October 19, 2025 | Lorain Fellowship
NKJV Genesis 3:1-7
The Temptation and Fall of Man
1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 
3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 
5 For God knows that in the day 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, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 
7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
Footnotes:
Gen 3:11a serpent - 2 Cor. 11:3; Rev. 12:9; 20:2
Man’s first fall was initiated by Satan through the deceiving by the serpent (2 Cor. 11:3). The crafty serpent was the embodiment of Satan, the Devil, the enemy and adversary of God (Matt. 13:39a; Rev. 12:9 and notes 3 and 4) and the tempter of man (Matt. 4:3; 1 Thes. 3:5).
Immediately after the first two chapters of Genesis, Satan came in, and immediately before the last two chapters of Revelation, he will be cast out (Rev. 20:10). Between the first two chapters and the last two chapters of the Bible, Satan, the serpent, is constantly working to corrupt and damage humanity and to thereby frustrate God from carrying out His eternal purpose. In every generation the goal of God’s divine work is to build up the Body of Christ to express His Son, Christ, and also to eliminate the serpent.
Gen 3:12 woman
The serpent contacted the woman, not the man, because the woman is the weaker vessel (1 Pet. 3:7).
Gen 3:13 Did
In tempting the woman, Satan first touched her mind by questioning God’s word, causing her to doubt God’s word. The serpent’s question stirred up Eve’s doubting mind and prevented her from using her spirit to contact God. Satan’s evil thought entered into Eve and contaminated her mind even before she ate of the tree of knowledge.
Gen 3:21 said
The outward cause of man’s first fall was the serpent’s temptation. The inward cause was the woman’s assuming the headship (vv. 2-3, 6). The woman represents man’s position in relation to God. God is man’s Husband (Isa. 54:5); man’s position is that of the wife. As the man should be under the headship of God, so the woman should be under the headship of man (1 Cor. 11:3). This is a safeguard against the subtlety of the enemy. Here Eve assumed the headship by speaking to the serpent directly, without the covering of her husband. Thus, she was ensnared by the serpent and was deceived (1 Tim. 2:14). Eve’s failure here typifies man’s failure in putting God aside and assuming the headship over God to act independently of Him, thus opening the way for Satan, the subtle one, to deceive man. See note 41 in Rom. 7.
Gen 3:61 took
In the process of man’s fall, man failed to use his spirit to contact God, thus bypassing God and putting God aside. Instead, he exercised his soul, reasoning with the serpent in the mind, desiring the tree of knowledge in the emotion, and deciding in the will to take the fruit and eat it.
Gen 3:71 And
The dreadful result of man’s first fall was manifold. First, man transgressed God’s commandment (2:17; Rom. 5:14) and thus fell under God’s condemnation (Rom. 5:16) and came under a curse (vv. 17-19). He also became estranged from God (v. 8) and alienated from the life of God (Eph. 4:18) in the tree of life (vv. 23-24). Not only so, in the fall Satan’s evil thought, feeling, and will were injected into man’s mind, emotion, and will, thus contaminating man’s soul (vv. 1, 4-6). Through man’s eating of the tree of knowledge, Satan entered man’s body and became the very sin within man (cf. Rom. 7:8, 11, 17, 20 and note 81). Thus the human body, which was created pure and sinless, was transmuted into the flesh of sin (Rom. 7:18a and note 2). As a consequence of the fall man’s spirit was deadened (cf. Eph. 2:1, 5 and note 12), becoming insulated from God and losing its function toward God. Hence, each of man’s three parts — his body, his soul, and his spirit — was damaged by the fall. Furthermore, fallen man was constituted a sinner (Rom. 5:19) and became a victim of death (Rom. 5:12b, 14a; 1 Cor. 15:22a). Consequently, man was spoiled from fulfilling God’s purpose, which is to express God in His image and represent God with His dominion (1:26). Finally, because of man’s fall all the creation is subjected to vanity and the slavery of corruption (Rom. 8:20-21).
