The cross of Christ is the antidote to what happened in the Garden of Eden.

‘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’?”’ (Genesis 3:1)

There’s a hierarchy in the universe. God is supreme and sovereign. He answers to nobody. God created angels who are therefore at a lower level than God. Thirdly, He created human beings, who are a little lower than angels – and then there is the animal kingdom, which is lower than humanity. Satan’s subtle tactic in the Garden of Eden was that he did not come as an angel in dazzling appearance. He came from the animal world. Not as somebody above Adam but as someone below. Why is this significant? Because as an animal Adam and Eve were deceived into thinking they could handle him; that they were in control.

I talked to a man once who had committed adultery. He was full of remorse saying, ‘I never, ever believed it would go like this.’ I asked him the obvious question, ‘What did you believe?’ He responded, ‘I believed I was in control.’ That’s exactly what the devil would have you believe. You can go so far, and it doesn’t frighten you, because you are in control. We need to be alert to the worming snake-like ways of the devil that undermine our recognition that we cannot conquer him. We are not told to conquer him, but to resist him and flee from him.

Lord, I am powerless alone. Help me flee from the devil and find refuge in You.

Bible in one year: Zechariah 10-12 | Revelation 20