Lies in the Garden

I am fascinated by Adam and Eve.  They are also known as man and woman.  There are so many things that this first couple experienced that reaches through the ages since then to teach us a thing or two about life with God.  This time, in particular, it is the very popular conversation that was had between woman and Satan.

To set the stage, you have woman in the garden.  Man and woman walk around naked, not a care in the world because they have an intimate, fully known and fully accepted, relationship with their creator.  Serpent comes along and tells her that it is a good idea to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  BAD PLAN!!!

Genesis 3:1-5 NKJV

1 Now the serpent was more cunning that any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.  He said to the woman, “Has God indeed said , ‘you shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, we may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die’.” 4Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.  5For 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.”

Now that the stage has been set we see that there’s some bad stuff going down here.  There were some lies told in Satan’s very short conversation with the woman and those are lies that are told to us every single day.

First lie from Satan to Woman: God knows something and He’s hiding it from you.

Does God know things that you do not know.  ABSOLUTELY!  Could He tell you all of these things?  Yes, of course He could.  Let me ask this question, is God a parent?  Yes, we are all His children.  Have you ever seen a parent not tell their child something to protect them?  I have.  I was one of those children.  I plan on doing that as a parent.  Let’s face facts here, children are not mature enough to deal with everything that their parents know. Not to mention the very first humans not being mature enough to handle what God knows about what is about to happen to them as well as the rest of mankind.  Imagine with me for a moment: God tells woman that her husband is going to get so mad at her that he calls her an animal (mother of all living beings), she’s going to suffer SEVERE pain giving birth to two children, and then one of those children is going to kill the other one because he gets mad that God liked his brother’s offering more than his.  She would not have been able to handle it.

Let’s apply that to today.  What does God know that He’s not telling you because it would destroy you?  What does your spiritual mentor/pastor/leadership know that you don’t know and it’s better that way?  The same can be asked about your supervisor at work. I struggled with this question for a long time in all three areas.  This “fruit” is based in pride no matter which way you slice it.  You get to a place where you do not have to know everything and be right all the time, and you will find peace!

Second Lie:  Your eyes will be opened.
There is a spiritual principle to blessing that cannot be avoided.  That principle is obedience.  After man and woman ate the fruit the Bible does say that their eyes were opened.  To say it a better way, their focus was shifted.  God had been the center of their focus their entire existence.  They walked with him in the garden, He spoke and they could clearly hear Him speak.  That was part of their blessing as His children.  No worries at all.  It was HAKUNA MATATA BABY!  Then woman decided to disobey God and then bring her husband into it.  (DO NOT SOLELY BLAME THE WOMAN!!!  The command not to eat from the tree was given directly to man.  If he had been at his post as priest of his home, his house would have been set in order and he wouldn’t have let rebellion take root. QUESTION: how long had rebellion been there before this event?)  When they disobeyed God’s direct order, they stepped outside of His protection.  It wasn’t God’s fault.  He did everything that He could to keep them there.  When they were out from under His protection, their eyes shifted to other things, like the fact that they were naked.  That is a stupid thing to be ashamed of if you ask me.  Which brings me to another point: without God, the littlest things made them freak out and lose their minds.  Aren’t you so happy that we got away from that practice? (Extreme sarcasm implied)  Just ask Peter what happens when you take your eyes off God.

Where have our eyes been shifted off of God and on to other things?  Does it happen when you’re watching TV late at night and you flip over to HBO where they show soft porn after a certain time?  Are your eyes shifted when you’re in the mall and you see that shirt in the window that would match your shoes perfectly?  The problem is that you don’t have any extra money so you decide to take it out of your grocery budget or your kid’s allowance.  Better yet, you remember you have that plastic 16-digit slave driver with your name on it that you can pay for a $40 shirt with.  At the end of it all that shirt is going to wind up costing you about $90 when you pay off the interest.  But, I digress.

Third Lie: You will be like God.
Wait a minute!  Didn’t God say that He created man in His image and likeness?  We are all made in that molding.  Woman was already like Him. Satan was also trying to tell her that there was something missing in her.  Something that God neglected to put in her at her creation.  Then, that fruit would fill that hole that God left when he made her incompletely.  The truth of the matter is that we were made somewhat incomplete.  The only thing that will fill that hole is the One that created us.  That is why it said that God comes and lives in us.  He is filling that hole that He designed to be there so that we would be incomplete without Him.  I’ve tried to live without Him in my life.  When we do that we try to fill it with so many things.  What is your substitute hole filler?  People have tried to use drugs, sex, activities, relationships, even church attendance has been used to fill that hole.  I know people that go to church just to say that they went and have no relationship with Jesus. They are some of the loneliest people that I have ever met.  What fruit are you trying to fill the hole in you that was strictly meant for Jesus to fill?

Fourth Lie:  The only way to know good and evil is to experience both sides.

“You don’t know what you’re missing, man!”  “Don’t knock it till you try it!” “You shouldn’t judge something that you know nothing about.”  I’ve all of these before.  It’s the old peer pressure thing trying to get you to do something against your better judgment.  Putting it another way, “You’re missing out!”  What exactly were Man and Woman missing out on?  Let’s look through some things and see what we come up with.

· Dying

· 40 weeks of pregnancy

· PMS

· Hard Work

· Shame and Guilt

· Having to make their own way.  This one is something that we all struggle with no matter what circumstance we find ourselves in.  You can either accept the life by grace through faith that God gave you for FREE, or you can try and live your life based on your own merit.  Hint: it sucks!  It does not work.



I write all of this so that you will know the lies that the devil has been telling us from the beginning.  It fascinates me that he has been trying to get us with the same lies ever since.  I marvel at the patience of the devil.  Beat his lies one time, he will be back again with the same lies wrapped up in a different package.  THAT is why it is so vitally important for us to stay as close to and as closely focused on Jesus as we can.  He loves us no matter what, but it is our obedience that can bring a curse upon ourselves.

I beg that you heed this warning.  Jesus is the only way to peace and happiness.  If your focus has been shifted to something else, that time outside of His protection is going to ultimately destroy you.  He has set up guidelines as a way to keep us safe, not to look for a way to punish us.  Just like if you tell a child not to touch the stove.  You’re not waiting for them to do it so that you can spank them.  You do not want them to have to face the natural consequences of touching metal that is over 500°.

I bless you today to know that you serve a loving Father that only wants the best for you.  He loved you enough to put flesh on and take a beating that would have killed anyone else.  He wants His children to live life abundantly in blessing and peace.  He also wants to protect you from those that would mean you harm.  He wanted that so bad that He put all these things in a book that you and I can read and learn about His heart for you.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your path.  Proverbs 3:5-6



Grace and Peace be with you ALWAYS!!!