Lessons From the First Lie

The pursuit of truth is a challenging endeavor. Given today’s world of politically driven news, conflicting stories, misinformation and media bias, truth can be elusive.

Even when we think we know the truth, it’s not uncommon for us to later discover we didn’t really know it after all. As the old saying goes, “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”

Much of the difficulty we humans have in ascertaining truth can be traced back to an interaction between Eve and Satan the devil in the Garden of Eden.

The infamous conversation is recorded for us in Genesis 3:1-5.

“Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Has God indeed said, “You shall not eat of every tree of the garden”?’

“And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, “You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.”’

“Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’”

Satan is the master deceiver

In this long-ago discourse, Satan deceived Eve on several points. The significance of his deception is reflected in Jesus’ statement that Satan “was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44).

An important point for us to note in Christ’s words is that Satan didn’t mistakenly utter something false in his conversation with Eve. He outright lied. He made statements with a deliberate intent to deceive.

In the remainder of this article, let’s focus on three specific points Satan lied about in his conversation with Eve. These untruths reverberate through time and continue to deceive people to this day.

Lie: God doesn’t care about humans

The devil didn’t waste words. His opening sentence laid the foundation for the distrust of God that he wanted Eve to adopt. Satan probably said his first words with incredulity, pretending disbelief as he asked, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1).

Satan’s falsehoods and insinuations in his conversation with Eve continue to adversely impact mankind today. After Eve confirmed that God had told them not to eat of a particular tree lest they die, the devil then uttered his famous lie: “You will not surely die” (verse 4). The father of lies accused God of not telling the truth.  

This duplicitous being then continued, “For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (verse 5). Satan implied that God was purposely and unfairly prohibiting humans from making their own decisions.

With these words, Satan was trying to convince Eve that God was unfair and couldn’t be trusted. Distrust of God continues today on a massive scale. Many find it difficult to believe that God truly cares about humans. Many blame God when children die or when natural disasters and wars kill thousands of innocent people.

But a careful study of the Bible reveals a very different picture of God. He is the being who made us and offers blessings to those who obey Him. In demonstration of His awesome love, God the Father sent His Son to die for our sins so we might live with Him throughout eternity (John 3:16).

Many people today don’t want to obey God, but are quick to blame God for just about every instance where people are harmed or lose their lives.

Don’t fall for Satan’s lie that God doesn’t care about humans and that His instructions need not be heeded. God wants us to become spiritual sons (and daughters) of God (Romans 8:19). He has given us His good and beneficial laws that, if obeyed, will yield benefits in this life and the one to come (1 Timothy 4:8).

Lie: Humans don’t die

Some of the most successful lies contain elements of truth. This was true in Satan’s discussion with Eve.

Satan said Eve wouldn’t die if she ate of the forbidden tree. And Eve didn’t immediately die for her sin. Neither did Adam immediately die after he ate what God had forbidden.

What Satan said was true in the short term. But not in the long run.

From the beginning, God made humans physical, mortal beings. The tree of life in the Garden of Eden represented the opportunity for Adam and Eve to receive eternal life. But they lost access to this tree and what it represented when they sinned by disobeying God (Genesis 3:22-24).

The book of Romans explains that when we sin, we bring the death penalty upon ourselves. As Romans 6:23 states, “The wages of sin is death.” Since we all—every human since Adam and Eve—have sinned, we have all earned this penalty (Romans 3:23).

After Adam and Eve sinned and lost access to the tree of life, God explained it to them like this: “Dust you are, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19). They didn’t have immortal souls that would allow them to continue living in another state after they died.

The Old Testament prophet Ezekiel twice repeated this foundational truth: “The soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4, 20).

While both Adam and Eve continued to live for a while after they ate of the forbidden tree, they eventually died just as God had said.

Satan uttered the lie that human beings don’t die, and the majority of mankind continues to believe his deceptive delusion. In fact, nearly every religion on earth believes the soul is immortal and lives on after death. For further study, see “Do Humans Have an Immortal Soul?” and the video “God says your soul can die?”

Lie: Humans don’t need God’s guidance

Another deceptive half-truth is found in the devil’s words to Eve, implying that humans can discern good from evil on their own. While it is true that God has endowed us with amazing minds and abilities, surpassing those of any animal, the notion that we inherently possess all the correct answers apart from God is false.

Jeremiah plainly noted that “the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps” (Jeremiah 10:23). He later added, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

Returning to the example in the garden, we note that Eve used her own reasoning to decide whether to eat the fruit of the tree God had forbidden.

“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate” (Genesis 3:6).

Using the mind God had given her was not wrong. Her mistake was in not letting God’s instructions guide her as she made her decision.

Instead of seeking guidance from God’s instructions on how to live found in the Bible, many people today believe they can independently decide their path without God. They consider their values to be superior and more enlightened than God’s. A growing number of people even believe the Bible contains hate speech and reject it as a source for moral guidance.

This mistaken thinking mirrors that of Adam and Eve and will likewise end in death. Don’t succumb to Satan’s lie that humans can successfully navigate life apart from God.

Ongoing effects of Satan’s lie

Satan’s falsehoods and insinuations in his conversation with Eve continue to adversely impact mankind today.

Many don’t trust God, which is just as Satan desired. Many think they have an immortal soul, just as Satan suggested. And many think they can make equally good or better decisions than God, just as Satan wanted Eve to believe.

The good news is that after allowing humans to experience the consequences of their choices, God will intervene. When He does, Christ will return to rule the earth. Satan will be imprisoned and unable to deceive mankind (Revelation 20:1-3). Then everyone will have the opportunity to understand the truth about the first lie (Isaiah 11:9), and those who live according to God’s commands will be offered eternal life (Revelation 22:14).

For further study on what will happen after Christ returns, see The World to Come: What It Will Be Like.