Well, let's turn now to page 8 in our Pew Bibles, to Genesis chapter 3, verses 1 through 8. Genesis chapter 3, verses 1 through 8. And we'll read God's words together. Let us begin. Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, has God indeed said, you shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said to the serpent, we may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden. But of the fruit of the tree, which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die. Then the serpent said to the woman, You will not surely die, for God knows that in the day 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, "'that it was pleasant to the eyes, "'and a tree desirable to make one wise, "'she took of its fruit and ate. "'She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were open, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. And they heard the sound of the Lord walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. That is the word of God. man's failure to bring glory to God. Brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ, God gave man a wife, God gave man a job, a profitable job, a satisfying job. God gave man wisdom. God gave man food, the best food money could buy. Well, they didn't even have to buy it. The best water. God gave man materials, gold that he could use for other things. God gave him beauty. All around, there was nothing that man needed. But Adam thumbed his nose at God. He wanted more than plentiful. Now, why would Adam do such a wicked thing? Why would he thumb his nose at God? This is what you will hear about today under three very simple headings. There was a fraud, there was a fool, and there was a fall. And our goals are that you will remember and regret the failure and fall of your first parent, Adam, and will remember and revel in the success of the second Adam, the one who repaired the damage caused by the first Adam. Let's first consider the fraud, the devil himself, the liar, the sneaky snake, Now, no one knows how long Adam and Eve stayed in the garden before they were tempted because the Bible doesn't tell us. And it doesn't really matter. But who the serpent was and how he operated this fraud, this matter. These things matter. They matter a lot. The Bible teaches us that Satan entered into a snake, an ordinary snake. and spoke in Satan's cunning way. Satan used a serpent because the serpents were the most cunning of all the animals God had made. Satan wanted the woman to think that it was the snake that was speaking, not Satan himself. Look at your sermon notes in Revelation 12, verse 9. We read together, "'So the great dragon was cast out, "'that serpent of old called the devil, "'and Satan, who deceives the whole world, "'he was cast to the earth, "'and his angels were cast out with him.'" Now, he wasn't a serpent before, but he was called the serpent because he took on the form or went into the serpent. Now, what do we know about serpents? Well, scholars believe serpents were beautiful and possibly could fly. You know, most people, when they hear snakes, they think, oh, yuck. But God made them very beautiful. And actually, there are some snakes I saw in one place where they can literally fly about 20 to 30 feet from one tree to another. So there's still some remnants of that there. But later, serpents were cursed to crawl on their bellies and to eat dust, something also verified by science. But the really ugly one here was not the snake. It was the devil. The devil, the very name of the devil means the one who deceives or the slandering one. And he's so deceitful, he was hiding behind a snake. And he had many children later on. John 8.44 says, You are of your father the devil and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. You see the kind of, his name represents his person. No, there are some people who have different names and the names don't exactly match what they are. And we're thankful for that. But he lived up to his name as the deceitful, the diabolos, the devilish one, the deceiver. Now, the devil didn't just have the name. The devil, the fraud, showed great planning and deception. I wasn't surprised. That's the kind of person he is. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 11, verse 14, together, And no wonder, for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. So he's a sneaky snake. He's this rotten one, but he pretends He's an angel of light. So look at what he did now. He waited until Eve was near the fruit. Maybe she was just about looking at the fruit on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It was the right time. It was a moment of weakness. And then he planted seeds of doubt. He didn't go up and say, pick that fruit. He said, are you sure? Did God really say that you were not to eat of that fruit? Maybe God didn't really say that. Maybe you misheard. And after planting the seeds of doubt, you notice something that's particularly missing from his attack. He did not tell Eve, there is no God. Remember, Eve was meeting with the Lord Jesus on the evening of the day, so she knew God. And the devil doesn't come with these bold lies, he comes with these things that put doubts