By Felix Ngunjiri Gichuri

“And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” (Gen 2:8-9 [KJV])

Eden the Garden of Bliss God Planted for Man

The best life man has ever lived was in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were living in Paradise. The Garden of Eden was revealed by Jesus Christ Himself as Paradise. “He that has an ear, let him hear  what  the  Spirit  says  to  the  churches;  to  him  that  overcomes  will I give  to  eat  of  the  tree  of  life,  which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  paradise  of  God” (Revelation 2:7). “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him” (Revelation 22:1-3) [NIV].

“And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.” (Gen 2:8 [KJV]). Nobody knows the exact location of the Garden of Eden or the extent of the area that the Garden covered. The Bible tells us that it was watered by a big river which flowed through it and separating into four rivers. The name of the first river is Pishon, which passes through the “land of Havilah, where there is gold” (Genesis 2:11) The location of that Havilah area is also mentioned in the Bible much later around 11th century Before Christ when King Saul “attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, to the east of Egypt” (1 Samuel 15:7). The “land of Havilah” has been interpreted by many  biblical  scholars  to  be  Arabia.  The second river that watered the Garden of Eden is Gihon, which winds through the entire land of Cush, an ancient region of northeast Africa where the biblical descendants of Cush settled. It is often identified with Ethiopia. It is also considered as an ancient kingdom of Nubia in northern Sudan. It flourished from the 11th century BC. to the 4th century A.D. when its capital fell to the Ethiopians. The other two rivers that flowed through the Garden of Eden were Tigris and  Euphrates  in  Asia  Minor. “The name of the third river is the Tigris, which runs east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.” (Gen 2:14 [HCSB])

 The Garden of Eden can approximately be estimated to cover the whole of the Middle East and most of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan. The location described above is not  geographically  known  but  it demonstrates the vastness of the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve loved God very much for creating them and giving them the gift of life and making them in charge of the whole garden of Eden that was the size of a huge continent.

They were excited by God’s favour upon them of giving them a land full of easily available natural resources and being nourished by a tree that gives them life and good health every single second of their life. They longed to be in the presence of God whom they loved with all their heart, mind and body. They thirsted for God continually as an appreciation for creating them in  His image and giving them dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowls of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.

God Gave Adam and Eve Power and Dominion Over the Earth

Adam and Eve were given an area to take care of that is almost the size of a huge continent while at the same time given dominion over the whole earth. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” (Gen 1:27-28, [KJV])

God Breathed His Spirit into the Human Soul to Enable Man Have Life and Live in Fellowship with God

In His divine wisdom, God breathed His Holy Spirit into the heart of man to enable the spirit of man to have fellowship with God and be hungering and thirsting for God. “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” (Genesis 2:7) God decided to fit the man he had created with a soul for enabling him to worship God.  God breathed into man His Spirit and man became a spirit being with the spirit of man joining the Spirit of God inside the soul of man. A living soul, a spirit being did man become, able to connect with the Spirit of God during worship. When your spirit contacts God’s Spirit, you have tapped into all sources of knowledge, wisdom, power, godliness and the glory of God that is enabled to worship God. For “God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). When man connects with God during worship or fellowship, he experiences satisfaction for his soul. When man sinned, the Spirit of God left him and that void was filled by the evil spirit who substituted hope and satisfaction in God with a fake thirst for things of the world. Man has been searching for satisfaction ever since. Everyone is seeking for fulfillment, hope, and meaning and purpose. Whether they know it or not, there’s a void in their soul that can only be filled by God.

In another passage David says, “As the deer pants for the waterbrook, so my soul thirsts for God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?” (Psalm 42:1-2) The vacuum here in this psalm expresses an emptiness of the human soul, an emptiness that can only be filled by an intimate relationship with God. All of the above passages of Scripture remind us that the human soul which houses the human spirit has a deep thirst for God.  Psalm 143:6 succinctly tells us, “My soul thirsts for you like a parched land.”

“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to Lord who gives the living waters and drink.” (Isaiah 55:1). Isaiah invites all who are seeking satisfaction to come to the Lord and drink the living waters. Every person who has ever drawn breath has sought satisfaction. This hunger and thirst for satisfaction is both a grace and a danger. It’s a grace, because we can hunger and thirst for God, but at the same time, we’ll chase after dangerous things, hoping they’ll satisfy the twisted desires of our heart.

