LESSON THREE
THE FALL

•	TEXT: Genesis Chapter Three.
•	THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL: 
•	Scriptural Reference:
•	"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" (Genesis 2:16-17).
•	Modern thinking has been that man is a product of his heredity and environment it is that possible to improve man and make a better individual by simply improving his environment. 
•	Because of this wrong thinking, people blame society for the ills and crime so prevalent everywhere. 
•	However, the story of the fall of man reveals the fallacy of this teaching.
•	Adam and Eve were placed in a perfect environment. 
•	No evil heredity had been handed down to them. 
•	It proves that man's trouble has always been from within.
•	One simple restriction had been placed upon man's liberty. 
•	Man had been created a responsible being, responsible to serve, obey and glorify his Maker. 
•	As a responsible creature, man was subject to Divine government. 
•	Obedience in one simple thing was all that was required. 
•	Nevertheless man became self-willed and disobeyed.
•	It was God's desire that He might have real fellowship with man. 
•	True fellowship must be the result of one's free choice. 
•	God did not want to fellowship with puppets or robots, but with man who was made in the image of God with the power to choose. 
•	Thus it was necessary to place before man a choice, the choice between the knowledge of good and evil and the state of remaining innocent.
•	Many have asked the question regarding this tree. 
•	Of what nature was it? 
•	Others have tried to teach that it was the act of the marriage relationship. 
•	All of this is nothing but speculation and the wise Bible Student will steer clear of all such speculation. 
•	It was a tree, which bore a fruit. 
•	This is all we need to know.
•	THE TEMPTER:
•	Satan came to Eve in the form of one of the creatures of the garden, the serpent. 
•	In Revelation 20:2 Satan is called, "that old serpent." 
•	Apparently before the fall the serpent was a beautiful creature and one with which Eve was already familiar.
•	To find a description of Satan's previous exalted position and his great beauty we may turn to these two Scriptures: Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:12-19.
•	In the story of the temptation in the garden we learn a great deal about his character, his method of approach, and the realm in which he operates. 
•	We find that he is a deceiver, a liar, that his approach is subtle. 
•	Satan operates in the religious and spiritual realm. 
•	His object is to separate man's heart from God and to gain man's affections and worship. 
•	He desires to usurp the place of Almighty God.
•	THE TEMPTATION:
•	The temptation mainly had to do with the planting of unbelief in the heart of Eve. 
•	Before she disobeyed God and fell she was deceived and doubted "An God. Adam was not deceived but the woman being deceived was in the transgression" (I Timothy 2:14).
•	There were five distinct steps in the planting of this unbelief and bringing about the deception.
•	Satan questions the Word of God -"Yea, hath God said."
•	Eve listened to the tempter and enters into a conversation with him.
•	Eve added to the Word of God - "neither shall ye touch it." 
•	God had said nothing about touching it. 
•	Eve added this to make God's commandment more burdensome.
•	Eve changed God's Word- "lest ye die." 
•	What Eve was saying is that there was a possibility of the penalty of death, but then it might not be. 
•	This was not what God said for He plainly declared, "thou shalt surely die."
•	Now Satan has gained his advantage and boldly denies God's "Ye Word. shall not surely die." 
•	This was the FIRST LIE. 
•	Eve listened to him and believed. Millions are listening to the very same lie today and believing it. 
•	Now that doubt in God's Word was planted in Eve's heart she was prepared for the three-fold temptation which may be found stated in I John 2:16. The fruit was (a) good for food - lust of the flesh; (b) pleasant to the eyes - lust of the eyes; and (c) desired to make one wise - pride of life. 
•	Our Lord's temptation in the wilderness also was in this same three-fold manner. 
•	Jesus won the victory by quoting God's Word; Eve yielded to sin by doubting God's Word.
•	We might take note from this lesson that Satan works from the outside to the heart; God works from the heart of man outward.
•	We also should note that although woman was deceived in the transgression and fell, yet she can be saved through the birth of a child (I Timothy 2:15). 
•	This Scripture refers to the birth of Jesus by the virgin Mary.
•	THE FALL:
•	The transgression that brought about the fall was the act of disobedience.
•	Just as Achan saw, took, coveted and hid the garment, the silver and gold, there were definite steps in Eve's disobedience. 
•	She looked upon the fruit, desired, took, ate and then gave to Adam (Genesis 3:6).
•	Actually the sin of Adam was greater than that of Eve. 
•	There was no deception as far as he was concerned. 
•	He had to make a decision between fellowship with God and fellowship with Eve. 
•	He deliberately chose Eve in preference to God and disobeyed.
•	Undoubtedly if Adam had kept true to God and refused to yield, God would have made him a brand new helpmeet.
•	THE RESULT OF THE FALL:
•	The results of the fall were many and immediate:
•	Spiritual death, which is separation from God immediately, took place.
•	Physical death immediately began to work in his body.
•	Man's conscience was awakened into activity.
•	Man knew shame and that they were naked.
•	Man tried to cover his shame by making aprons of fig leaves. 
•	We should note that the only thing Jesus cursed during His ministry was a fig tree. 
•	Although in that case the fig tree was a type of the Jewish nation, yet we might see a connection and that any human means man might use to cover his shame is cursed by God.
•	Man hid from God. 
•	This would tell us that man's conscience drives man away from God. Conscience causes man to be afraid and to hide. 
•	The Holy Spirit draws man to God.
•	WHERE ART THOU?
•	This question is the cry of Jehovah seeking fallen man. 
•	It was not Adam who sought God, but rather God who sought man. 
•	This is the expression of God's infinite condescension, love and mercy. "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which is lost" (Luke 19:10). 
•	God is still asking the lost, "Where art thou?"
•	SALVATION PROVIDED:
•	In this third chapter of Genesis is brought out clearly God's plan of salvation.
•	THE ATONEMENT:
•	Scriptural Reference:
•	"Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them" (Genesis 3:21).
•	Here we have substitution, the innocent dying for the guilty. 
•	Here we have the shedding of blood without which there is no remission of sin (Hebrews 9:22). 
•	Pictured here is a sinner's salvation. 
•	Here is a gospel message demonstrated by God Himself.
•	ROBES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS:
•	Adam and Eve were clothed with coats of skin. Please note that God did it. 
•	They did nothing.
•	It is God who clothes the sinner with righteousness. 
•	"He hath robed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness" (Isaiah 61:10).
•	THE SEED OF THE WOMAN:

