Genesis Chapter Three
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"Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the wife, yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the wife said unto the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden- but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the wife, ye shall not surely die- for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the wife saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat"
Can Satan possess a serpent?
The Apostle John refered to Satan as "...that old serpent..."
"But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ"
Is there any scripture for believing that Satan or any of his demons can possess any animal? Sometimes the friendliest of an animal can turn on it's owner and do him or her harm. Or any animal can hurt a person at any time. If that has ever happened to you, I would not rule out the possibility that it was Satan who was behind it. One time some demons asked Jesus to cast them into a large herd of pigs to possess them. It was not strange or uncommon for these demons to possess an animal. You can read about this in the bible in
Mankind was tested. Adam was the representative of the human race. That is not hard for us to understand, because in some political systems, a large populace will have a representative or more who will speak and act on their behalf to the larger government. Mankind was given free will for the purpose of choosing between God and Satan. What was the test about? To see if mankind would love the Lord enough to obey Him and continue to belong to Him. But privilege creates responsibility, and since our spiritual representative (Adam) did not do us justice in his choice, he failed us in his responsibility towards us.
The CALL is higher
The fall of mankind:
It has been said that the problem was not the apple on the tree but the pair on the ground. It was an easy and simple test that God provided for mankind. All mankind had to do was NOT eat the fruit of the forbidden tree. It was based upon the fact that mankind's free will is associated with mankind's responsibility. Adam and Eve would soon learn that sin breaks communion with God.
Why did Satan use the serpent? Why did not he just appear to Eve as he is and tempt her? I think that would have been too obvious to Eve and she might have said no. He used the serpent as a disguise to be sneaky. Why? Because Satan wants to deceive each man and woman into believing that he does not exist. What about his evil character? He is a deceiver, he falsely accuses others, he persecutes God's people, he is a liar, he is a murderer, he casts doubt on God's word (the holy bible), he is prideful, he gives bad advice to mankind, he hates God, he is rebellious, he causes wars, and on and on it goes. Part of Satan's control over mankind is strengthened by mankind's moral weakness.
Satan had studied mankind and he thought he knew what would please mankind. Why? So he could go fishing for the souls of men. It might be similar when you or I go fishing. In order to catch a fish, we have to offer the fish something that it really wants. Then we bait the hook with it and hope the fish cooperates and takes the bait- and swallows the hook so we can catch it. So, Satan offered mankind these three pieces of bait:
Does this temptation and the temptation of Jesus have anything in common? Yes, I believe it does. The temptation of Christ is recorded in three of the gospels:
Let us take a look at this temptation. It may be a similar temptation that Satan will bring to you or I:
And the Apostle John had this to say:
Does each person on earth have their price? What would Satan have to give you to betray God? What is your price? One of the tricks of Satan is to offer a person money, sex, power, or fame. Judas Iscariot betrayed Christ for 30 pieces of silver
How are we to handle Satan when he comes around to torment and tempt us?
We must beware of evil Satan and never underestimate him.
Satan has a mighty arsenal of weapons that he can use against mankind.
The weapon he chose to use against Eve was deceit. The power to deceive is one of his
most formidable ones. He would try to deceive Adam into being a
slave of sin by targeting, manipulating, and tempting Adam's wife. Did it work?
Unfortunately, yes. Today, in many cases, Satan does not target a Christian leader.
Rather, he targets that leader's wife. If he can bring down the wife, then he will
hurt and damage the Christian leader, his family, and his ministry. Satan is diabolical.
This action of sin and disobedience against God by Adam and Eve is known as the fall of mankind. What did Adam and Eve spiritually do and why did God get angry with them? In simple terms, Adam, as mankind's representative, gave the devil his authority. What does it mean that mankind transferred his authority from God to Satan? Unfortunately it means that Satan and evil, moral corruption, spiritual idolatry, slavery, massive criminal activity, violence, death, wars, famines, diseases, and some other horrible things were invited to be a part of the family of mankind. Mankind was now ushered into the kingdom of darkness under the rulership of Satan. It has been said that Adam and Eve transferred their ownership from the Father of lights to the father of lies.
