Bible Text: Genesis 2-3 | Preacher: Pastor Steve | Series: Courageous Women
Genesis 3:20 Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
Eve was Beautiful
Eve was designed from living flesh and bone and NOT dirt like Adam.
Eve was a gift to Adam
Eve was a partner to Adam that complimented him and creation
Eve was the first being actually fashioned directly by the Creator’s own hand
God saved the best for last for Eve was flawless, undefiled by any evil, she had no disease or defect, did not age, and she was curse free!
Scripture focuses on Eve’s duty and responsibility to her Creator and husband.
Authentic femininity has little to do with what we are obsessed with today in terms of self-image, cosmetics, body shape and other external distortions of what is feminine.
Genesis 2:20-25 He gave names to all the livestock, all the birds of the sky, and all the wild animals. But still there was no helper just right for him.  So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man.  At last!” the man exclaimed.  This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called woman, because she was taken from man. This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.
This reminds us of God’s grace and mercy and love.  Adam never asked for Eve or a mate or for God to create a woman.  Eve was in the most genuine sense an amazing gift!
Adam awoke and there was Eve and he loved her.  His express of this amazing gift is clear in his words; this is now the bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. The uniqueness of Eve’s creation is deliberate and significant:
Eve is equal with Adam: the woman was taken out of man and they shared the same nature and she was in no way inferior or made to serve him but his spiritual counterpart, intellectual equal and mate and companion and helper.
Eve and Adam teach us about the importance of unity that is the ideal for every marriage relationship. Matthew 19:4-6… marriage to be exclusive and committed, cohesive, and holy
Eve and Adam’s creation illustrate how deep and meaningful the marriage of husband and wife is designed to be, it is not merely a physical union but a bonding of heart, mind and soul.
Eve was designed and given clear responsibilities as is explained in 1 Corinthians 11:8-9 For the first man didn’t come from woman, but the first woman came from man. And man was not made for woman, but woman was made for man.
Genesis 2:25 Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.
Enter the tempter, a serpent who is Satan manifesting himself in the form of a reptile Genesis 3. Satan was an angel who fell into sin Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:12-19.
Genesis 3:1-7 The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden? Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, the woman replied.
It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, you must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die. You won’t die! the serpent replied to the woman. God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil. The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.
Has God indeed said…?
Skepticism is the key to break us down.
Has God indeed said you shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
The deception: twist God’s meaning so what was positive seems negative: …of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat…
Remember that the Lord said that they could not EAT of the fruit of the tree.  They could look, touch and smell BUT not EAT.
Genesis 3:3 …of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, the woman replied.  It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, you must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.
Satan saw opportunity and the snake moved in for the kill by contradicting what God has told Adam: Genesis 3:4 You won’t die! the serpent replied to the woman.
Deception: Genesis 3:5 God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.
And here is the lie of all lies.  This is the one lie that births all other lies: YOU WILL BE LIKE GOD!
Genesis 3:6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.
Note the BADNESS of the temptation:
It was good for food – it would satisfy your hunger or body
It was pleasant to the eyes – it would please your heart
It was desirable for wisdom – it would stimulate your mind
1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — is not of the Father but is of the world.
Romans 5:12 states …sin entered the world and death through sin and thus death spread to all men.
What is the difference between Eve and Adam in this sin?
1 Timothy 2:14 And it was not Adam who was deceived by Satan. The woman was deceived, and sin was the result. But women will be saved through childbearing, assuming they continue to live in faith, love, holiness, and modesty.
Adam’s sin was deliberate and willful in a way Eve’s was not.  Eve was deceived, but Adam chose to eat the fruit Eve offered him with full knowledge that he was engaging in deliberate rebellion and disobedience to God.
Thank you Eve!  The devil was right, eating the forbidden fruit opened Eve’s eyes so that she knew good and evil and she KNEW evil by becoming a WILLING participant in sin and result was SHAME.
Genesis 3:7 At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.
