Temptation: We All Fall Down
Saturday, January 17, 2009 at 06:23PM 
Satan successfully tempted Adam and Eve to destroy the perfect life they lived, by using the same tricks he pulls on us today. First, Satan plants doubt. "Did God really say you must not eat any of the fruit in the garden?" (Genesis 3:1, NLT) Second, he denies God's word. "You won't die, the serpent hissed" (Genesis 3:4, NLT). Next, Satan encouraged Adam and Eve to feel sorry for themselves by telling them God was holding back His best from them. "God knows that your eyes will be opened when you eat it. You will become just like God, knowing everything, both good and evil" (Genesis 3:5, NLT). Because our ancestors listened to the smooth-talking enemy, they came to doubt God and to desire the forbidden fruit more than they desired to please God. Has this ever happened to you?
In the story of the so-called Fall of Man, I recognize my own story. At my birth, I was as pure as I would ever be. It was downhill from there, a ride made more slippery by ego and pride. The ride even seemed like fun until I recognized that I needed and wanted to climb in the opposite direction.
Satan disguised his motives and misled the original man and woman but they were still responsible for their sin. Satan tempted them, but they chose to do wrong. When we do wrong, we make that choice. God made us with free will, so that not even He can make us do anything we don't choose to do. If God can't force us to act in His will, certainly neither can His creation Satan nor can any man, woman, or child.
I made the decision to steal a Hershey's bar from Clark's 5 and 10 Cent Store when I was six years old. I got drunk, smoke pot, took God's name in vain, lied, and turned my back on people who loved me by my own choice No one made me have sex before marriage; that was my doing. Satan may have laid out the bait, but I took it.
Because Satan tempted us, God cursed him forever (Genesis 3:14-15). Because we fell for Satan's lies, man and woman became disconnected from God. He sent us away from the Garden of Eden, where He had formerly walked with Adam in the cool of the evening (Genesis 3:8). We were cursed to suffer for everything we achieve (Genesis 3:14-19).
But there is good news. Even before our fall from grace, God had a plan in motion to save us. This plan was foreshadowed when the Lord shed innocent blood in order to clothe Adam and Eve with animal skins before banishing them from paradise. He promised that one day the son of the woman would crush Satan (Genesis 3:15). One day our Savior Christ would assume the pain and bloodiness of woman's cursed childbirth along with the bitterness and thorns of man's burdensome work, exchanging His limitless suffering for Satan's everlasting defeat.
Though we still succumb to temptation even after salvation, how can we appreciate and celebrate the victory that Christ obtained for us?
(Photograph by Roma Flowers)
Reader Comments (1)
Amen. Our Father wants us to be victorious, and we triumph over failure when we remember that Jesus Christ is our life.