Lesson 3: Eve - The First Sin (Disobedience)

Hello Everyone,

I pray that you all have had a blessed week. I would like to welcome the readers from Sweden.  It is so awesome that God is continuing to reach the masses across countries through this blog. His work is everlasting to everlasting.

I hope that you all spent this week truly committing to practicing vulnerability in Christ.  His grace is sufficient to sustain us through every vulnerable moment (2 Corinthians 12:9).  So many women emailed and texted about the power and blessings of vulnerability this week.  This is true evidence that God is at work through His divine design of womanhood of Eve.

This week we will tackle the sin that caused us such deep separation from God.  We acknowledge and take responsibility for the consistent sin that plagues us. We will also obtain knowledge and skills to better equip ourselves in the battle against sin.

RESOURCE

Genisis 3:1-13

1Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which theLord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 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.’” 4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. 8 And they heard the sound 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 among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” 11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”

12 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” 13 And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 

Sin -  (n) Estrangement from God; (v) To violate a law of God or a moral law

Disobedience - (n) failure to obey and/or comply; (v) to disobey or dutifully disregard 
                               commands and/or instructions of those in authority

Pride - (n) A ballooned amount of satisfaction in oneself and one's own achievements; (v) to
               display unreasonable and inordinate self-esteem; superbia 

LESSON

The most obvious sin displayed initially is disobedience.  When the Holy Spirit that abides within us is warring with our flesh and we succumb to our flesh, we are practicing disobedience. If there was obedience, then warring wouldn't occur.  God requires immediate obedience because delayed obedience is still disobedience.  Warring also implies delayed obedience.

Eve's clear and visible sin is disobedience to God's command. However, the quiet sin that we often ignore in this scenario is her pride.  Eve yielded to her own pride when she doubted God's instructions not to eat.   She, through her own pride, believed that she was better equipped to decide for herself whether she could or could not eat from the tree of life.  God had already commanded her not to do so. Eve's pride (flesh) told her to do it anyway.

Then there is the sin of blame shifting which is a descendant of pride through lies.  Adam shifted the blame to Eve and Eve shifted the blame to the serpent.  We are too proud to admit when we are wrong and have done wrong.  True repentance requires remission of sin and taking responsibility; taking the blame.

After studying this portion of the bible, it is very apparent that the blame shifting is currently a major part of this incident.  It was the devil in the likeness of a serpent that beguiled and tempted Eve (Nelson 1997).  The majority of the commentaries are synonymous in stating that the serpent was to blame for the sin.  They yielded to the temptation and failed in the test (Mears 1999).  However, while the serpent provided the opportunity, Eve made the choice.  Adam then made the same choice in regards to Eve.  They both chose to sin.

God gave them His own presence and fellowship (Mears 1999).  Eve could have paused while the serpent was tempting her and called out to God.  She could have asked God herself about the serpent's words.  She had the opportunity, she was there in the garden with God.  Contrary to common belief, we have that same opportunity when we are tempted by sin.  We have the Holy Spirit that abides within us and we also can call out to God through prayer (Romans 8:26).  God has equipped us with the tools to fight against sin (John 14:26). 

God created people in His own image to have fellowship with Himself (Mears 1999).  We were created to honor and glorify God's image.  We are not fulfilling our general purpose when we are submitting to sin and ruining God's reputation.

APPLICATION

Consider Eve and the word definitions listed above; sin, disobedience, & pride.  Are you exhibiting any of the characteristics and/or behaviors explained through the definitions of these words?  Are you regularly tempted like Eve?  And do you succumb to the temptation as Eve did?

We need to take a closer look at ourselves and live moment by moment for Christ.  It is in the small quiet moments that we are losing the battle to sin, just like Eve.  Let's practice more self-control and self-discipline in serving God's general purpose for us.  We must deny our flesh, resist our prideful (sinful) nature, and practice obedience to God's word in order to protect God's reputation.  We are a direct representation of Him.  We are in His image.

This week we will look at the definitions listed above and assess ourselves.   In your daily prayer time ask God to reveal the areas in which you could possibly be exhibiting these behaviors.  Then ask Him to help you overcome them.  Also, continue to practice vulnerability.  These things will help us all draw nigh to God.

I pray that you all will have a blessed week!!!

Be blessed,

T. Carter

REFERENCES

All scripture notations were extracted from the New King James Version of the Bible. YouVersion (2013)

Mears, Henrietta (1999).  What the Bible is All About.  Regal Publishing.  Ventura, California

M-W.com (2013).  Merriam - Webster Dictionary Web Version. Retrieved from: App Store

Nelson, Thomas (1997).  Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible. Thomas Nelson Publishing. Nashville, Tennessee