Adam and Eve were placed into a perfect world, but the idyllic situation was soon shattered by a tragic incident– Satan introduced sin into God’s creation (Genesis 3:1-7). One of the scariest aspects of the fall of man is how subtle Satan was. Satan didn’t threaten or scare Eve, he simply deceived and confused her. His menacing tactics worked on her, and they work on us today.
Genesis 3:1 states that Satan is the most subtle of all the creatures. He is a fallen angel of great intellect who literally out-smarted Eve and has been nothing but a menace to mankind ever since. Clever as always, Satan begins his seduction of Eve with doubt (Genesis 3:1), asking, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’” (v. 1). Satan was challenging openly the authorship of God’s Word. As a probing lawyer would do, Satan cross examined Eve in order to confuse her and bring doubt to her mind – “How do you know it is the Word of God? How do you know God really said it? After all, you weren’t there when God supposedly said it.” Have you ever heard this logic in your head? Of course you have, Satan’s tactics never change.
Satan continues his seduction of Eve with denial (Genesis 3:4). “And the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die.’” He was contradicting what God had said. He was saying, “Listen Eve, be reasonable. Would a loving God really kill you or send anyone to hell?” Still unsuccessful, Satan continued his seduction of Eve with delusion and deception (Genesis 3:5) “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” He was deceiving Eve into believing God was withholding from her. He was telling her that God was trying to spoil her fun. He was telling her to become the master of her own destiny. He was telling her she could be her own god, her own boss.
Does this sound familiar? Satan is still propagating the same delusion. He’s telling young people that God’s moral laws are spoiling their fun. He tells them they can violate those moral laws and not pay any destructive consequences. Satan is telling all of us to do our own thing be our own boss.
Satan concluded his seduction of Eve with desire (Genesis 3:6). “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some of the fruit ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” Satan’s final appeal was to the natural God-given desires within Eve, but Satan took those desires and deceived Eve into satisfying them outside of God’s moral law. Tragically, Eve’s desires turned to her death.
Satan’s tactics have not changed. He still seduces men with doubt of God’s Word, denial of God’s Word, delusions that God is too restrictive, and desires that can be perverted. Satan is still telling people that God did not really speak. Satan is still telling people that sin does not lead to eternal death—after all, God is a loving God. Satan is still telling people how God’s moral laws are restricting their freedom and God is spoiling all their fun. Satan is still telling people to do as they desire – don’t listen to God. Satan is still taking the God-given desires of men and leading men to satisfy them in perverted, twisted ways.
With the exception of Jesus, every human life has been wrecked because Satan used this process to lead people into sin. People are shameless in their sin because Satan has told them God will not punish sin, that God’s moral laws are too restrictive, that it’s your life, do with it as you please, that if living and sleeping together satisfies your desires, go ahead and do it.
One tragic result of the fall was that Adam and Eve lost their glow (Genesis 3:7). “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked,” Some scholars believe that prior to their sin, Adam and Eve glowed, literally radiated with the glory and Holiness of God, in whose image they were created (Genesis 1:27). Like God, they were clothed with a garment of light (Psalm 104:2), but the moment they sinned the light went out and the glow was gone. The message is clear – you can violate God’s law, but the result is a life that becomes dimmer, darker, and less like God.
Forevermore, they lived with guilt (Genesis 3:7b) …and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.” Now they felt dirty and guilty, and for the first time, they felt shame, remorse, and regret. They were naked and exposed and they wanted to hide themselves. They made a futile attempt to cover their shame and guilt with fig leaves, but this was inadequate. All human efforts to cover sin and guilt are inadequate. Man cannot cover his own sin. Man cannot cover his own guilt.
Satan was a menace in the Garden and is still a menace today. The fall of man teaches us it is not normal to sin. James tells us, “Then, after desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death.” (James 1:15). The Apostle Paul tells us, “For the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23). Sin brings no good thing. Satan is the purveyor of sin, so he is the menace of all Creation. Be on the lookout (1 Peter 5:8). His tactics are subtle, but effective. He comes only to steal and kill and destroy (John 10:10). Cast him out, for he causes you to lose your glow.
In His love and service,
Jeff Myers
A servant of Jesus Christ
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