Genesis Three: The Seed-Plot of the Bible

There is a trend today - even among otherwise solid evangelicals - to deny the literal interpretation of the Genesis account of creation, even to deny a historical Adam and Eve. Kevin DeYoung has some good thoughts on this slippery slope here. If we begin to question (though we may not outright deny) the very first chapters of our Bible, we immediately have some very big problems on our hands. Pastor John MacArthur rightly warns us, "If Genesis 1-3 doesn't tell us the truth, why should we believe anything else in the Bible?.. how can we be certain about anything else the Bible says?" (The Battle for the Beginning, Page 29.)
So, are there any important theological truths in these first pages of Holy Scripture? I'd say so; particularly in Genesis chapter three.

The third chapter in Genesis is one of the most important in all the Word of God. What has often been said of Genesis as a whole is peculiarly true of this chapter: it is the "seed-plot of the Bible." Here are the foundations upon which rest many of the cardinal doctrines of our faith. Here we trace back to their source many of the rivers of divine truth. Here commences the great drama which is being enacted on the stage of human history, and which well-nigh six thousand years has not yet completed.

• Here we find the Divine explanation of the present fallen and ruined condition of our race. 
• Here we learn of the subtle devices of our enemy, the Devil. 
• Here we behold the utter powerlessness of man to walk in the path of righteousness when divine grace is withheld from him. 
• Here we discover the spiritual effects of sin- man seeking to flee from God. 
• Here we discern the attitude of God toward the guilty sinner. 
• Here we mark the universal tendency of human nature to cover its own moral shame by a device of man's own handiwork. 
• Here we are taught of the gracious provision which God has made to meet our great need. 
• Here begins that marvelous stream of prophecy which runs all through the Holy Scriptures. 
• Here we learn that man cannot approach God except through a mediator.

A.W. Pink, Gleanings in Genesis (Emphasis added)
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