Look Out!
Background Story: We read in Genesis 1-2 the account of the creation of the world. God spoke, and life emerged. But when it came to man, God did not speak- He formed. Genesis 2:7 says “the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” The word “formed” in the Hebrew is “yatsar.” This word means to mold and create by hand, like a potter with clay. Imagine that- God the Creator fashioned, designed, and molded man.
Read Genesis 3
Now the serpent was more crafty 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 tree in the garden’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 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.’”
4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 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. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,
“Cursed are you above all livestock
and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
16 To the woman he said,
“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
with painful labor you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you.”
17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’
“Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat food from it
all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.”
20 Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.
21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22 And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
Big Idea: Watch out for the deception of compromise.
Crafty- the word used here to describe the serpent, Satan. He approached Eve with a question, “Did God really say…?” And from that seed of doubt, all sin was birthed. This approach is still one of Satan’s favorite tactics for the unbeliever and believer alike. He wants us to question the Creator- to make us doubt His word, His love for us, and His plan. Is God’s way really better than what the world offers? Because sin never starts with action, it always starts with the thought of compromise.
But if we take a step back and look at the first three chapters of Genesis as a whole, we see Satan’s great deception. God gave man all that was good- a garden where all their needs were met, a purpose that would bring them fulfillment, and the joy of His presence. And what did Satan have to offer them? He never created, provided, or loved them. All he offered them was doubt. As we consider this, always remember this vital truth- nothing that Satan offers is for your good. He is a liar and there is no truth, love, or goodness in him.
And here in the garden after Adam and Eve’s great sin, we see the first sacrifice. The God who had formed them and provided for them, takes an animal from the garden and makes “a garment of skin” and “clothed them,” covering their shame and guilt. And in verse 15, we see the first prophecy of the coming Messiah, Jesus, who will give it all for man’s redemption. Step back and recognize the extreme difference. God always gives, loves, sacrifices, and provides. The enemy lies, promising but never fulfilling. Never forfeit the future God has for you for the lies that Satan whispers today.
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Dig Deeper: John 8:42-47, John 10:7-11, Matthew 7:13-14, Romans 1:25, Isaiah 59:15-16, John 3:14-21, James 1:13-17, 1 Peter 5:8-11, Ephesians 6:12-13, Revelation 12:7-12
Similar Devotions: Always Better, Imitation Crab Meat, Stuck Like a Roomba, Sneaky Vines, Be on Watch, Into the Light, Cone of Shame, The Door Is Already Open, The Undertow, Becoming Mature, Check Engine Light
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