by Jacob Ninan
When we think of the temptation in the Garden of Eden and how Eve fell, it is easy to think of it as an act of direct disobedience to God. While that is true, we can learn more if we look at it more deeply. Let us read the description of what happened. "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"?' The woman said to the serpent, 'From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 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."' The serpent said to the woman, 'You surely will not die! 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.'" (Gen.3:1-5).
We know it was Satan tempting Eve through the form of a serpent. Poor Eve was not really aware of how she was being duped. God had told Adam and Eve that they could eat from any tree in the garden except from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, warning them that if they ate from it they would die. But apparently, Eve did not understand the significance of this tree, because she referred to that tree only as a tree in the middle of the garden. She also extended her imagination a little bit and said that they were not even supposed to 'touch it' even though God had not told them that.
Satan's bait in this temptation was to present to her the possibility of becoming like God knowing good and evil. He told Even point blank that even if she ate it, she would not die, directly contradicting what God had said. Even then Eve could not see through Satan. She thought it was a good thing to become like God, and she did not see anything wrong in getting to know good and evil like God. But the catch was this. What Satan meant by becoming like God was not what we would understand now. We say we want to become like Jesus, more loving, kind, merciful, compassionate, forgiving, pure, etc. This has to do with becoming like Him in His character, not in the essence of being God. We are only created beings and we can never be God, gods or even a god to ourselves. What Satan meant was what he himself had earlier sought out to become, knowing everything and becoming like God so that he could be 'independent' of God. What Eve did not see was that by eating from that tree she was declaring independence from God and then she would be eternally separated from Him.
Isn't that the essence of sin? When we sin, we are doing things independent of God, choosing to do what we like irrespective of what He thinks about it. We think we know what we like, what we think is good for us, and we even decide what is good or evil! This is the attitude behind sin, and this attitude is what is spreading all around the world. It is shocking to see that even in the church, people pick and choose what they want to accept from the word of God and even dare to say, "I don't agree with that," or that certain commandments were only for certain times and people. Now it has come to a place where people give up ideas which everybody knew in their conscience to be sin, and believe that sin is a relative concept – what someone considers to be sin is fine for him as a concept, but he cannot insist that everyone else should accept it. Everyone is now 'free' to choose whatever he fancies!
We can look at some of the blatant examples of this. Till recently, everyone knew that marriage meant a union between a man and a woman. But hasn't that changed now? A man can now marry another man and a woman another woman! There are even cases of men getting married to dolls! All this comes from a redefinition of what is right or wrong, and every 'progressive' person has to give in to whatever choice another makes!
Another ridiculous thing that is happening is that people are now free to define which gender they are. They can even change their gender from time to time, calling it 'gender fluidity'! Some parents are giving the freedom to newborn babies to name their gender after they grow up. A man who calls himself a woman can participate now in women's athletics, and walk into public toilets marked for women!
Till a few years ago, everyone knew that adultery was a major sin. But not any more! Many countries have removed their laws against adultery, saying that what someone does consensually with another person is outside the scope of jurisdiction.
Nowadays, many women want to get married because of the social status and security it gives them, but in reality what they are most interested is not their family life but their career. In the meantime, children are getting aborted or neglected after they are born. In this way, they neglect the role God has designed for them specially, physically and psychologically.
As children grow up, they want to be independent, 'following their heart' and dreams, and not subjecting themselves to anybody else. They think they know what is good for them. They want to be 'free' (and 'independent'). They don't understand that true freedom is to be able to do what we know to be right and good, and to be from any kind of bondage that prevents us from doing right. But they, like many, think that freedom is to be able to do whatever they feel like!
The political air is such that people's personal rights are being given the greatest priority. In other words, people are being allowed more and more to be able to do what they like. Anyone who points to moral values, what people have believed from ancient times, etc., are being labelled as regressive, not keeping up with the times, antisocial, etc., and sometimes even attacked.
God has told us already that this is the direction the world will take in the end times. "But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these" (2Tim.3:1-5). Yet even Christians who read the Bible are being influenced to adjust themselves to the popular trends in the world.
"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths" (2Tim.4:3,4). Even though now we have the ability to choose the preachers we listen to and pick those who can lead us towards godliness, and even the church we are part of, many Christians are following those who will keep them entertained.
"For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ" (Jude.4). This is talking about churches where ungodly people have crept in, and who preach in such a way that makes the listeners believe that no matter how they actually live, the grace of God will cover them.
But God tells us to be careful to follow the commandments and instructions of God 'without stain or reproach' (1Tim.6:13,14). Instead of listening to politicians, so-called scientists or experts, let us make God's word our primary guide and what we will follow. Instead of trying to become personally independent, let us become totally dependent on God in every part of our life, and then also interdependent on other people. That is God's design for our life.