Eden – The Garden Lost
Read this as if you were reading a script.
Narrator: Temptation in the first garden is well documented. The lure of that which is off limits has tempted everyone from the first couple down through the generations.
3:1Of all the wild creatures the Eternal God had created, the serpent was the craftiest.
Serpent (to the woman): Is it true that God has forbidden you to eat fruits from the trees of the garden?
Eve: 2 No, serpent. God said we are free to eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 We are granted access to any variety and all amounts of fruit with one exception: the fruit from the tree found in the center of the garden. God instructed us not to eat or touch the fruit of that tree or we would die.
Serpent: 4 Die? No, you’ll not die. God is playing games with you. 5 The truth is that God knows the day you eat the fruit from that tree you will awaken something powerful in you and become like Him: possessing knowledge of both good and evil.
Narrator: The woman approached the tree, eyed its fruit, and coveted its mouth watering, wisdom-granting beauty. She plucked a fruit from the tree and ate. She then offered the fruit to her husband who was close by, and he ate as well. Suddenly their eyes were opened to a reality previously unknown. For the first time, they sensed their vulnerability and rushed to hide their naked bodies, stitching fig leaves into crude loincloths. Then they heard the sound of the Eternal God walking in the cool misting shadows of the garden. The man and his wife took cover among the trees and hid from the Eternal God.
Serpent: I knew my targets, knew their weakness. And I know yours. In a world where a two dollar lottery ticket can make millionaires, where there’s a promise of easy gain through gambling, the temptation to do wrong is immense. In this world, this brave new world, pleasure often feels like the adrenaline-rushing temptation of risk, so taking risks – whether shoplifting’s thrill or trying to entice another by look – scores big on the charts.
Narrator: Adam and Eve, lured by the promise of being like God, becoming little gods, bought into the lie. And our susceptibility to temptation, to illicit gain, to self-serving pleasure, has not decreased through history. Everyone is fair game, including Jesus.
(Adapted from Finding Life, pages 71-72)
