Read Genesis 3:1-7
What fruit was on the forbidden tree? Most people think it was an apple, but it was probably a mango. While Americans are most familiar with apples, oranges, and bananas, over 2000 varieties of mango are eaten around the globe. This makes a mango more likely to have been the forbidden fruit than an apple, but we’ll never know. It doesn’t matter anyway. We do know that eating the forbidden fruit was the original sin, but do you know what the original temptation was? Think about the devil’s opening question: "Did God really say…?"
The original temptation was to question—or doubt—God’s Word. We’ve already learned that God’s Word defines reality. Therefore, to doubt God’s Word leads us into the devil’s trap. Too many Christians who say they "believe in God," doubt God’s Word. They tacitly ask: "Did God really say not to take the gift of sex out of marriage?" "Did Jesus really say we gain by being generous?" "Did God really say to make weekly worship a priority?" We often refuse to forgive as we’ve been forgiven. These are just a few of many areas that too many Christians appear to secondâ€guess. How are we to respond to these devilish temptations?
Where Adam & Eve (and we!) failed, Jesus succeeded. At Jesus’ baptism, God the Father said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). Three verses later the Devil tempts Jesus the same way he did Adam & Eve— questioning God’s Word: "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." Three times the devil tempted Jesus, and three times Jesus quoted God’s reality defining Word to resist the devil. And so we too must stand firm upon God’s Word. We can do no other.
What fruit was on the forbidden tree? Most people think it was an apple, but it was probably a mango. While Americans are most familiar with apples, oranges, and bananas, over 2000 varieties of mango are eaten around the globe. This makes a mango more likely to have been the forbidden fruit than an apple, but we’ll never know. It doesn’t matter anyway. We do know that eating the forbidden fruit was the original sin, but do you know what the original temptation was? Think about the devil’s opening question: "Did God really say…?"
The original temptation was to question—or doubt—God’s Word. We’ve already learned that God’s Word defines reality. Therefore, to doubt God’s Word leads us into the devil’s trap. Too many Christians who say they "believe in God," doubt God’s Word. They tacitly ask: "Did God really say not to take the gift of sex out of marriage?" "Did Jesus really say we gain by being generous?" "Did God really say to make weekly worship a priority?" We often refuse to forgive as we’ve been forgiven. These are just a few of many areas that too many Christians appear to secondâ€guess. How are we to respond to these devilish temptations?
Where Adam & Eve (and we!) failed, Jesus succeeded. At Jesus’ baptism, God the Father said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). Three verses later the Devil tempts Jesus the same way he did Adam & Eve— questioning God’s Word: "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." Three times the devil tempted Jesus, and three times Jesus quoted God’s reality defining Word to resist the devil. And so we too must stand firm upon God’s Word. We can do no other.