Tares Among the Wheat - Part 4 - The Historic Fall of Mankind

<p>     According to Scripture, all mankind is fallen, corrupted by sin, and our natural proclivity is to think and act in conformity with Satan’s world-system, which is everywhere and always at odds with God and His plan.</p> <p>     The book of Genesis reveals that God created Adam perfect and assigned him to serve as His theocratic administrator over His creation. This meant Adam was to exercise responsible dominion over the creation (Gen 1:26-30; 2:7-8, 15-17), and Eve was created to help him, to stand with him to do God’s will (Gen 2:18-25). But Satan, possessing a serpent—a subordinate creature that would have posed little threat to Adam and Eve—tempted them to act contrary to God and His commands. Henry Morris says, “Demonic spirits evidently have the ability, under certain conditions, to indwell or ‘possess’ either human bodies or animal bodies (Luke 8:33); and Satan on this occasion chose the serpent as the one most suitable for his purposes.”<a href='#_ftn1'>[1]</a> The serpent here is identified as “the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world” (Rev 12:9; cf. Rev 20:2). Allen Ross states:</p> <ul><li>"Satan was shrewd and intentional in his attack as he approached the woman and questioned her understanding of God’s command, asking, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden?’” (Gen 3:1). And Eve answered, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” (Gen 3:2-3). In her reply, “Eve disparaged the privileges, added to the prohibition, and weakened the penalty—all seen by contrasting her words (Gen. 3:3) with God’s original commands (2:16-17).”<a href='#_ftn2'>[2]</a></li> </ul> <p>     When Satan heard Eve misrepresent God’s instructions (Gen 2:16-17), he boldly advanced his argument, saying, “You surely will not die!” (Gen 3:4), calling God a liar, stating, “For God knows that in the day y