We can only say that prophet Jeremiah was spot-on (exact and correct) when he wrote that: “My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me: the fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” (Jer.2:13)

We forsake God, the fountain of living waters, and we construct a life strategy of making our own cisterns and filling them with water that will satisfy us. The problem is this: all of our cisterns leak. They cannot hold water. We are continually thirsty.

As a counselor on our staff has put it, “people are driven and ruled by unsatisfied desires, and they are desperately looking everywhere that they can in hopes of finding satisfaction.”

In the Book of John, Jesus makes this declaration: “If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the scripture said, “From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. (John 7:37, 39)

Psalm 63:1, written by David while in the desert of Judah, words it this way: “You, God, are my God; earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you.  My whole being longs for you in a dry and parched land where there is no water.”

Adam and Eve focused their mind, body and soul onto God, thirsting for Him. The moment they stopped focusing on God, their thirst for satisfaction led them to look around and they liked what they saw. They started admiring the beauty of the land, the trees of the garden and the animals that God had created. Their desire for God waned and they started desiring the beautiful things of the world.

Eve Stopped Adoring God and Started Desiring the Forbidden Tree

One wonders how a spirit filled woman who was married to the most handsome God fearing man ever created by God, a woman who used to talk with God and hear his footsteps, a woman who had power and authority over every creature walking on the face of the earth or flying the airspace of the earth, could stop adoring God and start desiring the forbidden tree while she had unfettered access to all other trees on earth including the tree of life that was in the centre of the garden. One can somehow conclude that when you focus on God, the Spirit of God envelops you and the glory of God comes upon you, making you guiltless and innocent, satisfied, not ashamed even when naked because of being clothed by the glory of God, perfect and presentable before God. The Spirit of God gives you the desire to long for God and desiring more of Him who gives you strength, power and authority on earth.

Eyes Lust for Beauty of the World

When you remove your focus from God and you are drawn away from looking unto God by your own selfish desires (lusts), your eyes will be directed to earthly pleasures and beauty of this world and by extension you will start focusing on the devil himself. That is what happened to Eve. She started desiring the things that are beautiful to look at like the fruits of the forbidden tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Remember That Satan Is Associated with Beautiful Things.

Lucifer, who is Satan was the anointed cherub, perfect in beauty, with precious stones as his covering (Ezekiel 28;12-19). The Bible also says that “Satan has transformed himself into an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14), i.e. ‘cloaked as an angel of light’, or as a wolf in sheep’s clothing’. The forbidden tree that enticed Eve was beautiful to look at (Gen.3:6). That beauty that is associated with the devil may have attracted the woman and she started passing more frequently near the forbidden tree that made her to salivate, desire to pluck it, desire to eat it as it was mouthwatering, very enticing and beautiful to look at. She started moving alone away from her husband so that she would have a chance to talk with the devil who was most of the time up the tree disguised as a serpent. In the Garden of Eden, the devil came in the form of a serpent to Adam and Eve (Genesis 3).

Eve Stopped Focusing On God

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.” (Psalm 1:1-2 ESV) Eve walked in the counsel of the wicked and was unable to delight in the law of the Lord. Instead of delighting in the law of the Lord and meditating upon it day and night, maybe she was lusting in her mind for the fruit day and night. David said, “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” Psalm 119:11. Evidently, Eve had either refused to “store up” God’s Word in her heart or neglected renewing her mind with the Word of God (Romans 12:2). All indications are that the love of God dropped out of Eve’s heart. That was why she fell into sin. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15). Eve stopped loving God. John also said, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that does the will of God abides forever.” (1 John 2:15-17)

Eve spent quite some time with the devil and she provided less time for a conversation with God. Eve did what many of us do. We spend a lot of time meditating about evil and sex, lusting after women, watching dirty videos and listening to dirty talk and dirty jokes in our places of work and in social places. It is like we enjoy fellowship with the world more than fellowship with God.

Paul told the Corinthians that “I wish that you should not have fellowship with devils. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils: you cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table and of the table of devils.” (1Cor 10:20-21 [KJV]) “Do not yoke yourself together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14 NIV) Was Eve feeding from the enemy camp or was she cheering both teams? Was she praising God when she was in His presence while doubting Him in her heart while agreeing with everything the devil told her, and then engaging in backbiting and doubting God?

One can stretch his or her imagination by thinking that maybe Eve may have been daily eyeing that tree that would make her be like God if she would eat it. She forgot what God had said to Adam. God had said that, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creeps upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.” (Gen 1:26-30 [KJV])

But Eve did not find courage to touch, pluck and eat the forbidden fruit until the devil came in the form of serpent and deceived her and tempted her to sin against God. Nobody is immune to temptations. All Satan needs is an object of your desire and the stretch of your imagination. The objects of desire are lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh and the pride of life.