A Sketch of Genesis
Not Joined to the Life of God
The first cause of man’s fall—and even the root of each of the causes which follow—was not being joined to the life of God. The tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil were both in the garden (Gen. 2:9). Adam and Eve didn’t eat the fruit of the tree of life. On the contrary, they ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This shows that they were not joined to the life of God. They could have asked God, “May we eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? The serpent told us that if we eat it, we will become like You, knowing good and evil.” If they had asked, they would have been saved. It is a pity that they forgot about God. They didn’t have the sense of life. They didn’t consider it important.
Today many of us cannot sense the difference between the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  At most we hate the evil and treasure the good, especially the religious good. If we have been saved for a period of time, we may know that the good works of unbelievers have limited value before God. However, we may not realize that the good works of believers may be the same if they don’t know how to live according to the tree of life. The Lord will tell many who prophesied, cast out demons, and performed many miracles in His name, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness” (Matt. 7:23). God condemns good, including the religious good, as well as evil.
We may still consider that being religiously good has high value in the eyes of God. However, if we do not live in the life of God, we fall whether we are doing good or bad. It is altogether based on whether or not we are joined to the Lord in our life and work. We may think there is nothing wrong with our busy serving. We may behave humbly, and people may like and even praise us, but if we do not live in God’s life, our behavior has no value. As long as our life and service are separated from God’s life, our service has no value in the eyes of God.

The Temptation of Satan through Lusts
The second cause of man’s fall was the temptation of Satan.  The serpent was more crafty than every other beast of the field (Gen. 3:1). Satan, as the serpent, tempted Eve with his craftiness to keep man away from the face of God. If we live in our craftiness, we live in the realm of Satan. Schemes and craftiness are the sharp tools of Satan to tempt us and keep us away from God’s tree of life.
Outwardly, it is Satan who tempts us, but inwardly, it is our own lusts that entice us (James 1:13–15). The first way of dealing with the temptation of these lusts is fleeing. Paul taught Timothy, “Flee from youthful lusts” (2 Tim. 2:22). He also said, “Flee from these things, you man of God” (1 Tim. 6:11). If we don’t know how to flee, there is no way we can fight against lusts. Some have allowed movies, gambling, computers, sports, or even overeating to be formed as a lust within them. Before a lust has been formed in us, we can still flee. Once a certain weakness or lust has been formed, it is hard to escape unless we live according to the power of the Spirit. Do not cultivate a lust, for this will bring in failure 
Being for Self
The third cause of man’s fall was being for self. Eve saw that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil “was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise” (Gen. 3:6). It could satisfy both body and soul. Because Eve was seeking her own satisfaction,  she disobeyed God’s command and brought in the fall. When we do not live by the divine life and are for ourselves, we not able to walk the way of God and will surely fall.
Many things are not sinful, but instead of being unto the Lord, they are done to satisfy the soul. Studying the Bible is certainly not sinful, but when it is done to build up the self, it is just religion. Simply because we read the Bible doesn’t mean we are spiritual. If in our reading we don’t come to the Lord to  receive the Spirit and life (John 5:39), it is the same as doing other things and has no value in the eyes of God. 
Not Keeping One’s Place
The fourth cause of the fall was not keeping one’s place. In Genesis 3, Eve didn’t keep her place nor did Adam. Paul wrote, “A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression” (1 Tim. 2:11–14).
None of us keep our place. I have seen some young women try to take a leadership role in their church. They think their taking the lead is very reasonable. They think their opinion must be heard before a decision is made. Things do not work this way. According to the principle stated by Paul- “Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman” (1 Cor. 11:3)—women should not freely voice their opinions about church decisions. They must learn to keep their place and go before the Lord to pray. It is for the men who lead the church to decide whether or not the women’s input is useful to them.  Whether the leaders accept their suggestions or not, women should praise the Lord for the men who bear responsibility in the church. A newly saved young man who serves with a woman who has been saved for thirty years will receive benefit if he listens to her. If he doesn’t listen to her, however, and his decision damages the church, she can only pray for him. This practice will save us from degradation.
​Many problems in the church start with women, especially young women, who do not keep their place. They should know the place God has ordained for them. If Eve had gone to Adam before picking the fruit, perhaps they would have been saved from the fall. If Eve had told the serpent to talk to Adam instead of her, they might have been saved. Eve behaved as the head, which resulted in the fall.