“Now the serpent was craftier than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman: ‘Did God really say you must not eat from any trees in the garden? The woman said to the serpent: We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden, but God did say, ‘you must not eat fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die… You will not surely die, the serpent said to the woman: For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realised that they were naked; so, they sewed fig leaves together and made covering for themselves.” (Genesis 3:1-7.) It such a short story compared to the rest of the Bible and yet it is the most dramatic one, the fruit of their actions following this temptation, affects us all daily throughout our lives on earth.

In these ideal surroundings and peaceful existence, adorned with beauty and perfection, God with Adam and Eve continued their daily encounter. But bye and bye things changed, for during all that time we discover that the devil waited patiently for the right moment to strike and poison forever this first human family in the most destructive way, they were given a mortal blow. The effect of the fall of Adam is still felt by all of us and is the reason for all the human sufferings; since that dramatic intrusion into the life of man, Satan still remains the greatest enemy of humanity. This is not the time to explain how Satan became the evil destroyer of man’s communion with His Creator, it will suffice to say that pride was the reason of his fall, for he desired to rise above God and usurp the worship due to Jehovah alone and sit upon his throne. Satan is a very real, cruel, wicked being who having bewitched, by his lies, most of humanity will eventually take it with him into hell! Created by God he was originally a mighty angel in par with Michael and Gabriel, sin with its destructive power was unknown in God’s infinite creation until he rebelled against the Almighty and was cast into the abyss of utter darkness that remains his dwelling. Darkness is the natural effect of the total absence of God, the Bible says: “God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5.)

The Bible does not ignore the existence of Satan, but declares openly the devious ways he used to beguile celestial beings and an unknown number of angels fell with him. Now, they constitute his army ever ready to destroy. His fall is mentioned in the Bible and says: “How you have fallen from heaven O morning star, son of the dawn! (In the King James Version it is written: How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning.) You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations. You said in your heart: I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of the assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain, I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself as the Most High. But you are brought down to the grave, to the depth of the pit.” (Isaiah 14:12.) It is obvious that he coveted event the throne of God, but as the word of God says, pride always comes before the fall. This is how sin entered the perfect creation of God, and ever since God planned a way of getting rid of it forever.

The Bible gives him various names beside Lucifer, such as, the dragon (Revelation 12: 7-9.) The angel of the Abyss, Abaddon (in Hebrew) and Apollyon (in Greek) meaning the destroyer. He is called a murderer, a liar. Jesus says: “He is a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies”.(John 8: 44.) He can even change his appearance and appear as an angel of light. (2 Corinthians 11:14-15) 

I have said before, if anyone wants to progress in the discovery of the gift of God through faith in Christ, and receive eternal life, one has to accept that the Bible is the truth. God has chosen it to reveal Himself and His glorious plan of salvation which in Jesus Christ is the manifestation of His love! Without that faith it is impossible to progress in the discovery of all the blessings this tremendous gift of God provides. Our human nature being what it is, seems to find it easier to believe in a lie then believing the truth. Man’s fallen nature makes it impossible for him to believe, therefore from the beginning true faith is given by God, it is with this kind of faith that man discovers the way to life everlasting! 

Satan entered the Garden of Eden with one aim in mind, and waited patiently for the opportune time to strike. The Bible says: “Now the serpent was craftier than any animals the Lord God had made.”(Genesis 2:1.) The nature of the serpent was conducive to the devil and he used it to approach Eve and speak to her. The devil cannot appear as he would want to; he must have a creature that he can use for his purposes. He approached Eve, the weakest of the two; he sought the time when she would be on her own, unprotected by her husband. The first words he uttered, which are recorded in the Bible, are still the ones he uses as his best weapon, he never spared anyone and he will not spare you. He hates God, he hates the Word of God and all those that believe, and his activities always centre on the destruction of all that is good.

Satan’s first question was to sow doubt in Eve’s mind, or an alternative, to what God really said, hence “He said to the woman: Did God really say, you must not eat from any tree in the garden?” This question was misleading because he knew exactly what God said to them, but his purpose was to trip her up and put his own interpretation. To this day it is his best weapon, he knows what God really says, but he always tries to sow doubt in the mind of man and then puts his own interpretation. Eve replied by what she knew from Adam, who received this commandment from God before Eve was created: “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man: ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the Garden; but you must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”(Genesis 2:15-17) 

Eve was unaware where the devil was leading her and said: “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say: You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the Garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.” (Genesis 3:2.) That indeed was plain and simple talk, what God says can be understood by a child. Everything God says is simple, but doubts are sown by satanic suggestions and men fall into it his trap. The Bible declares: “For it is by grace you are saved, through faith ~ and this is not from yourselves, it is a gift from God.” (Ephesians 2:8.) It is so simple; there is nothing in those words that demand explanation, but sin in man, Satan’s venom, causes him to question, everything God says. I chose this verse because it is absolutely criminal to discover how many interpretations are floating around, so much so that even some Christians cannot enjoy the simplicity of this truth, and struggle throughout their lifetime to earn their salvation and die without ever being sure that they were saved! This is the devil’s work; he has an interpretation to every simple truth.