Eve Became Preoccupied and Obsessed with One Tree: the Forbidden Tree

She became so preoccupied and obsessed with only one tree (that was forbidden for them to eat) in their garden paradise that she couldn’t see the forest of trees in the whole world given to them to eat and enjoy. She could not see the tree of life (which gives everlasting life when eaten) which was also next to the forbidden tree at the centre of the garden. “And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” (Gen 2:8-9 [KJV]) And remember that God had given them all the trees in the garden to eat. “And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.” (Gen 1:29 [KJV])

Whatever the deception the devil used to succeed in getting Eve to fall as she did; it was practically down to one thing. The devil won her heart and she started trusting his word. We are not told how long the seduction lasted but eventually she fell for the lie. She lusted after the forbidden tree in her heart continually.

Eve Lusted After the Forbidden Tree in Her Heart Continually

The reason for concluding this way is due to the revelation James gave in James 1:14 which says that “But every person is tempted to sin when he is drawn away, enticed (to lead on by exciting or arousing hope or desire as a fish is enticed by the bait) by his own evil desire (lust, passions and cravings).” (James 1:14 AMP). Eve lusted. The devil only used what Eve craved for. It may have been persistent deception or seduction by the devil daily or hourly, but it eventually worked.

Eve’s mind was gradually filled, possibly daily, with “the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, that is not of the Father, but is of the world.” (1John 2:16 [KJV])

The Devil had an Elaborate Plan for Man’s Downfall

The devil had planned to be like God and failed and he wanted man to enter into condemnation the same way he was condemned. “For you have said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.” (Isaiah 14:13,14)

As Eve was being seduced by the devil and promised that she will be like God in power and authority, even maybe aspiring to be worshipped like God, Adam was not aware of the relationship, or may be he was. Perhaps, as this was going on, the seduction, the deception, the enticement, she did not inform her husband Adam, or may be she informed him and he concurred. And he too, perhaps being busy with the affairs of this life, not having enough time for his wife, was totally oblivious as to what was going on between his wife and the devil about the forbidden tree, or may be not. The devil through the serpent enticed Eve to eat the tree God had forbidden them and she ate the forbidden tree. Eve then enticed her husband Adam to also eat the forbidden tree that she herself had eaten and he ate.

Adam and Eve had a Covenant with God: Eat the Tree of Life and Live, Eat the Forbidden Tree and Die

“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” (Gen 2:7-9 [KJV]) “And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day that you shall eat of it, you shall surely die.” (Gen 2:16-17 [HCSB])

The word of God tells us from the above scripture that God put Adam the man he had created in the garden and He caused to grow in the middle of the garden the tree of life. Being a hardworking man who did not have a wife to cook for him, he tended the trees in the garden faithfully and it can be assumed that he enjoyed eating the fruits of all the trees in the garden including the tree of life that God had strategically placed in the centre of the garden. Maybe he was eating the tree of life daily, if not hourly so as to get eternal life and all that appertains to life e.g. good health, life itself, strength, joy, peace, prosperity, blessings, God’s favour and mercy and the grace of God. Adam was careful not to go anywhere near the tree that God forbid him to eat and actually warned him that if he ate, he would die. God used soft words when advising Adam that “You may freely eat any tree of the garden” suggesting to Adam that he can decide out of the free will God had given them, to eat or not to eat all the other trees in the garden but when referring to the tree of knowledge of good and evil, God used very strong words of command that “you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.” Although Adam had not known what it meant to die, he assumed that death meant losing the life and strength that he was getting from the tree of life.

Adam reasoned that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil must have been a bad tree in the eyes of God for him to be warned so strongly against eating it and he realized that eating it would surely offend God. That bad tree must have contained the knowledge of the good and evil things of life like pleasures of life, lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, the pride of life, death, curses, sicknesses, misfortunes, accidents and other damnable things that the devil can come up with. Adam told himself that he does not need the knowledge of good and evil provided by the bad tree for he was satisfied with the good he was receiving from the tree of life. Furthermore, why bother with knowledge of evil? Does one need the knowledge of what goes on in brothels, drug dens, red districts, pornographic sites and terrorists’ dens? As the saying goes, “if you play close to the fire, it is too easy to get burned:“ The mischief of devil worship, sorcery, casting spells, witchcraft, voodooism, black magic, and all other forms of demonism should be avoided like the plague. Adam and Eve sinned against God with the full understanding of the consequences of disobeying God’s only commandment as of that time.  Or were Adam and Eve blinded by the lust of their eyes or the lust of their flesh which enticed them, or by the devil’s enticing seduction?

