The Devil was created perfect in every aspect (Ezekiel 28:15) with complete capacity to do right. Yet, he was also created with a free will to choose whether to do right or to do wrong. Sometime in the distant past, he chose to abide “not in the truth.” This conscious decision to depart from the truth caused him to become the “father” of lies. In one form or another, every lie traces back to the work of the Devil. As the enemy of God, Satan wants to deceive God’s creation into believing a lie so that rejecting the truth and remaining condemned in darkness (2 Corinthians 4:4) seems like the natural thing to do. Satan incorporates every deceptive means at his disposal. One of his main tactics is to convince people that there are many ways to heaven (good works, baptism, church membership, etc.) and many ways to know the truth (feelings, science, circumstances, etc.). Yet, the Bible emphatically proves that God is truth and His word is truth and only through God and His word are we assured of learning and knowing truth.
The garden in Eden was a trouble-free environment for its inhabitants, a literal earthly paradise. Adam and Eve were given one basic commandment to obey. They were told not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Interestingly, up until this point, they only knew good. The Devil knew this and deviously crept into the garden. He wanted to tempt Eve with the fruit from this forbidden tree. He convinced her that that tree would enable her to know both good and evil. Eve already had the ability to discern, though severely limited based on the limited number of choices available. She certainly could have refused the temptation choosing rather to obey the Lord. God had given Adam and Eve everything needed to be successful in the garden including the ability to do right. Eve’s desire to know good and evil prompted her to overlook the fact that she already had been given the gift of discernment.
