The serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For 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.” – Genesis 3:4
Here, in this text, we have a conversation going on between a woman and a serpent. The serpent is known to be cunning, sly, deceiving and mischievous. (Genesis 3:1) The woman is known to be a helper. (Genesis 2:18) She is created by God from dust and from the rib of a man name Adam. (Genesis 2:21)
Something unique is unfolding in the beginning of chapter 3. Verse 1 says, the serpent says to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” Notice that this is the first thing the serpent says to the woman. What this tells me is the serpent already knew what God had told the woman, (who will later be named Eve) and her husband Adam; Which was not to eat of the tree of life. The serpent was plotting on Eve and her nonchalant husband Adam. (I’ll talk more about him later)
Lesson 1: The enemy knows what God has spoken
I am sure in your life today, God has spoken and gave specific order(s) for you to follow. God may have called you to ministry, called you to serve locally in your community, called you away from certain people, called you to break it off with someone, called you to a job, called you to do something you didn’t want to do, etc. You get what I am trying to say. God has spoken specific order to your life that the enemy is aware of and guess what? Just like the serpent in Genesis 3, he is plotting to distract you from the order God has given you to follow. (Don’t let this scare you!)
Lesson 2: The Lie
Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.” (Genesis 3:4) Eve knew the order she received from God. She and her husband was not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God told Adam who later communicated to Eve if they eat of the this tree they will surely die. (Genesis 2:17) That was God’s order. After the serpent spoke the words, “You will not surely die” to Eve, she saw that the tree was good for food. That it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of it’s fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:6)
You may be thinking… Where was Adam when this conversation was taking place? He was right next to Eve! Adam the first man ever created, role was to tend and keep the garden. (Genesis 2:15) In other words he was to cultivate (work) and protect the garden and his wife. Adam knew the orders from God, he knew his role, he knew his calling so why did he stand by and do nothing when the serpent was spitting game to his wife?
Think about the calling on your life. Think about the command God has given you to live out. If you are not walking out your calling, are you allowing someone in your life to deceive you? Are you listening and believing a negative voice in your life? Is there something or someone in your life that looks pleasing? Are your desires all about you and your success? I’m sure you know the answer why you are not totally surrendered to God.
Lesson 3: Respond to His Call and Obey
On the big scheme of things God has called you to live a life for Him. Adam and Eve knew their calling but they allowed a distraction to come in their midst and lead them to disobeying God’s call. Before you go on and say, “If I were Adam and Eve, I would have never ate the fruit from the tree of life,” first examine your own life. If you are like me, you do things God does not approve of, say things that are not of God and think thoughts that are ungodly. It’s in our nature to fall short, to be tricked, to be deceived. It’s easy to cast blame on why we are the way we are but we need to take ownership of our own faults and realize we are like Adam and Eve. We need forgiveness, we need mercy and we need God’s grace to live out the call on our lives.
You are in His hands!:
God wants you and I to live a life for Him. It is clear, since the beginning of time we were created to worship God. We were created to live for Him. We were created to live out His glory and Kingdom on earth. Each of us has a calling and an order to live out. God has designed us all to have an unique purpose while here on this earth. Adam and Eve, were to cultivate the land, be fruitful and multiply. Even though they fell short, God still forgave them and blessed them.
Don’t eat the fruit. Don’t listen to the lie. Reject and rebuke the serpent’s voice and keep your ears towards the voice of our God. His voice will never steer you wrong. You can overcome the battle you are in.
Trust, believe and have faith that the God of the Universe loves you and has forgiven you of your faults.
Josh Samarco 