View source for Fall into Sin (Crucified VBS)

[[Category:VBS Sermons]][[Category:Sermons]][[Category:Genesis]]
==Service Notes==
* Liturgical Date: Crucified VBS Day 1 - June 1, 2014
* Order of Service: Evening Opening
* Hymns: LSB #461

==Theme Verse==
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?"  2  And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden,  3  but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'"  4  But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die.  5  For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."  6  So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.  7  Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.  8  And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.  9  But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?"  10  And he said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself."  11  He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?"  12  The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate."  13  Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."  14  The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.  15  I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."  16  To the woman he said, "I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you."  17  And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;  18  thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.  19  By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return." (Genesis 3:1-19)

==Sermon Text==
Into God's perfect creation comes the serpent. "More crafty than any other beast of the field" (v1). He convinces Adam and Eve to doubt God. God had given them one command: "Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day you eat of it you shall surely die" (Genesis 2:17). The serpent hisses, "You will not surely die. For God knows that ... you will be like God" (vv4-5).

Eve's ears perked up at this thought. More than anything else, Adam and Eve wanted to be like God. There was only one thing that kept them from being more like God. They didn't know good and evil. Well, they knew good because they knew God. But they didn't know what evil was. And evil is all that came out from biting that fruit.

But eating the fruit didn't hurt just them. It hurt the whole world. God had said that it was "very good" on the sixth day of creation (Genesis 1:31). But now it was very bad. And everything suffered. Thorns and thistles started to grow (v18). Crops wouldn't just come up. There would be times where the crops wouldn't be good at all.

And then Adam and Eve's sinfulness gets passed down to everyone. God created Adam in His image (Genesis 1:26). Adam and Eve had children in their image (Genesis 5:3). The sinful image. The doubting image. And that image continues to be passed down from parent to child through all time. We can't do anything to be a better person before God. All of us need a Savior. We can't save ourselves.

God promises a Savior. One who would crush the serpent's head. One whose heel would be wounded by the serpent. The serpent would try to kill Him, but he would fail.

This is our theme for this week: Crucified. We're going to be talking a lot about Jesus' crucifixion. Tonight is why we need Jesus crucified to save us. We're sinners. Jesus died for us to keep God's promises. Jesus died to save us from Adam and Eve's sin. Jesus died to save us from our own sins.

And, as we'll see throughout this week, Jesus promises to bring us back into Paradise. The Garden of Eden was Heaven on earth. Jesus promises to bring us to be with Him in Heaven. Where we will live without sin forever. Amen.