The Bible says death is the consequence of sin, and all have sinned. This study will look at the origin of sin through the story of Adam, Eve and the serpent. We will also explore a vital question: Who is responsible when you sin – you or some supernatural tailed/horned being called satan

1. 1
The Origin of sin and
WHO is responsible for
your sins
The Bible says death is the consequence of sin,
and all have sinned. This study will look at the
origin of sin through the story of Adam, Eve and the
serpent. We will also explore a vital question:
Who is responsible when you sin – you or some
supernatural tailed/horned being called satan

2. 2
Who is responsible for your sin?
You and you alone!
 “Let no one being tempted
say, I am tempted from God.
For God is not tempted by
evil, and He tempts no one.
But each one is tempted by
his own lusts, being drawn
out and being seduced by
them. Then having conceived
lust brings forth sin. And sin
being fully formed brings
forth death”. - Jam 1:13-15

3. 3
Lets start from the very
beginning
 The serpent that
tempted Eve and
brought sin into the
world was
 created by God and
 a mere animal
 “more” subtle than other
animals
Now the serpent was more
subtle than any beast of
the field which the LORD
God had made. [Gen 3:1]

4. 4
The Beginning
 Was the creation of the
Serpent
 Good?
 Bad?
 It was Good because
 “and God saw that it was
good” - Gen 1:4, 10, 12, 18,
21, 25, 31
 But,
 What Good did it bring?

5. 5
Who is man?
Created in the Image of God
 And God made man in
his image, in the image
of God he made him:
male and female he
made them. [Gen 1:27,
Jam 3:8-9, Gen_9:6;
1Cor 11:7]

6. 6
Who is man?
Created With Free Will
 Potential to Glorify Him or
Dishonor him
 The Potential to sin and
with the potential to obey
 Potential to walk in Light
or Darkness

7. 7
Freewill is not evil – It is God’s
Gift to mankind
 God gave man the ability to
build
 Man can choose to build houses,
temples or bombs
 God gave man the ability to
see
 Man can choose to see to go
places, see his children play,
help other or use his eyes to lust
 God gave man the ability to do
work
 Man can use the same hand to
pray, earn his living or stab his
neighbour

8. 8
Freewill is not evil – It is God’s
Gift to mankind
 God gave man the ability to
speak
 With it we give praise to our Lord
and Father; and with it we put a
curse on men who are made in
God's image. [Jam 3:9]
 To bring Glory to God We
need to understand
 Light as opposite of darkness
 Peace as opposite of conflict
 Justice as opposite of injustice

9. 9
Man has a choice to Obey
God or Disobey God
 God gave Adam a
commandment
 But of the fruit of the tree
in the middle of the
garden, God has said, If
you take of it or put your
hands on it, death will
come to you. [Gen 3:3]
 Obedience is only
possible if disobedience
is also possible

10. 10
Man has a choice to Obey
God or Disobey God
 Eve choose to use her
eyes lustfully
 And when the woman
saw that the tree was
good for food, and a
delight to the eyes, and to
be desired to make one
wise, she took of its fruit,
and gave it to her
husband. [Gen 3:6]
 God had given Eve eyes
 Eve misused it
 Later Adam also misused
it

11. 11
God created man to glorify God
of his own freewill
 This only have I seen, that God
made men upright, but they have
been searching out all sorts of
inventions. [Ecc 7:29]
 Each one is responsible for his own
good actions and sin
 “Let no one being tempted say, I am
tempted from God. For God is not
tempted by evil, and He tempts no
one. But each one is tempted by his
own lusts, being drawn out and being
seduced by them. Then having
conceived lust brings forth sin. And
sin being fully formed brings forth
death”. - Jam 1:13-15

12. 12
Who was the Serpent?
 The serpent was
created cunning
 The Serpent was not
created cursed
 Till the Point of Sin it
walked And talked with
Adam and Eve
 It was cursed only after
Adam and Eve sinned
Let us try to understand more of the serpent
through the curse it received

13. 13
The Curses on the Serpent
Who was the Serpent? What was its Significance?
1. you are cursed above all beasts
2. You shall go on your belly
3. you shall eat dust
4. enmity between you & the woman
5. enmity between your seed & her
Seed
6. He will bruise your head, and you
shall bruise His heel
Gen 3:14

14. 14
The Curses on the Serpent
Who was the Serpent? What was its Significance?
 Crawling
 Keep your minds on
things that are above, not
on things that are on the
earth. [Col 3:2]
 Eat Dust (= Death)
 Phi 3:19 Their destiny is
destruction, their god is
their belly, and their
glory is in their shame.
Their minds are set on
worldly things.
 Serpent thinking is
CURSED
 That is why the mind
that is set on the flesh is
hostile toward God. For it
refuses to submit to the
authority of God's law
because it is powerless
to do so. Indeed, those
who are under the control
of the flesh cannot
please God. [Rom 8:7,8]
The Serpent signifies the use of freewill to do evil (sin)

