When I read the story of the fall, when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and doomed all of humanity to slavery to sin, it occurs to me that there is a very applicable theme displayed. The cycle of sin is clear in this story. This is the reoccurring theme we see every time we fall into sin. Allow me to guide you through the story and explain exactly what I mean. The verses are taken from Genesis 3 in the NIV.

Is It Really A Sin?

Verse 3, “Did God really say?” This is the summary of almost all lies that Christians fall for. This is where the cycle of sin begins. We begin to question or entertain the questions about the truth of God’s Word. Would a loving god actually forbid you the pleasures of the world? After all, didn’t God make the world and all that is in it? We walk a dangerous path when we justify our actions by saying said specific action was not directly named as a sin in the Bible, and a more dangerous path when we question the legitimacy of the Bible’s instruction. The justification of the actions which the Bible forbids often comes by the “culture” excuse. For example, “That was back then when they believed this stuff.” However, I’m calling you to remember the very first deception of mankind by Satan. It was tricking us into doubting what God really said or what He really meant by what he said.

The Desire of the Flesh

Verse 6, “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.” This is the point where the Christian begins to fantasize and lust after said sin. This is where we see all the “benefits” or good feelings we may gain by such action. We see the “good fruit” that is “pleasing to the eye” and we fall into the desire for it.

Misery Loves Company

Verse 6 continued, “She also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate it.” Ahh… sharing in the sin. Often times when we find ourselves caught in a repetitive sin, we begin to seek out others who are either also captive to the sin or whom we may bring in with us. This somehow makes us feel like we are validated in our failure to overcome it. After all, everyone struggles with it, right?

Shame of Sin

Verse 7-8, “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. … and they hid from Lord God among the trees…” Here is where we find shame. Shame is such a powerful tool used by the enemy to keep up in our cycle of sin. Although we are justifying our sin, the knowledge of sin is still there. Therefore, we instinctively hide the sin from those whom we deem spiritual authorities, whether that is a pastor, parents, or our Bible study members. Sadly, for many, this is where the cycle of sin usually starts back to the beginning. When the cycle of sin stops here and does not go on the next stage, we are able to keep it a secret for some time. This is unfortunately what gives the sin more power over our lives and will keep us in the sin longer. However, when our sin comes to the light by discovery we have the beginning stage of healing. It does not always result in finding healing, but healing is impossible without bringing the sin to the light. We then move on to the next stage in the cycle of sin.

Spread the Blame

In the next stage, we see what happens when we are found out in our sin. When questioned by God, Adam immediately points at Eve in Verse 12, “The woman you put here with me – she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Then Eve blames the serpent, verse 13, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” So here we see a clear example of what happens when we are found out in sin. This is when the blame game starts. Notice Adam first subtly blames God for placing the woman in the garden, then blatantly blames the woman. This is immediately followed by the woman blaming the serpent. This tendency to blame is a normal reaction to being confronted about our sin. When we are in sin, we are very unlikely to take responsibility for our indiscretions. We almost always try to find something or someone to blame. This is normal in the sin cycle and must be expected when we are confronting sin in our fellow Christian brothers and sisters as well. We must also ponder this reality when we find ourselves rationalizing sin in our own lives.

Consequences of Sin

In verses 14-19 we see the consequences of sin coming down hard on mankind. This is where God is fulfilling his identity of being a just God. God by nature, being good and just, cannot allow sin to go without consequences. Even after repentance of said sins, we often must still live with the consequences of the sins.

This story not only shows us the beginning of man and sin, it also outlines the exact same cycle of sin we find ourselves repeating each time we fall into sin. We go from rationalizing to desire or lust, from desire to action, from action to inclusion of others, from inclusion to confrontation, from confrontation to blame, from blame to consequences. I hope this has been a helpful article when it comes to understanding the cycle of sin in our lives. I encourage you to not allow the Devil to fool you with the same devices over and over and call on Jesus and the freedom he has given us.

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