The Effects of Sin

Genesis 3:14-19

On Snakes

“And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:14-15)

We do not know how the snake looked or his means of travel before Adam sinned, but we know that he did not slither on his belly like he does today. Biologists tell us that certain varieties of snakes still have “vestigial” pelvic structures implying they once had legs, so perhaps they did. His method of locomotion was changed as a result of his allowing Satan to control him. In addition, there was to be an enmity between snakes and humans. That instinctive fear on both sides continues to the present day.

There are two clear implications of the last part, that the seed of the woman would bruise the serpents head while it only bruised his heel referred partly to the fact that while the snake would always be a threat to man, man would be a bigger threat to them. It is also a prophecy about Satan’s eventual defeat by Christ, seeming to get the victory by the crucifixion, but in effect only bruising his heel, while Christ bruises his head, gaining ultimate victory by raising from the dead and sentencing Satan to eternal judgment. Satan is referred to as the Serpent repeatedly in Revelation.

On Women

“Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” (Genesis 3:16)

While many animals appear to grieve over the loss of a mate or offspring, the grief is relatively short lived. Humans, on the other hand, may never stop grieving, and women are even more likely than men to find it difficult to escape, especially if it was a child, even a stillborn one. That greater sensitivity resulted from Eve’s part in the sin. Along with that greater susceptibility to sorrow and depression, the level of difficulty in pregnancy greatly increased. Few animals in a natural state have problems giving birth, but such problems are common among humans. Paul was referring to this in I Timothy 2:15 when he stated, “Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.” A woman who trusts and obeys God has no reason to fear childbirth.

As a result of her part in the sin, the woman would be most happy in meeting the desires of her husband, willingly subjugating her own desires to his. It did not make her inferior, just a willing helper rather than the leader. In I Timothy 2:12-14 Paul states it is this declaration by God that makes it unacceptable for the woman to take authority over the men of the church. He makes it clear that While Eve was guilty, she was not guilty to the same degree as Adam. Just as God would not allow man to shift the responsibility for the sin to Eve, He will not allow him to shift responsibility for obeying God to the woman. It appears that it was Adam’s failure to properly tell Eve what God had said that led to Eve’s being deceived.


On Mankind

“And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” (Genesis 3:17-19)

Whether Eve heard God’s instruction or not, Adam clearly did. He was not deceived as I Timothy 2:13-14 tells us. “For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived,…” While Eve had disobeyed God, she’d been fooled by Satan. No one had fooled Adam, he was fully cognizant of what he was doing. He deliberately ignored God’s command to do what she’d wanted. He had put her ahead of God.

As a result of Adam’s sin, all of creation was affected. Initially, there were only edible plants, and all the animals were vegetarians according to Genesis 1:29-30. “And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. Death came into the world, and both animals and man die. Where before man’s sin there were no carnivorous animals, after ward, there were.

Prior to Adam's sin every plant was edible, afterward some were not. Some became weeds and nuisances, and they readily took over. It became a chore to obtain food, both for man and animal. As a result, Romans 8:28 tells us, “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.” Think of the changes God had to make.