The Fall of Man

How did one act of disobedience change everything?

In this study of Genesis 3, Dr. Toby Holt traces the entrance of sin into the world. Adam and Eve had lived at peace with their Creator; by the chapter's end they were exiled from the garden, a flaming sword barring their return. Dr. Holt examines the serpent's tactic — casting doubt on God's word — and shows that a single sin was enough to plunge the whole created order into ruin. Two truths follow: sin is far more serious than our culture pretends, and God is far more holy than we imagine. Yet Genesis 3 is not without hope. Even as He pronounces the curse, God promises a Redeemer — the seed of the woman who will crush the serpent — pointing forward to the second Adam, Jesus Christ, in whom fallen sinners find their only rescue.

Questions this study answers:

1. What "tool" did the serpent use against Eve? Doubt. He questioned and contradicted God's word, enticing her to distrust her Creator and to act as her own authority.

2. What does the fall reveal about sin and God? That sin is exceedingly serious — one transgression brought death and exile — and that God is perfectly, unbending holy.

3. Where is the hope in Genesis 3? In the first promise of the gospel: a coming Redeemer, the seed of the woman, fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the second Adam. "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel." — Genesis 3:15 (NKJV)

Speaker: Dr. Toby Holt is the President of New Geneva Theological Seminary, a Reformed seminary in Colorado Springs. He is known for clear, down-to-earth Bible teaching, and his sermons have been downloaded more than 1.9 million times on SermonAudio. Listen and go deeper: This study is part of New Geneva Theological Seminary's teaching on systematic theology and the great doctrines of the Christian faith. Find more verse-by-verse teaching across the Bible at newgeneva.org. To support this teaching ministry, visit newgeneva.org/give.