In Genesis chapter three, verse one, the serpent attacked God through God’s creation. He stated that what God said to Adam was not right, and Adam and Eve believed Satan. The result of Adam and Eve’s sin, the curse of sin, the consequences did come upon God’s creation, including the human race God had made in His image. The “serpent” later identifies with Satan or the devil. Satan took control of the serpent and used it as an instrument in using temptation.
The human race is bound to God by faith in His Word as absolute truth. Because He knew this, Satan sought to destroy the woman’s faith in what God had said by raising doubts about that Word. Satan suggested that God did not mean what He said. In other words, the first lie proposed by Satan was a form of denying the judgment of death for deliberate transgression.
One of the primary sins of humankind is unbelief in God’s Word. It is the unbelief that God does not mean what He says about salvation, righteousness, sin, judgment, and death. Satan’s most persistent lie is that unrepentant deliberate sin and rebellion against God will not necessarily bring separation from God and eternal condemnation. This corruptive influence of human nature involves an innate desire to go one’s selfish way without concern for God and others.
When Adam and Eve lived in moral innocence before the fall, there was no sense of wrong or shame. However, after they sinned, their awareness became associated with sin and the fallen, depraved human condition of humankind. The guilt and consciousness of sin caused Adam and Eve to be uncomfortable in God’s presence, knowing that they were sinful and under His pleasure.
Satan caused the downfall of the human race through deception. Misleading is one of the chief methods for leading people away from God’s way and truth. The enemy blinds the minds of the unbelieving of this world so that they might not understand the gospel. Today, it is Satan’s deception that some within the church believe they can choose to live a sinful lifestyle and still inherit the kingdom of God. All Christians must be prepared for and committed to a continuous life and death struggle against the deception of Satan as it relates to our personal lives, marriages, families, schools, churches, and work.