The origin of the battle that we all face is found in the first few chapters of the book of Genesis. Originally, before Adam and Eve fell, earth as we know it was very different from what it is today. Everything that was created in its original form, God called good. Since sin had not yet entered the world, what God created had not yet been tainted. Prior to the Fall, trees, flowers, and grass would never destined to die. Thus, the ecology of our planet manifested utter perfection. There was nothing or no one polluting the environment and nothing to tear away at our ozone layer. Consequently, there was nothing to prevent mankind from enjoying what God had created.  God made mankind a home that men and women could enjoy. It was perfect in every way. However, on one fatal day, everything changed.

Eve was in the Garden enjoying what God had created when the Serpent came to tempt her to go against what God had commanded. The exchange is not unlike what you and I encounter everyday. Satan attempts to gain a foothold in our lives through a lie that he presents intending for us to act on it in order to get us to sin. The Genesis account depicts Satan challenging Eve to partake of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Knowing that Eve had been told by God not to partake of this certain tree, Satan casts doubt on what God said by stating, “Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" (Gen. 3:1). At this juncture, Eve could have rejected Satan’s lie, but instead dismissed God’s previous warning, and partook of fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The tragic result was that sin had now entered the world.

Following the aforementioned encounter, Eve then tempts Adam to do the same thing. After partaking of the forbidden fruit, “she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves” (Gen. 3:6c-7). The intimate fellowship that they once enjoyed with God, had now been lost. According to Millard Erickson, “In the case of Adam and Eve, trust, love, comfort, and closeness was replaced by fear, dread, and avoidance of God.”[1] The relationship between them and God was dramatically different. Intimacy with God was no longer the source of their security. The love that once filled their heart was immediately replaced with insecurity, inferiority, and the unfortunate ability to give and receive rejection.