During this past month, I have been re-visiting the story of our first parents Adam and Eve, and how they walked and talked freely with God in the Garden of Eden. How wonderful that must have been! There was complete and uninhibited fellowship between the Creator and his creation. Adam and Eve were innocent and childlike, having no knowledge of good or evil. They just knew God was providing for them, and that was enough. They had freedom to roam his beautiful creation, enjoying whatever they liked, except for one thing. There was only one rule they couldn’t break.
In the centre of the garden stood 2 trees. One was called the tree of life, and the other, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 2: 9.) It was this second tree they were forbidden to eat from. Just one tree out of a vast multitude dripping with all kinds of delicious fruits. Yet, isn’t it always the way that it’s the one thing we can’t have that fascinates us the most?
The cunning serpent who we know of today as Satan or the devil knew how to play on their weakness, just as he does with you and me. Being a liar, and the father of lies, (John 8: 44), he came to eve, and instantly began twisting God’s words. “Did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden?” (Genesis 3: 2.) Eve knew God had said nothing of the sort, yet in defending her rights, she too embellishes the truth, when she says: “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.” God hadn’t forbidden them to touch the tree; he’d only said they weren’t to eat from it.
Had Adam and Eve discussed that tree often? Did it hold a sort of fascination for them, just as the fire does for a small child when they are told that if they touch it, they’ll burn? I can imagine Adam and Eve inching closer to the tree, but never quite daring to touch it until they were provoked, and lies and confusion set in. Seeds of doubt were sewn. After all, the Bible seems to indicate Eve hadn’t yet been created when God gave Adam the first instructions about the tree. (Genesis 2: 16-18.) She’d received her instructions second-hand. What if Adam had heard God incorrectly?
There’s no doubt our enemy is cunning, and he knows which buttons to press. None of us are immune from his temptations. We can point the finger at Eve, but would we have done any better? The serpent must have sounded so convincing when he said: “You will not certainly die!” (Genesis 3: 4.) how easy it was for Eve to believe that, because surely it was what she wanted to hear.
Satan’s tactics haven’t changed much over the space of time. He taunts us with thoughts and desires that go against God’s will – things we know deep down aren’t good for us. Yet, he has a way of making the darkest sins look shiny and appealing, and of persuading us it’ll be okay – that there won’t really be any consequences. Then, when we give into his temptations, that same voice that allured us into sin turns around and starts accusing us. The trap has been set, we fall in, and he stands above us mocking.
Verse 5 of Genesis 3 has really stood out to me during my recent studies. The devil continues by saying to eve: “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Verse 6 goes on to say that when Eve saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.
We talk about this moment in history as the time when sin entered into the world, and I am convicted that the central letter in this 3-letter word is the letter I. Just observe any toddler, and you’ll notice their favourite words, and some of the first they learn to say, include “I”, “Me”, and “Mine”.” It’s all about what they want, and one of the rolls of the parent is to teach them they are not the centre of the universe, and that sometimes, they have to share, and defer to other’s desires or opinions.
Eve’s primary motive was to gain wisdom. She had everything she could possibly want, including uninterrupted fellowship with God himself, but that wasn’t enough. Somewhere inside, she knew God was on a different level, and she desired to attain to that level herself, not grasping what it would cost her.
Desiring wisdom in itself is not a bad thing. The book of Proverbs exhorts us time and time again to seek after it, but there is a huge difference between the kind of wisdom God wants us to have and the wisdom Satan was dangling as a carrot before Eve’s eyes. True wisdom comes from spending time with God, reading his Word, and understanding the way he wants us to live. In fact, true wisdom only comes through humility, as we surrender to our Saviour, and say: “Not my will but yours be done.”
Worldly wisdom leads a person to exalt themselves rather than coming to a place of humility and surrender. It encourages us to go after our agenda rather than God’s. We will succeed, and we will do so at any cost. We must push ourselves forward, and show others how much we know. We must be at the top. Dare I say it? We must be like God!
I have begun to understand that the root of all sin in my life has always been the exaltation of me rather than Jesus – wanting my way rather than his. We are called to a surrendered life – to die to self and live for Christ. (Galatians 2: 20.) that doesn’t come naturally, as we continually battle against our flesh and our sinful nature, inherited down the generations from Adam and Eve.
When God confronted Adam and Eve about their sins, Adam blamed his wife, and Eve blamed the serpent, but neither of them were willing to take responsibility for what they’d done. Yet, we are told that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just, and will forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1John 1: 9.) All he asks from us is an honest confession – to admit we have done wrong, and turn away from our sin and back to Jesus.
By nature, we are all selfish people. We want to be seen to be right. Satan still exploits our desire for wisdom and uses it against us, but God offers us a purer wisdom, not tainted by sin. One day, we will be perfected in glory. WE will re-gain everything Adam and Eve lost, because it was bought back for us by Jesus at such a cost when he died on the cross. A day will come when we’ll no longer have to put up with the tempter’s interference, but for now, let’s remember that when we become Christians, we are given a new heart. We don’t have to give in to the lure of sin and self anymore. If we ask him, Jesus will help us make better choices. He understands our struggles, and is just waiting for us to cry out to him for help.
I love the words of John the Baptist, when his followers were complaining that people weren’t coming to them to be baptised anymore because Jesus was on the scene and proving to be more popular. They were indignant. John had been there first. In their minds, he was chief baptiser! But John said: “He must become greater; I must become less.” (John 3: 30.) John knew exactly who Jesus was, and was happy to defer to him in all things. The question is, are we?
It is hard to ignore the “I” in things. We all tend to be egocentric. I find some of today’s worship songs difficult because they seem to be putting the “I” first. “I will worship”; “I will bow down”. We need to think about our frames of mind when we sing them and ensure we are worshipping in the right way and not just promoting ourselves.
I definitely agree with you there. We can get wrapped up in ourselves even when we are meant to be worshipping.