15. 15
The Curses on the Serpent
Who was the Serpent? What was its Significance?
 The literal Serpent is not Important
 Snakes today are just like any other
animal, biologically they are not
cursed, but only metaphorically
 The Curse is applicable to people
 who think like the serpent (fleshly)
 And walk not in the spirit
 The Serpent represented the
Rebellious/Disbelieving ‘Mind’ of
Eve and later Adam
 The Serpent signifies the use of
freewill to do evil that leads to sin

16. 16
The Curses on the Serpent
Who was the Serpent? What was its Significance
 Who is the seed of the
serpent?
 Jesus identified them as evil
men who gratify sin
 Offspring of vipers! How can you,
being evil, speak good things? For
out of the abundance of the heart
the mouth speaks.
 The good man out of the good
treasure of the heart puts forth
good things. And the evil man out
of the evil treasure puts forth evil
things. [Mat 12:34-35]

17. 17
The Curses on the Serpent
Who was the Serpent? What was its Significance
 Who is the seed of the woman?
 Jesus Christ
 What would he accomplish?
 Crush the head of the serpent while he
himself will be bitten at the heal
 Bitten by the heal = Death on the Cross
 Serpent = Unbelieving Jews who by Roman
Authority crucified Jesus
 Crush the serpent = Defeat of sin (what
Adam failed to do)
 For we do not have a high priest who is
unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,
but one who in every respect has been
tempted as we are, yet without sin. [Heb 4:15]

18. 18
Who is satan?
A survey of few passages in the
old testament containing the word
satan

19. 19
The Hebrew meaning and
usage of the word satan
 From Strong’s Dictionary
 Hebrew “saw-tawn‘”
 an opponent, adversary, withstand.
 The word just means enemy or foe and it
could be used either as a good or bad foe
depending on the context

20. 20
Balaam and Satan
 The Hebrew word satan occurs
first in Num 22:22 and is translated
as adversary (AV), foe, etc.
 And God's anger was kindled because he
went: and the angel of the LORD stood in
the way for an adversary (satan)
against him. Now he was riding upon his
ass, and his two servants were with him.
And the ass saw the angel of the LORD
standing in the way, and his sword drawn
in his hand: and the ass turned aside out
of the way, and went into the field: and
Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the
way. [Num 22:22-23]

21. 21
Balaam and Satan
 Who is referred to as satan
in the above passage?
 The angel of God
 Why?
 Because Balaam opposed
God’s will, God opposed
Balaam by his Angel
 Does satan here have a tail
or horns or is evil?
 No! Notice also how the Donkey A mere animal
speaks like the serpent

22. 22
David is ‘satan’ to Achish
 The next time we see the
Hebrew word satan used is in
1Sa 29:4
 And the princes of the Philistines
were wroth with him; and the
princes of the Philistines said unto
him, Make this fellow return, that
he may go again to his place which
thou hast appointed him, and let
him not go down with us to battle,
lest in the battle he be an
adversary (Hebrew word satan)
to us: for wherewith should he
reconcile himself unto his master?
should it not be with the heads of
these men?

23. 23
Solomon’s satan
(enemy)Rezon
 And God stirred him up another
adversary, Rezon the son of Eliadah,
which fled from his lord Hadadezer
king of Zobah: And he gathered men
unto him, and became captain over a
band, when David slew them of
Zobah: and they went to Damascus,
and dwelt therein, and reigned in
Damascus. And he was an adversary
to Israel all the days of Solomon,
beside the mischief that Hadad did:
and he abhorred Israel, and reigned
over Syria. [1Ki 11:23-25]

24. 24
LORD God as satan
 And Satan stood up
against Israel, and
provoked David to
number Israel. And
David said to Joab and
to the rulers of the
people, Go, number
Israel from Beersheba
even to Dan; and bring
the number of them to
me, that I may know it.
[1Ch 21:1-2]
 And again the anger of the
LORD was kindled against
Israel, and he moved
David against them to say,
Go, number Israel and
Judah. For the king said to
Joab the captain of the host,
which was with him, Go now
through all the tribes of
Israel, from Dan even to
Beersheba, and number ye
the people, that I may know
the number of the people.
[2Sa 24:1-2]

25. 25
Satan means
 Adversary /
Enemy /Opposition
 It is not a super
human being in
Context of passages
considered
 Satan or the enemy
can be good or bad The Bible does not draw a picture of
satan with tail and horn.
It is purely human imagination!

26. 26
Summary – We are
responsible for our own sins!
 Jesus taught sin is from
within:
 For it is from within, from the
human heart, that evil thoughts
come, as well as sexual
immorality, stealing, murder,
adultery, greed, wickedness,
cheating, shameless lust, envy,
slander, arrogance, and
foolishness. All these things come
from within and make a person
unclean." [Mar 7:21-23]
 And sin deserves death
 For the wages of sin is death
[Rom 6:23]