The First Human Sin Committed (Gen. 3:6)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 02/02/2006

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  First human sin committed

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Genesis 3:6

            Message of the verse:  “6. 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 desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.”

           

            I would like to focus in on the word “saw” in order to help explain what this verse  means.  In the previous two verses Satan was painting a picture with his words, a picture that was first of all temptation, but temptation at times paints a lovely picture at first, but when one falls for the temptation the consequences of the sin are not so lovely.  A man can be tempted by a lovely woman and can be enticed to have sexual relations with her, knowing all the time that this would be wrong, and the consequences could be that he wakes up the next morning with Aids, so the lovely painting has just become a terrible nightmare. 

           

            Satan is in the business to deceive people and he does a good job of it, however the one thing that can keep a believer from falling into his temptations is the Word of God, and that is the one thing that both Adam and Eve forgot, for they were only thinking of themselves and because of Adam’s sin, for he sinned with his eyes wide open as opposed to Eve being deceived, every person who is a descendant of Adam is born with his nature, and the only cure for that is to accept what the New Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ, has done for you and then you will be credited with His Righteousness.  In the first Adam all have sinned, and in the second Adam all are made righteous.

           

            1John 2:16 follows the pattern of how Eve fell to temptation, and that is the lust of the eyes, for she saw the beauty of the fruit, the lust of the flesh, it was good for food, and the pride of life, as it would make her wise.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Another part of the word saw is see, and as a believer I must see the temptations that are brought my way, and I must also see the Word of God, in other words, I must understand what the Word of God has to say about temptation, and also the consequences of falling into that temptation and do as the Lord Jesus Christ did when He was being tempted by Satan in the wilderness with the same three areas of temptation, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, but the Second Adam would not fall for these temptations because He combated them with the Word of God, and because He is my example to follow I must do the same.

The Word of God has been a challenge to my heart as I read and studied it this morning.

My Steps of Faith Today:  When temptation comes to me to use the Word of God to defeat it as the Lord Jesus Christ did.  To trust the Lord and to direct my path and to teach me more about contentment.

A Lie and a Half (Gen 3:4-5)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 02/01/2006

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  A lie and a half

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Genesis 3:4-5

            Message of the verse:  “4 The serpent said to the woman, ‘You surely will not die!  5  ‘For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’”

           

            God has said that in the day that you eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you will surely die and in verse four Satan says, “You surely will not die,” so this is an outright lie from the evil one and Eve falls for it.  Satan goes on with another lie, which does have some truth in it, by saying that as soon as you eat this fruit you will have your eyes opened, and this is true.  However the other thing he said were lies, for they would not be like God, but they would know good and evil.  Satan is in a sense telling Eve that God has held out on you and not told you all there is to know so go ahead and follow me and you will get all that is suppose to be given to you.

           

            The lie is singular, and the lie has been around as far back as Genesis chapter three, and the lie from Satan is still believed today.  “The lie is the belief that men and women can be their own god and live for the creation and not the Creator and not suffer any consequences.” 

            3/6/2020 10:56 AM  On more thing that I want to add and that is that Satan tried these same lies to Jesus when Jesus perhaps was in His weakest moment, after fasting for forty days, however the Second Adam, Jesus did not fall for the lies that Satan used on Eve or on Adam who was listening at that time.  3/6/2020 10:58 AM

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I can learn from this that when I am being tempted that I need to do just like Joseph did when he was tempted by Potifar’s wife, and that is run from temptation, something that Eve did not do.

The Word of God has been a challenge to my heart as I read it and studied it this morning.

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to trust the Lord to lead and guide and direct my steps as I travel through life on planet earth today, and to trust the Lord to teach me contentment so I can says as Paul said in Philippians 4:11b, “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstance that I am in.” 

Eve's Response (Gen. 3:2)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 01/31/2006

My Worship Time                                                                           Focus:  Eve’s Response

Bible Reading & Meditation                                             Reference:  Genesis 3:2

            Message of the verse:  “2  The woman said to the serpent, ‘From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3  but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’”

           

            Verses two and three give the response from Eve to Satan (the serpent), but the answer that she gave him was not true at all, for at least she was misquoting God.  Genesis 2:16-17 tell what God said to Adam:  “16  The LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.’”  Notice that God said that they could eat freely of all of the trees, and He said nothing about not looking at the tree of knowledge of good and evil which is what Eve replied to Satan.  Eve also used a different name for God, as she used Elohim and not Jehovah, and she also left out the words “will surely” as she said “you will die.” 

