2006 Latin American Bible Study MeetingApril 18, 2006,  Evening And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.  (Genesis 3:15)The Serpent Was More Cunning than any of the BeastsWe have already studied how God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh day. We have also seen how the sixth day allows us a glimpse of what was in God’s heart as He was in the process of creating the environment in which we live—His plan to complete His partner in love. Also, through the order of the six-day creation, we have thought about the history of Israel which the creator God has been overseeing.In the letters to the Ephesians and the Colossians in particular, we come across references to a body that God prepared before the foundation of the world Since this body was predestined before the foundation of the world, it means it was predestined before the creation. If you read the Bible carefully, however, you will find the history of Israel was preordained after the creation. In Genesis chapter 3 we can see that it was when Adam disobeyed God’s command and fell into sin that God established His plan for the history of one particular nation. It is important to understand precisely the relationship between the Church and Israel. The Church is God’s partner in love which He predestined in His heart before the creation of the world. The history of Israel, on the other hand, is a history that God predestined as a result of man having sinned. I hope that you will not confuse these two matters. If you do not understand this clearly, you will become confused as you are reading the Bible.Let’s read Genesis chapter 3 from verse 1.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 of the garden’?”  (Genesis 3:1)Satan appeared in the body of a serpent and approached the woman who had been created for Adam. Until this time, the woman had not been named. In Genesis chapter 2 we find that God commanded Adam, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (verses 16-17). These words were spoken to Adam before the woman was created. Yet, at this time the serpent asked the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” The fact that he used the plural form of “you” here was already a trick. Then he also asked if God had told them not to eat of every tree of the garden. God had definitely said Adam could eat freely of any tree of the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but the serpent asked if God had said not to eat of every tree of the garden. Satan is very cunning and much cleverer than man. He is not wise in the sense to which the Bible refers; it is more that he is clever in an evil way. He uses rational and persuasive words to deceive man. Satan wears away at a person’s spirit little by little just as an insect gnaws away at a house bit by bit until the house collapses. It will be the same for those who are not yet saved, but after salvation a person must strive even more with the issue of sin. Also, we find ourselves thinking, “This much isn’t so bad,” but then we start giving in more and more. In the same way, when it comes to reading the Bible, we may think it does not matter to skip one day, but then we find ourselves making the same excuse the next day. Then as this becomes a habit, our hearts become more and more distant from God’s wisdom. Even people who have been saved through the word of God may lead lives that have gradually move further and further away from the Bible. I too once made such a terrible mistake after I was saved. It was not that I abruptly turned away from the Bible with malicious intent. Little by little I became more and more distant from it. There is a verse in the Bible that says, “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep – so shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, and your need like an armed man” (Proverbs 6:10-11). Satan gnaws away at our spirits like this. This applies both to people who are saved and those who are not.How sensitive have you been towards the matter of your sin in the course of your life until now? Have you made an effort not to sin? Were your efforts not to sin effective? No matter how hard we try, we find that we refrain for a short time and then we stumble, we turn away from sin and then we fall into it again. Such is man’s life. The prince of the power of the air is constantly  scratching away at our hearts and stirring things up.And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 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.’”  (Genesis 3:2-3)To Satan’s question, the woman answered, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden.” She used the word “we” and in doing so she began to fall for Satan’s deception. She also answered that God had said, “You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.” There were both the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life in the midst of the garden, but God only told Adam not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Nevertheless, the woman included the tree of life when she said that God had told them they were not to eat or to touch the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden. She expressed it as though God had spoken to both of them. Also, God had said, “For in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die,” but the woman said, “lest you die.” Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.”  (Genesis 3:4)God said, “For in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die,” but Satan said, “You will not surely die.” Satan’s words were the complete opposite of what God had said. He was very furtive as he cunningly led the woman along until he said these words. What about us? The Bible says, “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20). Nevertheless, many Christians in this world teach people that it is necessary to keep the law in order to go to the kingdom of God. They teach the opposite of what God has said in His word. In First Timothy it says, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (2:5), and yet people are taught that the sins they commit in this world can be cleared in front of God if they confess them to another person. God said, “For in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die,” but Satan said you will not surely die. He completely twisted God’s words when he said, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” These were no ordinary words he was playing around with; these were the words of God. Similarly, many religious people in this world wear the mask of Christianity and, with Bible in hand, they twist the words of God. Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). He made it clear that a person must be born again. Yet, the religions of this world create many paths of their own claiming they lead to God. Jesus said, “Enter by the narrow gate” (Matthew 7:13) and, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). It is when an individual acknowledges the fact that his sins have been cleansed completely through the blood Jesus Christ shed on the cross and is thankful to God for the remission of his sins that a person is born anew. Not only are we unable to keep the law, but the Bible tells us there is no way we can be justified by the law. The Bible also says, “There is only one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.” Yet, how have you come to the point you are now at? What kind of faith have you had before God as you have lived your life so far? Weren’t you walking the path of certain death? God has said, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12, 16:25), and yet the way of life is right beside the way of death. With the same Bible in hand, some people are running along the broad way that leads to hell, while others have passed through the narrow gate and are walking the way of life. We need to live our lives with God’s words as the standard. We must not hold the doctrines taught by some church or religious denomination as the standard. Some people even teach that the Bible is not to be read by everybody, and only certain special people should read it. Yet, in Deuteronomy it says, “He shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God” (17:19).In the course of your life so far, have you ever considered what is in your heart in the light of the Bible and asked yourself what God is really saying to you? Haven’t you been turning your back on God’s word which tells you that you will perish if you continue as you are doing, and been listening instead to the voice of Satan? You may be thinking, “I have been attending this particular church all my life,” “I have always had this kind of faith,” but all the accomplishments and achievements that have built up in your heart need to crumble before the cross of Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul said that he was blameless “concerning the righteousness which is in the law” (Philippians 3:6), but he also spoke of the “excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus” and wrote that he considered everything else “as rubbish” (see Philippians 3:8). No matter how much effort we put into our religious lives, we cannot be as diligent as the apostle Paul.

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