Temptation of Adam and Eve

Reading: Matt 4:1, Genesis 3
After John baptized Jesus, the Spirit led Him into the wilderness to be tempted. Why was it necessary for Jesus to be tempted by the devil?  I'll answer that toward the end of this post. First, lets go back to the very first man and woman to look at the temptation of  Adam and Eve. This will give us a better understanding of how temptation can persuade us and lead us away from what we know to be right and true.  You can also see the effect  their sin had on their own sons Cain and Abel. Our own sin does affect our children as well.

"The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals... he asked the woman, 'Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?' 'Of course we may eat fruit from the tree's in the garden' the woman replied. 'Its only the fruit in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.'  
'You won't die!' the serpent replied... '
God knows that your eyes will be opened... and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.'" 
 Gen 3:1-5 NLT

Here we see how the enemy cast doubt on the trustworthiness of God's word.  He also planted a seed of suspicion of the goodness of God toward His people. Could they trust His word to be true? Wouldn't He let them eat from that tree also if the knowledge of good and evil was best for them? What does this mean to us today? Is God trustworthy? Can we trust Him? Can we trust His word to be true? Can we trust that He loves us and wants what is best for us as human beings? Think of times, when you needed to trust God and His word... Continuing the story:

"The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband and he ate it, too. Gen 3:6 NLT

The apostle John gives us a pattern of what temptation looks like. Compare the verse below to Eve's experience above. Compare it with your own experience of life:

"Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure,  a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions." 1 John 2:15, 16 NLT

You can see the pattern of the different aspects of lust above. "She saw... this is the lust, desire or craving for the things we see and must have. This is why advertising works so well with people. "It's fruit looked delicious"... this is a desire for physical pleasure, whether it is food, sex, alcohol, drugs, etc. God  wants us to enjoy pleasure, but only in a way that is healthy for us. And we should not be ruled or enslaved by these desires. "She wanted the wisdom it would give her"... This is pride in ourselves and interferes with our connection to God. It is through humility and the fear of God that we find Him. "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble". (James and I Peter) Back to the garden; this part of the story is heart breaking:  

"At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness... they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves... the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid themselves from the Lord God among the trees. Then the Lord God called to the man, "Where are you?" He replied, 'I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.''Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to to eat?" Gen 3:7,8 NLT

Interesting isn't it, that when we do something wrong, we feel shame and want to hide it from God and other people. This is most obvious in little children. Adults get more clever in hiding their sin. Jesus speaks of people loving the darkness more than the light because their deeds are evil and refuse to go near the light for fear their sins will be exposed. God loves us and wants us to have the blessing of living as children of the light, having a life free from shame and the destruction of sin.

Continue reading to the end of chapter 3 and you will see that Adam blames both Eve and God for his disobedience. Eve in turn blamed the serpent. (The devil made me do it.) In the end they were expelled from the garden and had to work very hard the rest of their lives.

Adam and Eve remind me of little kids, and us as adults as well. All too often we think that if we blame others we will feel good about ourselves and save face. But the danger in not seeing the role that our own sin played; is we then live with something far more painful... unforgiveness, broken relationships, bitterness and anger. This is far worse suffering than to simply recognize our weakness as a human being and take responsibility for our own sin. We are all capable of making mistakes, all of us have sinned and we fall so short of the glory of God. When we sin we grieve the Holy Spirit, (Eph.4:30-32) who is our only hope in truly being healed and being transformed to a new life. We distance ourselves from God and others. We live in incredible pain and broken relationships. Yes it is painful to admit wrong doing; but not as bad as the alternative. John says in his epistle:

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins 
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  
1 John 1:9

The story of Cain and Abel is also helpful and heartbreaking. When Adam and Eve fell into temptation and disobeyed God, the deception and power of sin was released. Read this in Genesis 4:1-16 and you will see the power of sin and the effect of jealousy and anger. Thank God, through Christ, we now have access to the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome sin.

"'Why are you so angry?' 
the Lord asked Cain. '
Why do you look so dejected?
You will be accepted 
if you do what is right. 
But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! 
Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. 
But you must be its master.'" 
Gen 4:6, 7 NLT. 

Yes, as we live life every day sin is crouching at the door, like a hungry lion trying to control us. We must through the power of the Spirit, resist the devil and he will flee. After Satan tempted Jesus three times He left. Why did God put that tree in the garden? Does He tempt us? I don't know about the tree, but He does not tempt us:  

"And remember 
when you are being tempted, 
do not say, 'God is tempting me.
' God is never tempted 
to do wrong, 
and He never tempts anyone else. 
Temptation 
comes from our own desires, 
which entice us and drag us away. 
These desires 
give birth to sinful actions. 
And when sin is allowed to grow, 
it gives birth to death." 
James 1:13-15 NLT

This verse above is key. God does not tempt us. Temptation comes from our own desires. We are enticed and dragged away into sinful actions. While the devil does tempt, he only uses our own desires. We can't say, the devil made me do it. It takes yielding to our desire instead of yielding to God for us to fall into sin and death, separation from God. Be encouraged. God gave us Jesus to provide the forgiveness of our sins.  

Why was it necessary for Jesus to be tempted by the devil? In every way He had to be made like us, His brothers and sisters, even in suffering temptation. See Hebrew 2:17, 18 and 4:14-16, or The Genealogy of Jesus.

Though this was long today, it will help us understand the significance of Jesus' temptation and how He has provided for us to live an abundant life through His sacrifice and the gift of His Holy Spirit.