In the garden, Satan launched an all-out attack on the plan of God for mankind. It can be safely assumed that Satan understood what made the existence of man significant and powerful. He was exiled from the community of the Lord’s kingdom, himself, for attempting to build his own kingdom. So, he knew that successfully getting humanity to work toward their own deification would lawfully result in them facing the same curse that he did. Therefore we can know that Satan was very specific in what he aimed to destroy through the subtly of his deception.
Satan interrupted the expansion of God’s love by corrupting communion; he twisted the communication of God. More specifically, he targeted the most important aspect of communion, and it is the “R” that we will focus on next. In the slithering and deceptive manner of a serpent, the devil took aim at reason.
The Corruption of Reason:
Genesis 3:4-5
4And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
As we observed earlier, communion is largely defined by a shared faith or believing towards the same outcome. So, when there is communion of reason, there is “unity of purpose.” Scripture establishes that creation exists for the glory of God, so Satan’s successful efforts to cause man to serve himself was an effective severance of reason. The purpose of God and the purpose of man became disconnected through sin, and the remaining benefits of communion were aborted as a result. In the end, God’s curse upon man is essentially, excommunication, a word whose composition inherently suggests its meaning. Communion with the Lord had now become a former reality along with our ability to clearly perceive His love.
Genesis 3:16-19; 23-24
“16Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. 17And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” 23Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
Upon close observation, it becomes obvious that Satan set out to cause dissent of intent, especially since he had already suffered the same curse for a similar action. The curse of man, declared by God upon both Adam and Eve (and thereby men and women) can best be described as a loss of communion. It was the key to our fruitful existence, but we lost that provision. Notice how the other aspects of communion fell apart after the corruption of reason:
The Corruption of Relationship:
The emotional pleasure of communal continuation with the Father had been taken. Eve would now bring forth children in sorrow, meaning the expansion of family and relationship would now be painful. She would also have to answer and submit to her husband, placing a strain on the relationship between men and women. This curse of relationship was also immediately seen in their children when Cain killed his brother, Abel.
The Corruption of Rulership:
As for Adam, the ground would now be cursed, meaning the enjoyment of his productive power and rulership was now affected by pain and sorrow. An even deeper look reveals that the dirt or ground which produced thorns is a reflection of sinful men, sprang up from the dust, who bring pain to their Father in heaven. Now, no position of authority or control would exist without challenge.
The Corruption of Resource:
Adam would now have to eat by the sweat of his face, meaning the free access to the easy and frictionless resource of the Holy Spirit was also gone. Nothing would be produced without toiling.
The Corruption of Revelation:
Ultimately both Adam and Eve were driven out of the garden, resulting in their loss of revelation. The things they could know of God would become limited.
The serpent had sabotaged the 5 R’s. Satan had corrupted communion, and therefore the previously unthreatened exchange of love.