IN THE BEGINNING PART 14

The Temptation

Genesis 2:16–17 “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.””

Satan tempted them to doubt the truthfulness of God’s Word and the goodness of God. He tempted them with power and authority that belongs to God alone. And if they sin, it is an act of rebellion that is, in effect, a declaration of war against the Most High.

Satan plots and schemes to deceive us and lure us into sin. He disguises himself as an angel of light, when he is really a roaring lion seeking to devour us. In the same way, he wraps his temptations in a pretty package. He makes them look wonderful and appealing, when in reality they will destroy us. He tries to make us forget or discount the consequences of our sin.

Proverbs 5:3–5 “For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol;”

Proverbs 14:12 “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.”

The Fall

They already had knowledge of good, but now their eyes were opened to the knowledge of evil. Did the knowledge of evil bring the joy and power that they had hoped? No… It only brought death, destruction, and shame. This was not a little fall. It was catastrophic.

Ephesians 2:1 “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins”

Devoid of Life

John 17:3 “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

Romans 3:11 “no one understands; no one seeks for God.”

Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—”

Unresponsive to the Things of God

1 Corinthians 2:14 “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”

Produces Rottenness and Decay

Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (see Genesis 6:5)

Matthew 12:34 “You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”

Matthew 15:19 “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.”

Isaiah 64:6 “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”

John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

The Effects

They made clothes of fig leaves to cover their nakedness and shame. When the God who had made them, provided for them in a paradise on earth, and loved them came to seek them, they hid themselves because of their fear and shame. Then when the Lord confronted them about their sin, they tried to lay the blame elsewhere.

James 1:13–15 “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”

Psalm 130:3–4 “If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.”

1 John 1:8–9 “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”