Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'" "You will not certainly die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:1-5 NIV)
Our enemy, the serpent (or fallen angel - Satan), has deception as his only tool. So, he works hard to convince us that the Creator is the bad guy who wants to take away all of our fun. In reality, though, our Creator is simply trying to warn us of the consequences of jumping off a cliff.
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. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." (Genesis 3:6-10 NIV)
Only after we listen to the serpent and follow through on his advice do we recognize what really happened. The Creator isn't the bad guy. He is good. The serpent is in rebellion against the Creator and, to make things worse, he just got you to join him in his rebellion against the Creator. He got us to say, "I don't have to listen to you. I can do what I want." He got us to sin.
And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" The man said, "The woman you put here with me--she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, "Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." To the woman he said, "I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat from it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return." (Genesis 3:11-19 NIV)
It's only after we sin that we realize just how much the serpent was lying to us. It's only after it's too late that we wish we could take it back. It's only after it's done that we learn the full extent of our rebellion and how we are going to pay. This is going to follow us the rest of our lives.
Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living. The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." (Genesis 3:20-22 NIV)
The Creator wanted us to walk together with him in the garden. He wanted us to do it forever. That's why the tree of life existed there in the first place. Sin, however, will not go on forever. Rebellion against the Creator will not be in the Creator's kingdom. The Creator will have people with Him who want to be with Him. Those who do not want to be with Him will get their wish.
So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:23-24 NIV)
Sin is serious stuff. It rebels against the Creator. It sets us up as His enemies. It brings consequences in this life - for the rest of this life. Not only that, it gets us kicked out of the garden where we were going to have life everlasting.
What about you? Have you sinned? Have you rebelled against the Creator? Are you still in rebellion against Him? Do you see the consequences in your life?
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