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How Sin Entered the World
[Lesson 6: Adam & Eve & the Garden of Paradise]
[Table of Contents]
[Lesson 8: What Adam's Sin Produced]
Lesson 7
How Sin Entered the World
Genesis 3
Peace be with you, listening friends. We greet you in the name of God, the Lord of peace, who
wants everyone to understand and submit to the way of righteousness that He has established, and
have true peace with Him forever. We are happy to be able to return today to present your program
The Way of Righteousness.
In the past two studies, we learned how God created the first two people. The Scripture says, "God
created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created
them." (Gen. 1:27) Within the soul of the man and the woman, God placed a spirit capable of
knowing God, and a heart capable of loving Him. God also entrusted them with a free will, so that
they could choose for themselves whether to obey Him or not. We also saw that God placed man
in the Garden of Paradise, a delightful garden He had prepared on the earth in a place called Eden.
God gave the first man, Adam, and the first woman, Eve, everything they needed to live in peace
and true prosperity. God wanted people to know Him, love Him, and worship Him forever.
Thus, we saw that God, in keeping with His perfect plan, placed a simple test before the man
whom He had created. In the middle of the garden, God planted the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil, and then commanded the man, saying, "You are free to eat from any tree in the
garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for [in the day that]
you eat of it you will surely die." (Gen. 2:16)
Why did God test Adam in this way? God wanted to show the condition of Adam's heart. God did
not test Adam to cause him to sin, but to bless and strengthen him. The man whom God created had
no faults and was without sin, but that does not mean he possessed a perfect love or a mature
character. God placed a test before Adam, to test his love. If Adam stood the test and obeyed God,
he would prove that he loved God in his heart. Also, if Adam stood the test and refused to sin, that
test would strengthen him, because the Scriptures say that "patience in times of trial produces
character." (Rom. 5:4)
Today then, we have come to the third chapter in the book of Genesis. This is the chapter which
shows us how sin entered the world. If we are familiar with the teaching of this chapter, then we
know why the heart of man is crooked and evil, and why the world is full of suffering and pain.
We have already seen that, in the beginning, Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Paradise where
they were perfectly satisfied and had everything for their enjoyment. The best thing of all, was that
the Lord God visited the garden each day, in the cool of the evening, so that He might talk with
Adam and Eve. God visited them because He wanted to have a meaningful and wonderful
relationship with them.
However, the Scriptures tell us that someone else was also in the garden. Do you know who it
was? It was Satan, God's adversary, the devil. When God created the world and all that it contains,
Satan was watching. When God gave Adam the commandment not to eat of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, Satan was listening. And he did not stop at simply watching and
listening, but he was also weaving a plan to spoil God's wonderful works. Satan planned to tempt
man whom God had created so that he would disobey God, commit sin, be separated from God and
perish! As for God, He knew all that Satan planned to do, but Adam and Eve knew nothing about
it.
One day, when Adam and Eve were standing near the forbidden tree, Satan came as a serpent,
and began to speak with them. Thus, the Scripture says: "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'?" (Gen. 3:1)
Let us pause here briefly. Why did Satan appear as a serpent? The Scripture gives us the answer
when it says: "the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made."
Satan is the tempter, and therefore presented himself as one who is very wise. Satan did not come
to Adam and Eve in the form of a huge red dragon saying, "Peace be on you, Adam and Eve. I am
the devil, the enemy of God! I have come today to tempt you to turn your back on God, the Lord of
life, so that you might perish forever!" Satan did not operate like that! How did he appear to them
then? As a beautiful and wise creature. He chose to speak to them through a serpent, because at
that time, before sin entered the world, the serpent was the craftiest of all the animals.
Satan is still like that. He is crafty. He habitually presents what he has to offer as a good thing. The
Scriptures say: "Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light." (2 Cor. 11:14) Consequently,
God warns us in His Word, saying, "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's
clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves." (Matt. 7:15) Satan is a deceiver. That is why he
appeared to Adam and Eve as a wise serpent. That is also why he preferred to talk with Eve, instead
of with Adam himself, because he hoped that it would be easier to tempt Eve than Adam. Satan
knew that God had given the commandment about the tree to Adam, before He created Eve.
However, Eve also knew about God's commandment. The devil is highly intelligent and he knew
exactly what he wanted to achieve. Satan thought if he could convince the woman to eat of the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil, perhaps Adam would follow her in disobeying God.
Thus, the Scriptures say: "The serpent said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat
from any tree in the garden?'" (Gen. 3:1) Did you hear what Satan said to Eve? He said, "Did God
really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden?'" Do you see what Satan was trying to do?
He was attempting to plant doubt in the mind of Eve concerning the sure Word of God. That is why
he said, "Did God…say?" Did God really say …?" Satan still uses this method. He fights against
the Word of Truth, because he knows that the Word of God has the power to disarm him and
discredit his lies. Satan knows that the truth dispels lies, as light dispels darkness.
Now let us listen to the rest of the conversation between the woman and the devil. The Scripture
says:
"The woman said to the serpent, 'We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God has
said, '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 surely die,' the serpent said to the woman. 'For God
knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good
and evil.'" (Gen. 3:2-5)
This is amazing! What did God say would happen to Adam and Eve if they ate of the forbidden
tree? He said, "You will die!"