The Woman Who Taught Me To Sin

By Greg Quinn

February 20th, 2017

 

Most of us do not need much teaching to learn how to sin.  A child doesn’t need to be taught to throw a fit, to be selfish, to cry.  It comes natural to all of us.  We need to be taught how to do right, to not be selfish, to think of others, to share, to speak well, to not fuss, to not fight, but we do not need to be taught how to do wrong.  But I was taught how to do wrong without knowing it.  And so were you.

I say that a woman taught me how to sin.  Since I came into the world as a sinner, then who was it?  Was it my mother?  No, my mom is a fine Christian lady, the wife of a preacher, a good person, a good mother, a good woman.  But still, like me, she’s a sinner.  So who taught her, and who taught me?  Was it her mother, my grandmother, Mama Kent?  Afraid not.  Mama Kent was one of the finest women God ever put on this earth.  I don’t think I could have survived my childhood and teenage years if not for Mama Kent.  She taught me to be unselfish, she taught me love, she taught me kindness, she taught me sacrifice.  But as good as she was, she was a sinner.  So if she didn’t teach me to sin, then who was it?  Was it her mother?  No, I didn’t know her.  So if I came out of the womb with a propensity to sin, then where did it come from?

We have to go way back, back to the beginning, back to the Garden.  God created Adam from the dust of the ground, then created Eve from Adam’s rib.  They were different than any of God’s creation.  He created mankind in His own image.  With His own traits.   With His own character.  God created Adam and Eve to have dominion over everything else He created.  They were created to fellowship with God.  To be His children.  To be His friend.  They were created perfect, without sin.  Life in the Garden was wonderful.  So what happened?

Genesis 2 

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. 

And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 

16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 

17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

18 And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”

21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 

22 Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.

23 And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.”

24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

 

Genesis 3 

1 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.”

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. 

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

 

What happened was that God created paradise on earth for His perfect creation, mankind, to live within.  They were to enjoy God’s creation together.  To live in perfect union, in perfect harmony.  To enjoy all that God had created.  But then, Satan himself, the fallen angel that was cursed by God, the enemy of God, the enemy of mankind, he took the form of a serpent and persuaded Eve to disobey the one commandment that God gave them.  She listened to Satan’s lies, she did eat of the tree, and gave to Adam and he did the same, and the curse came upon Eve, upon Adam, and upon all generations of mankind from that moment forward.

The woman who taught me to sin.

What was Eve’s sin?  Yes, she disobeyed God.  Adam and Eve could enjoy every great thing that God had created, except one thing.  Only one tree they could not eat from.  They had plenty of food everywhere around them.  This fruit was not necessarily any better than any other in the garden, it was just the only fruit they could not have.  Because it belonged to God.  And Eve, and then Adam, stole from God what was His that wasn’t meant to belong to them.  The one commandment He gave them, they broke it.

Why did Eve sin?  The same reasons we sin.  She taught us well. 

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.

Lust of the flesh.  Lust of the eyes.  Pride of life.

When she saw that the tree was “good for food”, this was lust of the flesh.  She wanted something that didn’t belong to her to satisfy her flesh.  To satisfy her desires.  Don’t we do the same?  We desire things  that we do not need, that we should not have.  We eat things we know will hurt our bodies, but we do it anyway.  We act ways that will hurt other people to make ourselves feel better, but we do it anyway.  We do what we want without difference to the outcome at times, but we do it anyway.  We do this, like Eve, to satisfy the lust of the flesh.

Lust of the eyes.  She saw that the fruit was “pleasant to the eyes”.  She gazed upon something that she was not supposed to have, but she desired it and took it anyway.  Don’t we do the same?  A longing look at a beautiful woman that is not your wife, isn’t that the beginning of adultery?  The gazing upon that expensive car that we know we cannot afford, yet we hock everything, including our future, in order to get it?  The desire for that necklace that is too great so we steal it?  Lust of the eyes.  Don’t we do all kind of sin to satisfy our lust of the eyes?

