Deliverance From Evil - 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’?” - Genesis 3:1

    Now some will contend that the voice of Satan was allegorical. I won’t submit otherwise but only to say that the voice Eve heard, whether allegorically, literally, or in her head, was indeed the voice of Satan, as is the voice we hear that prompts us to sin. Be that as it may, we must understand unequivocally: Genesis 3 is the origin of mankind’s stake in spiritual warfare.
    I am thoroughly convinced that the devil can so control the thoughts, words, and deeds of a man or a woman that their deliverance can only be wrought by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. There is no psychological, psychiatric, or pharmacological remedy. There is only the Spirit of Jesus Christ. A jail sentence is merely a penalty. True conviction can only be given by the Holy Spirit. Therein lies deliverance.
    “And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him.” - Mark 5:2-4. I refer to Mark’s account of the Gerasene demoniac because of the Apostle’s straight-forward writing style. He doesn’t mince words.
    The symbolism contained in the Gerasene account cannot be minimized. Here we see a man whose behavior was described as that of an “unclean spirit.” He lived among the tombs (the dead) as do all who have not been regenerated by the Holy Spirit. And despite his being bound with shackles and chains (laws and convention), he broke them all and no one could tame his impulses (thoughts, words, and deeds). His “possession,” as it were, was uncontrollable and unbound.
    Consider again our title verse - the cunning of the serpent. The devil and his demonic army is no junior varsity team. They are smarter than we are. They know our weaknesses and how to exploit them. And they are extremely successful doing so. Consider the temptation of Christ in the wilderness - “Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple.” - Matthew 4:5. Yes, the devil is that powerful! There are two trains of thought regarding this incident. One, suggests that Satan literally took Christ to the temple, while a second suggests that it occurred only in Christ’s mind. Regardless of the view, what is of the most import is that the devil was capable of such a task. And if Satan was able to move Christ to the temple, where can he move us to?
    There will be many who laugh and suggest I am giving too much credit to an evil spiritual entity, assuming that such an entity even exists. The Bible assures us . . . it does and it is dangerous. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” - 1 Peter 5:8.
    Satan uses the beautiful, enjoyable, and delicious things in life to entice us to sin. He did so from the beginning and he does so now. After all, if sin was not pleasurable who would entertain the thought of it let alone enter into it? “So when the woman saw that the tree was for food, 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. We see that sin appears desirable and not only draws us into it but encourages us to draw others into it.
    Before coming to Christ we are as unbridled horses running at full speed toward perdition and destruction. This is the direct result of our fallen or sin nature and it is groomed and fed by none other than Satan himself. The devil doesn’t have to work too hard to move us in his direction. Nothing short of a divine intervention can possibly save us from ourselves. This is the curse of Genesis 3. Again, faith in Christ is the only remedy.
    There is evil in the world. To deny this is not only naive but dangerous. The savagery of fallen man knows no limit. History, whether written by the victor or the vanquished, is the story of man’s evil disposition toward himself or one another. There is only one response to evil and that is the presence of Jesus Christ. “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33. Christ has defeated death itself; we need never fear.