'Appreciating God's Love'
A) Satan Twisted God's Words
Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?"
The devil always uses God's words to deceive Christians by twisting and distorting them or taking them out of context. (Please read the devil's temptation of Jesus in Mat 4)
God allowed Adam to eat from all the trees in the garden of Eden except the fruit of the tree of knowledge but the devil distorted it by suggesting that God forbid them to eat all the fruit in the garden. The devil indirectly indicated that God was not understanding nor loving by forbidding Adam and Eve to enjoy all those delicious fruits in the garden.
Just like an angel of light, the devil appeared to be concerned of the welfare of Adam and Eve. But his evil motive was to deceive them to sin by disobedience or rebelion, so that they no longer could enjoy the blissful fellowship with God anymore. The devil's ministers are now preaching heresies by distorting or rejecting Jesus' word.
2 Cor 11:14-15 And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.
B) Devil Distorted God's Word
Gen 3:4-5 Then 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."
When God told Adam and Eve that if they ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge they would die - meaning that because they had sinned for their disobedience, they would be cast out from the garden of Eden. Without the fruit of the tree of life, which gives eternal life, they would die.
But the devil twisted God's word and told Eve that they won't die because
1. God would not blame them for He loved them
2. He enjoyed their fellowship with Him
3. God promised that they would multiply to fill the earth.
Eve Fell into Satan's Snare
Gen 3:6 So when the woman 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 its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
When Eve saw that the fruit was pleasant and edible, and that it could make them wise, which she assumed God would be delighted at their wisdom, so they ate the forbidden fruit.
God demands our obedience and not our sacrifices apart from His words. He abhors rebellion and stubbornness. Repent you rebellious, who distort and reject His words.
I Sam 15:22-23 So Samuel said: "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For *rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft*, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king."
C) Carnal Image of Man
Gen 5:3 And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.
After the fall of Eve, mankind, the descendants of Adam and Eve were no longer the image of God but that of the fallen Adam, which causes men to be selfish and filled with wickedness.
Genesis 6:5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
I John 2:15-16 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 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.
This fallen nature of man has inherited these weaknesses, where the devil always attacks by using temptations.
1. Lust of the flesh - carnality
2 Lust of the eye - covetousness
3. Pride of life
We thank God for His divine love that in Christ Jesus, fallen man can be born again by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and then transformed into God's image again. With His divine love and truth in us, we can crucify our carnal nature and overcome the devil's temptations and deceptions.
