3 But God had a mortal enemy – Satan – who also decided to take up residence in the Garden. At one time 2nd in Power to the Almighty, Satan in his pride has sought to be God and thus had been thrown out of heaven. He now had one goal – to subvert and corrupt everything that God had created.
God creates. God is good. God is loving. God is Joyful. He wants us to love, be joyful.
Satan subverts and destroys. Satan hates. Satan is sad. He wants us to also hate, and be sad like him.
When God was not visibly present, he met the man and woman in the garden. He questioned God’s motives in not giving them total freedom. “It was not love that prompted God to command them not to eat fruit the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It was the God did not want them to be like God.”