Strange title. Simple truth.
To understand it, we need to go back to the beginning; all the way back to the day when satan first used the strategy of being almost right, but totally wrong.
God had been clear with Adam about the boundaries, and Adam and God had the kind of relationship that allowed Adam to trust that God had a reason for them.
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 from it you will certainly die.” (Genesis 2:16-17, emphasis mine)
This was before God formed Eve, and scripture doesn’t record the dinner conversation when Adam passed the boundaries along to Eve, but we do know that he did because she mentions it in the next chapter. She (kind of) quotes it back to satan when he asks her about the menu in the garden.
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ” (Genesis 3:2-3, emphasis mine)
It’s so important that we know God’s word. In fact, I would suggest that satan knows God’s word better than we do. God never said they couldn’t touch the tree, and so when satan heard Eve’s answer, he knew he had an opportunity. satan constantly seeks an opportunity (Genesis 3:7; Ephesians 4:27), and when he finds one, he employs the “almost right, but totally wrong” tactic.
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-5, emphasis mine)
In other words, because Eve didn’t know the truth (and apparently, neither did Adam because Genesis 3:6 says that he was right there with her during the satanic conversation), she was open to a deviation from the truth. She was a prime target for something that was almost right, but totally wrong, and satan used it.
“You will be like God” was almost right. Adam and Eve had been created in the image of God – the New Testament uses language that is similar to reflecting something in a mirror, but they weren’t made to be God. We’re made to look like God because we’re looking at Him, and His image is reflected in us. So being like God is almost right, but satan convinced Eve that she could be like God without God.
If she could understand good and evil, then why would she need a God to help with that? She could be the god. She and Adam could be the ones to decide what was good and what was evil. They would have control.
The problem was that they didn’t need it, nor were they made for it. Possessing the knowledge of good and evil without God’s perspective of good and evil leads limited and finite men into an ever-increasing anxiety that none of us was made to carry.
And so, with one bite of disobedience, they went from a world without chaos under God’s control to a world full of chaos that they desperately wanted to control, but couldn’t.
We still can’t.
And as much as we want that to be satan’s endgame, it isn’t. satan didn’t want to empower Adam and Eve; he wanted to disempower God. (Isaiah 14:13) His ultimate goal has always been and will always be power and authority, and so, when we attempt to manipulate others or outcomes, we are playing satan’s game of being almost right, but totally wrong.
God’s plan is that we would influence others, not control them. Admittedly, the difference is subtle, but the difference is real. We influence others toward what is best for them; we control others toward what is best for us.
“You will not certainly die,” was satan’s attempt to control mankind as pawns in his Game of Thrones, and we fell for it. We thought we could control our destiny, and sought to be like God without needing to be near Him.
The antidote? Answering the question God asked Adam in Genesis 3:9 – “Where are you?” — with the honest answer of, “In the wrong chair. This is Your throne, and I don’t belong on it.”
