Adam and Eve exited paradise because the serpent offered them a better deal than God.

The serpent (John 8:44) offered us a better deal than God (Genesis 3:5). Deification, without God, in the Valley of Tears, was the serpent’s offer (Genesis 3:5). What deal does God offer us (Luke 15:29-32)? Adam and Eve jumped at the serpent’s offer. They accepted it hook, line and sinker. To shatter the sugarcoating that the serpent poured over a life lived, without God, in the Valley of Tears, God lets us stew there like pickles in a barrel of toxic brine. He lets us put our fingers into the flames to learn for ourselves that the fire is hot. God did not want Adam and Eve to learn the sour truth the hard way by tasting it themselves. The sour truth plays rough. All of the complaints about God’s rescue plan arise from our intimate contact with the sour truth. He warned them (Genesis 3:3). They disregarded God’s warning. The truth itself packs a more persuasive punch than a warning. The truth is harsh but effective medicine. It is a sledgehammer that shatters the sugarcoating as the blow of a hammer shatters glass.