in your mind, or half-lies. He suggested that, yeah, there is a God, but maybe he didn't really mean what he said when he said, don't eat of that fruit after all. As she had the doubts in her mind and he moved into the kill, he then came up with a lie. It won't hurt you if you eat that forbidden fruit. In fact, you will gain much if you eat the fruit. God is there and He spoke to you. Don't doubt that. Maybe it's your problem. Maybe you just misheard. See the cunningness of the devil. And this is one of the easiest ways to bring down a man or woman into sin. The devil minimizes sin as not so bad. He then denied the reality of the dangers of sin, and he suggested advantages to committing that particular sin. And when all was said, he then encouraged jealousy or covetousness. He says, God knows if you eat of that fruit, you will be like He is. In other words, God is jealous of you because you are so important. You know, He fed into the sin of ego, of pride. That's the kind of a fraud He is. And you need to be aware of that. So let's consider some lessons about how the devil works. First of all, you need to stay away from temptation. Lead us not into temptation, because all sins bring shame to the Savior and hinder you from the work of the kingdom, which is a call to work for the glory of God. As we go through the entire book of Genesis, don't forget the purpose of your creation is not ultimately for your happiness. It is about the glory of God. And when you fall into sin, you can't promote the glory of God. Proverbs chapter 4, verse 14 and 15 say together, Do not enter the path of the wicked and do not walk in the way of evil. Avoid it. Do not travel in it. Turn away from it and pass on. Remember Psalm 1, don't stay there, don't walk there, don't run away. You run away from the sins that are there. Run like Joseph did from Potiphar's wife. Stay away from temptation. And knowing especially that temptations don't often come blatantly saying, deny that God exists. It comes in these subtle ways, like that angel of light. You know, when we think of the devil, because of what we've seen in movies and cartoons and things, we think of the devil with a pitchfork and a tail and a mouth that shoots fire, and this ugly-looking creature. But temptation can come from the one you sleep next to in your bed, from your parents, from your children. You have to be careful because the devil will use anyone he can get his hands on. Second, the devil would love to get into a dialogue with you. Not only don't stay near, Not only should you stay away from temptation, if you happen to be close to temptation, don't dialogue with the devil. You know why? You'll lose. You know some people you don't argue with because they've got all the arguments? Well, he's been doing this for thousands of years and he has all the arguments down. There's nothing you can come up with that he would say, oh, well, I haven't heard that before. He knows and he knows the answers. Ephesians chapter 6, verse 11 says this, "'Together put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.'" You know, he will come and he will say, yeah, it's exam time now, and all of you in school know this. You can take a shortcut. If you buy an exam paper from off the internet, who will be hurt by that? Cheating school, who will be hurt? It just gets me out of here, and I can study that material some other time and learn it. It's so easy. Or to cheat on a spouse. Oh, nobody will know, so I can get away with it. or at work, steal something. After all, it's not much, who knows, who cares? Well, that's how the devil gets into the arguments with you, or the dialogue, and he'll say, no, nobody will get hurt. That's just a small thing. Don't dialogue with him. Three, know that the devil loves to prey upon, and very carefully now, easily deceived women. Strong words, but it's true. TV preachers, they pursue women during the daytime. They're always there during the daytime, very rarely in the evening. What time do Jehovah's Witnesses come to houses? Do they come at evening when the husband is at home? No, they love, like most cults, to go after women during the daytime. When they have time to talk, and maybe they just want to talk to somebody, it's not that they're dumb, it's just because they're thinking, well, I've some company, come on in, let's talk. That's how people are suckered in. Why do you think they have these sappy soap operas in the daytime, not in the evening time? Because the devil knows how to pull people in. And then you start to see things and you watch these things on television and say, oh, my husband doesn't care like that man on television. And then doubts start to creep into your minds. That's the way these things work. That's the way the devil works. And this is why, brothers and sisters, this is why covenant headship is so important. You need to lead your wives in the way of the Lord. You have to be mature enough to lead your wives in the ways of the Lord. Look at 2 Timothy 3, verses 5 and 6 together. having a form of godliness, but denying its power, and from such people turn away. For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women, loaded