I have found, during my life in the ministry of the Gospel, that the devil uses different ways to rule the lives of men, but He can do it only because of sin that rules them, the nature of sin is rebellion and enmity against God. Nowadays the Bible is an open book, translated in thousands of languages and dialects; it is available to almost every human being on the earth. It is the fruit left to the world by men that He raised up and send to preach the Gospel of free grace. The words they preached were then written down by various contributors, to bring to us the New Testament.  

God wants people to know why they are sinners and what he offers to set them free! To find it one needs to have a Bible and read it. Hence Satan will try every means at his disposal to keep people away from having a Bible. It is in the utter ignorance of what God says in the Bible, that his work is easiest, so if men do not possess the Word of God, the devil has nothing to do. Millions of supposed Christians do not read their Bible, some do it very rarely. Even certain branches of a supposed Christian Church, influence their adherents not to read the Bible, saying that it is too complicated to understand, so leave it to your priests, they alone have been given the wisdom to understand it. They are made to believe that they have this special gift from God which is not given to the common people! Such conduct is inexcusable and devious, because they have invented their own theories, and by them rob men of the truth that alone can set them free!

Ignorance is the ploy the devil uses most. But if he cannot arrive at it, and finds people that have an easy access to the Holy Scriptures, he will do all he can to give them his own interpretation. Adam did not have a Bible when he was in the Garden of Eden, but He had a command given by God, which was enough to remain obedient  to God’s will, who said: “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat it you will surely die.” (Genesis2:17.) God did it because man’s safety was and is in His Sovereignty, which was to be preserved by man’s obedience to Him. Submission to God and obedience to Him is the way to life and blessings.

What a ghastly trap the devil laid to this innocent woman knowing fully well what would be the outcome, but to him it did not matter because he came in the garden with the purpose to destroy and take these two human beings under his control and this is what happened. Centuries later our Lord used an illustration that fits very well this very cruel being that is the devil, because that is who he is mentioning in the gospel of John 10: 10. “The thief comes only to steal to kill and to destroy.” That is why he entered this garden where there were only two sheep, but as a wolf he entered in to take what was not his, to kill, in the spirit, our first father and mother and marred forever the whole of humanity. Jesus says he is a thief, a killer a murderer, Satan is a destroyer. The whole world, even today, is still under the yoke of servitude to this violent being that holds them in the chains of slavery to him. If you want to know the violent power, and his appetite to destroy righteous people read the first two chapters of the book of Job, which is the Bible, precedes the Psalms. 

It is astonishing that people will still believe him rather than God, most of which he even convinced that God does not exist, yet he continues to weave their misery and the loss of their happiness. “You will not surely die”, the serpent said to the woman. Surely you cannot believe that God would do that; do you? No! No! God is loving and good; he would not do anything of the sort, it is wrong to think like that of a loving God. Men have come out from the twentieth century during which the devilish attacks on the Church, the truth of God’s Word and Jesus Christ Himself, were so maligned that we are now left with a generation of unbelievers that have made of their lives a Russian roulette.

To Adam and Eve, Satan could not say that God did not exist because they knew him and met with him daily, but the only thing he could do is to change God’s words into a lie. But God always does what he says, and whatever you may know about him, and whatever you may think about him; you may even not believe in Him, but he always does what He has said as recorded in the Holy Scriptures. His words stand true forever, it is God who says: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” (Matthew 24:35.) So, with these words he struck Eve in the heart and said: “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 

It is amazing that the very thing that caused his downfall~ wanting to be like God ~ was what he said to eve: and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Through his lies he convinced Eve that God was devious and that He did tell them all the truth, making God a liar, this is exactly what he is telling even to this generation, living in this sophisticated world, in which, by so called learned men, Satan has robed the people of the little faith they had, and men are convinced that he will not do what he says. ~ God is so loving that He cannot and will not do what He says in the Bible ~ When Eve heard what he said to her, “she looked and saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye.”  

