So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. --Genesis 3:6
Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,
Satan is called a liar and a murderer from the beginning. (John 8:44) These verses from Genesis 3 speak to why:
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?" And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.' " Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." --Genesis 3:1-5
Satan's lies promise great things (look at vs 5 above) but always, always deliver death. First, Satan planted seeds of doubt about God's word saying "Has God indeed said?" Eve answered him and said that they were not to eat or "touch the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden." Eve added to the word...God had said nothing about touching the tree. In reply, Satan completely contradicts God and tells Eve that judgment will not occur and implies instead that God is perhaps holding out on her. Eve then succumbs to the temptation and eats the fruit. She then gave to her husband who also ate. Yes, Adam and Eve gained the knowledge Satan promised would come...but at what price. They received it through disobedience so the knowledge they received was corrupted. They did not know as God knows...in perfect holiness. It robbed them of their innocence and plunged humanity and the creation itself into a sentence of sickness, suffering and death.
Look at verse 6. Eve was deceived. She took the fruit and ate and then gave to her husband and he also ate. Both disobeyed but 1 Timothy 2 says that Eve was deceived but that Adam sinned with his eyes wide open. Uh oh... Adam's sin was willful...a direct transgression. It was through Adam that sin and death entered the world. I am sure this was not the legacy he wanted to leave to all of us...
And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. --1 Timothy 2:14
Romans 5 tells us that through one man sin entered the world, and that by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous. Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. How beautiful is that...out of Adam and into Christ when we believe! Grace reigns through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord!! All die in Adam, but those who put their trust in Jesus shall be made alive!
Eve fell into sin because she allowed herself to be taken in by Satan's lies...She became discontent because she looked at what she did not have rather than all the blessings of the Garden of Eden that surrounded her. THAT IS SO LIKE US!!!! We forget to be thankful. We focus on the wrong things. We doubt God's love and goodness toward us and even question His motives. Eve was not walking by faith but by sight. She succumbed to the lies of the world...the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. This is how believers are deceived and fall into sin. We get our mind on the things of the world instead of setting them on the things above.
For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. --1 John 2:16-17
Eve believed the lie. The word of God is the antidote for deception and sin. David hid the word of his God in his heart to keep from sinning. Girls, allow the Spirit of God to take control your thinking and your behavior by letting the word of God dwell in you richly. Romans 12:2 tells us not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. The word of God renews our mind. and it is by it that we know what is His perfect and good and acceptable will for us.
Be thankful...soak yourself in His word. Walk with Him by faith in surrender to His Spirit. Desire God above all things.
Love
Mom