            3/5/2020 9:11 AM  In our Wednesday evening service last night we were talking about this situation and the word “freely” came up and it was stated that Satan was trying to show that God was not being fair to Adam and Eve as He was trying to hold back good things from them.  However the word “freely” shows that God had given them access to eat of any tree in the garden with the exception of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  God was not holding back on them, Satan was lying to them which according to John 8:44 which says “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”  3/5/2020 9:16 AM

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Eve was careless when she spoke of the words that God had said, and I am sure that there are times in my life when I misquote the Lord because I do not take the time to make sure what I am saying is totally true and this is wrong on my part.

The Word of God has brought conviction to my heart as I read and studied it this morning.

My Steps of Faith Today:  Make sure that when I say something that it is altogether true and not saying something to sensationalize it.  To trust the Lord to direct my paths today, all of them, and to continue to learn contentment.

Satan begins his temptations (Gen. 3:1)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 01/30/2006

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Satan begins his temptation

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Genesis 3:1

            Message of the verse:  “1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?’”

           

            Genesis chapter three is one of the most important chapters in all of God’s Word, for without it there would be no explanation of the fall of man, and there would be no explanation of why man lives like he lives in his fallen state.  Take this chapter out and what it explains and the rest of Scripture would not have the meaning and understanding that it has. 

           

            It can be seen from other parts of Scripture that Satan is the one involved in the tempting of Eve, and that temptation begins in verse one.  The first part of the verse speaks of the craftiness of Satan as he begins his conversation with Eve, for the verse does indeed say that this serpent was crafty. 

           

            There has been much debate as to whether of not Adam was around when Satan tempted Eve, and if he was there he certainly did nothing to help out his wife, and that is probably the reason that Adam is the one who is responsible for the fall of man.  Paul explains some of the details of this when he writes to Timothy.  One of the supports for those who say that Adam was not there is that he was the one who named all of the animals and surely would have known that none of them could speak to humans by using their voice.  My conclusion is that Adam was there, and did nothing.

           

            Looking at the second part of this verse, the part where the serpent speaks, it can be seen through out the rest of the Scriptures that Satan’s tactics have not changed when tempting other, and why should they because they have worked many times.  He did use the same tactics when tempting Jesus Christ, the second Adam in the wilderness, but they failed. 

           

            Satan begins his temptation by quoting God’s Word and asking her if God really said what He said.  This is how the author of the “Message” writes this verse, “Do I understand that God told you not to eat from any tree in the garden?”  Satan is trying to get Eve to doubt God’s word and he is doing this by misquoting God’s Word, or adding something that was not there, a favorite trick of his.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:   There are some things that I can take from this passage that will be helpful for me as I live out my Christian life on this earth.  Satan is a liar and he loves to trick people by getting them to doubt God and His Word.  Satan is a very powerful enemy of all believers and without the protection of God’s Holy Spirit and God’s Word Satan would do to all men what he did to Job’s family.  Another thing that I can take away from this is that I need to study God’s Word so that when temptation comes I will be able to stand against it in the same way that my Lord Jesus Christ did when He was tempted by Satan.

The Word of God has been a challenge to my heart as I read and studied it this morning.

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to trust the Lord to direct my paths today, and also to continue my quest of contentment. 

The First Marriage

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 01/25/2006

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  The First Marriage

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Genesis 2:21-25

            Message of the verse:  “2  So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.

22 The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.  23  The man said, ‘This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.’  24  For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.  25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

           

            These five verses give the account of the creation of the first woman and also the first marriage and all of this came about by the first operation which God gave to Adam.

I would like to make some quotes from Dr. Wiersbe’s book that I am using to help describe what these verses mean, for these verses that are being looked at are some of the most important verses in all of the Scriptures.  God ordained marriage and nothing has changed since that day.

           

            “Matthew Henry wrote:  ‘She was not made out of the head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be  trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved.’  Paul wrote that ‘the woman is the glory of man’ (1Cor. 11:7, NIV); for if man is the head (1Cor. 11:1-16; Eph. 5:22-33), then woman is the crown that honors the head.”