Covering up our shame does not deal with the problem of our guilt:
Genesis 3:8-13 When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. Then the Lord God called to the man, Where are you? He replied, I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked. Who told you that you were naked? the Lord God asked. Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat? The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it. Then the Lord God asked the woman, what have you done? The serpent deceived me, she replied. That’s why I ate it.
And we see what SHAME does; it tries to shift BLAME away from ourselves:
The women whom YOU gave…was an accusation against God.  Adam was doing what James 1:13-14 warns us: Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
The Lord then gave Eve an opportunity to confess her sin and make it right.  But she shifted the blame to the devil: the serpent deceived me and I ate.
Eve could have said to the Lord I ALLOWED the serpent to deceive me and I ate, Lord forgive me! There will be consequences to our arrogance, pride and unwillingness to assume personal responsibility:
Genesis 3:14-19 Then the Lord God said to the serpent, because you have done this, you are cursed more than all animals, domestic and wild. You will crawl on your belly, groveling in the dust as long as you live. And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel. Then he said to the woman, I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth. And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you.  And to the man he said, “Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains. By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return.
Consequences: The loss of paradise and the radical change in life was the consequence.
Genesis 3:16 Then he said to the woman,  I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth. And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you.
The consequences could have been worse in that she could have been forbidden to bear children. In fact her name, given to her by Adam AFTER the pronouncement of the curse reinforces that the promise that Eve would bear children and that this would be a RAY OF HOPE for the human race.
Eve had set a whole world of evil in motion by her disobedience, but through her offspring she would produce a Savior.  Eve’s offspring would ultimately overthrow evil and destroy the darkness she released by her sin.
Eve never lost hope. Genesis 4:1 … I have acquired THE man from the Lord.
It is quite possible that as she looked at her newborn son and she imagined that he would be the promised Redeemer. But it was not to be. We can see hope injured when Cain murdered Abel
And yet she continued! The last mention of Eve is in Genesis 4:25 just after the birth of her 3rd son Seth:
God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel whom Cain killed.
We see Eve never lost hope!
What can we learn from our study of Eve:
Relationships between men and women have been terribly distorted as a consequence of the Fall. The distortion cannot be dismissed as reflecting God’s desire for us today.  The story of the Fall reminds us that marriages need to be worked on in the climate of commitment, grace, forgiveness, and love.
Like Eve, we are likely to sin, and we will have to face the consequences of our choices. Yet we can look to Eve’s example of continuing to hold on to God, trusting the Lord and not lose hope.
Like Eve, when we sin, we will need to accept responsibility for our actions. Yes, Eve complained that the serpent deceived her. But in the end, she also admitted: …and I ate!
God forgave Adam and Eve after their fall and continued to be with them. We need to forgive when others sin and continue to be there for them.
I believe that Eve must have forgiven herself in time. Without forgiveness, how could she have found the strength to continue on with the many burdens she had to bear?  If Eve could forgive herself, then any of us can and should forgive ourselves for what we have done.
Let’s remember that God promised Adam and Eve a Savior. Even though Eve mistook His timing, it was faith in God’s promise that brought the first pair the forgiveness promised to us in Christ.  The Savor Eve hoped for has come, and no matter what we have done, faith in the Son of God, Jesus will save us!
How strange to think that the Fall in Eden contributed to the joy we feel today at the triumph of our risen Lord. Despite the flaws we share with Eve, Christ will never leave us or forsake us.
Discussion Questions:
What distinguishes Eve from all other women? Why do you think God created her?
The way she was created speaks of Eve’s fundamental equality with Adam. What does this mean to you as a female?  How do you understand the duties and roles of women?
In what ways was Eve a peer to Adam? In what ways were they different?  What might this teach us about the marriage relationship for today?
In what ways have you faced temptation similar to Eve’s temptation? What process did Satan use to tempt you?
How does what we have studied today help you defend yourself against temptation?
What life principles did you learn from the study of Eve’s life? How will you apply these principles to your life?