Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “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.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “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.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. | Genesis 3:1–6
When God made the world, He made everything so beautiful and good! And the first people were so happy! But now many things are not beautiful and good anymore. And people are often unhappy.
There is sickness and sadness; there is hatred and anger. There are selfish people, and wicked people. There is quarreling and fighting. What is the matter? What has happened to the beautiful world, and to the people that were so happy at first?
Sin has come. Sin has spoiled God’s wonderful world. How did sin get into God’s beautiful creation? The Bible tells us how it happened. God has a great enemy – Satan. Satan is a wicked angel. He hates God. And he wants everyone else to hate God. And he tells lies, even about God.
Satan watched God make the beautiful world and the starry heavens. He watched God make Adam and Eve. He saw that Adam and Eve were the most wonderful of God’s works. He said to himself, ‘I will make Adam and Eve hate God, just as I hate God. I will spoil God’s beautiful creation by making them disobey God.”
Now, God had given Adam and Eve a beautiful garden to live in. There were all kinds of flowers and trees in the garden. There were birds that sing. And there were all kinds of delicious fruits to eat.
God loved Adam and Eve. And God wanted Adam and Eve to love Him. So He said to Adam and Eve, ‘You may eat all the fruits you like. But there is one tree in the garden that you must not eat of.’ By obeying God and leaving the tree alone, they would show that they loved Him. God said, ‘if you eat of this tree, you will surely die!’
Satan heard all that God said. And he went to talk to Eve. He said to Eve, ‘You will not die if you eat of the tree. Instead, you will become like God. You will know good and evil.’
Eve listened to Satan. She believed him. She looked at the tree, and she thought the fruit looked good. She thought about what Satan had said – that she would be like God if she ate it! She forgot that she was like God already; God had made Adam and Eve wonderful and good, in His image. Eve forgot all of that. She thought she would be much more wonderful if she ate the fruit. Then she picked some fruit and ate it. She ate the fruit God told her not to eat. She gave some to Adam, and he ate it too.
So Adam and Eve did what Satan wanted them to do. And they did what they wanted to do, instead of what God wanted them to do. Adam and Eve disobeyed God. They became sinners. Instead of being like God, they became like Satan. Instead of loving God, they began to be afraid of Him, and they even started to hate Him.
Oh, what a sad day. All of the happiness was gone from the hearts of Adam and Eve. And on that day all the unhappy things and wicked things began. Satan was glad, but Adam and Eve were sad. And God was sad.
Something to talk about:
- Who is Satan?
- What is sin?
- Why did Eve eat the fruit?
- Did Adam and Eve really love God?
Memory verse:
Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. | 1 John 3.4