We are prone to think that Eve took of the fruit immediately, because the whole drama is recorded so quickly, but experience teaches that temptation can take a long time before it is put into action, and each time Eve looked at the fruit of that tree, it attracted her more and more and finely she succumbed to it and ate of the fruit. I can only submit how it could have happened, but sadly it did. It is always wrong not to dispel and cast temptations away, because they have a tendency to stay with you until they are satisfied. But Eve ate of the fruit and found it strange that, at first, nothing happened; and she really enjoyed it. “It is true” she said, “this fruit is nice and good”, but the worst was round the corner. To be tempted is not a sin, a sin happens when one actually does it and disobeys God, who said “The days you eat of it you will surely die.” I wonder what Eve thought what ‘death was?’ What did God really mean when he said: ‘you will die’. How does one die?  Adam and Eve did not know it, but today all men know what death is, and yet, men still dispute everything the Bible says, but they cannot eradicate the fact that all men die, so it is still true: “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the Law, but thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! (1 Corinthians 15:56-57.) So, there is a light in the dark tunnel of Satan’s domain, for by faith in Christ man can escape the sting of the devil, and find that God cannot lie! 

Adam and Even only knew that they would be punished, but nothing happened to Eve and it appeared that God did not mean what He said and that his warning was just a ploy, just as Satan said. She may have eaten more often than once, we do not know, but the Bible does say that: “When she saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, she took some and ate it.” There was in the temptation an element of pride, ‘You will be like God,’ there was also an element of covetousness, ‘When she saw! It may mean that after eating it few times, she realised that it was so good to eat, that Adam should also taste of it? Especially that nothing happened to her! We could continue to surmise on and on how and when it did happen, so it is enough to say that she ate of the fruit to discover how good it was without harming her. So, let us who are Christian always beware of what looks ‘Attractive and tasty to eat, and attractive to the eye’. I am writing in the spiritual sense! Physically, it cannot harm too much, but spiritually, it can be deadly. Covetousness, one said, is the easiest of sins!

So, Adam was not directly tempted by the devil, he didn’t even bother with him, because he knew that Eve would do his work perfectly. The Bible says clearly that “He said to the woman”. If Adam had been there it would be written that “The devil said to them”. It would be grammatically right. Therefore, Adam was induced by Eve to eat of the fruit. So there came the time when Eve confessed to Adam what actually happened and that she ate of the forbidden fruit. “Look Adam, I looked at it and it was too good to leave it’. I ate if it as said the serpent; look at me: ‘nothing happened’. Adam should have gone mad and not listen to her any more, but instead, to cut short this awful story, ‘He ate of it also’. 

O I know that there are so many crazy ideas floating around as to what this forbidden fruit really was. I will not even bother to mention them, because God could have forbidden them many other things, because it is not eating of it that mattered, what muttered is obedience to God! To the commandment was attached a far deeper meaning. The commandment was meant first of all to remind them continually of God’s sovereignty over them, and that their relationship could only continue in their trust in Him. If Adam had not sinned there would have been a continuous development of their relationship, and a deeper understanding of his will, leading them into worship 

and the exaltation of his name! But really speaking it had to happen, God was not surprise when it did, the rest I leave for you to decide; there was no plan B, God always had but one plan, from eternity! 

Obedience is necessary on earth as it is in heaven, and on the obedience of these two depended the future of man’s relationship with God. Even in his perfect state man had to learn that he owed respect to his maker and remain submissive to His will. It is obvious that God taught Adam the art of husbandry. As we know it was his responsibility to till the ground, sow seeds and all that constituted the care of the garden which God created for him and his descendants. I believe that Adam learned an awful lot from God, in a way, his spell in the Garden of Eden, was, in many ways, a school. Everything that is in modern man, as in all others before him, was in Adam, sin only used man’s cleverness for evil intent! But, when they ate of the fruit everything changed dramatically, because Eve convinced him that there was nothing to fear and that eating of the fruit was perfectly alright, Adam yielded and they died! The God conscious part of their being died, the spirit and with it left the garment of light that covered their nakedness. Immediately, fear filled their heart, the nature of sin took over and caused them to hide away from God and the loving relationship they enjoyed with Him ceased forever. That is death!

