The serpent is crafty and its craftiness is the primary way the devil deceives Man.
Interestingly, God gave Man dominion over the serpent, so Adam and Eve should have enjoyed the ability to discern the lies of the serpent and rebuke it so that it would be forced to flee in terror. The power God gave Man enabled him to judge the serpent. In this light, we, as sons of God, should have no fear of the devil and his demons. However, you must have a healthy fear of God so that you don’t carelessly/accidentally stray and disobey God; consequently letting the devil have a foothold in your own life and the lives He gives you to care for and love. Your enemy looks ceaselessly to find a foothold to accuse and destroy your well being in God. Let’s look closer at the lies the serpent spoke to Eve and compare them with the ones he offered to Jesus:
First, the enemy twisted God’s command by luring Eve to deny the goodness of God concerning provision:
Provision is what we all need in life. The first obvious things we need are food and shelter. But to say this is all would be like comparing Man to our cars. If we put our car in the garage, and give it gas and oil, it will be in great shape. Man needs more, as we were built relationally. We also need the love and acceptance of knowing we belong and are taken care of – both physically and emotionally. Deep in our core, we need to know that we are in the family of God and that He will take care of our every need. We can relax and depend on Him.
Adam and Eve were enjoying this abundance in the Garden of Eden when they fell. Jesus, on the other hand, had to give up all provision and comfort of this world when He was forbidden by God to eat or drink for 40 days in order to suffer to regain this lost abundance for all.
This post is _Part 3_ in a series about The Fall. To continue with this series, click on Part 4. To use this as a growth tool to better understand your own calling, you might start by reading the explanation of this series and then read Pt 1 and Pt 2.
Photo credit: jciv