down with sin, led away by various lusts." So the lust for companionship might say, let me talk to this person. And then the person brings in all these lies and harmful things into your souls. Four, the only way you can combat the devil is to have a life that is totally dedicated or devoted to Christ while you depend upon his word and his spirit. You see, when you know this, and this is where it always comes back, when you realize how much God loves you, in Jesus Christ, you will run away from sin. That's the benefit, of course, again, of that covenant headship, where you show your love for your family, for your children, so that they will stay close to God. We see the fraud, but then we have the fool. And what a fool she was and he was. Now when I say the word, when I say man is a fool, I don't use it how we use it today, meaning that man is stupid. That's not what the Bible, that's not how the Bible uses this word. I use fool in the biblical sense, meaning that this man has rejected God. Psalm 53 verse one says together, the fool has says in his heart, there is no God. Now it is obvious that Eve, hearing a serpent speak, should have said, there's something wrong here. Snakes don't talk. The companionship is my husband, not an animal. And then she should have asked her husband, what's going on here? Why is this snake talking to me? Or she could have asked Jesus when He came in the evening of the day, why is this snake talking to me? But Eve forgot the promises of God and the warnings of God, and she allowed herself to be lured into sin. Now, God had given Adam and Eve liberty. He'd given them each other. He'd given them all these possessions of food and drink and possessions. He'd given them dominion over the whole earth. but she wanted more. So she engaged the devil and dialogued with him to see if God gave them everything that was good for them. She didn't go to God and say, is there something else I need? She went to the devil to see if God had given her everything she needed. And she fell for the devil's argument about her perceived need, that she needed this fruit. And having listened to the two short speeches of the devil, the woman responded. And look at what happened now. First of all, Eve doubted God. She did not believe that God would provide everything she needed to work for God's glory. And that God was holding back that which was good for her, that fruit that she could enjoy, that wisdom for her mind. And when she doubted God, it led to discontent. She was discontented with what God had given to her. So, to get the things she wanted to do, the work God had called her to do, to get more food and to get more wisdom, Eve had to get autonomy. Now, here's where the picture gets really important and special, or clear. She wanted to get autonomy. So Eve denied God. She actually became an atheist and listened to the bankrupt person for direction rather than the true God who had made her and blessed her with everything good, the one with whom she had a relationship. And she met with in the evening of the day. Instead, she listened to the devil because she wanted more. And she decided autonomy. depending upon herself. By the way, you see how similar that is to what we hear today? It's all about me. She moved from being a servant of God to a skeptic of God. Did God really say that? Yeah, maybe God didn't really say that, to a full-blown atheist. And she judged by appearance. Believing the fruit was good for food, so she picked of that fruit. And her life was summarized in the words of the Apostle James. In James 1.5 that says this, Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death. And that's exactly what happened to her. But she didn't end there. Eve then involved her husband in her sin. Now, why was Eve made? Eve was made to be a helper to her husband. And instead of being a helper to her husband, she was a hurter of her husband. and this other temporary atheist, this other fool, this one who denied God, ate too. He did not rebuke her like a good husband should. He failed in his covenant responsibility. Of course, you see, that's why we needed Jesus, the one who would keep the covenant for us and will hold us as his bride. to be covenant keepers. What can we learn here about the foolish people, the two fools, Adam and Eve? Well, Eve's atheistic spirit is present today, as it was throughout history. The Apostle Paul warned about this in Galatians chapter 1, verse 6, 7, and 8, we say together. I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel, which is not another, but they are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach another gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed." By the way, you see angel highlighted there? The devil is an angel. He's an evil angel, an evil spirit. And the Apostle Paul is saying, those who have been renewed in Christ and given rebirth, you can fall into the same trap. Don't listen to any other voice than the voice of God. Now, let me give you some practical application more of this. Believing a lie does not make it a truth, no matter how strongly you believe it. And people are confidently believing things, and they will say absolutely