The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil Was Very Tempting

“And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food (lust of the flesh and food that satisfies), and that it was pleasant to the eyes (she lusted for the tree with her eyes), and a tree to be desired to make one wise (and feel proud among other people), she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” (Gen 3:6 [KJV]) What Adam avoided before he was deceived by his wife Eve is what many of us crave for nowadays. Searching for knowledge about devil worship, witchcraft, illuminati, pornography, magic and all the other immoral searches in the internet. The search for good and evil might progress into the depths of evil himself until you find that you have slid down the slope and you have gone too far into the world of evil, the kingdom of darkness. You only have yourself to blame for your curiosity that people say killed the cat. 

And during all that time, Adam continued to enjoy eating all the fruits of the trees in the garden except the forbidden tree. He must have avoided going near that forbidden tree for fear of being enticed into eating it for its fruits were pleasant to look at. Maybe he feared that if he allowed his gaze to linger on them longer, he might start lusting after them and end up eating the forbidden fruit and die.

It all started when Eve was taken as a lustful captive of Satan in the Garden of Eden. Among some questions we can ask ourselves on the Eve and devil event are: at which place did the devil meet Eve to tempt her and persuade her to take and eat the forbidden fruit? Was it that the devil was persuading Eve daily to take her to where the forbidden fruit was to tempt her away from her husband? Why did the devil isolate Eve and tempted her in private?  Was it that Eve was salivating whenever she passed near the forbidden tree that was adorned with mouthwatering ripe fruits that were tempting her to touch and the urge to pluck and eat the fruits was growing stronger and stronger? Or was it a case of curiosity that killed the cat? Had he attempted to persuade Adam and failed? Was it the first time he would tempt Eve or was this the hundredth time? Was it that he took Eve on a journey “…. into an high mountain, showed her all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time”? (Luke 4:5)

The temptation to agree with the devil’s deception and disobey God was so irresistible that she forgot God’s warning which said that if they ate the forbidden fruit, they would die. “No! You will not die,” the serpent said to the woman. “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.” (Gen 3:1-7 [HCSB])

How Eve Fell Into Sin

Satan used a systematic approach to undermine God’s commandment and trick Adam and Eve into sin.

First, let us look back at what actually God commanded Adam concerning the consequences of disobeying Him when Adam was all alone on the earth noting that Eve was not yet made by God. “The LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there He placed the man He had formed. The LORD God caused to grow out of the ground every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden, as well as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” (Gen 2:8-9 [HCSB])

“The LORD God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.” Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper as his complement.” (Gen 2:15-18 [HCSB])

Much later after Eve was created, the serpent approached Eve and questioned the Word of God. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” (Gen, 3:1) As Eve responded to this question, she misquoted God’s command. “And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.” (Gen 3:2-3) When we compare her statement with Gen. 2: 16-17, we see she didn’t specify which tree was off limits, and she added that even touching it would cause death. This may be subtle, but reminds us that accurately understanding the Word of God is an important defense against the crafty lies of Satan. She misquoted what God had told Adam. God had actually warned Adam and Eve not to eat the tree but Eve told the devil that they were warned not to eat the fruit of the tree. God pronounces judgement on whoever adds or diminishes His word. “What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shall not add thereto, nor diminish from it.” (Deut. 12:32.)“I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.” (Revelation 22:18-19 ESV)

Next we see Satan denying the Word of God and the consequences of sin. He then goes on to replace the Word of God with his own lies.

“But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Gen. 3:4-5)

By denying the Word of God, Satan challenged the very character of God and tricked Eve to think that God was holding back blessings for them. Although Eve was pure and innocent before that temptation, she desired to have a deeper understanding of good and evil. Instead of trusting that God was protecting her, she sought to take a short cut and gain this “special wisdom” on her own from the devil.

Temptations Always Start with Lust of the Eyes, then the Body Lusts So As to Be Like God (Pride)

 “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.” (Gen. 3:6) The woman forgot the commandment from God not to eat the things that look pleasant to the eyes and mouth watering foods found in the forbidden tree. God’s commandment to avoid the tree of knowledge and evil is the same commandment God is giving today telling us: “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world— the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life— is not from the Father but from the world. The world is passing away, along with its desires; but whoever does the will of God remains forever.” (1 John 2:15-17 Berean Study Bible) In Genesis 3 we have looked at the story of Adam and Eve being tempted by the serpent. If you read carefully you will see that the serpent first tempted Eve using these three strategies: Lust of the Flesh, Lust of the Eyes and the Pride of Life.

