Eve: The First Temptation Series

Eve: The First Temptation

15 Do not love the world or the things that belong to the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. 16 For everything that belongs to the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s lifestyle—is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does God’s will remains forever.

The Holy Bible: Holman Christian Standard Version. (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2009), 1 Jn 2:15–17.

Good Morning! This morning we are going to continue with our Study of Bible Characters and we are going to look at the briefly at the character of Eve. Eve was the very first woman ever to live and walk the face of the Earth. She was made out of Adam to complete Adam because God saw that it was not good for Adam to be alone. He needed a companion, a help meet.

21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to come over the man, and he slept. God took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place. 22 Then the Lord God made the rib He had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 And the man said:

This one, at last, is bone of my bone

and flesh of my flesh;

this one will be called “woman,”

for she was taken from man.

24 This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh.

The Holy Bible: Holman Christian Standard Version. (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2009), Ge 2:21–24.

Also this morning we are going to continue looking at the topic of Temptation. Last week we looked how to resist Temptation. We learned, to expect Temptation, to see it for what it is, avoid it if possible, resist it when it finds you anyway, and be quick to flee, quick to run from the grip of Temptation. Lastly, we learned that it is ok to not be the popular kid. Doing right brings ridicule more than it brings accolades and awards.

This morning we are going to look at the origin of Temptation. And we are going to see how it works. Let us first look at our text in Genesis.

3 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”

2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’ ”

4 “No! You will not die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

The Holy Bible: Holman Christian Standard Version. (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2009), Ge 3:1–6.

The first character in our story today is actually the Adversary himself. Satan. The Enemy. The one who would love nothing better than to see each and every one of us fall and fail to live the life God has designed for us. His reason for existing is to attempt to thwart God’s plan, to corrupt his creation, and to soil God’s people. So it is natural to expect to see Him show up to try to cause trouble at the beginning of time.

We find our other two characters in our story right where they should be.

8 The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there He placed the man He had formed. 9 The Lord God caused to grow out of the ground every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden, as well as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The Holy Bible: Holman Christian Standard Version. (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2009), Ge 2:8–9.

We find Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The most perfect place if there ever has been a perfect place. Beautiful. The perfect environment. The perfect Temperature. Fruit trees all around. Lush grass to lay in. No bugs! No Pests! No mosquitos or ticks! No Thorns. Everything is perfect! Can you imagine for second what that must have looked like? Imagine in your mind the most perfect peaceful scene in a lush tranquil garden. What does it look like? You know what? Whatever you are imagining is insufficient. This Garden was made and designed by God himself for the prize of His creation. Everything that Adam and Eve could ever possibly need to be healthy and happy were in this garden. And they were given some instructions.