“The serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Really! Did God say, “You shall not eat from any tree in the garden”?’… The serpent said to the woman, ‘No, you will not die, but God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’” Genesis 3:1, 4-5

In the story of creation, everything God makes is good. He reigns over the earth, and His Spirit of peace governs life. His creatures, including man and woman, live together in unity and harmony. They find joy in one another and in all that God has created. With awe, respect, and wonder, Adam and Eve gaze at the tree of life in the Garden of Eden. But then the serpent appears to lead them astray. And evil enters the world created by God, with the intention of destroying it.

The serpent tempts Eve with just one question: Really! Did God say…? And with this promise: No, you will not die! It is important to understand the significance of this. Satan, the seducer, tempts Eve with God’s words. He would do the same much later with Jesus.

Pride separates us from God and from others.

Is it not pride that drives Eve, as she looks at the tree, to covet its fruit? Does she not want to become equal to God? Does she not put God to the test, to see if He will keep His word? The serpent plants doubt in her heart, and Eve listens with interest. This, in itself, is already a betrayal of God. This is how Satan still acts today.

Satan seeks to separate us from God and from one another. Let us be vigilant! He can do so very simply, with an apparently innocent question, which sows distrust and division in our hearts. Satan himself disguises as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14). But he is a slanderer, the father of lies, a murderer from the beginning, the one who distorts truth. He seeks to drag us into evil, confusion, and doubt. He often succeeds.

In Matthew’s Gospel, we read that immediately after His baptism, Jesus retreats to the desert. There, Satan tries to tempt Him. Taking advantage of Jesus’ physical weakness after fasting for forty days, Satan approaches Him. He pretends to show compassion. He feigns honor by suggesting that all the kingdoms of the earth should belong to Him.

From this first temptation, Jesus recognizes Satan as the tempter, skilled in distorting the truth. But His trust in God remains unconditional. At no point does Jesus listen attentively to Satan. He prefers to follow the path of trust in God. He wants to obey only God and depend solely on Him. Satan is unable to touch His heart.

In the story of Genesis, it is not just the forbidden fruit that attracts Adam and Eve, but pride. They are driven by the selfish desire to be like God. They cut themselves off from Him because they no longer want to obey Him, trust Him, or live in dependence on Him. They no longer honor God and end up becoming idols to one another. This aspiration to become like God represents the greatest tragedy of our human destiny. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said: “He [man] has become like God. But against God. This is the deception of the serpent.”

As a result, the human mind is deeply sick. From now on, the image of God is falsified, distorted by idolatry and rebellion against God. Humanity finds itself in darkness and distress (cf. Rom. 1:23-32).

A false conception of love hinders the joy of total giving.

Adam and Eve sin against love and against God’s design. A false conception of love—human lust—leads them astray. Many things are done today in the name of love that actually destroy the soul.

True love desires God to shine through the beloved person: God must remain the measure of love and the ultimate goal of our desire to love. But humans, through their misguided love, turn away from the supreme good. It becomes impossible for God to shine through the beloved.

This should serve as a serious warning to us, whether we are married or planning to marry. God must hold the first place in our lives, not our spouse or our children. Giving God this first place brings us closer to one another. Children are the first to benefit from this.

In our marriage, my wife and I experienced that when God no longer held the first place in our relationship, when we neglected to be guided by Him, even in small matters, we grew apart. Our children were the victims, even if they were not aware of it. They became disobedient and quarrelsome. I noticed the same thing in many families: when a gap grows between a couple, the children react to this insecurity. Likewise, when we returned together to God, when we sought to rebuild our relationship with Him, our children responded positively.

When we idolize our spouse or children, our love goes astray. We can no longer speak freely about our own or our loved ones’ faults. Like Adam, we no longer truly love God, His face remains hidden from us. We have eyes only for our spouse or children. We prefer to remain silent about problems rather than confront them head-on. And we end up losing contact with God and with others.

Worse still, we open the door to evil, especially in the realm of sexuality. We enter into an interior death and loneliness. Adam and Eve lose their innocence by losing their communion with God. In the terrible void that follows, the man blames his wife and seeks to dominate her. And the woman, full of resentment toward the man, blames Satan. The communion is destroyed. Man and woman become rivals; they are no longer one (Gen. 3:7-19).

When, in marriage, we drift away from God, rivalry sets in; selfishness and mistrust cause havoc. Each seeks to reign in the home, to create their own little paradise on their own terms. We quickly fall into a sense of emptiness and deep dissatisfaction. The inner bond that unites us to the other is destroyed. Only a superficial passion keeps us together. We continually blame each other, seeking our own advantage, our independence. The joy of total giving has disappeared. All that remains is a lukewarmness that is hard to bear.

The enemy of life in God is this desire for independence and possession. As my grandfather, Eberhard Arnold, wrote:

“The greedy spirit of Mammon, the legalistic spirit of relationships based on material possessions, the separation of sexual desire from the soul, from unity, from the communion of spirit… All this is death. It is no longer connected to life.”

All that stands in the way of life and love comes from evil. Let us not underestimate the power of evil! Sin always leads to separation, and the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). Pride bears its bitter fruit in separation—cutting us off from God, from ourselves, from others, and from the earth. Satan and sin ruin our most essential relationships.

Since ancient times, Christians have depicted Satan as a creature with hooves and horns. This way of seeing has no biblical foundation. Satan and his demons surround the world. They are the forces of evil that seek to separate us, to divide us (Eph. 2:1-2; 6:12).

Satan’s only goal is to blind humans with their selfishness and pursuit of self-interest: You will be like God. Instead of walking the path of simple obedience, we prefer to give in to temptation…

This text is an excerpt from the book “SEXUALITY, MARRIAGE, AND GOD” written by Johann Christoph Arnold.

We invite you to read the following article, “Freedom Is In Renunciation, Not In Human Strength.”

THE FIRST SIN. THE FIRST SIN. THE FIRST SIN.