Eve saw that it was fruit “desirable to make one wise”.  Pride of life.  Eve wanted a position that she had no business having.  The enemy convinced her that she could be like God.  Do we do anything out of pride and arrogance?  Do we put ourselves so high on a pedestal that we look down upon others?  God hates pride.  Because if we are prideful, then we feel that we don’t need God.  Isn’t that what Eve was doing?  Don’t we do that ourselves?

The woman who taught me to sin.

So Eve taught me to sin.  Eve taught you to sin.  And our parents.  And our grandparents.  And generations all the way back to that moment in history.  So since that day, we were all born into sin.  The curse that came upon Eve and Adam when they disobeyed God has become a generational curse that affects us all. 

But there is a way out.  There is a solution to the problem.  There is an answer.

 

Romans 5 

12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— 

13 (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 

14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. 

15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. 

16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. 

17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)

18 Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 

19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.

20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, 

21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Today you no longer have to live according to your lust of the flesh.  You can surrender your life to Jesus, and begin to look at things differently.  You can realize that you don’t need everything you think that you need.  For Jesus himself says, “If you seek after me and my righteousness, then all these things (the “stuff” of life) I will give unto you.”  Living a life putting Jesus first, and doing the will of the Father, and living a life pleasing unto God, will set aside the lust of the flesh in your life.  You will begin to think about doing things for others instead of only yourself.  You will realize that the things you thought you wanted, what you once lusted after, you no longer care about.  You will transform into someone who looks at life through the eyes of God.  Your priorities will change.  Your life will be happier, more joyful, more satisfied.  Set aside living by the lust of the flesh, doing things to only please yourself, and replace that with living according to the will of God.

Today you no longer have to live according to your lust of the eyes.  You don’t have to possess everything you see.  You can live without a lot that your eyes desire.  If you put your faith and trust in Jesus, then He will give you all that you need.  Your eyesight will change.  You can overcome your lusts in your flesh and your lust in your eyes by focusing on God, and His Word, and changing your perspective.  Set aside living by the lust of the eyes, and replace it with seeing things the way God sees them.  Then you can see a life of joy that you didn’t think possible.

Today you no longer need to live according to the pride of life.  We are all created equal in God’s eyes.  You and I are sinners saved by grace.  For what reason do we have to be prideful?  What makes us better than any other man?  Why should we look down our noses to another?  Why is our desires so important?  Recognize that you are what you are because of God’s grace.  Your health comes from God.  Your job comes from God giving you the ability to do your work and craft, and the opportunity comes from God.  Your family comes from God.  Your position in life comes from God; either he made it happen or allowed it to happen.  Anything you possess is because God chose to allow you to be blessed in this area.  Your friendships were crafted by God.  What do you have outside of God?  Nothing but your sinful self.  So, let’s eliminate the pride of life ruining our days, and start living a life of humility recognizing that all we are, and all we have, is due to God’s blessing.

We were all taught to sin.  We were born with this knowledge.  We were inbred with this sin nature within us.  But, because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came to earth as a poor babe, lived a life free of sin to teach us how we can do the same, and died as a sacrifice to bring a sinful man to a perfect God, we can be saved from our sin, live a life of peace and joy and abundance, and leave this world to a heaven created for eternal life and joy for all those that accept Jesus and live according to His Word.

Most of us trade guns.  We swap one for another.  Or we trade money for guns, and ammo, and supplies.  And food and shelter and clothing.  We are happy when we get a good swap, when we get a deal, when we make a good exchange.  Today, you can make the greatest exchange, and experience the best deal, that you ever thought possible.  Today, you can trade your sin nature for a life of peace and joy through Jesus.  Today, you can trade the lust of the flesh for peace with God.  Today, you can swap your lust of the eyes for seeing things God’s way.  Today you can exchange your pride of life for acceptance that God the Creator of the world loves you and is going to take care of you.  We swap our sin for Jesus’ righteousness.  What a deal!

I pray that you prayerfully consider the great exchange, and make a decision today to give your life to God.

May God bless you and your family.

Greg Quinn