           

            Dr. Wiersbe gives four reasons for marriage:  1.  “God wanted suitable companionship for Adam, so He gave him a wife.”   2. “Marriage provides the God-given right to enjoy sex and have children.”  3. To encourage self—control, for ‘it is better to marry than to burn with passion.’”  4. Marriage is an illustration of the loving and intimate relationship between Christ and His church.”  Paul spoke of this as a great mystery which is now revealed to the church by God’s Holy Spirit.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  God has been bring the importance of relationships to my heart over these last couple of weeks, and this is another way that He is showing me the importance of relationships, and in this case the relationship between husband and wife, and this illustrates the relationship between Christ and the Church.  The is love and forgiveness in a relationship, for one does not have to perform in order to be loved and accepted, and I believe that if I can understand this principle of a relationship with my Heavenly Father then I will have a much better relationship with my wife.

The Word of God has been a great challenge to my heart as I read and studied His Word this morning.

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to trust the Lord to work in my heart to cause me to conformed to the image of His dear Son, Jesus Christ.

Adam's Need (Gen. 2:18-20)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 01/24/2006

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Adam’s Need

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Genesis 2:18-20

            Message of the verse:  “18 Then the LORD God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.’  19 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.  20 The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.”

           

            At the end of the sixth day of creation God said that is was very good, and now in the beginning of this verse God said that it was not good for man to be alone.  In verses 19 & 20 there is a recap of creation of the animals and then Adam looks at all of them and gives them all a name, and these names were not just like the names people give their pets today, but these names gave the meaning of what the animal was, so this would show the great intelligence of Adam.  After looking at all of the animals, and I am sure that Adam noticed that there was a male and female of every type of animal, he soon discovered that there was no female for him to be his helpmate, to compliment him.

           

            Do I think that this was an oversight on God’s part not to make a female helper for Adam?  It is impossible for God to make a mistake, so it is possible that God wanted the man to discover this for himself, as I am sure that he did.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Just as God had made all things to meet the needs of the first man, even now today God meets all of my needs in this sin cursed world.  I am thankful that it is impossible for God to ever make a mistake.

The Word of God has been challenging to my heart as I read it this morning.

My Steps of Faith Today:  To continue to trust the Lord to direct my path, to teach me contentment so that whatever the Lord sends my way I will be able to handle it because I know He is with me and will never forsake me.

Adam's Test (Gen. 2:16-17)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 01/23/2006

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Adams Test

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Genesis 2:16-17

            Message of the verse:  “16 The LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; 17  but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.’”

           

            I will visit the outcome of what these two verses have said at a later date, when chapter three, and the fall of man are discussed.  Dr. Wiersbe calls this a covenant between God and Adam, but he also calls it a test, and that is how I understand it.  If Adam were to pass the test he would be blessed of God and failure would bring about judgment.

            I cannot answer the question why God gave this test to Adam, for there are many suggestions to the answers for it, and I am sure that God has the only right ones.  I wonder if Adam would have gone right to the tree of life and ate of it if that would have meant that he would have passed this test?  These two verses describe what it is that Adam cannot do, and what he can do, and there is a lot more to do which will bring about blessing, than not do and bring about judgment.

            3/1/2020 7:15 AM  I have to say that there is not a person alive who would have passed this test, for the “tempter” is more powerful than any person who does not have the Spirit of God in them.  I want to say also that I think that it was in the plan and foreknowledge of God that Adam not pass this test, and here is where some difficult things come into play.  God had only one plan and did not have to deal with another plan if Adam failed this test, for He knew that he would fail, and therefore it was in His plan that he failed this test.  I believe that one of the reasons that Adam failed this test is because this would bring about some of God’s attributes that were never seen before the creation of man.  Attributes like God’s justice for one thing and there are others too like His longsuffering, His grace and forgiveness among a few of them.  I once heard a sermon by Erin Lutizer where he stated in a question “Would you want to worship a God who has an A and B plan.”  I for one would not like that.  3/1/2020 7:21 AM

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Ever since I was a child going to school I have not liked tests, but my Heavenly Father is the giver of tests and he is giving me one at this time of my life and just like Adam, if I pass the test I will receive a blessing.  If I do not trust the Lord I do not believe that I will receive a blessing.  I do believe that God gives me tests to make me better and not bitter, and that like Job, I need to learn patience and trust the Lord who will work things out for good for me as He promises and for His glory.

The Word of God has challenged me as I read and studied it this morning.

 My Steps of Faith Today:  To continue to trust the Lord as I go through the tests of life that He sees fit to bring my way in order to make me more like His Son, and to continue to trust the Lord to direct my steps and to teach me contentment.