Genesis 3:1-13 (New International Version)
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ”
4 “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”
10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
1) Right at the beginning we see the willful nature of mankind. God asked only one thing of Adam and Eve, that they not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They were easily tempted and eat of this fruit. We are just as easily tempted. The simplest way to get a person to want something is tell them they can’t have it
It takes discipline to resist temptation. Discipline is not something that comes naturally to us, just ask the credit card companies. 🙂
When a Christ Follower surrenders themselves to God they are replacing their willful nature for his Grace(?). Their reward is eternal life in Heaven, the life Adam and Eve turned their backs on.
2) When I looked at the life Adam and Eve had in Eden it’s my perception that I have a different perspective from that of CFs.
In the perfect world of Heaven the Sun is always shinning. There are no storms, earthquakes, rain or snow. Everyday is perfect. The world I live in is constantly changing. If you live in New England, USA, it can change every hour. 🙂
I do greatly enjoy the warmth of the sun on a summer day. However after the first hundred years or so I think I might actually look forward to a snowstorm. 🙂
In Eden Adam’s and Eve’s every want was provided for them. To be honest I get the picture of a couple of less than scintillating personalities.
Eve, “Adam, what do you want to do today?” Adam, “I dunno, maybe sit in the meadow and soak up the sunshine, just like yesterday.” Eve, “Cool!”. 🙂
The quest for knowledge is for me what separates us from the rest of the creatures I share my world with. Along with the imagination to visualize what to do with it. It’s the challenge of dealing with a changing world that keeps my world interesting. It’s the destructive side of nature that fuels this change. That means dealing with hell as well as heaven.
Questions:
When faced with the temptation for something you know is wrong, how do you resist it?
If a being appeared before you and offered you immortality, and all you wanted, that the only thing you had to do was surrender your will to him, how would you know if he was God or the devil?
17 comments
Comments feed for this article
January 14, 2010 at 11:01 pm
Teena Myers
Why is an atheist doing a Bible Study? Seems like you would have discarded the Bible when you discarded the idea that God exists.
January 15, 2010 at 2:49 am
edfromct
Thanks Teena for stopping by and taking the time to ask a very good question. There are several reason I added a Bible study to my blog.
I live in a country where something like 80% of the population believe in God. Most are Christian, and many use the Bible to help guide their lives. If I what to learn as much as I can about the society I live in I need to try to understand better what helps shape that society, as the guidance in the Bible has.
I have found that I learn more about my own beliefs when I discuss them with people who, at least on the surface, seem to have a very different view. Me and my Christ Follower friends don’t have the same view on God, but we do agree on the importance of faith. We use our faith in the same way, to help understand, and overcome, challenges. My faith being in the natural forces that exist in the world I live in. My Christ Follower friend’s faith extends beyond that.
Most of my friends on the Net happen to be Christians. I enjoy my discussion with them and Bible Study is a natural extension of that.
January 15, 2010 at 12:04 am
Michelle
Hmmm…
When faced with temptation for something I know is wrong, how do I resist?
Not very well. A true temptation, by definition, is terribly hard to resist. When I have successfully resisted it has been through prayer and realizing I want to please God rather than self. Sometimes self wins. But, thankfully, through the Holy Spirit’s power, I can overcome. For the scripture says, “For God did not give us a Spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control.”
I’ll have to come back for the second question, Ed. It’s late for me and I’m growing very tired.
SOOOOOOO glad you’re back to posting Bible Studies. I love hearing your perspective and enjoy the interaction. Thank you, sir. 🙂
January 15, 2010 at 3:03 am
edfromct
Michelle, The Christ Follower’s faith in the Holy Spirt will help them overcome temptation.
It’s the life long challenge for the CF to strengthen that faith. Temptation may be a test of the degree of their faith, so they will know when they must work harder at it.
January 15, 2010 at 10:32 am
Debs
I read a saying once, (forgot who said this) “If we entertain temptations, soon they will be entertaining us.” Satan is described as an angel of light, and is very skilled at making sin seem attractive. We see in God’s Word that all temptation can be overcome by the power of God. 1 Corinthians 10:13″”No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”
Jesus also gave us an example of how to overcome sin, and He endured many temptations. Hebrews 4:15 “He was tempted in every way just as we are–yet was without sin.” He also gives us a way out every time, it’s always a choice. So how do I resist it? I don’t always, and when i don’t, there always seems to be a consequence that is not fun…. at all. So, I truly try to love Him, with all of my heart soul and mind, which again is a daily choice, then temptations become easy things to overcome. One of my favorite worship songs says “the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.” Very true. This includes temptations….
As for the second question, I have immortality and no matter what I think I want, all I need and want is found in Christ. There is no material things that can even begin to compare to 5 minutes with Him uninterrupted… so I’m there! 🙂
God speaks through your entire being, the enemy whispers in your ear. That’s the easiest way to say it. God will NEVER ask you to do anything, or offer you anything etc. that goes against His word. It also tells us in John 10:2-5 “The shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run away from him because they do not know the voice of strangers”
I hope this helped a little bit… SO good to see you back in the swing of things… 🙂
January 16, 2010 at 1:23 am
edfromct
Deb, you have the right formula for a CF to resist temptation. When you feel tempted, think of God. If you fill up your heart with love of God there is no room left for temptation.
