“Yea, Hath God Said?” (conclusion)

“…And he said unto the woman, Yea,  hath God said,  Ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden?” Gen. 3:1

Imagine a world with no sin. Imagine the perfect harmony of God’s creation. Everything worked. Adam and Eve knew a time of innocence. There was no shame, only love. We can’t comprehend it.

Adam received the commandment not to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but he ate of it. We’ve been born with a sinful nature because of that act of disobedience. We’re lost because of what Adam and Eve did. Eve tried to blame the devil, but that didn’t let her off the hook. The devil can’t make us sin.

It all comes back to our attitude to God’s word. If Satan can get us to doubt it for one minute, he’ll get us to believe things are OK; it’s OK to eat of the fruit we shouldn’t, whatever our fruit happens to be. Then we’ll fall. Knowing the experience of sin gives us a better understanding of why we mess up. All we suffer now is the product of sin. God intended for us to live forever with perfection in every way, even in our bodies. Our bodies became mortal and vulnerable after Adam sinned. Now we’re born to die. It lies in the nature of all things. Adam’s nature that came from the sin of one couple is now ours. It’s in our soul and our make up. We’re children born in iniquity.

They were not to eat the fruit. If they did, they would die. Satan worked on Eve first, and Eve worked on Adam. She looked at it and in light of what Satan said she crossed the line. She reached for the fruit, ate it and turned to Adam. He saw she didn’t die right there on the spot. He thought “there is nothing wrong with this.” He ate it too. What Satan says will always have a little truth in it.  Don’t believe it. Adam and Eve died from the inside out. It was a spiritual death followed by a physical one. The result was the need of a sacrifice to redeem what they had given up.

When she partook of the fruit, she saw things from the devil’s point of view.  Before Eve was created God gave Adam the commandment not to eat this particular fruit. That one bit of knowledge of good and evil was all he ever needed. The devil can wear us down to the point that we question the Lord. We say to ourselves “why is this right? Why is this wrong? Why is this happening?” When we give Satan the time of day, he won’t stop; he’s one step ahead of us all the way. When he approached Eve, he asked one simple question. “Yeah, hath God said?” This first approach was calm and objective. “Is what God said right (like he didn’t know the answer)?  The Bible says to abstain from even the appearance of evil.  Eve’s first mistake was staying there in the serpent’s presence. Her second was giving him a reply. She didn’t have to, and we don’t have to. We don’t owe him anything. She should have walked away. In verses 2 and 3 she tried to explain. When the devil saw this, he knew he had her. She was listening to him. When the devil poses questions to us, don’t give him an answer. We may have to explain things to God but never the devil. We owe no one the explanation of all the what’s and why’s about everything because we’re Christians. The only thing we owe is our testimony and effort to win others to the Lord. When Eve tried to explain she got mixed up. We need to get away. Change the channel. Walk away from the crowd. The longer we hang around what the devil offers, the worse it will be for us.

In verses 2 and 3 she added something to what the Lord said. “We can’t touch it.” God didn’t say anything about touching it. He said not to eat it. The devil saw the flaw; he saw her confusion. Remember, he can confuse even the most clear minded Christian. He played off this. He knew Eve wouldn’t fall over dead. He gave her a half truth. “You won’t die. God doesn’t mean what he says. This fruit won’t harm you.” Once it was plucked off the tree, it could not be put back. Satan deceived her. He tells us we can eat and have God at the same time. He told Eve it would be ok. He made her think God was keeping something from her. He said God knows if you eat this you’ll be like a god. He tried to make her feel sorry for herself. She fell for it hook, line and sinker. This is his driving force today. He tells us “control your own life, our own destiny. You can do it.” We can’t even control our next breath. It’s in God’s hands. Everything is in the hands of the Lord.

What Eve saw was pleasing to her. It appealed to her. She touched it. She broke the connection of the fruit to the tree. She brought it to her mouth and bit into it. SIn sure looks good; feels good; tastes good…doesn’t it?  But only for a short season. She saw she didn’t fall over dead and gave it to Adam. He said to himself “why not?” Don’t be flippant with God. Then suddenly, irreversably, everything changed. After they had eaten the fruit, Adam and Eve knew shame. They wore no clothes and up to that point saw no shame in it; there was none in their perfect, sinless world. They hid from each other and made clothes of fig leaves. They then hid from God. They were lost. Although God knew where they were, when he came down to fellowship with them he said “Adam, where are you?”

Where are we when it comes to the devil? Are we listening and interpreting beliefs as we go. When they told God what happened he asked “who told you?” Then Adam said Eve did it. Eve said the serpent did it. The curse was already in place due to that one sin. Man would have to work by the sweat of his brow to make a living and the woman would bear children in pain to populate the earth. Just as her children did, we’ll die some day.

The devil was already under the foot of the woman. The plan for Jesus to be born of woman was in place; Mary would conceive and bear the Son of God. All this had to happen because of sin.

Will the devil tempt you? Sure he will. The only way to shut the devil up is to shut him out. If you have fallen, call upon your Lord. If you have been listening to the serpent’s ramblings, leave him right now.

Forsake the devil. Stick with the Lord.