The Fall of Man

Adam and Eve lived happily in the garden for a period of time. No one knows exactly how long they lived in the garden. However, most of us have heard about the fateful day when Eve was deceived. Let's look at the fateful events of that day. 

Eve apparently had gone near the Tree of Knowledge of Good and evil. The devil saw his opportunity to pervert the people that God had so lovingly created. 

 
  Genesis 3:1-7 Now the serpent was more subtil 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?  And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

The first thing that I notice is that Eve did not really know or comprehend the words of God. She added to what he had said by saying "neither shall ye touch it". She also weakened what he said by saying, "lest ye die." Lest means that it is possible, but not a certainty. When you turn to the New Testament, we see Paul's writing.  1 Timothy 2:13-14 For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. 

Now let's compare what Satan said to what God said. 

Satan's words: Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

God's Words:  And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Satan started with the negative. God started with a positive. Satan likes to point out that you are missing out on something. God shows what you the things that you do have. 

This tactic works well with those who don't really know the word of God for themselves. This is why we are commanded in  2 Timothy 2:15

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Satan also attacked God's motives. He made it seem like God was withholding good from Adam and Eve.  "And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."

Adam messed up by not doing a good job of explaining the Word of God to Eve. She was deceived for lack of knowledge. The sad part is Adam knew that eating of that tree was in disobedience to God's Word. Consider these scriptures:

Romans 5:12-19  Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.  For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

Thankfully, Jesus came to Save us from our sins.