A fair amount of Christians say that Adam and Eve ate the fruit God commanded them not to eat because Satan deceived them into believing it was good for them and would make them like God. Many Christians say that because they didn't know better they were easily decieved.
Here's the sticking point, Adam and Eve had a fair choice to obey or disobey. They had all the evidence they needed of God's goodness and loving care for them. Until that point, they never experienced evil and were well provided for by God. Yet they chose to listen and believe a serpent that they had just met over the word and command of someone they had a close relationship to and provided for their every need for some time. I don't think they were deceived in the way that we know deception. I think they actually knew better and knew what was the right choice and what was the wrong choice. And they chose poorly based on all the evidence they had of God's goodness. And we make similar mistakes and choices all the time as sinners, despite our knowledge of the goodness of God.
It opens up a whole load of questions as a result.
Were they really deceived or were they just given an opportunity to fail?
If they had passed this test would they have failed another?
How much of our poor decision making and disobedience is the result of actual deception by Satan or our own evil hearts?
Were Adam and Eve actually considered perfect and holy before the Fall or just something close to it?
Adam and Eve’s first sin is not described in scripture as a “fall” and is a transition.
You did not “inherit” anything bad from Adam and Eve, your “nature” prior to your first sin is the same as Adam/Eve.
Adam and Eve did obtain additional “knowledge” that was passed down to all of us in the form of a conscience, but is knowledge bad in and of itself?
This world as it exists right now is the very best place for willing humans to fulfill their earthly objective, while as we learn from the Adam and Eve story the Garden is a lousy (impossible) place to fulfill our earthly objective. We can thus be grateful to Adam and Eve for going through that situation and allowing us to learn from them. Adam and Eve prior to sinning did not fulfill their earthly objective in what we might consider an ideal situation.
Here is the question:
Would you prefer to be in a place where your eternal close relationship with God was dependent on your personal ability to be obedient to all God’s rules forever (that is the garden before sin situation) or in a place where your eternal close relationship with God was dependent on your humbly accepting God’s charity (that is where you are today)?
Man just cannot by man’s own power continue forever in obedience and that is what our best all human representatives (Adam and Eve) showed us early on in their story.
Yes, lots of things were “cursed” by God to provide limited resources, pain, death, and hardship, but these things also helped humans to fulfill their earthly objective.
God made Adam and Eve as He describes “very good” but that is not perfect. Christ was perfect but Christ was not a created being and always had Godly type Love. We on the other hand have to obtain Godly type Love, but remember we just cannot be created with this Love.
God is doing all He can to help us choose His Love over selfish love, but it has to be a real choice (no gun to the head).
So God would create the right universe for the sake of the individuals that will accept His gift (the most powerful force in all universes that compels even God to do all He does) and become like He is (the greatest gift He could give).
What keeps the all-powerful Creator from just giving whatever He wants to his creation?
Again there are just something even an all-powerful Creator cannot do (there are things impossible to do), the big inability for us is create humans with instinctive Godly type Love, since Godly type Love is not instinctive. Godly type love has to be the result of a free will decision by the being, to make it the person’s Love apart from God. In other words: If the Love was in a human from the human’s creation it would be a robotic type love and not a Godly type Love. Also if God “forces” this Love on a person (Kind a like a shotgun wedding) it would not be “loving” on God’s part and the love forced on the person would not be Godly type love. This Love has to be the result of a free will moral choice with real alternatives (for humans those alternatives include the perceived pleasures of sin for a season.)
This Love is way beyond anything humans could develop, obtain, learn, earn, pay back or ever deserve, so it must be the result of a gift that is accepted or rejected (a free will choice).
An unselfish God would be doing all He can to help willing individuals to make that free will decision to accept His Love. Again, since God will not be forcing these individuals, they have to be willing (it is their choice) and God cannot “make” them willing since that is robotic action. God can only at best make them free will agent (like God is) and capable of make the right decision without the selection being worthy of anything (it is a gift of pure charity).
This “Love” is much more than just an emotional feeling; it is God Himself (God is Love). If you see this Love you see God.
Let me just give you an example of How God works to help willing individuals.
All mature adults do stuff that hurts others (this is called sin) these transgressions weigh on them burden them to the point the individual seeks relief (at least early on before they allow their hearts to be hardened). Lots of “alternatives” can be tried for relief, but the only true relief comes from God with forgiveness (this forgiveness is pure charity [grace/mercy/Love]). The correct humble acceptance of this Forgiveness (Charity) automatically will result in Love (we are taught by Jesus and our own experience “…he that is forgiven much will Love much…”). Sin is thus made hugely significant, so there will be an unbelievable huge debt to be forgiven of and thus result in an unbelievable huge “Love” (Godly type Love).
That is an introduction to a huge topic.