The Tupelo journal., 1913-01-17

imitteth sin is the bond servant OF Sin"
John S:34 r, v.
There are four natural divisions to
this chapter in Genesis: l. The
Temptation Wv. 10; II. The Fall, w
6, Z; Ill The Trial, w. S-13; ". The
Sentence w. 1924.
/. The Temptation w. Is. En-
'vironment certainly did not cause our
parents in the garden, to fall. How
long after the creation of man this
event occurred no one knows. Was
it a real serpent? Why not? Did not
Adam name all the animals? 1t is no
stretch of imagination to believe the
tradition that he conversed with them
till driven from the garden. True Mil
ton and not Genesis says this was Sa-
tan, yet Milton had Scripture author
,ity, Rev. 1879. We are also taught
that Satan can assume DISCUSSES, 2
Cor. 11:14. etc.
The point of attack was to question
the word Of God: this is always the
open doorway to all sin. False the
ology always leads In the end to false
conduct. God had forbidden to eat of
but one tree, chapter 2:17. but here
Satan takes a partial truth to make
a lie. I've shall not eat of the fruit
of all the trees" v. l (R. W Eve did
what Jesus did when he was tempted,
replied with the words of God w. 2
and 3. But though she saw through
'Satan's misrepresentation, she made
the colossal mistake of parleying.
Gaining that much ground Satan goes
a step further. 1t is not death she
need to be fearful of; God would rath-
er prevent her becoming like himself
hence the prohibition not to partake
of the fruit of the tree.
Ewes Mistake.
Your eyes shall be opened 4.
the woman saw. Human curiosity
and a wrong ambition for a clearer
knowledge have ever been fruitful
sources of failure. Eve made the mis-
take of adding to Gods words (2:1O
and of allowing herself to see the one
prohibition of the garden rather than
the myriads of privileges.
II. The Fall, Wv. 6, Z. The next
step was but the entering wedge. The
appeal was 20 the eyes, it was a de-
light to the eyes v. 6 R. ", she tool
of it." see l John 2:16. When God
gave command not to eat, he knew
the danger of touching, 2 Cor. GIT.
There was of course a possible escape,
4 Cor. 1913, even yet, but scarcely
so. Eve had gone o far, hence she
and then Adam partook.
Adams Fault.
Adams fault was that he listened to
his wife's persuasion ". 10. Their
desire for q present advantage, be
come like God" overcame the fear OF
"a future ~displeasure and illustrates
the Hebrew word for sin, missing the
mark" Immediately their eyes were
opened. What they saw now was not
desirable to look upon" and they
made themselves girdles from the
leaves of the fig trees. Man has ever
since been seeking to cover his own
shame.
III. The Trial w. S:13. Commit
~iniquity and human nature seeks con-
;cealmept. Innocence seeks COW
er. Sin makes towards of US all. AS
the cool of the day approaches God
walks in the garden. Of course he
misses Adam and calls Where art
thou" From that day on his call has
.resounded but man heeds not the call.
". The Sentence w. 1924. Adam
sought to throw the blame upOn Eve
and indirectly upon God who had Civ
en- him Eve, No eXcuse but seeks to
evade responsibility. We see. how
ever, in the words Of this section three
great facts presented. First, the re-
lation between the human race and
the race of serpents. Everything that
is evil. repulsive and vile is summa-
irized in that phrase that old serpent
Rev. 1873. The trickery of a serpent,
its venom, it's noiselessness, its re-
sort to dark places, and mans natural
instinct to kill a snake, all put togeth-
.er, is but a summary of the curse as
recorded in verses IA and IS.
Second, the everlasting conflict be-
tween man and the powers of evil.
One reason we know this garden story
is true is that it squares with u ev-
cry day experience. 1t is as true to
life as the laws of mathematics. The
power of sin, its appeal to pride, to
lust, to ambition, to the pleasure OF
the eyes, to any and all of the emo
lions, and the counter pull of an out
ragged conscience are too vivid a re-
atty in our lives to be denied. And
lastly there is the prophecy of q
who should conquer this power and
bring all things subject to himself.
He who was to conquer that last en-
envy, death, / Cor. 1924, rs. Having
thus partaken Of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil" thereby
incurring the curse of labor and toll
upon them God avoided the possibility