Three Temptations

Genesis 3:1-4:26 There are only three ways the enemy can tempt us. When God created Adam and Eve, they had three beautiful desires: the desire to worship God in all of His holiness, the desire to enjoy God and all of His creation, and the desire to glorify God or make His presence manifest on earth to all of creation. All the desires in the souls of Adam and Eve were directed toward God, and only God could satisfy those desires. These desires were perverted after the Fall into three lustful areas in our souls: The desire to worship God was perverted into the lust of the eyes (greedy longings in our minds); the desire to enjoy God was perverted into the lust of the flesh (seeking to satisfy our five senses through overindulgence); and the desire to glorify God was perverted into the pride of life (trusting in our own resources and ourselves more than we trust in God). These are the three buttons Satan always tries to push in us because he knows we will always have these weaknesses in our souls.

THE LUST OF THE EYES. Satan offered Adam and Eve temporary and immediate satisfaction of these desires when he tempted them in the garden. Everything in the garden was beautiful, and all the fruit trees were designed for consumption except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God forbade Adam and Eve to eat from this tree, or they would die. The first temptation Eve received was the temptation in her mind to doubt that God’s word was true. If Satan is able to put any doubt in our minds at all about God’s, Word then he has access to the rest of our souls—our emotions and our wills. Eve’s mind was seduced by Satan’s suggestions, and the lust of the eyes developed in her mind. Now the emotional part of her soul was about to be seduced.

THE LUST OF THE FLESH. Eve looked at the fruit and saw that it was good for food and pleasant to her eyes. Her thinking probably went like this: “Surely God created this also for my pleasure, and nothing will happen to me if I eat this.” This type of thinking has seduced millions into addictive habits. People who take drugs or become alcoholics never think of the consequences. They only think of the immediate satisfaction. Satan knows just how to tantalize our senses to actually crave what would be harmful to us if used unwisely or used to the extreme. God created us with the desire first to hunger and thirst after Him and for us to find pleasure first in Him, not in His creation. Counselors will tell us that most addiction is rooted in deep emotional needs that have not been fulfilled. The addicted person seeks to fill his soul through substance abuse. The emotional area of Eve’s soul was seduced.

THE PRIDE OF LIFE. Eve also thought the fruit would make her as wise as God. God wants us to be like Him because we were originally created in His image. God knew, however, if Adam and Eve knew about evil, they would no longer be led by the Spirit of God, and their spirits would die. The will area of Eve’s soul was touched. She trusted herself more than she trusted God’s Word, and pride entered. What caused Satan’s downfall caused hers.

READ: Genesis 3:1-4:26; Matthew 2:13-3:6; Psalm 2:1-12; Proverbs 1:7-9