“God speaks through your entire being, the enemy whispers in your ear”, and probably sounds like a used car salesman. 🙂 If God exist and did choose to make his presence know to me my spirit/soul would know it was him.
Simple but clear answers.
January 15, 2010 at 11:45 am
Indian Lake Papa
One of the keys to resisting temptation – is to flee from it. Not stand in front of it, think about it, rationalize it – but to flee. If a person has an addiction to alcohol, stay away from it. And get away quickly.
Question #2? Just by the statement itself – Christ went through that when Satan tempted Him.
January 15, 2010 at 7:28 pm
Debs
Papa: I just got a mental picture of you “fleeing”.. it made me smile 🙂
January 16, 2010 at 1:39 am
edfromct
Papa has Amos, you have a jeep(?), and I have my little Toyota Echo. My monies on Amos. 🙂
January 16, 2010 at 1:37 am
edfromct
Papa, fleeing from temptation works better when you have Amos to help you make a fast getaway. 🙂
You are right, it is best for an addict to avoid the source of that addiction.
My favorite city is New York, where I am surrounded by temptations of all varieties. There is no way to avoid them. Even in a city like that if the CF can fill their heart with love of God, they will be able to resist whatever the devil tries to tempt them with.
January 16, 2010 at 1:01 pm
Indian Lake Papa
“My favorite city is New York, where I am surrounded by temptations of all varieties. There is no way to avoid them.” I agree with you Ed, kinda – even then we can still avoid them – next time you go, borrow Amos! I think we could just do a little better at getting out of there – yep, Amos is a good idea.
Deb – I “flee” a little slower than I use to! Not a spiritual issue, its a speed issue. lol
January 16, 2010 at 11:11 pm
ric booth
I don’t do so good with temptation Ed. Well, not when tempted in my weakness anywho. I am stronger now than before, thanks to my new heart (He is creating in me a new heart). But I’m still weak in some areas and I cannot assume otherwise or else. Knowing my weaknesses strengthens me with knowledge. Some call it wisdom.
For example, if a recovering alcoholic has no alcohol around the house to tempt him, if he decides to not go to any event that is serving alcohol, is he is resisting temptation or consciously avoiding temptation altogether?
I think the question isn’t so much “why were Eve and Adam tempted” but rather, “why were they near the tree?”
January 18, 2010 at 2:28 am
edfromct
Ric, my guess is that tree started to tempt Adam and Eve as soon as God told them to stay away from it. 🙂
The CF has the advantage of biblical history to know the consequences of disobeying your God.
As you say, you have been given a new heart. The better you are able to strengthen you connection to your God, the better you will be able to use this new heart to overcome temptation.
January 19, 2010 at 2:38 pm
gchyayles
That’s a great point Brotha Ric. At CR we’re constantly talking about how our prideful (carnal) nature convinces us that we can be in a place where temptation is likely to occur and not fall into that temptation. If one is an alcoholic and have a desire to not be tempted then yeah stay away from places that serve alcohol, plain and simple. The prayer is “Lead us not into temptation” which I think is key. Lead us not i.e. do not take us places where we will be tempted. And if He does happen (and we know that it is in fact Him leading us to a particular place like He did Jesus in the wilderness) then He will give us everything we need (weapons of warfare) to fight it.
January 19, 2010 at 2:58 pm
gchyayles
Okay now for my response.
Temptation. Hmmmm. So this is really broad for me. You see there are different levels of temptation for me. There are those types of temptation that are “easier” for lack of a better word to resist because they are not a long term issue for me such as reacting when someone says something mean or when the HS tells me to hold my tongue when I’m having an argument with R or not reacting on the road when someone cuts me off or when my family is persecuting me for being a Christian. Don’t get me wrong overcoming those was a process too–renewing of the mind and spirit when I became a believer–but again those are on a different level for me than that one continual, particular temptation that Paul refers to as the “thorn in our flesh” that could very well be a long term fight between the flesh and the spirit.
How do you avoid temptation period? DAILY–Prayer. Reading. Praise music. “Holding every thought captive to the knowledge of Christ.” Binding up the enemy and rebuking his lies with God’s truth (Like Jesus did in the wilderness). Talking to believers you trust and who would pray for you and encourage you. Church.
And I believe that for every believer this is a learning process. You become a Christian and the Holy Spirit begins a good work in you which continues until you go to Heaven, which means there will always be temptation. The good news is that God gives us everything we need to fight it praise God!
I’m glad you’re doing Bible study Ed and I appreciate how you encourage me to grow in my understanding of my faith and God’s Word. I pray that somewhere in these conversations you too are encouraged, enlightened, strengthened and renewed. Much love and blessings.
January 20, 2010 at 12:09 am
edfromct
Prayer, church and praise music, are the weapons the Christ Follower uses for “Holding every thought captive to the knowledge of Christ”.
As you say gchyayles, learning to resist temptation is a life long process. As your faith grows temptation loses it’s power to distract you from your God’s plan for you.
March 6, 2022 at 2:37 am
Deliver Us From Evil! - Sunday Synopsis | The News Chronicle
[…] Temptation or Concupiscence of the Eyes: The temptation of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1-13) and the temptation of Christ in the wilderness (Luke 4:1-13 & Matthew 4:8-10) speaks to the […]