Demonic dialogue

Genesis three opens with a demonic dialogue over God's word (Gen 3:1-5). Both the serpent and the woman distorted and denied God's word. And that led to death. Jesus must have had this story in mind when he called Satan "a murdered from the beginning... a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:33).

Serpent

• The liar (Gen 3:1) reversed God's word (Gen 2:16)

Woman

• The ungrateful (Gen 3:2) diminished the privilege (Gen 2:16)
• The ungrateful (Gen 3:3) widened the prohibition (Gen 2:17, cf. Gen 2:9)
• The whiner (Gen 3:3) increased the severity of the command (Gen 3:3)
• The doubter (Gen 3:3) decreased the severity of the penalty (Gen 2:17)

Serpent

• The liar (Gen 3:4) denied the word (Gen 2:17)
• The liar and murderers exchanged a demonic promise (Gen 3:5) for a divine curse (Gen 2:17).

Once the woman departed from God's word, she began defining things on her own terms. What God called forbidden, she called good, pleasing, and desirable. Then she led Adam into sin. Sadly, the couple thought it better to follow the serpent's deadly lies rather than to live by every living word of truth that comes from "the mouth of the LORD" (Deut 8:3; Matt 4:4).

Frank SInatra's "My Way" is an American favorite at funerals: "...best of all, I did it my way." But that's a recipe for death, so it's a poor way to celebrate life (Prov 14:12, par. Prov 16:26). 

We can all too easily fall into the same sin that Adam and Eve first committed. First, we doubt God's word. Then we feel free to ignore, pervert, or even deny it. Be belittle God's blessings and magnify his demands. And we slide in to sin and sink into ruin and death.

During this holiday season, let's remind ourselves of God's "indescribable gift" (2 Cor 9:15). And let's pledge anew to live by the Word of God.