The serpent's First Attempt to Poke a Hole in God's Heart and Drain it of His Love for Us

The serpent did not waste any time in trying to achieve his foul purpose. He launched his attack on God's love for us by employing newly-minted humanity to do his dirty work for him. Surely, the serpent reasoned, if he could induce Adam and Eve to opt out of paradise, their ingratitude would extinguish the bonfire of love that burns for them in the most sacred heart of God. Surely, the scope of God's love does not include ingrates.

So the serpent fouled the fuel of truth with an illusion. He conjured up an illusion that distorted our perception of reality (Isaiah 5:20).  The serpent's illusion sugarcoated the sourness of godlessness (Isaiah 5:20). The sugarcoating was the false testimony that we would become gods without God in the valley of tears (Genesis 3:5). God, however, testified that, without him, we would die (Genesis 3:3).

Hence, the conflicting testimony created an unwelcome controversy that was thrust into the laps of Adam and Eve for resolution. Newly minted humanity had never encountered testimonial conflict. This was their first time. They were confused. As rational creatures, they knew that the testimony of both God and the serpent could not be true. Yet, their only experience was with reality. They were neophytes with regard to illusion. This was their first encounter with illusion. Until the serpent, nobody had ever lied to them. 

So, to resolve the controversy, Adam and Eve decided to conduct an investigation. Into the valley of tears, they embarked on a fact finding mission.