The moment of impact was terrifying. As Adam partook of the fruit his whole constitution and that of Eve changed profoundly because then only: “the eyes of both of them were opened. As long as Adam had not eaten of the fruit her sin was covered, his faithfulness to God was to her a covering, and had Adam refused to eat the forbidden fruit their communion with God would have never changed, and Satan’s evil plan would have never materialised. This is why sin, in the Bible, is attributed to Adam and not Eve. It says: ‘Therefore, sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin and in this way death came to all men, because all have sinned. Death reigned from the time of Adam; even over those who did not sin by breaking the command as did Adam.” (Romans 5:12-20.)

Can we understand how destructive is one sin? I don’t think so. At that moment the holy vesture God gave them in their state of perfection, suddenly, disappeared and they felt the result of sin invading them mercilessly, bringing a deep inward change, their holy mantle was taken off and: ”they realised that they were naked.” This nakedness is more then having no clothes on, it was an utter emptying of the inner presence of God, their spirit died, one part of their whole being was gone forever We cannot understand the impact sin wrought in their being. To us, born in sin, the spiritual character of a sinner without God is natural, but Adam and Eve knew God in a real way before the fall, they never knew fear, and God was daily a dear visitor. Suddenly they lost everything and died, death is separation from God, for He is the source of life. From them the venom of sin has passed and is working in every sinner, for all men have sinned. (Romans 5:12-14 ~ 17)

In their panic they needed covering up. Guilt is a terrible feeling; it haunts the culprit through all his lifetime. Adam and Eve felt as if the eyes of the whole of creation was turned toward them, this feeling is still with us, no human being, unless one is mad or depraved, likes to parade naked in the eyes of the world, it is natural to our nature to cover up and dress our naked body, so much so that fashion, especially for women, is a huge business; billions are spent on clothes. Nudists have their camps were they freely parade themselves, they look stupid and ugly, but it is still forbidden by the law of the land, to parade in public without covering, for it is natural to cover oneself and this was the first thing our first parents felt they had to do! 

Adam and Eve used what they could find to cover themselves and fig leaves were the most instant remedy, but completely inadequate. The very fact that we want to cover up, speak of the fact that we have inherited this feeling of guilt, something in all of us makes us uneasy when we think about God, and find it difficult to search after him, or even think about Him. Spiritually, if that is the right word? Man needs to justify himself, and by his own efforts he is prone to cover up his sin, but all the covering he can find does not alter his real character, man is naked marred by the fall, man is born naked and naked he returns into the ground. Even if he finds things that are a lot better than fig leaves, even the best robe or the costliest apparel, meaning the best works that we can glory off, even if rich men would give half or the whole of their fortunes, it would still be as inadequate as fig leaves, the thought is the same, nothing we do can avail pardon for our sins and change our human condition, we must face reality and come to God in His way, through repentance! He alone found an adequate covering for their sin, but it took the sacrifice of two animals, blood had to be shed, thus foretelling what Christ would be for all sinners that come to God through Him; ‘For without shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.’ (Hebrews 9:22) Christ’s righteousness alone is the perfect covering, which enables, all born again Christian, to stand justified, in the presence of God. 

Every man, during his life time, reaches the point where he comes to a personal decision, either to believe in the existence of God, or not to believe it. This decision is reached because he sees God all around him and in everything that he has made. There is a message about him in everything that has been created even his wisdom and power, whether it is something small that he sees or something big like the sun in the sky, or stars at night in this immense firmament. Man is always captivated with the heavens, and searches constantly to reach further and further into the unknown. With modern knowledge and craft, he can now reach the furthest planet of our galaxy. It is David, the shepherd king, hat puts it so nicely when he says: “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, (that you have created!) what is man that you are mindful of him, or the son of man that you take care of him?” (Psalm 8:3-4.) David has not seen of the heavens what modern man has seen, but what he saw was enough for Him to wonder at God’s power and love, yet everything that man can know today still leaves him blind to reality and he will not even think to give glory nor attribute to God the worship that his Creator deserves. The first cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, when he got into space, said: ‘I cannot see God’, or something in that tone.’ He only expressed what so many do! Shame on them! 

God has stamped his whole creation, as far as eyes can see, and yet most of humanity today is oblivious to his existence, and if men do believe in the existence of God, it is far from being the God of the Bible because, I have come to realise that men make themselves an idea of God, a god that suits them, that god they worship because they live and behave with that idea, this god that rules their action and thinking! And they remain unwilling to turn to the real God, the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, whose life is in them until He turns it off. Therefore, every man is without excuse and this is why the Bible is true when it says: 

“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what they know about God is plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave him thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.” (Romans 1:18-21.) 

