Of Adam, Eve And Jesus

I would like to invite you to step into the "way-back" machine, and take a journey to the Garden of Eden. And, while doing that, to also take a trip to the wilderness of Israel....

The time: Sometime after God had made a help meet for Adam, the woman that Adam called "Eve."

The time: Very shortly after the baptism of Jesus.

The place: In the Garden of Eden, quite likely within viewing range of the Tree of Knowledge.

The place: The wilderness of Israel, a place of broiling hot days and freezing cold nights.

The scene: Eve is alone. She is apparently used to talking to the various creatures in the garden, or she is very calm when a snake strikes up a conversation. Either way, she starts to listen as that serpent asks a question....

The scene: Jesus has been fasting for 40 days and 40 nights, when He is approached by the devil....

The devil makes his opening statements

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
(Gen. 3:1)

And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
(Matt. 4:3)

And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 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.
(Gen. 3:2-3)

But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
(Matt. 4:4)

The devil presented a challenge to Eve and Jesus. Both were based on knowledge of the truth of the situation. God had told Adam and Eve not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, and Jesus most certainly had the ability to turn stones into bread. Both answered using God's Word. (Eve from God's direct statement in Gen. 2:16-17, Jesus from Deut. 8:2-3.)

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food, and that it [was] pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make [one] wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
(Gen. 3:4-6)

Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in [their] hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
(Matt. 4:5-7)

This time, the devil uses the twisting of God's Word to try and accomplish his desire - the sin of the people involved. The difference this time is that Eve gave in to the sensual aspects of the temptation. She allowed the sin to apply itself to her life in steps...as food, as something pretty, as a source of wisdom. On the other hand, Jesus, even though He had every right to do what the devil suggested, rebuked satan. He quoted from Deut. 6:16, which refers to how, after all God had done for the Israelites in the wilderness (since leaving Egypt), they dared to complain that they had been abandoned in the desert. They demanded God prove He was still there with them. In this verse, Moses warns them (and us) NOT to test him like that ever again. God Almighty (as well as His Son and His Holy Spirit) do NOT answer to man.

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.
(Gen. 3:7)

Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
(Matt. 4:8-10)

Adam and Eve have blown it. They got what they wanted, but not the WAY they wanted it. There eyes have been opened to the knowledge of good and evil. However, that knowledge comes from the fact that they are now sinful. In what could be argued to be the first ever attempt at works-based salvation, they made aprons out of fig leaves to cover their sinfulness. Jesus has yet again repelled the onslaught of the devil. Even though satan has offered everything the world has to give (and, thanks to Adam and Eve becoming children of sin, this is well within his rights to offer.) Still yet, Jesus uses the Word of God to answer. This time, two verses are used: Deut. 6:13 ("Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.") and Deut. 10:20 ("Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name.")

And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
(Gen. 3:8)

Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
(Matt. 4:11)

In the end, Adam and Eve knew they had done wrong. Sin had entered and ensnared them. They tried to hide from God. They had been the door through which death had entered. From this time on, humanity would be spiritually dead at birth (conception), and with a sinful flesh (which leads to eventual physical death.) Men and women were cursed, as was the very earth itself. Even the creature that satan used to manifest himself in, the serpent, was cursed.

Compare this to Jesus, who had overcome every temptation. Jesus resisted sin, and in so doing made Himself a perfect sacrifice: a lamb without blemish.

And even still today, Jesus is saving men and women, young and old. For we are told:
"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
Rom. 10:13

Grace and Peace....