•	Scriptural Reference:
•	"...Between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel" (Genesis 3:15).
•	Here is stated the promise of the coming of the Savior. 
•	Jesus Christ is the only one who ever was born of the seed of the woman. Everyone is born of the seed of man except Jesus. 
•	This definitely refers to the virgin birth.
•	At Calvary Satan bruised the heel of the seed of woman but soon Satan's head will be bruised when he will be bound for one thousand years (Revelation 20:2).
•	THE FLAMING SWORD:
•	Man was driven out of the Garden of Eden and was barred from returning and partaking of the tree of life by a flaming sword. 
•	This is a tremendous subject, which we cannot develop here. 
•	Let us remember that the Word of God is the "sword of the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:17); God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29); and that the judgment of God is a flaming fire (II Thessalonians 1:8).
•	This sword of justice was sheathed in the side of Jesus on Calvary, and through Jesus Christ sinners are able to make their way to the Tree of Life.
•	Jesus Christ partook of the entire curse and judgment that fell upon Adam. 
•	This also may be developed into a tremendous Bible study; Jesus was made a curse, was a man of sorrows, wore a crown of thorns, sweat drops of blood, and tasted of death, in order to restore everything to man which had been lost in Adam.
•	In Christ saints enjoy a closer fellowship with God than ever was possible in the garden. 
•	We have gained more through the last Adam than we ever lost through the first Adam. 
•	Hallelujah!

LESSON THREE
SELF HELP TEST

A. Why did God place the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden?

B. Explain the part that unbelief had in the first transgression.

C. "Actually the sin of Adam was greater than that of Eve." Comment on this statement.

D. How was God's plan of salvation brought out in Genesis chapter three?