Genesis 3:4-7 English Standard Version

4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

Let us now deal with the information provided to us by God through Moses to understand the nature of humanities fall. We must be careful not to interject any thoughts or conjectures beyond what is written here.

Satan spoke to the woman. We do not know if Adam heard Satan. That is unknown. Then we are told about Eve’s thought processes after reasoning the lies that she has been told. Those are her thoughts. We have no way of knowing if Adam understood what she was thinking. That is unknown.

Eve ate in the presence of Adam, he was there. That is known. She gave to Adam the fruit of that tree and Adam ate. What was Adam thinking? We do not know. But then after Adam ate the eyes of both of them were opened to the nature of disobedience, they experienced shame for the first time. The way we know that is because of the coverup. Actions determine feelings.

If we only have scriptures that God told Adam “don’t eat” then to assume anything else is opening ourselves up to the possibility for error. At this point in the story there are too many questions that go unanswered.

1 Corinthians 15:45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

Much later in history God has provided His Word to link the first Adam’s actions to the Last Adam’s actions. In this verse we can see that the responsibility for the fall of man was in Adam’s disobedience, not Eve’s. The cure for the curse that followed falls solely on the shoulders of the Last Adam.

1 Corinthians 15:57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Adam was guilty, Christ was innocent. Adam brought separation, Jesus brings reconciliation.

How that is possible is another story to be told.

Genesis 3:13-15 English Standard Version

13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

14 The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

Before we can deal with our own personal sins and how we feel about sin and what God can do about it, we need to understand just exactly how sin entered into the world in the first place.

God dealt with Satan first before He addressed Adam and Eve about the events of that day. Satan presented himself as a serpent and hid his true identity from Eve. That was his first lie.

Satan is a named angel, an immortal, created to be a child of God by creation. God gave His angel’s free will. Why Satan deceived her is not indicated here. Neither do we know at this point what instruction God might have given to His angels. All we know for sure is just how much Stan’s actions displeased God. It seems as though God holds angels to a higher standard.

Satan’s actions caused God to cast Satan out into the world to become the lowest of all His creation. He is cursed to eat dust, the dust which is trampled on by all the beast of the field.

While God will not undo His creation, Satan being immortal, He would not allow Satan to remain with Him in the heavenly realm. Sin creates separation from God, spiritual death.

Isaiah 14:12-15 “How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ 

It is only later in scriptures that Satan’s actions are tied to his motive. He sought to supplant God on the throne of heaven. Original sin is directly tied to trying to remove God from His throne. The key words in that announcement are “You said in your heart.” All sin from that point forward will deal with the condition of the heart. Then God deals with Eve.  

Genesis 3:16 Amplified Bible

To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth; In pain you will give birth to children; Yet your desire and longing will be for your husband, And he will rule [with authority] over you and be responsible for you.”