Genesis 3 starts with Satan having a conversation with Eve where the serpent is trying to convince her that God has not been honest with her about the forbidden fruit. In Genesis 3:6 scripture reports, “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. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.”

• She saw that the fruit was good for eating – Lust of the Flesh, i.e.Lust through Senses (touch, eyes, taste, hearing, etc…)
• She said the fruit was pleasing to the eye – Lust of the Eyes, i.e. Lust to Have (Seeing and then wanting to possess)
• She said it was good for gaining knowledge and be like God knowing good and evil – Pride of Life, i.e. Desire to “Be” someone (Ego gratification)

Notice that the text says that Adam was with her during this temptation. He also failed not just by eating the fruit but by not being the spiritual leader and stopping her from being beguiled by a talking snake and was guilty of disobeying God’s command as well. It was Adam’s responsibility to protect his wife and remind her of God’s Word and commandment.

Once Satan removed the consequence of sin (He had told that she shall not die after eating the forbidden tree), the opportunity to gain wisdom and be like God seemed very attractive. Scripture tells us in Psalm 111 and twice in Proverbs (1:7, 9:10) (also known as the book of wisdom) that fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. This type of fear means a reverent obedience to God simply because of who He is. Truly understanding the identity and nature of God leads us to trust and obey Him.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding.  To him belongs eternal praise.” – Psalm 111:10

When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness (Matt. 4), Satan attacked Him in a very similar way. First Satan appealed to Jesus’ physical hunger and challenged Him to turn rocks into bread (Lust of the flesh). Satan tried to get Jesus to reject the Father’s will and bow to him in exchange for worldly power and authority after he showed him the kingdoms of the world (Lust of the eyes) that he would give Jesus if only He worshipped him. Then the claimed that there would be no consequences for disobeying God for angels of God would save him from being hurt after falling, only if Jesus fell for the temptation (Pride of life).

With each temptation, Jesus responded with scripture that accurately refuted Satan’s temptation and reinforced the proper will and character of the Father. This is a model for us to successfully overcome Satan’s temptations. And it means that we must know God’s Word and use it to encourage ourselves in times of temptation.

“Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.” – Psalm 119:11

God expects us to withstand temptation. It’s important to recognize that while trials and temptations are similar, there is a fundamental difference in the motivation. God tests and allows trials for us to grow, to discover our weaknesses and to seek Him for strength. Satan tempts us with the goal to destroy us.  God never tempts us, (James 1:13) and God will never allow us to be tempted in a way that that is beyond our ability to endure and escape.

“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” (1 Cor. 10:13)

God has revealed Himself and His nature through His Word. To know God’s Word is to know God. When we understand God’s love and promises for us, we know that He does not withhold any good thing from us (Psalm 84:11) and He has good plans for us (Jer. 29:11). Therefore, we can trust Him to provide what we need. If He has told us not to do something, we must also trust that He is protecting us, no matter what Satan tells us.

“And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.“ (Gen. 3:8)

The consequences were great. Instead of walking with God and being in His presence, Adam and Eve tried to hide from God. They were separated by guilt. While they may not have suffered immediate physical death, they were now slowly moving toward that inevitable death.

 “Then our evil desires conceive and give birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” (James 1:14 GNB).

In essence, Eve (and then later on Adam) chose to feed their lusts with thoughts of evil and for the things of the world because their love for God had diminished. That was how sin entered the world and man fell.

If We Confess Our Sins, God is Faithful and will Forgive Us of Our Sins

The devil knew the consequences of sin and was expecting Adam and Eve to fall down dead so that there would be no human race to compete with for control of the world. But God intervened and provided a lamb to die on their behalf so that they would continue living here on earth until their time to die would come while expecting them to repent of their sins. The lamb saved them from death and provided God with the animal skins to make aprons for their dress to save them from the shame of nakedness. But “just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life. For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. Anyone who believes in Him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the One and Only Son of God.” (John 3:14-18 [HCSB]) Jesus Christ the Lamb of God offered Himself to be sacrificed by being crucified on the cross in our stead. He was slaughtered and his blood shed as the final and only sacrifice that can appease the wrath of God and bring forgiveness for our sins. “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” (Heb 9:22-28 [ESV2011])

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1John 1:9 [HCSB])

Amen.