There are few things in life where most people remember where they were when it happened. Do you remember where you were when the space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff? It was 1986. I was in my senior year of high school. A TV was rolled into the room for us to watch news coverage. All of America came to find out later that several engineers had warned against proceeding that day and they had data to back up their concerns. They knew the O-ring seals were vulnerable in cold temperatures. The night before launch, one engineer basically said, “If we launch in this weather, we are risking catastrophe.” But the decision makers believed liftoff was too important to delay. Seventy-three seconds after liftoff, the shuttle broke apart and seven lives were lost.
Here’s what makes that so sobering. It wasn’t a lack of information that was the problem. The truth was known. It just wasn’t followed. And this isn’t just a NASA problem. This is a human problem, as well. We don’t struggle because we don’t have the truth. We struggle because we don’t always respond to it. We must learn, believe, rehearse, and yield to the truth, God’s Word. (Source: NASA Rogers Commission Report, 1986)
The Subtility of Sin (3:1, 4-5)
Genesis 3 is a huge shift in the Biblical narrative. Before Genesis 3:1, we read of the incredible power of God, the sovereignty of God, the unlimited knowledge of God, and the beauty of His perfect creation. Then, the rejection of truth and the acceptance of immediate gratification introduces the sin that changes everything. This is the classic discussion of truth vs. deception. Satan questions God’s Word (3:1). He even continues to use the same tactic of questioning God’s Word today because it works! But Satan does more than just question the word of God. He makes the move to redefine what is right and what is wrong. Satan wants Adam and Eve to see right as wrong and wrong as right! Look at verses 4 and 5, “you will not die” and “God knows you will actually be like God, knowing good and evil!” Look at the appeal to humanity’s desire for autonomy instead of submission to God (we still struggle with that today). Also, do you see the rejection of identity from God to pursue self-identification? We still struggle with that as well.
In our home, we always told our kids that we considered lying to be one of the worst things they could do. However, some of them still tried their hand at it. Sometimes, they were really good at lying. That scared us. I have also done enough counseling to watch people “misrepresent” themselves and others (lie) to make sure they are seen in the best light. Deception is of the devil!
Satan is the master deceiver! Let’s be honest. Sin is tempting. If sin wasn’t tempting, we wouldn’t have a problem with sin. Our own reasoning or logic is faulty when it is separate from scripture. Scripture is the standard for truth (Jn. 17:17), but our hearts are deceitful and wicked (Jer. 17:9). Eve struggled when she rejected truth and embraced the lies. Satan is good at the lies! Isn’t he? John 8:44 even says that he is the “father of lies.” He is still telling lies today:
Did God really mean love your wife, submit to your husband, or obey your parents?
It isn’t a big deal to skip Bible reading and prayer!
No one is going to get hurt by your resentment, bitterness, envy, gossip, or rebellion!
God doesn’t want you to be happy!
You are better off doing it your way!
You deserve this!
Follow your heart!
Reject the lies and embrace the truth of God’s Word.
The Transparency of Truth (3:2-3)
Did you notice that Eve knows the truth?! We often hear in today’s culture, “Education is key to preventing crime,” or “if people know better, they will do better.” Well, Eve wasn’t ignorant of God’s instructions. In fact, she rehearses to the serpent exactly what God had said!
When our children were younger, we would often give them instructions to obey, like your clean room or mow the lawn. There were times they did not do as they were instructed. We would then hear them say, “I didn’t know you meant me,” or “I couldn’t hear you,” and the ever popular, “I forgot.” Going forward, we would make efforts to improve our communication skills to help them follow instructions!
Eve did not have these excuses. Eve knew exactly what the word of the Lord was concerning the tree! Knowing the truth, believing the truth, rehearsing the truth, and yielding to the truth is all crucial for victorious Christian living. Do you know and believe the truth (the Bible)? Do you rehearse the truth or are you being discipled with 7 hours of media a day (social media algorithms and 24/7 news networks)…thus making modern media the dominant influence on your choices? Do you choose to yield to truth or lies…do you yield to swift gratification or truth?
The Downfall of Decisions (3:6-7)
Just having knowledge is not the whole issue at hand. Our struggle is often connected to a stronger desire for immediate gratification. This immediate gratification in verse 6 is highlighted with three things:
The appeal to physical desire
“…the tree was good for food….”
The appeal to emotional satisfaction
“…pleasant to the eyes….”
The appeal to intellectual pride
“…a tree to be desired to make one wise….”
Giving in to sinful temptations often leads to immediate gratification (like alcohol, drugs, gluttony, pornography, endless social media scrolling, gaming, and gambling). However, yielding to truth leads to closer relationship with Jesus, the weight of guilt is absent, and this true freedom brings genuine joy.
Giving in to sinful temptation trades lasting blessings for moments of pleasure.
The alcoholic drives home drunk, hits another car, and people are killed. At that moment, the alcoholic trades the blessing of freedom, family, and independence for prison, guilt, and a broken family. Or we can also see the deeply wounded person refuses forgiveness and trades the blessing of uplifting relationships and trust in God…for bitterness, anxiety, and misery.
We cannot trade tomorrow’s reward for today’s craving. Before we shake our heads in disapproval at Adam and Eve, we really must stop to consider how we ourselves reject truth for immediate gratification.
We reject purity for pleasure with immoral movie scenes, provocative video game animation, and pornography. Our thoughts seem to repeat “This feels good right now.”
We reject truth for approval by hiding things from a spouse, parent, or boss. We will refuse transparency with good Christian friends for fear of rejection…believing they would judge us (when the truth is those friends probably struggle with the same or similar things). Our logic repeats, “I don’t want to upset anyone.”
We reject forgiveness for bitterness over deep wounds, and we fail to remember the wounds over which Jesus has forgiven us. So instead, we continually rehearse, “They don’t deserve forgiveness.”
We reject discipline for comfort and think, “I’ll do it later.” I’ll read my Bible later. I’ll pray later. I’ll eat healthier later. I’ll take better care of the body God entrusted to me later. I’ll be serious about my relationship with God later.
We reject self-control for indulgence and laugh it off with telling others, “I just want what I want.” So, we believe we should indulge in our third piece of dessert, we should tell that gossip to some friends as a prayer request, we should watch that immoral bed scene, or we should abuse our God-given bodies with alcohol and worry about self-control later…or at least embrace self-control (temperance, Gal. 5:22-23) for chats with specific groups of people.
Do you remember the old TV show called Dennis the Menace? Dennis really had a way of getting himself into a lot of trouble! Dennis would get to thinking about some idea he thought was going to be great and that led to actions that brought about trouble.
Our thoughts impact all of our choices. Our parents, whether they realized this or not, often used this truth with the ever discerning question, “What were you thinking?!” By God’s grace, may we redirect our thoughts at the time of temptation away from immediate gratification. The Christian world view has a “what’s coming after this” mentality. God uses such a mentality to move us all from immediate gratification to the outcomes of the choice.
May we all learn, believe, rehearse, and yield to the truth called God’s Word by:
1. Saturate your mind with truth.
2. Guard your mind from rehearsing lies.
3. Choose a game plan for temptation.
4. Pursue God’s plan for living life on this side of heaven.