Monday, November 28

THE FALL: MAN'S ORDER

Genesis 3

Adam had it all—a good God, a good heart, a good life, and a good wife. But then entered Rebellion. Oh, that is not his actual name, but it does describe him pretty well. Satan, a rebellious and fallen angel, taking on the form of a serpent, came to Eve first—probably figuring if he can mislead her, she can do the rest by misleading Adam. Eve was about to parlay with the "tempter," and that would be very dangerous. This adversary was out to destroy their faith in God, and he was crafty and shrewd enough to do it.

He began by trying to instill doubt in God's Word—"Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden?" (vs. 1b) Doubts, suspicions, and false pictures of the Almighty and His motives are the seeds he planted then, and he continues to plant them now. It does not take very many steps to go from doubt and unbelief to sin and disgrace. While Eve didn't have the advantage of Jesus' words in Matthew 4:10—"Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve," and she wasn't aware of the exhortation in James 4:7—"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you," she did have the literal presence of the entire Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—right there in the midst of the garden. But she wouldn't listen! Well, just for a minute, let's give her the benefit of the doubt, OK? Could she have been totally innocent and unsuspecting, not meaning to go in a wrong direction at all? Maybe she was unwilling to stand by and see God maligned, and so "maybe" she jumped in to correct Satan's assertion. But, in so doing, she actually misquoted God, adding that they had been ordered to not even touch the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now that Eve had entered the conversation, Satan had her on his line. He quickly suggested that man's greatest desire was to be like God, and that God Himself had thwarted them in this regard. He charged the Creator with being selfish, envious, and unwilling to give His creatures all He had.

Do you see what happened? Satan had used two extremes to draw her, and ultimately, Adam too, into the trap—God was too loving to judge AND too hard to please, both arguments misspeak the reality—God's love does judge sin! She, not just Satan, had also twisted things around—she had understated their privilege; overstated God's prohibition; and ultimately, understated the penalty. In the process, it had become a much bigger deal than a piece of forbidden fruit—they now wanted to decide for themselves what is good and what is evil, the precise problem today. If he can just get you to be content with your own ideas about what is right and wrong, then you won't really need God. He has no problem if you continue giving lip-service to the Lord—claiming to be following Him, but without true obedience. In fact, Satan is thrilled to see even true Christians let the natural man rule, ignoring death to self and bypassing the power of the Spirit. Don't be seduced! Let your next step be into God's heart.

~ Rev. Roy D. Warren, Jr.