During His earth ministry, Jesus spoke a profound truth about Satan, our enemy. Jesus said that Satan “was a MURDERER from the beginning, and DOES NOT STAND IN THE TRUTH, because there is no truth in him. When HE SPEAKS A LIE, he speaks from his own resources, for HE IS A LIAR AND THE FATHER OF IT.” (see John 8:44 NKJV). Every believer needs to know and be always CONSCIOUS of this truth about Satan: he is a MURDERER and a LIAR. In fact, the WEAPON Satan used to commit his notorious murder of mankind in the garden of Eden was LIES or DECEPTION. Satan’s LIES led Adam and Eve to DEATH, by causing them to disobey God and to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which God had commanded them (under penalty of death) not to eat (see Genesis 3:1-7). The Bible says that Satan (the serpent) is cunning, crafty, or subtle (see Genesis 3:1; 2 Corinthians 11:3), which also means that Satan’s lies are often subtle (that is, they’re not so obvious). So, let us analyze the lies Satan told Eve in the garden of Eden.
First, Satan told Eve that she and her husband “will not surely die” if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which God had commanded them not to eat (see Genesis 3:4). This was a lie because Adam and Eve were surely going to die if they ate of the (forbidden) tree of the knowledge of good and evil, just as God had warned them (see Genesis 2:17). On that same day that they ate of the (forbidden) tree, they died (spiritually); they were separated or alienated from the life of God; they were driven out of the garden of Eden and banished from the presence of God. (see Genesis 3:23-24; with Ephesians 4:18, Ephesians 2:1, Colossians 1:21). Today Satan is telling many people that they will not surely perish or be condemned if they do not believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. But that is a lie, my dear friends. The Bible says that whoever does not believe in Jesus Christ “is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (see John 3:18). Truly, “he who does not believe will be condemned.” (see Mark 16:16).
Second, Satan subtly told Eve that God is a liar and an evil person. By saying that Adam and Eve “will not surely die,” Satan was opposing God’s word and painting God, not only as a liar, but as an evil person who was withholding something good from Adam and Eve. Satan said “God knows that in the day you eat of it YOUR EYES WILL BE OPENED, and YOU WILL BE LIKE GOD, knowing good and evil.” Here, Satan was basically saying that knowing good and evil will be beneficial to man, and God doesn’t want man to have something this beneficial. This was a lie. God didn’t want man to have a knowledge or consciousness of (good and) EVIL, because it wasn’t going to be good for us, as I explained in my previous post. And so God is neither a liar nor an evil person (as we can see from even this story and how it ended); it is Satan who is obviously the liar and the evil one.
Third, Satan said that Adam and Eve will be like God, knowing good and evil, if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which God had commanded them not to eat. This was a half-truth, which is essentially a lie. Yes, man was going to be like God alright (in the sense or context of) knowing good and evil (see Genesis 3:22), but in another sense, a rather tragic sense, man was going to be like Satan himself if he disobeyed God (and thus sinned) by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which God had commanded man not to eat. Man was going to become evil or a sinner by committing that act of evil, and worse of all, man’s knowledge of good and evil was going to condemn him and cause him to feel naked (that is, exposed, ashamed, guilty) and afraid in the presence of the Holy and Righteous God, because of man’s sin. (see Genesis 3:7-10).
Fourth, Satan told Eve that if she and her husband ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, their eyes will be opened. In other words, they would see the light. This was a lie because, disobeying or rebelling against God by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was a sin that was only going to open man’s eyes to his own sin and nakedness (or shame, condemnation and guilt) and cause man to be afraid of the presence of God (see Genesis 3:7-10). It was a sin that was going to rather cause man’s way to be like darkness (see Proverbs 4:19); it was going to cause man’s eyes to be blinded, so that though seeing, he may not see (see Ezekiel 12:2; Isaiah 44:18; Matthew 13:13; John 9:39-41). It was a sin that was going to blind the minds of men, who do not believe God, lest the light of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God should shine on them. (see 2 Corinthians 4:4). Today, Satan is pointing men to all kinds of vain religions that he claims will open their eyes and give them light, but the Bible says that Jesus alone gives light and opens the eyes of the blind, because He is the Light of the world, and anyone who follows Him shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life (see Luke 4:18; with John 9:39, John 8:12).
Beloved, it is unfortunate that Adam and Eve fell for the lies of Satan. Many people often ask the question, “Where was Adam when Eve was being deceived? Maybe he could’ve stopped it; but where in the world did Adam go?” I’ve even heard many renowned preachers ask this question. But the Bible answers this question plainly. Adam didn’t go anywhere. Adam was with Eve the whole time Satan was talking to Eve. And so the Bible says that “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 KJV). The NLT translation makes it even clearer: “The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to HER HUSBAND, WHO WAS WITH HER, and he ate it, too.” (Genesis 3:6 NLT). And so when God came into the garden of Eden, He addressed all three of them (Adam, Eve, and Satan the serpent), because they were all still together (see Genesis 3:8-15). Thus, the Bible says that Eve being deceived, fell into transgression (see Genesis 3:13; 1 Timothy 2:14; 2 Corinthians 11:3), but Adam was not deceived. (see 1 Timothy 2:14). Whereas Eve only obeyed Satan because she was deceived to do so, Adam made a conscious choice to obey Satan over God. Hence both Adam and Eve sinned, and they both surely died. The Bible says that “through one man SIN entered the world, and DEATH through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” (see Romans 5:12 NKJV). Also, “through one man’s offense JUDGMENT came to all men, resulting in CONDEMNATION” (see Romans 5:18 NKJV). This is why we preach Jesus Christ, persuading all men to believe in Jesus Christ and receive the GIFT of eternal life (see John 3:16; Romans 6:23). The Bible says, “And the GIFT is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in CONDEMNATION, but the FREE GIFT which came from many offenses resulted in JUSTIFICATION. For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the GIFT of righteousness will reign in life THROUGH the One, JESUS CHRIST.) Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:16-19 NKJV). This one Man whose obedience, whose righteous act has made and will make many righteous is Jesus Christ. For God made Jesus “who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (II Corinthians 5:21 NKJV).
In the next post, we will discuss further Satan’s temptation of man in the garden of Eden that caused man to sin, and we will point out and explain the three major areas where Satan tempts man, because Satan has not changed, he is very predictable, he still operates in the same manner. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 2:11 that, as believers, we are not ignorant of Satan’s devices (or schemes). May you never give place to Satan. Remain blessed. #UnveilingMysteries #SpiritLife #shareTheWord #FollowThisBlog