It also means that sin and disobedience had made an entrance into the human family.
We have already studied about obedience. Well, disobedience is just the opposite.
But what about sin? Were Adam and Eve, in their innocence, aware of it? Are we aware of
it today? Just what is sin and how does it affect us? Let us take a brief look at it.
If I asked you to tell me something about sin, how would you reply? Do you think that the church invented this concept of sin to get your membership and money? Do you think that sin does not exist or that you are not a sinner? Do you think that this whole thing is just a religious hoax? Well, I once was an evolutionist and thought the same thing. But as you can tell from my testimony I had some spiritual experiences along the way in my life that caused me to change my thoughts.
A simple definition for sin might be: For anyone to act in any way contrary to how Jesus Christ acted (as recorded in the Holy Bible).
One of the first discipleship lessons you should have learned is that God is a good God, but Satan is an evil devil.
When I was at Bethany Bible College I learned that sin was considered as "missing the mark." Sin, like a snake, has a forked tongue with two major components to it:
Doing what I know
Failing to do what
One time Jesus was teaching about loving your neighbor. Please read the Good Samaritan story below. Do you think that the Jewish priest and the temple assistant committed the sin of omission in this story? What does this story teach us about how we are to respond to similar circumstances when we encounter them?
Here is what Jesus taught-
Where does sin come from?
Sin is tied in with this very evil person. Sin had it's start and promotion with the person of Lucifer, who who we also know as Satan. Satan is sin personified. In earthly terms- Lucifer is a perpetrator with God being the innocent party. Lucifer's sin not only lead to him starting rebellion against God but also starting war, betrayal, hostility, revenge, hatred, and a whole lot more problems. Satan uses temptation as a tool to get folks to sin against God- knowing that our sin hurts the Lord. God did not create us to hurt Him but to love, worship, and serve Him.
The destruction from this being is considerable. And he is still active on this earth and your enemy if you love the Lord, Jesus. Why should Satan and sin be studied? Because sin has infected every human being on earth. It is important to know where sin came from, how God thinks about it, how to deal with sin in our lives, and what is God's cure for sin. Also because if we don't learn from our past sins then we may be repeat them which is not good. And the Bible says, "...we are not ignorant of his (Satan's) devices (tricks)"
It was Satan's plan to drag humanity into the middle of his war against God. To do this he had to enlist the parents of the human race (Adam and Eve) to get on his side against God. How did he do this? Satan tempted them to sin and they did sin. When they did this they gave their authority to Satan. Satan also claimed ownership of them. This happened in the Garden of Eden and it made God very angry at humanity for making this bad choice. Their sin hurt God deeply.
I can just imagine how Satan stood before God (like he did with Job) and accused Adam and Eve. Satan's accusation might have gone something like this: "Well, look here, Mr. Almighty, I took one third of all your angels away from you in the beginning and now I have taken these two humans also. You created them with free will to worship You but now by their sin, they have come over to my side. They have freely given me their authority and ownership. You pinned Your hopes on them and they let You down. Don't bother creating any more humans because if you do I will own them all- none will bother to serve You or love You for Who You are. Rather, they will all worship and serve me- I deserve all that because of who I am."
As a result of their sin, God changed a lot of things from the way that they originally were. To make a long story short, each human being inherits a nature that is essentially against God. God did this because no one is going to be in Heaven who doesn't want to be there. God wants each of us to choose Him over Satan. Salvation is not a downhill coast but an uphill swim. There has to be a lot of effort on our part put into righteous living to be like Jesus Christ. We don't want to just obtain Heaven, but to also win others to Christ along the way. We should also want to help others live godly lives and teach others the Word of God.
Sin is also brought about by our own bad choices. One example might be:
1 John 5:17 "Every wrong is sin, but not all sin leads to death"
How Does Sin Affect Us?
