Believe!

Now Satan, because he is spirit, can present in any way that he wishes and, in the case of Eve, he presented as a serpent.  He then used a tool with which man, at that point, was totally unfamiliar; he used deceit. Until Satan approached Eve, no human had yet been deceived by a lie.  She was defenseless.  Her entire experience was based upon holiness and truth, then along comes Satan … and, he is going to lie.  He starts out making what might appear to be small talk, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”  Eve is new at this and she answers sincerely, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.” Satan, being the deceiver that he is, responds, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Here again, it seems that being as great as God has always been on Lucifer’s mind).  At creation, God endowed man with something incredibly unique … He gave us free will … the ability to choose … to decide for ourselves.  In this instance, Eve exercises her free will and eats the forbidden fruit, she also gives it to Adam.   

At that moment, Satan’s job is done, he has ended a period of perfection, when man and his Creator existed as guilt free, joyous, companions.  While Satan fades from this story, his work goes on, even in the moment that you read this. What happens next impacts every one of us.  You, my reader, and me; your entire family and mine.

As was His habit, God again visited Adam and Eve in the garden, but he found them hidden.  They were aware of their disobedience and had discovered their nakedness (heretofore, they had been naked without noticing, therefore without shame).  Let me synopsize; they disobeyed (they sinned), they hid, God knew, and Adam confessed.

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