The beginning of evil started when Satan fell from heaven. Originally, the angel Lucifer was beautiful and perfect and was anointed by God as a cherubim angel (Ezekiel 28:12-14). Lucifer became proud because of his beauty and intelligence and wanted to become like God. Therefore he was cast out of heaven and sent to earth (Isaiah 14:12-15). God created Lucifer to be perfect, but then Lucifer chose his pride instead of being a servant of God. Evil was born. From this point he became known as Satan.
God wanted to protect from evil
Most theologians think that this was the beginning of evil. We know this occurred sometime before God created the Garden of Eden and planted the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, meaning that evil was already present before Eve’s encounter with the serpent. God wanted to protect man from evil, so He told them not to eat of the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Yet, Adam and Eve had free will to choose. And Satan was there to tempt them. We know that throughout the Bible, Satan takes many forms and roams throughout the earth, trying to tempt God’s people. In Job 1:6-7, the angels came to present themselves among God and Satan was with them. God asks him where he came from. Satan states: “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”
The fall of man
Satan entered the form of a serpent, which Genesis says was the craftiest of the creatures of creation, and slithered to Eve to tempt her. Satan knew that if Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating the fruit, sin and evil would enter into the garden. The fall of man is told in Genesis 3:4-7: “‘You will not certainly die’, the serpent said to the woman, ‘For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil’. When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.”
Aware of their nakedness
We know that after that point, Adam and Eve hid from God and sin entered the garden. It was then that they became aware of their nakedness and God declared that man would toil on the earth and women would have birth pains (Genesis 3:8-20). Both Lucifer’s, then Adam and Eve’s fall from grace reflects how God’s goodness and perfectness can be destroyed in an instant by our own frail and selfish natures. Adam and Eve chose to listen to Satan instead of walking close to God in the garden; they were tempted when they were away from God, which led to their sin. Adam chose his wife’s voice over God’s command, when he listened to her and ate of the fruit.
We must walk with God and listen to His voice as we walk through life. Temptations and evil surround us, only God can keep us from sin.