Genesis is such a fascinating book and when I was reading Genesis 3 I was struck again by the nature and pattern of sin in our lives. It all starts in verse 1

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’? ”

Sin is knowledgably doing something against Gods will. The enemy often seeks to go after a truth we already hold so his question to the woman is a set up to this. We see her response;

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

Its clear that she knew the truth. She wasn’t unsure or unclear about Gods instructions to them, she answered the serpent with absolute certainty. She knew the truth and surely that truth would ensure that she remained free. Right?

The enemies tactic is always to take the truths we know and distort them.

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

The enemy begins to ask questions of what God’s instruction is. He also begins to lean into how it will benefit them. His goal is to try and displace God as first in the relationship. The lure of self benefit is enough to cause the woman to look.

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it

Sin often has a short term ‘human’ benefit, if it didn’t we wouldn’t even be tempted by it. The woman hadn’t even spent time looking at the fruit previously from what we can see here. Once she looked and focused her eyes on it she began to be tempted by it.

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

We use the phrase “eyes open” as a beneficial mature educated state but here that is not the case. This eyes open moment distracts them from God and they begin to separate themselves by covering His creation. In the next verse we see them extend this separation further.

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Genesis 3:1-8

And so we see the pattern of sin establish

• Engaging in conversation with the enemy
• Allowing the truth we know to be distorted
• Putting our short term human benefits first
• Focusing on the sin
• Separating ourselves from God because of our shame

From Genesis 3 we have repeated this pattern over and over again! Of course when we know this we can reverse the pattern

• Refusing to engage in conversation with the enemy and talking to God
• Holding unswervingly the truth we know
• Putting God first
• Focusing on Gods goodness not our lack
• Running into Gods arms despite of our shame

Father, help us to keep our eyes focused on you in the midst of our hurts, habits and hang ups.