Copyright © 1998 by Jason Michael Sr.
In Genesis 2:19-20, we see that God creates various creatures and brings them to Adam, but none of them are found to be "comparable." Then in verses 21-25, we see that God eventually creates "woman." This new 'roommate' is finally found to be a comparable and suitable companion for Adam.
It is important to note that this woman has been given a 'free will', just as Adam was. This can be seen in the following verses, where it becomes clear that like Adam, the woman has been made aware of the boundary around the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" and is free to choose whether or not to obey ---
Genesis 3:1-3 "Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, ' You shall not eat of every tree in the garden'?" (v.2) And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; (v.3) "but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said ,'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.' "
You will
notice in the above verses, that the woman is talking with a
"serpent."
But who is this serpent and where did he come from?
The identity of the serpent is most clearly defined in the book of Revelation ---
Revelation 12:9 "... that serpent of old, called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world, he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him."
As seen in the above passage, this serpent is actually an individual who is known in the bible by several names, one of those being "Satan", which literally means "adversary."
The bible tells us a bit more about this individual in the book of Jude ---
Jude 1:6 "... the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own habitation, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day ..."
Taken together, the previous two verses suggest that Satan is the leader of a group of angels... Furthermore, the bible describes him as leading this group of angels in a rebellion... Apparently, this group begin their careers in heaven, but end up being "cast out." The reason for their being cast out, is that somewhere along the way, they reject the boundaries that were originally established for them by God... As the above passage says, they "...did not keep their proper domain".
And in biblical terms, a rejection of God's authority and boundaries is known as 'sin'.
'Sin' = a disbelief in God's authority and a rejection of His boundaries.
It is worth noticing
that there are two things at the root of all sin.
These are ---
Next, we will look at the consequences that result from rejecting God's authority and boundaries.
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