The inspiration for this post (and “Why Is A Man Saved?” to follow) comes from the Prophet Ken Peters, who gave these prophetic questions from the Lord Jesus in January 2019.
The story of the Fall of humanity in paradise described in Genesis 3 is one of the most widely known stories in human history. We often reference it when trying to explain to others how and why the world we live in has all the suffering, pain, death, evil, and shame in it. But unraveling the story and gaining an understanding of the craftiness of the Devil/Satan, aka the serpent (Genesis 3:1, Revelation 20:2), and how he would distort the character and words of God, is a bit more complex.
The command the Lord gave Adam was, “And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.'” (Genesis 2:16-17, NIV)
The serpent’s deviousness comes in chapter 3 verse 1, when it twists God’s command and makes it a question. Compare the command: “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden…” to the question: “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
The woman does remember God’s commands in verses 2 and 3, but the serpent first lies in verse 4, and then “assault[s]… God’s generosity and His integrity”, as Sinclair B. Ferguson writes in “The Whole Christ” (page 68). The serpent was then saying God was “restrictive” (also page 68), implying that “being like God, knowing good and evil” was a good thing for her.
This deception also created a kind of tunnel vision where she focused on the fruit of the tree instead of God’s commands and the rest of the trees in the garden. She forgot she didn’t need to be like God, only with God. Jesus demonstrated this during His Earthly life because He was Emmanuel (“God with [man]”) and “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,…”.
Another critical point I believe can be missed is that God’s Word means what it says. We cannot interpret it to fit our own understanding or desires, and we certainly cannot dismiss it as if it’ll never happen. God will do what He says, including save those who believe He came to die for all of their sins, and rose again from the grave to bring them back into life with Him. I hope you’ll believe that truth and come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Mind@Work 