But the fact is, Moses does not tell us the identity in the Genesis account. “Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.” The first question that we must answer is who on earth this serpent was. Most of you have probably read or heard the first sentence of chapter three many times over the course of your lifetime. But we will also look at how God, in the midst of mankind’s darkest hour, made a promise of coming salvation that would forever shape human history. The title of my sermon this morning is “In Need of a Savior.” We will explore together how through the seduction of Satan, Adam and Eve were forever separated from God because of their sin. And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou has done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast 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. And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou has done? And the woman said, the serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked and I hid myself.
And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also to her husband with her and he did eat. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the Garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. “Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. It is to this perfect setting that we come to in our Bibles this morning, and I invite you to turn to Genesis chapter three, and we will be reading verses one through fifteen. This paradise is known as the Garden of Eden, and God designed it especially for the enjoyment of His favorite creation: mankind. A paradise of such beauty that the thought of leaving this place brings tears to our eyes. But if we explored long enough, we would discover a paradise that surpassed anything else we had ever laid eyes on. You might notice a Tyrannosaurus Rex coming your way, only to discover that it is a friendly beast, created for the pleasure of God and mankind. You might notice a snow-white lamb lying down next to a lion.
If you could travel around this ancient world, you would find an absolutely perfect creation of lush forests, teeming oceans, and pristine landscapes that would put the Grand Canyon to shame. Let us journey back together more than six thousand years.
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