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. Genesis 3:4-7 NKJV

God empowered the first man, Adam, by giving him responsibility, freedom of choice, and held him responsible for his choices. Adam, created innocence, had the knowledge of God, but when he and Eve believed the lie of the Serpent, they lost their God-given power and dominion (Gen. 1:28) by exchanging the truth of God for a lie.  \

A lie is an untrue statement made deliberately–a prevarication. Adam and Eve–much like many often do–believed the lies of the Serpent without verifying it with God, our Creator.  Any time we are confused or unclear about what God commands, it is our responsibility to search the scriptures and hear what God says (Acts 17:11).

To believe the lies of the Serpent (our enemy, the adversary, the devil) rather than believe what God has said will cause us—like Adam and Eve—to make decisions or judgments that will produce our shame (Gen. 3:7).  Every time we make a judgment of “good and evil” apart from the knowledge of God, we lose our sense of love, joy, and peace.

As believers in Christ, we should want to be like Jesus–not judging by what we only see with our eyes and hear with our hears, but judging with righteousness (Isa. 11:2-4), that is, the knowledge of God. It’s time to get your power back: repent, renounce your judgments, confess your inability to judge apart from God, and wait on the Lord (1 Cor. 4:5). Judge nothing before the time. Wait on the Lord!

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