Overcoming the Curse on Humanity

DAY 1 
Tragedy. Definitely on my list of experiences I prefer to avoid. The word conjures up images of calamity, devastation, and human heartbreak. It crushes hope and visits the worst case scenario upon its victims. Unfortunately, we have to revisit the scene of mankind’s first and worst tragedy. It is the starting point for understanding the curse. It was this downfall that inaugurated the curse. It is where we first see the ugly realities that deform the original form of God’s creation. It is where we see the first reflection in Scripture of our own deformity. It is the Tragedy in the Garden. 
Like all classic literary tragedies, there is an antagonist at work. As Adam and Eve bask in the afterglow of God’s creation, we are introduced to this figure. He is unnamed, identified only as “the serpent.” Foreshadowing the tragedy that awaits, he is described simply as being “more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made” (Gen 3:1). 
He is a predator. He studies his prey. He is lurking, waiting, calculating. He measures the circumstances. He weighs the opportunities. He always knows which way the wind is blowing. He looks for where he might gain the greatest advantage. He is poised to strike at any given moment, but his style is crafty. His pounce is disguised as a gentle greeting. His beguiling smile desensitizes the prey to his teeth sharpened for the kill. His lips drip with honey, hiding his venomous fangs. His roar is bridled with a purr. With perversity in his heart, he continually devises evil; evil which he disguises with the sweet bait of instant gratification. 
When he senses the moment of greatest leverage in his favor, he strikes. He is clever and crafty; his victims lulled into a false sense of security. He is engaging. He is deceptive. He often is more enamored with the spectacle of watching his victim unknowingly twist in his web than he is in their ultimate destruction. He takes delight in slow, subtle seduction that erodes his prey of their will, their senses, their conscience, their very identity. He intoxicates his prey with arrogance, with leading questions, baiting their pride. 
“And he said to the woman, ‘Indeed, has God said, “You shall not eat from any tree of the garden?”’” (Gen 3:1). He waits, knowing a response to his question is too tempting for his target to resist. He is crafty, using misdirection to lure his prey closer. He eases the awkwardness of the moment with his soothing posture and his shifty eyes. 
Patiently, knowing it is just a matter of time, he curls his lip with a sly smile. Eventually, inevitably, “the woman said to the serpent, ‘From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, “You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.”'" (Gen 3:2-3). 
He pauses. Tempted to boast in his work, but knowing that moment has not yet fully ripened, he waits. He nods knowingly, propping up his victim’s false sense of security. With impeccable timing, he fashions his words with assertions appealing to his target’s sense of pride and identity. "You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Gen 3:4-5). 
He is so sly, so crafty, almost as if he hands over his skills of web-weaving to his prey, taking delight as he watches the fruit of self-destruction ripen before his eyes. His prey smiles and is disarmed by the shiny strands of his web spinning around her, confusing the chains of darkness for streaks of light. The false assertion of enlightenment is the façade behind which lurks the snare. Prepared to nudge his prey further, he watches as the shroud of pride grows within them. He senses their inner conflict. Enticed by their own appetite. “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food…” Lured by their own lust. “That it was a delight to the eyes…” Aroused by their own arrogance. “That the tree was desirable to make one wise…” His eyes narrow with a fiery focus as he observes the prey so close to that final, fatal reach. His breath quickens. He leans forward expectantly. “She took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate” (Gen 3:6). 
A ripple of euphoria pulsed through his body as he watched. First the woman, then the man. His guile exploiting their gullibility. His devilish drool savoring the moment. His scheme perfectly executed. Watching them both as the pleasure of that micro-moment gave way to a far-reaching ache of which they could not even conceive. “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked.” His mouth waters as he watches the realization sink in that they are exposed and in danger. He muffles his evil chuckle at how pathetic and vulnerable they are. He mimics them as they scramble for cover. In an act of desperation “they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.” (Gen 3:7). Their actions laying the cornerstone for all who would follow them; they chased their lost innocence to no avail. Exchanging the truth for a lie; creation had fallen. 
“They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.” (Gen 3:8). The crafty serpent hid in the background, watching their pathetic attempt to avoid detection, amused at their attempt in pursuing a cover-up over disclosure; his appetite insatiable. 
He eyes the scene. Master Creator softly calling. Stained creation pathetically hiding. “Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, ‘Where are you?’” (Gen 3:9). The effects of his scheme degrading the moment from intimate to intimidating. Only a kiss of betrayal would befit this moment. Eavesdropping as he hears the first words spoken between Creator and creation since that delicious moment of deception, he shivers with a sense of thrill and conquest.