"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord"
"For He hath made Him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him"
"And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness"
"For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins"
"For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts"
"If you see a Christian brother or sister sinning in a way that does not lead to death, you should pray, and God will give that person life. But there is a sin that leads to death, and I am not saying you should pray for those who commit it. Every wrong is sin, but not all sin leads to death. We know that those who have become part of God's family do not make a practice of sinning, for God's Son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot get his hands on them"
Satan and sin are in the same camp. Jesus Christ and righteousness are in the same camp. Why don't Christians sin willfully? A true or real Christian does not have the nature to continually commit willful sin. Sin is horrible and vile. Righteous folk should avoid willful sin lest they be considered by other folks not to be righteous. You don't want to become a stumbling block to someone else.
Your thoughts can be Satan's playground. Continually study the Word of God so you can think God's thoughts after Him. But there are a lot of voices out there (in the world) to tempt you if you are not careful. Guard your mind. Most folks think about committing a sin before they do it. Don't fall into the trap of stinkin' thinkin'. Compare your thoughts with God's thoughts in the Bible so that they line up.
One time there was a man and a woman in a car driving down the road. She turned to her husband and with a complaining voice stated: "we just don't sit as close together any more the way that we used to." He turned to her and remarked, "I am not the one who moved."
If there is a problem in our relationship with the Lord, we can be sure that it wasn't God who moved or changed- it was us.
Sin causes one to not look at the consequences of their actions. Since sin is linked to Satan then you can expect there to be some deception involved if you are tempted to sin against God. This kind of sin is also tied in with one's lack of integrity.
The letter I is the middle letter in the word SIN. It's the big I, little you, type of thinking. My way, my plan, my gain, my pleasure- and I don't care who I have to hurt along the pathway to my goal.
Gradual compromises can be dangerous to you. If you do this watch for changes in your character such as drinking, lying, deception, and other sins. You do this by looking for any changes, actions, or behaviour in your life that are contrary to how Christ lived. Sometimes you may not even be aware of sins, at first, that are starting to take hold in your life. You might reason that since you got away with something once or twice then it must be ok. Maybe God did not see or notice it. Not so- there may be no consequences at first. Repent of it and just don't do it again. Hold the line- don't cross the sin line of unholiness in your life.
"Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak"
Jesus said to the woman caught in the act of adultery:
"Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?"
She said, "No man, Lord." And Jesus said unto her,
"Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more"
It's good to study about sin because God hates it so much. And He has gone to such great efforts to rid it from Heaven and to rid it from humanity.
Sin is not a matter to be taken lightly. It's a matter of life and death. To prove this Jesus Christ, God's Son, came to earth as a sinless sacrifice to take upon Himself the sins of every human being (including yours and mine). He suffered horribly and died in your place and my place on the cross (called the Passion of Christ). He did this because of His great love for you and me and because He wants us on His side. Jesus had to die because of sin. God hates sin so much that He had to look away (but just for a moment) from Jesus on the cross when all the sins of all humanity were placed on Him there. The sinless Jesus became sin as He became God's slain Sacrificial Lamb. My sins and your sins were placed on Him there. He paid for my sins and your sins there with His atoning blood.
Christ's death was a horrible thing in one respect but necessary for the salvation of those who believe on Him. Because He paid the penalty for my sins and your sins, that means that you and I do not have to pay for our sins if we accept Him. Those folks who don't accept Him still have to pay for their own sins with the damnation of their eternal souls in the devil's hell with him. That's the price they pay for their sins.
And what did we gain from His death and resurrection? We gained many things but one thing was the power not to indulge in willful sin lest we want to because our nature was changed by Him when we invited Him into our hearts.
To fully know what sin is and how to properly deal with it we must go to God's Word, the Holy Bible to get all the answers. Why? Because we must look at sin the way that God looks at sin and the only way we can do this is by studying God's Word. Sin is like an octopus that has many legs. You can look at sin from many different perspectives.
(Genesis 3:1-6).
