This is the explanation of mankind’s current condition upon earth, including our suffering and common destiny of the grave. But the record also identifies the means by which God will save men and women from sin and death and restore paradise lost. The serpent, given the faculty of speech to express the mind of the flesh, put Adam and Eve’s faithfulness and obedience to the test. He declared: “Ye shall not surely die” and they believed this lie, as so many millions have done ever since, being convinced that when they die they do not really do so but continue to exist somehow, somewhere.
Appreciation of delicious food, natural beauty and a source of wisdom, is legitimate but the wrong response to it can be fatal, as here. We are warned against this, 1 John 2:16,1 John 2:16XWaiting for response and Jesus successfully resisted all the temptation of these desires. Matthew 4.
Adam and Eve's covering their nakedness symbolises the ineffectiveness of man's efforts to cover the shame of sin.
The vital conflict was to be between the serpent, representing sin, and the seed of the woman who is Christ. Jesus was “bruised in the heal”, i.e. a temporary injury - crucified but raised from the dead. The serpent, representing sin, was to be “bruised in the head”, i.e. a fatal injury which was achieved by Jesus through his death while a partaker of our sinful nature. Hebrews 2:14.Hebrews 2:14XWaiting for response Sin and death was destroyed relative to Christ then and it will be in the future for all the saints when he appears the second time without sin unto salvation. Hebrews 9:28Hebrews 9:28XWaiting for response
The purpose of God is to populate the earth with righteous immortal people, and to this end Adam and Eve were given the opportunity to obey in the hope of immortality. But they failed. They ate the forbidden fruit and then suffered the forewarned consequences.
"For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." Romans 5:19Romans 5:19XWaiting for response "Since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" 1 Corinthians 15:21-221 Corinthians 15:21-22XWaiting for response
Providing a covering of animal skin required shedding of blood and the death of the animal. This pointed to the shedding of Jesus' blood and his death which provides a covering for his brethren's sin, for without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin Hebrews 9:22Hebrews 9:22XWaiting for response and "Blessed are they whose sin is covered". Psalm 32:1;Psalm 32:1XWaiting for response Romans 4:6-8Romans 4:6-8XWaiting for response
Verse 1
Genesis 3:1XWaiting for responseThe serpent along with all the living creatures God made was very good. The Hebrew word for "subtil' is mostly translated "prudent", so this snake was more discerning than other beasts but it could only reason naturally according to the flesh and is symbolic of the carnal mind. Romans 8:7.Romans 8:7XWaiting for response It was given the ability to speak, like Balaam's ass, to express its mind and produce a reaction. 2 Peter 2:162 Peter 2:16XWaiting for response