Lesson 3 - The First Sin:
How Do We Deal with Temptation?
Genesis 3 - www.bible.com/bible/59/gen.3

The last chapter left Adam and Eve in Eden at peace with God, themselves and the natural world over which they had been given stewardship. Adam and Eve’s life was more perfect than we can even imagine. We might say they had it all.

Then God placed a choice before them – He told them something He didn’t want them to do, and Satan came to tempt them to do it anyway. Was the choice to obey or disobey God all Satan’s responsibility? No, it was the choice the man and woman had to make for themselves.

Sin entered this perfect paradise God had created for humans to live in. What is sin? It is acting for ourselves rather than for God. It is placing ourselves in higher authority over our life than God. It is not measuring up to God’s perfect standards.

When Adam and Eve sinned, their living spirits died – they no longer had the ability to see or hear God. That also meant they could no longer pass on a living spirit to their children – meaning we are all born with a dead spirit, none of us can see God. The Bible calls this being born in sin, being born without the ability to please God. Even that baby who is just minutes old is born in sin.


Some people ask, if God is good and powerful, why did He allow sin to enter His perfect world? Although the Bible doesn't answer this question directly, we can find some clues. In Isaiah 55 we hear God say He has a perfect plan and it will all work out His perfect way. So sin was not unexpected, it did not catch Him by surprise. In the book of Ephesians we find that His grace is put on display by saving people who are spiritually dead, making them alive by His awesome love and grace. In Romans 3 we read how our unrighteousness displays God’s righteousness (think about trying to paint the glory of the sun on a white canvas – it is better displayed on a dark canvas). But Romans 3 also tells us how God’s mercy and grace are displayed through us who choose to come to Him and accept Him by faith.

How do we deal with temptation to sin? We must first realize we cannot defeat sin on our own. We must turn to Jesus, our Savior, to help us say no to that temptation. He has promised in 1 Corinthians 10:31 that He always makes a way for us to escape that temptation without falling – we just need Him to show us that way, we need to follow where He guides us.

*How does Eve's answer misrepresent God's command (Genesis 3:2-3)?
*In what ways do we tend to make God's commands more restrictive than He intends them to be? How does this affect our view of His requirements?
*What one lesson have you learned from this study that can help you recognize and resist a temptation you are facing?