Trusting God's Word

“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. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths” (Genesis 3:1-7).

There was a time that I lost my appetite for the Bible. That happened when I realized that for more than 30 years I became a member of a religious group that was teaching erroneously.

Then I got hold of a Christian book and from one of its pages, these words really caught my attention: “God never wastes pain”! So, the time I thought misspent was not wasted after all. My interest in God’s Word returned and grew. And my longing to hear true Biblical messages was kindled.

The said book introduced me to God’s Sovereignty, which is a very great encouragement to me. And whenever I am able, I give a copy of the book to others. Not only to my close friends, but I had the opportunity to give even to Police Officers, including two Generals, and also to the City Mayor of our place.

The author of the book is Jerry Bridges and the title is Trusting God (with a sub-title: Even When Life Hurts).

And our topic this time is almost the same, as we name it … TRUSTING GOD’S WORD, as we focus on our text Genesis 3:1-7.

There is no doubt on the reliability of God and of His Word, but could we not trust other than God? Why not place also our trust on something else? But, if we prefer to trust the words of God, then what should we do? Actually, as we answer that, we could also indirectly identify the easy way to commit sin.

Before we go on, let’s recollect that Genesis was written by Moses before the Israelites entered the promised land. As we studied the first five verses of Genesis chapter 1, we learned that our Heavenly Father could make something out of nothing. Because He is the Eternal Creator. Also, we learned that He is the Sovereign Being, in complete control of all things. And He is the Supreme Personal Being, whom we could have intimate personal relationship. Really, we would seek and desire to have a close relationship with Him, because He is Supremely Good.

In chapter 2, His goodness was also displayed – not only showering man with physical favor, but also with a very good command that would assure him of eternal happiness.

In chapter 3, we saw that in spite of the Goodness of God and the goodness He extended, man committed the most heinous crime – expressing his disbelief of God’s Word, manifesting in his disobedience and rebellion that sprouted from his pride. And it brought suffering not only to himself but to the whole humanity he represented in the garden.

Now, we will review some initial verses of chapter 3, and see why it’s easy for our first parents to commit sin and let’s realize that because the words of our Creator are trustworthy, let us then…

I – Set Aside The Assertion Of The Most Learned (verse 4-5).

We read verses 4-5, “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.”

Who is the person in this world more learned than Satan? No man can match his intelligence or wisdom. He is really full of wisdom (see Ezek. 28:17).

And notice how he made his opening remarks to the woman in verse 2, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” He purposely misquoted God and the woman tried to correct him, but she added also something else.