Its not about knowledge, and its not about power or success. Its about relationship and submission. However, we keep learning the wrong lessons because we keep taking the Devil at his word.

But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:4-5

So strange that the Devil’s temptation to Eve in the garden was that she could gain the knowledge of good and evil. It is strange because so many of our church services today are occupied with teaching morality, rather than about the nature of Jesus Himself. And, virtually all of our religious politics is focused on morality. So much so, that to challenge the idea that this should not be the focus of a Christian seems almost sacrilegious. And yet, there it is in the Garden of Eden.

Eve’s temptation was that she could learn to differentiate good from evil, and so, be like God. In short, we have dedicated our institutions to a lie the Devil told us.

That’s because we didn’t learn the real lesson that God was trying to teach us. He wanted relationship. And He wanted submission to His plans, not ours.

And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. Luke 4:5-7

The Devil tempted Jesus repeatedly, but his last offer was his largest play. The Devil offered to give power to Jesus, and the glory associated with it. This is odd as well. Considering how much of our Evangelical politics is consumed with obtaining power and recognition, we seem to have no sense that this is not God’s will for our lives. “Christian” authors fill libraries with books on how you can fulfill your personal destiny, achieve worldly success, and we worship the rich and powerful, rather than worshipping God.

What we were supposed to learn was relationship, submission, and that Jesus is Lord, and we are not. That we are to be led by the Spirit, and not by the flesh.

It seems that we have learned very little from both the book of Genesis, and the books of the Gospel. If we had, we wouldn’t keep walking into the Devil’s snare.