The Oldest Trick in The Book
2 Corinthians 11:3
New International Version (NIV)
3 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
Genesis 3
The Message (MSG)
3 The serpent was clever, more clever than any wild animal God had made. He spoke to the Woman: “Do I understand that God told you not to eat from any tree in the garden?”
2-3 The Woman said to the serpent, “Not at all. We can eat from the trees in the garden. It’s only about the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, ‘Don’t eat from it; don’t even touch it or you’ll die.’”4-5 The serpent told the Woman, “You won’t die. God knows that the moment you eat from that tree, you’ll see what’s really going on. You’ll be just like God, knowing everything, ranging all the way from good to evil.”
6 When the Woman saw that the tree looked like good eating and realized what she would get out of it—she’d know everything!—she took and ate the fruit and then gave some to her husband, and he ate.
7 Immediately the two of them did “see what’s really going on”—saw themselves naked! They sewed fig leaves together as makeshift clothes for themselves.
8 When they heard the sound of God strolling in the garden in the evening breeze, the Man and his Wife hid in the trees of the garden, hid from God.
9 God called to the Man: “Where are you?”
10 He said, “I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked. And I hid.”
11 God said, “Who told you you were naked? Did you eat from that tree I told you not to eat from?”
12 The Man said, “The Woman you gave me as a companion, she gave me fruit from the tree, and, yes, I ate it.”
God said to the Woman, “What is this that you’ve done?”
I find myself asking how it seems that an increasing number of people do not "see". Even those who say they love God do not see the world as He intended it to be.
I believe the answer lies in Genesis 3:4-5
We have all taken a bite of the forbidden fruit in that we have all sinned. In ordered to sin it first takes questioning what did God really say and then letting the lie tumble around in our head for a while, sometimes not very long. Then we take a bite and take the lie into ourselves and sin in trading the truth of God for a lie.
Romans 1:25
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
25 They traded the truth of God for a lie. They bowed down and worshiped the things God made instead of worshiping the God who made those things. He is the one who should be praised forever. Amen.
The above account says after they "saw" they sewed clothes for themselves out of fig leaves in an attempt to cover their shame and then they hid in the trees from God. I believe that is where a lot of people still are: in the dark picking out which outfit of fig leaves they will wear today because they ate the forbidden fruit, bought the lie. Some people have gone as far as to accept the lie as the truth and say what God's word says is old fashioned we now see "what's really going on."
God calls to all of us to come out of the trees or the dark, to step into the light, to answer the answer the question "what is this that you've done?"
Sometimes even when we have made it this far our first instinct is to do just as the first man and woman did and pass the blame to someone else or to the fact that it is what everyone else it saying and doing.
God wants us once we have come out of hiding to realize that our makeshift deeds will never cover our sin and the guilt and shame that go with it. He wants to us trade our fig leaves for garments of righteousness that came at the expense of the sacrifice of His Son. Only then can we walk again with Him. Even after all that God said that life would still be hard and sometimes painful because of sin but because of Jesus we will be able to one day be free of the consequences of sin and return to paradise.
Watch this video, this account of Genesis 3 is amazing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1Z9No9TPHM
The above account says after they "saw" they sewed clothes for themselves out of fig leaves in an attempt to cover their shame and then they hid in the trees from God. I believe that is where a lot of people still are: in the dark picking out which outfit of fig leaves they will wear today because they ate the forbidden fruit, bought the lie. Some people have gone as far as to accept the lie as the truth and say what God's word says is old fashioned we now see "what's really going on."
God calls to all of us to come out of the trees or the dark, to step into the light, to answer the answer the question "what is this that you've done?"
Sometimes even when we have made it this far our first instinct is to do just as the first man and woman did and pass the blame to someone else or to the fact that it is what everyone else it saying and doing.
God wants us once we have come out of hiding to realize that our makeshift deeds will never cover our sin and the guilt and shame that go with it. He wants to us trade our fig leaves for garments of righteousness that came at the expense of the sacrifice of His Son. Only then can we walk again with Him. Even after all that God said that life would still be hard and sometimes painful because of sin but because of Jesus we will be able to one day be free of the consequences of sin and return to paradise.
Watch this video, this account of Genesis 3 is amazing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1Z9No9TPHM
