Genesis 3:1-6 “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.”

Peter reminds us that we have an “adversary”; “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (I Peter 5:8). The word means, an opponent with special reference to Satan as the arch-enemy! We see his first appearance in the Garden of Eden when he approached Eve. He came with but one purpose in mind; to deliver a rebellious blow of opposition to the Creator by corrupting God’s creation! Satan began by trying to generate doubt in the mind of God’s child. Listen closely; “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” (vs.1). He turned Eve’s focus away from the plentiful positives to the single negative. Our first parents were placed in a garden with a great multitude of trees and plants that were more than sufficient to sustain life, and Satan pointed out the only tree that had been withheld. The idea was; “Don’t be appreciative of all that God has done, look for something that He hasn’t done!” The second step was to generate disbelief in the heart. Satan said, “Ye shall not surely die” (vs.4). The idea goes something like this; “If you can’t trust God to give you what you want, you can’t trust what He says!” “If God would withhold a tree, He would withhold the truth.” There’s more to be had than what God is telling you, “ye shall be as gods” (vs.5). Man discovered that doubt leads to disbelief which ultimately leads to disobedience, which brings forth death. Eve discovered that when you start looking the wrong way, it isn’t long before you start going the wrong way!