GENESIS 3:1-16
The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”
2 “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. 3 “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”
4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. 5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”
6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. 7 At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.
8 When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. 9 Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
10 He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”
11 “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”
12 The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”
13 Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”
“The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”
14 Then the Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this, you are cursed
more than all animals, domestic and wild.
You will crawl on your belly,
groveling in the dust as long as you live.
15 And I will cause hostility between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
16 Then he said to the woman,
“I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy,
and in pain you will give birth.
And you will desire to control your husband,
but he will rule over you.”
How would you summarize our Bible reading today in just a few words?
Genesis 3:1–16 is often given a title like “Why Life Is a Mess.” And honestly, it fits. Every painful story we hear, every wound we carry, every moment that feels twisted away from God’s goodness can be traced back to this moment in the Garden, when the enemy whispered a lie, and humanity believed it.
And let’s be honest: the lie sounded good. The serpent didn’t come with horns and a pitchfork and we often see pictured; the serpent came with a rather persuasive argument. The serpent described God as restrictive, as if the Creator who formed Adam and Eve out of love was somehow holding out on them. That was subtle but effective message: “God doesn’t want you to have everything. God is keeping something from you.”
But here’s the crucial detail the devil conveniently left out: the path he offered led straight to death. That’s still one of his most effective strategies today, pulling our attention away from the consequences and getting us focused on a short-term payoff. And often, that “payoff” is a lie too.
I’ve fallen for it. You’ve fallen for it. We all have. And if the story ended there, the consequences would be devastating. But the beauty of Scripture is that God refuses to let the story end in despair.
Paul puts it plainly: “The wages of sin is death.” But in the same breath he declares the hope that changes everything: “The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Jesus willingly laid down His life. His death and resurrection became the ultimate act of love, that pulls us out of what the old hymn calls “the miry clay” and "sets our feet on solid rock to stay."
Because Jesus stepped in, the lie that once defined humanity no longer gets the final word. God’s love does.
LET'S PRAY
Lord God, thank You for loving us even when we fall for the lies that pull us from Your ways. Thank You for Jesus, who stepped into our mess, broke the power of sin, and opened the way back to life with You.
Set our feet on Your solid rock again. Amen
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