contradictory things, and they're just as confident about it. But think of some things you hear today regularly. Adultery is not sinful because love is love. Stealing is not wrong. The Sabbath cannot disappear. They will tell you it has. They'll justify stealing, saying, well, you know what, it's unfair. We need to get our fair share of what other people work for. Abortion is still murder. Now they've decided to, the popular thing is to call the baby an organ of the mother so you can get rid of the organ without feeling guilt, just like you might get rid of your appendix or your tonsils. Regardless of what the government tells you, there are only two genders, God-made male and female. Inflation is theft regardless of the government says. When it prints money, it is stealing from everyone and it is theft. Man didn't come from slime as the evolutionists say. They might try to argue that way, but science proves them wrong. Marriage is between one man and one woman. It's not, well, as long as you're happy. And so many parents accept that today. Well, it doesn't matter what they do as long as they're happy. What's the goal then? You see the difference? God says we are here for the glory of God, so we have to use the means that God has established for us to walk in to accomplish that glory. But we are thinking, now, the end of our lives here is the glory of man. So if I like it, if I don't like it, I'm the arbiter. I am God. That's our problem. And that's what the devil makes us and lures us with half-truths so we become independent, autonomous people. Third, so watch out for the half-truths. Care for others, but don't steal from the rich to give to the poor, as our socialist society says. Also, having the urge to commit a sin does not justify committing that sin, because that's the argument you hear. Well, I just feel this is who I am. I am a homosexual, or I am this, or I am that. It doesn't matter what you feel like. You don't belong to you. You belong to God. Everyone feels like a thief now and then. Everyone feels like a murderer now and then, and if you don't, you're probably not telling the truth. We all feel these sins in our hearts, but we don't have to act upon them because they're a violation of God's law and hinder us from working for His glory. And then be careful, the jealousy of God does not drive your actions. You know, some people are jealous of God. They want to be God. But God doesn't withhold good from you. Whatever is good for you, He gives to you. And He will always do what is good and give you what is good for you. Don't be jealous of someone who has your interest in his heart. Now we have the fraud. The Satan came in his temptation and then we have the fools. The ones who decided we don't need God. We need to become autonomous and do what we want. Well, what happened then was the fall. The fall. Man lost true fellowship with other mankind. The husband and the wife bond was broken. You want to know why more than 50% of marriages end in divorce in Canada? It's because of the fall. Shame came over man and they started to hide their nakedness. Why? Because lust grew. This is why they had to wear clothes after then. They broke true intimacy. The nakedness that we read here is now different from the nakedness in chapter 2, verse 25. When God made them, they felt no shame because there was no sin or lust. But after Adam and Eve became aware of themselves after their sin, they were under the judgment of God and lust started to fill the heart. And then God required that they wear clothes. But there's a bigger problem that was taking place here. When they lost fellowship between husband and wife, they also lost that covenant headship. And ever since that time, there's been that rebellion against God. There's sometimes when men don't care. They don't want to be leaders. And women are finding out as a result of their pursuit of feminism, that it didn't work out too well for them because men just do what you want, live how you want. They don't treat their wives like they should because their wives don't live like they should. So man gave up his responsibility and what was the result? The woman started taking on responsibility that didn't belong to them. And things get turned upside down. And when covenant headship was damaged, the covenant blessings couldn't come. Remember, if Adam had obeyed, his children would have been conformed in righteousness forever and beyond fall. Instead, as covenant head, and by the way, when people say they don't believe in covenants, they're denying the scripture. They can't be saved because you need the covenant to be saved. You need a covenant keeper to keep the covenant for you and die for your sins. But when Adam, our first father, broke covenant, he brought judgment upon all of us, and we were confirmed in sin. And because of this sin, Adam lost fellowship, not just with his wife. but he lost fellowship and harmony with God. And that's why the Bible says he had to hide. They sewed fig leaves together to hide their shame from God. They no longer were able to meet with Jesus in the evening. His conscience was open. The gold had become dim. And as the covenant head, he