I remember when God was speaking to me. The things that were being preached in my church were easy to believe, I grew up in them and I must say that they were pleasing to my infant heart. I could easily associate everything I saw in nature, in the sky and in various other ways to this God, and Jesus-Christ His Son who were constantly mentioned in our pastor’ preaching. I was privileged to grow up amongst people, in our Evangelical-Pentecostal community, that believed and heard the word of God. Simple people, coal-miners, but sincere people, faithful believers! We read the Bible at home, and with mother we prayed every evening! My first Bible was an illustrated New Testament, meaning that stories were depicted such as ‘the lost sheep’, ‘Christ healing the blind man’ ~ so many other stories ~ and finally, at the end of every Gospel,  the three crosses standing on Golgotha hill, where Jesus gave His life. 

At the age of eight, I had a real experience’; I felt, for the first time that God was saying in the secret of my little heart ‘I love you’. I have passed my eighty-fifth birthday, yet that feeling is still alive today, it is precious and I cherish it! Yet with all this spiritual background there came a time of uncertainty, I was not so sure anymore. The things of the world were suddenly attractive and two years went by when going to church lost its meaning, but Jesus never forsook me, and at the age of sixteen plus, He met me in a cold dark evening of February, at around eleven o’clock, as I was returning home on my bike from our local cinema. Jesus spoke few words to my spirit, ‘Now is the time’ and at that moment He suddenly became very real to me!

How can I explain what actually happened? It’s not possible, but this encounter was very moving, I gave my heart to Him there and then. I knew exactly what to do, because I heard it enough times in my Church, I got off my bike and I asked Jesus to forgive me and to come into my heart. At one point, I realised that my conversion happened near the home of a lady from the church, which later became like a second mother. As I was nearing it there was a light in the front room, although late I knew she would only be too glad to help me! Her husband, a staunch communist, was in one corner listening to his program from Moscow. I told her what happened to me few minutes before, and we prayed together and I felt good, it was like a burden had left me, because, for few weeks I was under conviction, and that evening I was set free! It was a special feeling, very real, which I carry to this day. Since that day, the faith I received, and the love of Christ my Lord, have grown to and brought me to this very day. Writing about it refreshes strongly this real experience, I am so blest for Jesus is the most real friend I have! Right through my life, Christ became more and more real and His love grew deeper, now I am sure that, because of what Jesus Christ has done on the CROSS, for me and for all that will believe in Him, that I shall enter heaven to be with Him forever! 

Today, I am very conscious that God in Christ gives eternal life only to those that accept Him as their Saviour, but all that He gives is by His grace, without any merit from those that do. True Christians are not people that have dropped down from heaven. Every man that believes was once a sinner as every other man is. Some Christians were down right evil sinners, it is the power of God in Christ, that through the preaching of the Gospel, the Holy Spirit has converted every one of them into a child of God. As Paul the apostle says, a man that called himself the ‘chief of sinners': “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone that believes; first for the Jew, then for the Gentile also.” (Romans 1:16.)  In every case, a man becomes a Christian, not because he sought after Jesus Christ, but every Christian is a Christian because Jesus Christ sought after him, the good Shepherd  has found His sheep for which He gave His life. More will be said about this wonderful miracle later on in later chapters. 

The fall of Adam is still mastering every man in the world. Sin is the great destroyer of men and they cannot shake off its power, sin keeps them in bondage to Satan, and because of it all men await the second death, which is an eternal separation from God; as someone said: ‘Hell is where God is not!’. What the Bible says about the fall of Adam, is the most sensible truth concerning the condition of the world today. Everything that is wrong in man is the fruit of that fall. Man was created perfect, sinless and morally pure, sin changed him into a brutal and violent creature. What men believed for centuries, has almost disappeared, ungodliness is rampant, but nothing will stop Jesus to look for His lost sheep, when He has found the last one, He will come to take them where He is! Faith in God, especially in the Western world, has been challenged, especially in the twentieth century, so much so that most people hardly believe in God, let alone In Christ His Son, whom so few mention His name and who he is. Yet, Martin Luther said: ‘I know no other God, safe Jesus Christ! All the negative stuff man may say about Jesus, it has not changed anything concerning Him, but it has opened the doors to the evil one and men are his devoted disciples. He is flooding many societies with wave after waves of sinful practices. So much so that men do not want to know what sin is, its realities; its destructive powers are seen everywhere, but as the Bible says, it is SIN THAT IS driving mankind to its destruction. So certain questions have to be answered. What is Sin? How does it control man? Is there a way out of its control? If there is what can men do to be freed from it? Read it with us in our next chapter.