Adam and Eve found themselves in paradise, the likes of which we cannot imagine. They had everything they could possibly need.
God completed his work and deemed it “very good” (Genesis 1:31Genesis 1:31
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
31 And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
WP-Bible plugin, NKJV). He then rested, leaving it up to man to enjoy or corrupt this extraordinary blessing.
Satan knocked on their door with smooth, flattering words and Adam and Eve fell for his lies, allowing evil to enter (Genesis 3:1-19Genesis 3:1-19
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
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1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which Jehovah God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of any tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat:
3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and she gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
8 And they heard the voice of Jehovah God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Jehovah God amongst the trees of the garden.
9 And Jehovah God called unto the man, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
13 And Jehovah God said unto the woman, What is this thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
14 And Jehovah God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15 and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy pain and thy conception; in pain thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in toil shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18 thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19 in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
WP-Bible plugin). Instead of protecting their house, sin moved in and they were expelled from the Garden (Genesis 3:22-24Genesis 3:22-24
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
22 And Jehovah God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever—
23 therefore Jehovah God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden the Cherubim, and the flame of a sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
WP-Bible plugin).
In the 1980 film, “The God’s Must Be Crazy” a peaceful African tribe finds trouble when a Coke bottle falls from a plane. Initially astonished that the “gods” have given them this gift, they soon realize it is a curse as the bottle sparks fights, anger and pain.
The tribal leader throws the bottle away, only to see someone retrieve it. To protect his house, he takes the Coke bottle many miles away, so it will no longer threaten their peace.
Adam and Eve should have chosen the same path, instead of accepting Satan’s lies.
What will we do to protect our house, our spiritual abode? Will we accept the lies and bring evil into our midst? Paul wrote, “But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints” (Ephesians 5:3Ephesians 5:3
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as becometh saints;
WP-Bible plugin). In other words, we say no to Satan’s sales pitch and slam the door in his sneering face.
We teach our children that sin is not welcome in our lives. We protect our hearts with the pure gospel of Christ. “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8Galatians 1:8
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach unto you any gospel other than that which we preached unto you, let him be anathema.
WP-Bible plugin).
We do not allow the sins of the flesh to enter our homes (Galatians 5:16-21Galatians 5:16-21
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary the one to the other; that ye may not do the things that ye would.
18 But if ye are led by the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, parties,
21 envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of which I forewarn you, even as I did forewarn you, that they who practise such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
WP-Bible plugin). We do not slip them in and hide them in a corner so no one will see them (Ephesians 4:1Ephesians 4:1
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1 I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beseech you to walk worthily of the calling wherewith ye were called,
WP-Bible plugin).
How much sin is acceptable in our lives? A woman puts a glass in front of her beloved child. Someone asks her how much poison she will allow in her child’s glass. She will shout none!
“Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7James 4:7
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
7 Be subject therefore unto God; but resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
WP-Bible plugin). God provides all that we need, so we must fill our homes with his bountiful blessings.
–by Richard Mansel