God made a wonderful world for Adam and Eve to live in.
Genesis 2:8-9- And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Now, remember, God made everything good. All the animals were good. Even the devil was created good. The earth had no sin in it- yet. The devil had to find something to use to bring sin into the Earth. And he decided to use the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil wasn't bad. It was a good tree that contained the ability to give spiritual knowledge. The knowledge that the tree contained wasn't bad, either. God made it all good! So how could Satan use the tree to cause Adam and Eve to sin?
Well, as with all people, Adam and Eve couldn't learn if there weren't tests. Your teacher gives you tests in school to see if you learned what she taught you. God was trying to teach Adam and Eve to obey him even if they didn't understand why. So God gave them a test to pass.
Genesis 2:16-17- And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
This test wasn't on a piece of paper. This was a test of life. We all have those- your mom says to clean your room. Guess what! That's a test of life. You clean your room- you pass. You don't- you fail. The more tests of life you pass, the smarter you become. These tests of life help you to become a grown up. They help you to learn the difference between good and bad. They help you to look past your wants and to see the needs of others.
But, remember, there was someone else on earth that wanted to make Adam and Eve sin. And he had come up with a plan.
Genesis 3:1- 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?
The devil used a serpent to make Eve question what God said. That's where everyone starts to sin- when they question what God says. The Bible has God's words to us, but if we start to question those words, we are stepping towards sin. All Satan has to do is make us question part of God's words, not all of them. If we question when to obey our parents, we are starting to sin. If we question how often to obey our parents, Satan is tempting us to sin.
Genesis 3:2-3- 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.
Ooops! Eve made her first mistake. She added to God's word! God never said they couldn't touch the fruit. He only told them they couldn't eat the fruit. But once she made this mistake, the devil knew he had her! Satan not only makes you question God's words, but he makes you change them! He either makes you add to them or take away from them. And that's dangerous! God says what he does the way he does for our benefit. It's to help us be our best! But Satan knows how to make us sin!
Genesis 3:4-5- 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.
Uh oh! What was the sin that caused the devil to fall? Pride! He wanted to be like God. Now, he's using the same sin to tempt Eve- ye shall be as gods.
Humans always want to be better than they are. We work so hard to make ourselves better. Eve wanted to make herself better. So she started thinking about the fruit and questioning whether it was okay to eat or not.
Genesis 3:6a- 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,
Was the fruit evil? No! Was the knowledge it contained evil? No! Remember, God made everything good. Then how did Eve sin by eating good fruit? The sin was in disobeying what God said. God said to obey your parents. If you don't you are sinning. God said don't lie or steal. If you do you are sinning. God said to love your neighbor as yourself. What happens when you don't? Yep! You're sinning.
All sin is disobeying what God said. God gave us rules to follow, and when we don't follow those rules we are sinning. Eve failed the first test of life that anyone was ever given.
But where was Adam? Did he know what was going on? Was he there the whole time?
