride of life. He's going to drop these sets of circumstances in your life, or life's going to present them. Something in you is going to grab something that's outside. You're going to think about it. Exactly what we said with Eve.
The Progression from Temptation to Sin
Back to Genesis 3. In all indications, Satan is gone. The temptation has taken place. She looks. Finally, she takes this fruit. She ate it. She gave to her husband. And he is eating it. So, there is phase one of what we try to accomplish are the three things. That's how Satan works.
Now, look at man's reaction to sin. Verse 7. "Then both of them, that's Adam and Eve, both of them, their eyes were open. They knew they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin covering."
The first thing they did was, all of a sudden, their life that had been, remember back in Genesis chapter 2, the end of that chapter, verse 25, they'd been innocent. They were naked. They knew they were naked, but it didn't embarrass them. All of a sudden, there's this sense of guilt. He grabs a fig leaf. She grabs three. And they cover themselves up.
Not only that, look at verse 8. "They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden of the cool of the day. And the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord among the trees of the garden." Here you have the first record in the history of mankind of abnormal behavior.
Finding Ourselves in the Story
Again, let me read you something we read in the introduction to this chapter. The most striking thing about Genesis 3 is that we find ourselves. You can't read through this story without feeling that you've lived it yourself, because of course you have. This account of the temptation and the fall is reproduced in our lives many times a day. We've all heard the voice of the tempter. We've all felt the drawing of sin. We've all felt the pang of guilt that follows. That's what happens.
Now let me make what I think is a bold assertion, but I believe it's accurate. If abnormal behavior flows from sin, then the solution to my abnormal behavior is to deal with my sin. My fundamental problem in life is not that I'm an abuser, or not that I'm an alcoholic, or not that I'm this, or not that I'm that. My fundamental problem in life is that I'm a sinner, and my problem is spiritual.
A Personal Example: The Real Issue Behind Drinking
Let me tell you how I quit drinking, because I mentioned that earlier. I woke up on December 11th. It was the morning after the Christmas party. The centerpiece had been a donkey that was stuffed with evergreen stuff and cranberries, and I woke up, because I had won the centerpiece, I woke up the next day wrapped around the centerpiece with cranberries all over my shirt, and I said, and I will tell you I was a Christian at the time. I had become a Christian in March. This was December, and I said, "God, I can't handle this drinking. I got lots of issues, so let's take them alphabetically. Let's start with alcohol. You got to get rid of this, because I've tried, I've gone without, I've been through this, I've talked to this, I've done this. Why don't you just take it away?" That was it.
I don't tell that story very often, because I know a lot of people struggle in this area, but that's how that happened, because the alcohol that I had, it wasn't fundamentally a physical problem, wasn't an addiction, it was sin. Here's why I drank. I'll tell you why I drank. I liked it. I had a lot of fun. I loved to go to a bar. A bar was a great place for me. It was dark, it was cold, there was sports on, and everybody was lying to everybody else. I loved it. That's why I drank.
The Root Cause of All Sin
Now, there may be some physical ramifications of that after a period of time, but why does a homosexual guy sin? Because he's a sinner. Because he likes it. Why do you slander? Because you like it. Why do you gossip? Because it makes you feel good. Why do you steal? Because you want to. And here's what I hear all the time. "Oh, that's so simplistic." I don't know how simplistic it is. I just know it's true. Your fundamental problem is spiritual.
See, that's their problem. How'd they get there? What's going on in their life? All of a sudden, they're guilty. They hear God and they hide. It's the same thing you do. It's the same thing lost people do. They'll run and hide. Why do people... We're coming up on it in just a couple of weeks, so I'm prepping myself for it. Why do people come to church
Why do people only show up to church on Christmas and Easter? Why do people suddenly start praying during 9-11? Why do you feel guilty within seconds of committing some act? It's simple. Because you are guilty.
We always say, "Oh, I don't want to make anybody feel guilty." But if you can sin and not feel guilty, you're pathological. You have a problem. You are guilty and feel guilty because that's the condition of your heart. They hide. Why do they hide? Because of their sin. Same reason you hide from God.
God's Question to the Lost
Then the Lord God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you, Adam?" Now, God has not lost His omniscience. God knows exactly where Adam is. God's not using this question because He's thinking, "Man, all those trees down there, I've lost track. I only had to follow two of them, but I've lost track of them."
He's asking the question for Adam's sake. He's saying, "Adam, where are you? Stop and think, Adam. Where are you? How'd you get here?" The point is, Adam's lost. Not physically—he's now spiritually lost. And when you're lost, you need to know the way.
Susan's sister was coming to see us years ago. At our house, when somebody's coming, especially somebody we want to see, we get very excited. I remember when I was a little boy. When my grandpa and grandma were coming to see us, they'd say, "Grandma and Grandpa are coming this afternoon." We'd calculate: it's about a three and a half hour drive, but it'll take them about five hours. If they're leaving at ten, they'll be here about three.
I remember the whole day had a sense of excitement to it. We would sit on the porch, sitting on the step, waiting for my grandma and grandpa to come. At our house, those are big deals.
