The Great Fall (Part 1)

Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle 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?
Gen 3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
Gen 3:3 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.
Gen 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Gen 3:5 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.
Gen 3:6 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.

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Now there are three things that took place before Eve even took the fruit from the tree. The Bible tells us that first she saw that the tree was good for food and second that it was pleasant to the eyes and thirdly a tree to be desired to make one wise. Eve was then tempted in three particular areas and that is what caused her to reach out and take hold of the forbidden fruit. This became the very first act of disobedience ever recorded and it was one that brought down the curse upon man. The whole world was brought under the curse of sin when the tempter was able to beguile Eve and she ate of the tree. When Eve ate of the tree her life was cut short. God intended for man to live on the earth forever and to be his glory and image in the earth and yet through disobedience God cursed man with death. There are many who would say that the devil always throws new tricks at the church, but John took pen in hand one day and began to write unto the church and said;

1Jn 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
1Jn 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.

Do you notice that these are the very things that Eve faced in the garden before she ate of the tree? The lust of the flesh being the notion Eve had that the tree was good for food. The lust of the eyes, being that she saw that it was pleasant or another word for pleasant is desire or lust, to the eyes. And the pride of life being that the tree was desired to make one wise. The very things that Eve was faced with in the garden John realized were the same things still facing the church thousands of years removed from the creation of the world. And he warns the church that these things are not of the Father and if the love of the world is in your heart you will be subject to the sins thereof.

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The battle for the heart of man has been raging since God gave man to have dominion in the earth. And yet Gods desire is still for man to have dominion in the earth. The desire to fulfill the things of this world and to appease the flesh is still constantly warring against the body of Christ. The devil took note of what he had done when he tempted Eve and he has made it his mission to use these same tactics on other believers. The game has never changed only the players have.

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It is also important to note the progression that a desire for sin will produce that took place when Eve was tempted. The first thing we note is that she “saw.” There is something about the eyes that can affect the brain in a way the other 4 senses can not. There are visual images in your brain that you can recall all because they entered through the mediation of your eyes. There is something special about the eyes that the prophet Jeremiah said;

Lam 3:51 Mine eye affecteth mine heart because of all the daughters of my city.

There is a direct connection between your eyes and what you look at and the things you desire. Your eyes control your appetite in the sense that what you set your focus on will become what you want. Job even said; “I’ve made a covenant with mine eyes that I should not look upon a maid.” That was Eve’s first mistake. She “saw” or she was looking at the very thing that God commanded them not to eat. And I want you to notice what happened next. The Bible tells us that she “took.”

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to be continued...