Stealing Innocence:

As It Was in the Beginning, So Shall It Be in the End

By Glenn Coggeshell/malachi/The Artist ONE

It all started in the Garden.

Eve was alone, innocent, and untouched—not just physically, but spiritually and emotionally. And then came the serpent.

“Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.” —Genesis 3:1

Let’s pause and look at that word: subtil. Today, we read it as subtle, but in this context, it means something much deeper—cunning, deceptive, manipulative. This wasn’t just a snake slithering up to a tree. This was an entity with a plan. A plan to steal innocence.

The First Theft

Satan didn’t just tempt Eve with a piece of fruit. He implanted doubt, introduced shame, and forced knowledge upon her that she was never meant to discover that way. He cut in between her and her Creator—the Father. He violated the sacred space that existed between her and Adam, corrupting what was pure.

She was meant to learn, grow, and experience life alongside her husband, with God leading and guiding. Instead, the serpent came in like a thief, pulling her into a revelation that wasn’t hers to carry alone.

“Who told you that you were naked?” —Genesis 3:11

That one question says everything. They didn’t know shame until someone told them to feel it.

Ask anyone who grew up poor: did they know they were poor? Most say no—until someone makes them feel less than. That’s what Satan did. He didn’t just show Eve the tree. He showed her a version of herself that wasn’t true, wasn’t needed, and wasn’t hers.

🔍 Related: The Two Millenniums Explore how Satan came to be in the Garden in the first place. This post traces the spiritual timeline from the fall of Lucifer to the formation of Eden. It reveals why the first attack was so personal and why innocence was always the first target. [Read “The Two Millenniums” →]

The War on Innocence

Innocence is now mocked. It’s seen as weakness, as naïveté. But to God, innocence is divine. Look at children—running barefoot, laughing freely, unashamed, unclothed, and pure.

“Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” —Matthew 18:3

That’s the standard. But the world teaches the opposite.

What Satan started in the Garden has been industrialized by culture. Films, music, apps, and industries exist solely to strip people of their innocence and then sell them counterfeit versions of love, identity, and purpose.

Movies & Media

I once knew a pastor who had a small role in a film. He came back disturbed. The producers pressured him to cuss and act out of character. Why? To compromise him. His presence lent spiritual credibility to the film—and that was used to undermine him. That’s what compromise does. It begins small, then opens the door for bigger destruction.

Music

Music once lifted spirits and united people. Now, much of it tempts people to cheat, degrade women, glorify lust, and normalize brokenness. It cheapens what God made beautiful.

OnlyFans & Pornography

OnlyFans is just the latest trap. Like porn before it, it promises quick money and validation—but at the cost of something you can’t get back: innocence. For every success story, there are thousands of broken people, trying to brand their self-worth into pixels and noise.

The company wins. The soul loses.

Marriage & Divorce

In so many relationships today, both men and women feel like what they do is never enough. Why? Because culture says, “There’s always something better.” It’s a lie. The same lie whispered in the garden: “You’re missing out.”

No one talks about how many people trade love for lust and end up alone, bitter, and cynical.

The Fruit of That Theft

The result of this first compromise was immediate and devastating: pain in childbirth, labor under thorns, broken union between man and woman, and exile from God’s presence. But that wasn’t the end—it was just the beginning of what came next.

🌊 Related: The Flood When innocence was lost, it eventually birthed generations of corruption. “The Flood” traces the lineage and spiritual consequences of Eve’s compromise all the way to the Nephilim, the giants, and the judgment of God. [Read “The Flood” →]

The Real Heroes

The greatest people, I believe, are the ones who stayed faithful to one partner, raised a family, stuck through the hard seasons, and never let the world define their worth. They weren’t fooled by the illusion of better. Because deep down, they knew the truth: nothing is better.

Closing Thought

This topic could go on forever because the war on innocence has no single battlefield. It’s in schools, screens, songs, and hearts. But we can fight back by recognizing the value of purity—not just sexually, but in spirit, mind, and motive.

Hold on to what is real. Innocence isn’t ignorance. It’s a form of wisdom the world has forgotten. And maybe it’s time to reclaim it.