The Great Identity Problem- Part 4

Over the last 2 weeks, we have seen what Genesis 1 tells us about the creation of humanity. We have seen that humans are made in God’s image, that they are made male and female, and that they are called “very good indeed.” Unfortunately, Adam and Eve did not live out of this God-Given identity for long. In Genesis 3, everything changed.

Genesis 3:1-3 says, “Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’”

The serpent begins to question God. That is Satan’s entire goal when he comes to Adam and Eve. He begins to question whether they truly have heard God out. There’s an important thing to observe here. In Genesis 1 God gives mankind purpose and that includes ruling over the creation. Yet, in Genesis 3, creation is telling Adam and Eve what to do! That is not God’s design.

One of the biggest risks throughout human history when it comes to identity is our decisions to replace God’s design with our own. In Genesis 3, we see that as Adam and Eve vacate their God-given role.

Genesis 3:4-7 shows us the rest of this tragic decision, ““No! You will certainly not die,” the serpent said to the woman. “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.”

Adam and Eve do not listen to God who created them and walked with them. Instead, Adam and Eve listen to the serpent who has convinced them to walk apart from God. When they do this, their worldview is changed and they no longer see things as God designed. Sin has entered the picture.

Sin’s immediate consequence is seen when Adam and Eve see that they are naked. They no longer see themselves as God has made them, instead, they feel shame! Do not miss that. When the Bible tells us that they made coverings for themselves, it is really saying that they now feel shame. They realize that what they have done is wrong and that they cannot undo it.

Sin can never be undone. Genesis 3:8-24 shows us the fallout from sin. Sometimes Genesis 3:16-19 is talked about as “God’s curse on humanity.” But I would challenge that it is better to understand it as God’s righteous judgment. God righteously judges the actions of Adam and Eve and then proclaims the consequences that will happen.

But even as consequences are given; even as God’s design seems to be messed up by sin, God gives a promise. Genesis 3:15 records what God says to Satan, “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” This promise is fulfilled by something that we read about in the New Testament.

In the four Gospels, we read about Jesus coming to earth, His life, His death and His resurrection. That is the fulfillment of this promise. Satan strikes Jesus’s heel when Jesus is killed on the cross. But when Jesus rises from the dead, Jesus crushes Satan’s head.

Paul talks about this in 1 Corinthians 15:54b-57, “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, death, is your victory? Where, death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!”

Praise God, because sin has been defeated and Christ has won forever! The serpent’s head has been crushed and our identity is no longer trapped in sin; because sin has been defeated! Yet, even as our identity has been secured, we far too often choose to let sin define us instead of Christ. Join us next week as we look at a biblical example of how identity can go wrong.

Pastor Daniel