The Great Manipulator
“Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” Genesis 3:1
I’ll tell you what–that old devil is mighty sneaky. He likes to prey upon a person’s weakness. Eve wasn’t perfect, but she was created innocent. God had given Adam permission to eat of every tree except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Eating from that tree carried a sentence of death (Genesis 2:16-17). God was very clear about that. There was no “wiggle” room. Eat it, you die. Of course, God was referring to spiritual death. You may not agree, but spiritual death is worse by far than physical death. A person who is spiritually alive, that is, has received Christ as Lord and Savior, doesn’t need to fear physical death for it is only a transition period from this life into eternity with the Lord in heaven. However, one who is spiritually dead, that is, has rejected Christ, his or her only means of salvation, will face an eternity of torment.
Satan decided the best way to get this couple to disobey God, which is Satan’s ploy against everyone who believes in God and in His word, was to make them believe that God was holding out on them. He even phrased his question to cause doubt in Eve’s mind. The implication was, “did God really say…?” Eve’s first mistake was to answer him. (Do not get into a conversation with Satan because it is an exercise in futility.) Adam had cautioned Eve about the command of God not to eat of this tree and he apparently also embellished the command by forbidding her to touch the tree. Actually that was a good idea. Don’t partake of sin; don’t even get near it. Nevertheless, Satan appealed to Eve’s ego, and we all have one of those.
Satan told Eve that if she ate that fruit, then she could be her own god. (New Age Religion is nothing new; it has been around since the garden of Eden.) When Adam saw that Eve didn’t physically drop dead immediately, he ate also. Their eyes were opened alright. They saw the evil in their own hearts, became alienated from their Creator, and lost their beautiful surroundings. However, God already had a plan for their redemption.
Satan doesn’t really bother unbelievers all that much. He has them in his grip. However, if unbelievers should begin to question their sinful condition and look for relief from the guilt of sin, Satan steps in and attempts to comfort them by assuring them that their “good” works are enough to keep them from hell, all the while making accomodations for them to spend eternity with him in hell. Satan is the great deceiver. Even though he cannot steal the heart of a truly born again believer, he can try to cause him or her to be slack on his or her commitment to Christ and thereby hurt the cause of Christ. The devil is a great narcissist–he cares for no one except himself, while God has love and concern for every human being, “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (II Peter 3:9b). The bottom line is: Don’t fall for the devil’s lies–it will cost you big time.