Gen 1:26-27 (NIV) Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, in Our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Adam and Eve were the first people on the planet; God gave them the most incredible universe to live in, planet to live on, and garden to live inside of. He gave them beautiful bodies for their spirits to occupy; and a life that was designed to be perfect for them.

Gen 1:2930 (NIV) Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground--everything that has the breath of life in it--I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. There were no animal carnivores trying to kill and eat one another; they were eating every green plant for food. The humans were eating seed-bearing plants and fruit with seed in it. These humans were living in the wonderful gifts of God.

Gen 3:1 (NIV) Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” Here is Satan using the body of a serpent to communicate with Eve. He has done NOTHING for Adam and Eve; yet here he is trying to tell Eve what is best for her. And, here is Eve listening to Satan’s opinions. The most important thing about your relationship with God is the fact that every good thing you have came from Him. That should be the main factor for who you listen to when being tempted by Satan. No matter how good it looks or sounds, only those things that come through God are good for you.

Gen 3:1 (NIV) Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” If you are going to justify yielding to something you have a feeling is wrong, you will have to come up with a reason for why it is okay. One of the number one tricks of the devil is, “God wants you to be happy.” The trick is to convice you that what the temptation is offering is happiness. The lie is, it won’t! God does want you to be happy; that is why He labelled these things as sins.

Did God really say: If you are being tempted and you are wondering whether or not it is a temptation or just something you are not sure of, the first rule of thumb is to not take any chances. 1 Th 5:22 (KJV) Abstain from all APPEARANCE of evil. If it is something you really want to do but are concerned that God wouldn’t approve, you need to go to prayer immediately and ask God to help you with your desire to do something you are not sure of. Until you are sure this is approved by God, your desire to do it can pull you into doing it anyway. This is a time for you to get Jesus’ help with your desire to ONLY do those things that are pleasing to God.

The question was: “Did God really say?” How you REACT to trying to decide what God REALLY said is the most important issue. If you try to reason it out, you will make a wrong decision. If you try to add your opinion to it, you will contaminate the will of God for your life. If you ignore what God said and act like God didn’t address the issue, you will forfeit God’s protection. But, if you go to God and find out what He not only said but what He meant by it, you will be living your life while getting the full benefits of God. Only God knows what He REALLY said; go ask Him.

Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’: This isn’t really a question asking for what God said; it is asking what God intended. Satan isn’t trying to get God’s exact wording on the matter. What he is actually trying to do is get Adam and Eve to question God’s motives. Is the reason God doesn’t want you to sin because He is trying to cheat you out of having fun? Does He know this would really be good for you but He is just being picky about it? Is it that God knows this would really make you happy and He doesn’t care about your happiness; is it that He just cares about His rules? Satan is really asking them whether or not God can be trusted. BUT, that isn’t what he started out with. He will have to get you to doubt God’s love, His integrity, and His trustworthiness without you realizing what he is doing.

Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’: Now, let Jesus show you how to tell what is good for you and what isn’t. Since you are trying to decide what is best for you and you don’t know how to go about finding out, how do you find out? What should you do if the Holy Spirit is speaking to your conscience and giving you positive or negative feelings about the things you are doing? What if you are reading your Bible and you come across a Scripture that tells you to stop doing something you don’t want to give up? Suppose you feel that Jesus is asking you to start doing something you don’t want to do? Should you ignore them, question them, go against them, or obey them?

First, take a look at what the Bible says about your conscience: John 16:8 (NIV) When He comes, He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment. The ONLY reason your spirit isn’t animalistic like your body is because you, as a spirit being, have a conscience. The moment you became aware of right and wrong, was the moment the Holy Spirit started speaking into your conscience. When He decided you were old enough to be RESPONSIBLE for knowing the difference between right and wrong, He started making you aware of it by putting positive and negative feelings in it. But, like Adam and Eve, you sinned against your conscience and contracted the spiritual disease of sin. Prior to you knowing right from wrong, you couldn’t sin because there was nothing telling you it was wrong.

Now that you know what is right and wrong according to your conscience, the next thing is for you to start obeying your conscience. This is where you first try human effort and world training to stop doing wrong things and start doing right things. Rom 7:18 (NIV) I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the DESIRE to do what is good, but I CANNOT carry it out. Just like you needed Jesus to empower you to become a Christian, you need Jesus to empower you to carry it out. So, when the Holy Spirit causes your conscience to tell you something is wrong, you will have to let Jesus empower you to obey it.

2 Tim 3:16-17 (NIV) All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. What a wonderful provision! The Bible takes those positive or negative, yes or no, right or wrong messages of the Holy Spirit in your conscience and expands them. The Bible gives you advanced warning about what all is right or wrong, good or bad, and righteous or evil. It not only labels these things and identifies them, it explains why they are sins or righteousness; and, it tells you what they will do to you. Your conscience can’t give you power to obey what the Holy Spirit is saying through your conscience. But, the Bible has the ability to help you to not only identify sin, it can empower you to win over sin.

Luke 12:48 (NIV) But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. The Bible was very small at the time of Adam and Eve; it just had a few words in it: Gen 2:16-17 (NIV) And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” That was it; it was just enough to regulate Adam and Eve’s life in a perfect garden and a perfect body. However, there had to be a way for them to exercise their God-given free will. There had to be a way for them to choose whether or not they would obey God’s command or not. And, there had to be someone there to offer them the alternative. Therefore, there was a forbidden tree; and, there was a devil. Your Bible is a lot bigger than theirs; but, the spiritual provisions of God are a lot greater for you.

Mat 28:18-20 (NIV) Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Jesus is your authority and power to live a victorious Christian life. He is going to be so powerful in your life that your life will be a testimony to many other people. Your life will be so exciting, victorious, and powerful that many will want what you have. Jesus is your answer to everything; He will be the main event in your life. You and Him will be working together as you go through these studies. He is using these studies to help you develop a love, power, and success relationship with Him.