The fall of man was disobedience to a specific word of God (Genesis 2:16-17). God told Adam not to eat of the fruit of the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. The test was simple. Would they obey the word of God or not?
Some have trouble believing that God should take one act of disobedience so seriously. But James 2:10 says, if you disobey one statue, you disobey the whole law. Because, the root of it is that sin is of the heart. If you have the kind of heart to disobey one word of God, you have the kind of heart to disobey any other word of God. Either you are wholly devoted to serve God or you aren't. And God wants only wholehearted servants. The issue is the word of God. Eve hears two words. the word of God and the word of the talking snake. The word of Satan begins by questioning whether God has spoken (Gen 3:1). He then directly contradicts God and says, "You will not surely die." (3:4) A decision has to be made between two sources of authority. A choice of obedience to whom must be made. It is a question of loyalty, a question of who is her Lord.
Satan seeks to overturn the chain of authority of God, man, woman, animals. Satan comes as an animal and appeals to the woman to reject her husband's authority. The man then puts himself above God, blaming God for the whole situation. Satan wants Eve to think she can transcend her finite position, that she can be like God (3:5).
Eve chose Satan's word above God's. Ultimately, she followed her own judgment, her own reason, autonomously, without a higher authority. Adam then, was also face with two choices, the word of God and the word of his wife. As head of the race, it is his sin, not Eve's, that the bible says infects us all. Adam was our representative. When he sinned, we all sinned (Rom 5:12).
Reflect on the one who was tempted in a far stronger way, yet remained faithful to His Father, and seeks one day to restore all things back to perfection.
References:
John Frame, Salvation Belongs to the Lord
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