Genesis 3:1-13

¹ “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” ² And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, ³ but 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.’ ” ⁴  But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. ⁵ For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” ⁶ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. ⁷ Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. ⁸ And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” ¹⁰ And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” ¹¹ He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” ¹² The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” ¹³ Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

I often hear people ask, “Why didn’t God create a perfect world where there would be no sin, suffering, sorrow, and death?” I always use Genesis 1 – 2 to remind them that HE did just that! The original creation was indeed perfect.

The more pertinent question is, “Why did God create a perfect world and then put into that world humans who had the ability to choose to sin and bring suffering, sorrow, and death into the world?”

By the way, I answered that last week. I hope you were paying close attention. (See Rule #1) If you are not satisfied with that answer, see Rule #2.

The good news is (and it is very good news indeed) that one day God will replace this present fallen world with a New Heaven and a New Earth in which no sin, suffering, sorrow, or death will exist!

I believe the more practical and therefore more useful issue is how did the temptation take place, and how does that apply to our life today? We all face temptation and the “Satanic Strategy of Temptation” has not changed in the past 6,000 years! If we can understand the temptation in the Garden of Eden, we can understand the temptation we face in the 21^st Century…

Here it is:

In 3:1a, we see that the sources of temptation are still the same. Eve and Adam faced five specific sources of temptation with which we are still faced today:

Before I write anything else, let me be clear: God is never a source of temptation! The Word of God is clear when it says, ““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.” (James 1:13 ESV). God does not tempt us to test us!

There are (as I said earlier) five sources of temptation and God is not one of them:

The primary source of our temptation is our self! In 1:14-15, James explains this clearly when he writes, “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.” I realize that comedian Flip Wilson made a fortune by saying, “The Devil made me do it” but, the reality is that he was tragically wrong about that.

Almost all of my temptation finds its source in me and almost all of your temptation finds its source in you!

While he is not the primary source of temptation, we see in this passage that Satan is still “a” source of temptation. In 2^nd Corinthians 11:3, Paul warns the Corinthians and all believers of this reality when he says, “But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”

I am sure that Satan (who cannot be in more than one place at one time) spends his efforts on men and women whose temptation and fall will do the maximum harm to the Kingdom and only some PFC demon is assigned to me. Yet, since 2^nd Corinthians 11:3 is true, we must admit and be aware of the fact that satanic temptation is real and does still exist.

* By the way, I am guilty of not praying nearly enough for our Christian Leaders that they will be protected from temptation! I hope you will join me in taking time to pray for Christian men and women to whom God has given a national or international platform that they will remain pure and faithful to God and His Word.

Satan is a source of temptation!

In 3:1b, we see that the subjects of temptation are still them same. Those who are tempted in the Garden are a woman and a man; humans are still the subject of temptations today.

It is vitally important that you and I understand that as we see in 3:1c-6, the strategy of temptation is still the same! I have often heard it said, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”  Satan obviously believes in this because over the past 6,000 years he has not “fixed” the system of temptation. It works well; so, he just keeps using it over and over and over again…

Here is the strategy: (These are the three other Sources of Temptation)

In 3:6, we see “The Lust (or cravings) of the Flesh” “The Lust (or cravings) of the Eye” and “The Pride of Life.” The fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was… “good for food” “a delight to the eye” and “desired to make one wise.”

In the locus classicus of verses on temptation, John the Apostle tells us in 1^st John 2:15-17, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world— the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

Please take careful note that “all that is in the world…” consists of these three areas of temptation: “the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions…”

When we hear Bible teachers of the past and present talking about “worldliness” this is to what they refer! When we hear these teachers speak of “worldlings” (a very British word not heard much here in the Colonies) they speak of people who are focused on these three things, rather than being focused on God and the things of God!

The final illustration is powerful: this is the very same strategy of temptation the Devil used when tempting Jesus! The temptation of Jesus is recorded in Matthew 4:1-11. “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.”

Read over these verses carefully and see if you can find each of the three primary areas of temptation that Eve and Adam and you and I also face!

Think about how Jesus overcame these temptations and think about how you and I can use that same method to overcome the temptations we face from day to day.

Finally, notice in Genesis 3:7-13, that the shame of giving into temptation is still the same today as it was then. In sin, both they and we stand naked before God! Both they and we have nothing to offer God but excuses.

I hope you will carefully, prayerfully, and frequently read through and think over these verses as your prepare to hear the Word of God preached on this coming Lord’s Day… as the LORD allows!

As Pastor Tom Rains often says, “I hope to see you Sunday with your Bible in your hand, a smile on your face, and your family and friends by your side!”