Adam and Eve were innocent:
Mankind was innocent- his conscience was not used. Innocence is ignorance of evil. Satan wanted worship from mankind- he could not keep mankind innocent. Satan deceives to get mankind to doubt God and sin. This was Satan's chance to get the worship and devotion from mankind that he so greatly desired. In my opinion that is what motivated Satan to do what he did. After the fall, mankind was not innocent any more. The conscience of each individual was awakened. In many instances, God deals with each of us today through our conscience to do good and to avoid sin and evil.
It is thought that the serpent in those days was a smart creature that was rainbow colored and stood upright. A serpent today only looks that way due to God's curse on it.
How do we know that it was Satan who possessed the serpent and who first tempted mankind? The bible gives us the answer:
"For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived (by Satan) was in the transgression"
(1 Timothy 2:13-14).
(Revelation 12:9 & 20:2).
(2 Corinthians 11:3).
(Mark 5:12; Luke 8:32).
Some folks believe that Adam and Eve ate an apple from the forbidden tree but this is only conjecture. No one knows what kind of fruit it was or what it physically looked like. Let me ask you a question: if you bite into an apple would you be pleased to find a whole worm or a half of a worm? Many folks answer: only half of a worm. If that be the case then you just ate the other half:-).
than the FALL
"And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat"
(Genesis 3:6).
1) Mankind, in general, likes to eat (the tree was good for food). Many people like to go to a nice restaurant or a store to get food.
2) Mankind, in general, likes beautiful things (the tree was beautiful). Many people like anything that is attractive, including (but not limited to) beautiful flowers, glimmering diamonds, money coins that shine, jewels that sparkle, etc.
3) Mankind, in general, likes wisdom (a tree to be desired to make one wise). Many people desire to go to school to become wise and educated. One pathway of self improvement is through knowledge and good judgement based on experience.
Matthew chapter 4, Mark chapter 1, and Luke chapter 4. In each of these tests we see the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Satan likes to use these lures when he goes fishing for any man or woman. He likes to hook folks and then reel them in. Many a person and relationship has been destroyed by Satan. The very fabric of sin is to split apart and destroy. That is one reason why God hates sin and will not have it in Heaven with Him.
the tree was good for food- the lust of the flesh
it was pleasant to the eyes- the lust of the eyes
the tree was desirable to make one wise- the pride of life.
"For all that is in the world- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life- is not of the Father but is of the world"
(1 John 2:16).
And the Apostle Paul had this to say:
"Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it"
(1 Corinthians 10:12-13).
(Matthew 26:15).
When we are tempted, let us respond to Satan the same way that Jesus did- rebuke him like Jesus did:
"Then saith Jesus unto him, get thee hence, Satan," (Matthew 4:10).
"Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7).
1 John 3:4 Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.
1) There are sins of commission
2) There are sins of omission
Sins Of Commission
is wrong.
Sins Of Omission
I know is right.
The Story of the Good Samaritan:
"A Jewish man was traveling on a trip from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes and money, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road. By chance a Jewish priest came along; but when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side. Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt deep pity. Kneeling beside him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with medicine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two pieces of silver and told him to take care of the man. If his bill runs higher than that, he said, I'll pay the difference the next time I am here. Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?
Jesus asked.
The man replied, The one who showed him mercy.
Then Jesus said,
Yes, now go and do the same."
(Luke 10:30-37 Living Bible).
James 4:17 "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin"
"He that committeth (continual willful) sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil"
(1 John 3:8).
(2 Corinthians 2:10 & 11) because Satan is always trying to get each of to sin against God to break fellowship with Him.
"Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death"
(James 1:15).
(Romans 6:23).
(2 Corinthians 5:21).
(Romans 8:10).
(Hebrews 10:26).
(Galatians 5:17, 24).
(1 John 5:16-18 Living Bible).
(Matthew 26:41).
(John 8:10-11).
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Genesis Chapter Three
verses 7 - 9
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As of Dec. 16, 2005