When Someone Is Lost
Susan's sister's coming—it's a big deal. She's supposed to be there at six. At 6:00, she's not there. Traffic. 6:10, she's not there. 6:15, she's not there. The phone rings. I don't answer the phone. Susan answers the phone. Here's what I hear Susan say: "Where are you?"
I didn't hear the other side of the conversation, but I could fill in the gap. It went like this: "I'm lost." When somebody's lost, you need them to be able to understand where they are. You need to know where they are so you can tell them how to get to you.
God's saying to Adam, "Where are you, Adam? How'd you get there, Adam? Do you sense where you are, Adam? And I'll tell you how to get to Me." In our economy, here's how you get to Me. Jesus says, "I'm the way, the truth, the life."
That call has gone out to every person over the centuries. "Where are you, Bob? Where are you, Carol? Where are you, Barbara? Where are you, Michael? Where are you? Do you understand why you're here?"
There you are in the pit. You're sitting in this bar, liquored to the gills. What are you doing? You're laying in this fleabag hotel room. What are you doing? You're sitting in front of this computer. You're at this store spending money you don't have. You're yelling at one another and treating each other like dirt. You're out there talking and you know what you're telling's not true and you're lying. Where are you? What are you doing?
You've got to start there. You've got to get to the point where you understand that's sin.
Adam's Response and the Blame Game
"Where are you, Adam?" And he said, "I heard the sound of Thee in the garden. And I was afraid, because I was naked. So I hid myself" (Genesis 3:10). All of a sudden he gets an understanding of where he is.
This next question—I always felt sorry for Adam at this point. Verse 11: "Who told you you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree which I commanded you?" It's a sad moment for Adam, because I know how he thinks, because it's how we think. He's in trouble here. There aren't a lot of things to blame. He can't really say, "Well, it's my socioeconomic background." He can't really say, "It's my parents, my brothers, my sisters that got me here. It's my boss."
But you know what? This proves my point about the creativity of man. We're very creative. Here's what he says, and it's pretty good: "The woman that You gave me." See, it wasn't me, God. It was the woman.
And when we really get after it—this is how pathetic we are as humans—it isn't even the woman. "God, it's You. You made her. You created her. You put her here. I'm minding my own business. Everything's going well. You put me to sleep and take a rib out of me. I didn't ask for this. I didn't want her. You created her. You must have known. God, didn't You know? Aren't You all-knowing? Didn't You know when You created this, this is going to happen this way? And now You want to blame me? You can't be blaming me, God. How could You blame me? At least it's her. And even if it's her, God, You can't blame her. Because You made this, didn't You, God?"
The Attitude That Pervades Society
One author writes that this attitude pervades our whole society and throughout history. It's what I find married couples saying to one another all the time. The predominant problem in solving the tangles of a marriage relationship is to get the two to stop blaming each other.
Very seldom do you find man coming out openly and blatantly saying it's God's fault. But that's what lies beneath the surface. We're blaming God for the whole thing. We're trying to turn guilt into fate and to make ourselves...
The Shift to Divine Judgment
True, God didn't create it this way. He created a place that we call paradise. And your ancestors chose sin. When the Lord God took the woman and said, "What is it you've done?" He was running out of options here. She was in trouble, but at least she's smart enough to say it's the serpent. Implied in that and all of its implications is "the serpent You've made." From the two of them, at least we have now an admission of guilt.
So God moves now from prosecuting attorney to judge. And to Satan, He goes first.
The Curse Upon Satan
He said to the serpent, "Because you've done this, cursed are you more than all the cattle, more than every beast of the field. On your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise Him on the heel."
We're not going to unpack that completely, but let me just tell you what's lying in there. It's the first prophecy of virgin birth. It's very strange language. It's the only time that I know of in scripture that you will see the phrase "her seed" or "the seed of a woman." Anytime you see the lineage marked out or talked about in scripture, you'll see "his seed," the seed of the man - this guy begat this guy begat this guy begat this guy.
It's a prophetic utterance. Obviously they wouldn't know it - we see it as we look back in hindsight. It's a prophetic utterance of the virgin birth, and Satan is condemned, and his fate is carved out for him.
The Consequence for the Woman
Now I want to make this point and talk about the woman. To Satan God says "because you've done this," to Adam He says "because you've done this," but in regard to the woman, there's no accusation there. He simply declares what is true: "I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth; in pain you shall bring forth children. Yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you."
Let me give you a little overview. The word "pain" - it's not just physical pain. In Hebrew there's no specific word for pain, but the word used here is universally used. It comes from the root word meaning toil, travailing toil. This is perhaps why there is the colloquial description of birth pains as labor or toil.
It's evident in the way the whole context is developed that this means more than simply physical pain. It results in the heartbreak associated with having children. This is one of the primary experiences as a result of the fall - the presence of heartbreak in bearing children. It means that the mother's heart early in life is tied to her children, so that the pain the mother feels is more sharply than the father does. A sense of danger or failure with the children - she feels more sharply, but it doesn't stop with the children.
We know this from experience. Even if a baby is abandoned in a trashcan, something's written in the heart that that baby belongs to a mother. That's why when we hear of mothers murdering their babies, it's shocking to us. That's because it goes against the very design.