The First Attack Was A Lie
Life was wonderful for Adam and Eve before they sinned. They had no evil impulses. They weren’t selfish. They never got upset or impatient with each other. They had perfect, healthy bodies. They always felt great. They weren’t afraid of anything. They lived in harmony with the animals, insects, and birds who weren’t afraid of them. Each day they walked in the garden and talked with God. Life was good, very good.
God gave Adam and Eve everything they would ever need to be happy. Although the Bible doesn’t explicitly say it, I believe they were happy. What then would lead them to give it all up? A lie. The first attack on humanity was a lie. Here’s how Genesis describes it.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. . . And the woman said to the serpent, “. . . 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.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. Genesis 3:1-4 ESV
Adam and Eve knew the only thing they weren’t supposed to do was eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil Genesis 2:17. They knew God said if they ate from it they would die.
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They knew where the tree was. They may have walked by it hundreds of times. But they didn’t eat from it. They had no reason to doubt God. He gave them a free will to choose. Every day of their lives they chose to obey God.
Until the attack. Until they showed up. The serpent and Satan.
We know from the New Testament that the serpent didn’t attack on its own. It turns out an evil spirit being called Satan took control of the serpent and spoke through it Revelation 12:9. And he deceived Eve 2 Corinthians 11:3.
It’s incredible to think that the most brilliant woman who ever lived was so easily deceived. Then again, she’d never been lied to before. She wasn’t expecting it. It was the first attack they ever experienced.
Rather than condemn them we need to admit something. We face the same challenge every day that they did. Will we trust God or go our own way? God has told us to trust Him. That includes our finances Philippians 4:19, food and clothing Matthew 6:25-32, all our cares 1 Peter 5:7 and to acknowledge Him in everything Proverbs 3:5-6.
Yet we often don’t trust Him. We can’t blame our failure from the attack on the serpent or Satan. He is still telling lies but like Adam and Eve, the choice is still ours. Will we trust God and resist the attack or do we think we know better?
Think about every challenge you are facing today. What action would you do if you trusted God? What action is based on the lie that you don’t need to trust God? It seems appealing but you know in your heart it’s wrong. Like Adam and Eve, each day we have a choice.
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