Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1942-07-09
ADAM AND EVE: TEMPTATION
AND SIN

LESSON TEXT-Genesis 3:1-13, %, "A.
GOLDEN TEXT-The soul that sim
meth. it shall die.-Ezeliel 1874.
The finished creation Of God was
very good" but before long it was
marred by sin. Dr. Hart-Davies in
his book on Genesis speaks Of a
brick from the walls of ancient
Babylon, now in the British museum.
1t bears the imprint Of one Of
Babylon's mighty kings. Right over
the center Of the royal seal is deep
ly impressed the footprint Of pari-
an dog which apparently trod upon
it when it was soft and plastic. HUI
man nature is like that brick. Man
originally was made in the image
of God, but over the divine like
ness there has been supefimposed
the dirty Disagreement of the devils
imprint"
We see first in our lesson the
appearance of the serpent who is
the subtle emissary Of
/. Satan wv. 1-5).
Man, because he was made in
Gods image, was not mere autom-
atom, having no moral choice.
was a free being who had tc chd
between good and evil. Obedia
to God is the underlying moral pf,
ciple Of the universe. Man was q
en- an, opportunity to obey the pl
hibition Of one tree in the CARD
I of Eden. The principle of pro-
hibition in the midst Of world Of
privilege thus has divine sanction.
Satan provided the occasion for
mans fall into sun. He came, not
as the cloven-hoofed monstrosity Of
modern cartoonists, but as a crea-
ture more subtle than all other crea-
ton. His approach in our day Il
just as smooth and cultured Gil Cor.
1910.
II. Sin ". %.
Let us be clear that sin. is not
necessity, not natural weakness Of
man, not falling upward In the
progress of the race, but q DELHI
crate choice to transgress the law
Of God. At once it showed its true
nature by reaching out and lead
ing another into transgression.
The one who listens to a SANDER
against God can easily begin to
doubt His Word, and then it is rot
difficult to look at what God has
forbidden. Then the desire Of the
flesh takes hold and disobedience
follows (cf. I John 2:16.
III. Shame wv. 7-13).
The breaking of right relation
ship with God broke the perfection Of
mans fellowship with man. Inno-
cence was swallowed up in a sense
of shame. But the shame is far
deeper than a sense Of nakedness.
1t speaks of a heart marked with
sin which makes man hide from God.
Satan had promised Adam and
Eve that they should know more
about good and evil ". 81, but all
the good they learned about was
what they had now lost, and the
evil they Leaned was the sin which
now blackened their souls and dark
ened their lives.
And with them fell the whole hui
man race, for Paul tells us in Ro-
mans 5:12 that by one man sin
entered the world, and death by sim;
and so death passed upon all men,
for that all have sinned."
~. Sorrow (vv. %, an
Man and his help meet, VINO had
begun with such glorious promise ia
the garden, now had the great sor-
row Of being driven out by God.
No longer to be trusted, man was kept
out by the cherubim, mysterious an
gelic beings with the awful flaming
sword.
Labor, which in the garden had
been but pleasant diversion, be-
came a struggle against thorn
infested ground. Sorrow was linked
with motherhood, and man began to
bear the heavy responsibilities Of
life (see Gen. 3:14-19).
But we must not close our lesson
without pointing out that in the
midst Of judgment God provided
mercy. The promise of mans re-
demption is written first in Gods
Book in Genesis 3:15, and from
there the scarlet thread Of redemp-
tive truth runs right through the
Bible to its last chapter.
Even in judging the first Adam
for his sin, God thus promised
the coming of the second Adam who
was to redeem the race. We be-
came members Of the first Adams
family by natural birth-withWIt the
privilege Of choice. We become
members Of the family Of the second
Adam by new birth-a spiritual,
supernatural rebirth. But the lat
ter is by our own choiceI Il Cor.
1921, 20, 45).