was held responsible for this sin. He was the covenant head. How could God blame him? How could God blame him more if there were no covenant headship? But God blamed Adam more. We don't say, the Bible doesn't say we inherit Eve's sin. We inherit Adam's sin because Adam was the covenant head. Thankfully, we get more blessings through the new covenant head. Let's get some lessons here. First of all, the sinful conscience always flees from God. It is normal to do that. It is not normal to fess up, to confess our sins. Man instinctively hides from God. Think of a child. When a child does something wrong, the child doesn't say, look, I broke it. The child instinctively hides, tries to cover his sin. or his wrongdoing, and that's what man often does. Second, only the work of Christ can reconcile you to God, so those who are not reconciled are suffering under the curse of Adam and Eve's sin. This is why evangelism is so essential, that you share the gospel so that they will learn how to be reconciled. While the first Adam was a failure in the covenant, the second Adam was successful. There's no hope without Christ's obedience and without his suffering for your sins. 1 Corinthians 15, 21 says, and 22, together, for since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. And in Acts 4, verse 12, together, nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." Blessings always come. By the way, this is why we see the blessings of covenant children. It's one of the reasons they are in a special place and marked as such, because that's how God deals with us. From Adam, Curses came from the second Adam, the covenant keeper, blessings come. And so from you, blessings come to your children. This is why God will hold you accountable. If you don't raise your children in the covenant, evangelize them, share the gospel with them. Third, only the work of Christ can reconcile a man to a woman. There is no good marriage without Christ. You want a good marriage? Serve the Lord. Find a Christian spouse. If you don't have a Christian spouse ready to marry you, don't get married. Christ must be the head of the covenant marriage for the marriage to thrive and for God's kingdom to prosper. You're here for the glory of God, and nothing else will ruin your opportunities to be able to be as effective as you ought to be than if you marry someone who is not a true believer in Jesus Christ. Let's conclude. Eve listened to the fraud. She became a fool when she forgot God. She looked at the forbidden fruit and lusted. She doubted God's word. She believed the tempter's lie. She ate the forbidden fruit. She gave it to Adam and he ate. And instead of becoming wiser, instead of enjoying this good food, she lost everything. She lost the entire garden and she lost her closeness and fellowship with Jesus Christ. And not only that, they lost peace with each other. From that day on, there was strife between husband and wife. They lost God's protection, as well as His provision. And then work became hard. Their souls suffered the most, coming under eternal condemnation. So, brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ, God is never far from you, His redeemed child. Yes, He sees your sin, but He also suckers you in times of temptation. So when you are tempted, He will never allow you to be tempted above what you were able to bear, but will always provide a way of escape so you don't fall into sin and harm the work that He has called you to do, which will rob Him of glory. And that's the focus, of course. Second, When you do sin, and from time to time you will, don't cover your sin. Ask God for forgiveness. Adam brought death, sin and death. Jesus brought success and life. and then be a conduit as a redeemed covenant keeper for blessings on your covenant children and for those around you. Warn those around. Warn those who are playing this deadly game of being autonomous, living apart from God. Warn them. The only hope they have is forgiveness in Jesus Christ, that true covenant keeper. Urge them to repent and receive His forgiveness. And finally, though Adam and Eve brought death by disobedience, something that was put to your account, yet Christ brought life and liberty and offers to put that to your account. His obedience and death can be counted as yours if you just ask. Let us pray. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for a reminder today of how diligent we ought to be in our own lives but how thankful we ought to be that you kept the law for us and you took our punishment. So, Lord, let that be the guide of how diligent we now live, knowing that our sins have been removed and we've been confirmed in righteousness for eternity. Lord, give us that diligence to share that gospel with our children, to see them come and walk in the way of truth, and righteousness too, that they will grab hold of that promise. What a blessing to have our children raised in the covenant community. But Lord, you expect us to fulfill our duties to them. So hear us, bless our marriages too. that we will work to, as you empower us by your Word and Spirit, to undo the damage caused by our first father. Hear us, for we pray in Jesus' name, amen.