February 22, 2026

Genesis 3

DYK… Australia is infamous for its dangerous plants and animals (flora and fauna) from the saltwater Crocodile (which has the most powerful bite of any species) to the Inland Taipan (which has enough venom in one bite to kill 100 humans), but the most dangerous is the Gympie Gympie Tree. Now that sounds kinda harmless, (Gympie sounds wimpy, oh but it’s not wimpy at all) and it’s not harmless at all. It’s the Gympie Gypie “Stinging” Tree. So, if you touched the leaves, the pain is so great that people have actually killed themselves to make it stop. AKA the “Suicide” tree. Scientists who studied it and touched it described it as the worst kind of pain you can imagine. Like being burned with hot acid while simultaneously getting electrocuted at the same time. The pain begins with the slightest touch and intensifies and moves into the lymph nodes and that pain keeps recurring for years. The tiny hairs get imbedded in your skin. If that part is touched again or exposed to cold water all that venom is released again, and it all starts all over again. Gene Edward Veith, was out on a walk and was warned not to touch it and steer clear from it. He heard about the dangers. He was out on a walk again and he was very interested, had a very strong urge, an impulse, to reach out and touch it (Thankfully he did not).

That Gympie Gympie tree reminds me of another tree, that just one bite of that tree would bring the sting of death. And not just for one person but for all humanity. And yet Adam and Eve could not resist that impulse to disobey God and eat that forbidden fruit. You know that story, you heard it, the OT lesson for today, the Garden of Eden, that paradise on earth that God had created and God put Adam there in that perfect paradise. God was there too. Everyday He walked in that Garden spending time with those He had made. Those whom He loved. But those three, they, were not the only ones in that garden, Satan was there too. He wasn’t off hiding under a rock. He was at the most important spot in the garden. It was at that tree, the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  Listen to Gen 2 you are free to eat of any tree, but you may not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die. That tree was the most critical place in the garden of Eden and that, is where Satan is hanging out. Not slithering on the outskirts but at the most important place where God had given a very clear command… don’t eat the fruit! Of all places, that is the place they should’ve showed their devotion to their Creator. They should’ve passed by that tree and said oh look at that fruit, it’s so beautiful, but it’s so dangerous. So deadly. God told us don’t eat it. Though it looks so good, we will do His will and obey His word. That’s what they should’ve said to each other as they passed by that tree. But they didn’t. Satan appearing as a lying, clever little snake successfully lured Adam and Eve into rebellion. Really by the same process that he uses today, “Did God really say you must not eat from any tree of the garden?” And he gets them to doubt God’s word. Eve said of any tree we may eat but from the tree that is in the middle and you must not touch it or you will die. Then Satan just attacks God’s word- you will not surely die, in fact just the opposite is true. God knows when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be just like Him. You will know good and evil.

Ya know, wouldn’t it have been great if when Satan said that Adam would’ve just cut him off right there, Nope. Well if we’ve got a question let’s go to God and ask Him. That’s not what happened. Wouldn’t it been great if when the devil said “Did God really say,” Adam would’ve jumped in and said, Yo Eve, God totally said ‘do not eat from that tree.’ The bible says the woman saw the fruit was good to eat and pleasing to the eye and desirable for gaining wisdom she took some and she ate it. And Adam took some and ate it too. Just one little bite and the world has not been the same since. We go to funeral homes and cemeteries because of that day, so long ago. Sin came into the world and with sin, death. Satan was at the most important place in the garden and he was tempting Adam and Eve not to listen to God’s clear word and they fell for it. They fell for that evil temptation. They did what seemed best to them. Their will be done, not God’s. So ever since that time, every man and woman has been born with a sinful nature. Now I know it’s not popular to talk about, you gotta talk about how good you are, ya gotten build up your self esteem. But ya know the bible begins with sinful nature, we all have this dark side within us. Called original sin. Every man and woman has a dark side and left to themselves, people will gravitate toward evil. Kinda like you go to the store, and you bring home some fruit, you put it on the table. And on that fruit has one tiny little dark spot, and you can cut around it and eat that bannana. But if you leave it there on that table, that good part does not consume the rotten part, does it? No the other thing happens the rotten part takes over the whole bannana. Man has a sinful nature, we all have a rotten spot. We all have a dark side. It’s not just adults that have a dark side. Which one of us had to teach our kids how to sin? I didn’t. It came naturally to them. I bet your kids, if you have kids, it came naturally to them too. Put two children in the room with one toy, it won’t take long for sin and selfishness instead of two children at play.  We are not born as clean, innocent children who will automatically do what is right. That’s not what the bible teaches at all. The bible says we are all born with the predisposition to sin, that dark side. We all have original sin.

Guess who else struggled with that? The apostle Paul. Probably the greatest theologian, probably the greatest missionary the world has ever seen, and he’s got a dark side just like you and I. In fact, he writes about it in Romans 7. This is what he says, “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do, no. The evil I do not want to do, this, I keep on doing.” Do you hear his struggle??? It is a struggle. Paul struggled with it, we struggle with it everyday. But I gotta tell ya, sometimes it feels like we are fighting a losing battle, doesn’t it? We think hey c’mon we are Christians, I shouldn’t be struggling with my sin, what’s wrong with me? Paul even says it in this chapter, “what a wretched man that I am, who will rescue me from this body of death?” Then it’s beautiful how he answers his own question, “thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Who will rescue us from this dark side? oh thanks be to God. It’s Jesus Christ! It’s Jesus Christ who was born in Bethlehem! it’s Jesus Christ who was tempted and did not sin! it’s Jesus Christ who went to that cross to die for all those sins that we’ve got! It’s Jesus Christ who rose victorious on that first Easter! Jesus Christ rescues us from our dark side! He rescues us from sin, death and the power of the devil.

ML said I will tell you how you are rescued from that dark side… Remember your baptism. Remember that baptism daily. Remember how in your baptism you were drowned with Christ. All of your sins were forgiven and then you were raised to new life to the glory of God. We are rescued from sin.

Oh but we still struggle don’t we. Just like Paul we wrestle with sin. It’s this never ending process on this side of heaven. Yes, Jesus died for our dark side, yes our sinful nature has been forgiven but it’s still a battle and it will be until Jesus comes back and establishes a new heavens and a new earth.

This new creation is gonna be a beautiful place, it’s gonna to be a perfect place with fellowship with our Creator God, and we are going to meet Jesus face to face in the new creation and once again we’ll enjoy that perfect communion with God that was lost in Adam and Eve’s sin. But I think one of the greatest things about heaven is that it is a place free from the sinful nature. We will be free from that dark side. We will be free from that struggle and that disappointment and grief here that makes life so very miserable sometimes.

One of my the all time favorite passages of scripture from St. John writes this in Revelation 21, “he will wipe every tear from their eyes and there will be no more mourning or crying or pain for the old order of things has passed away.” Mourning is gone. Crying is gone. Pain is gone. Death is gone. The dark side will be no more. Amen.