Coveting did not begin with the human race. The first episode of coveting was not Eve, craving the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but Satan, the father of lies, the master of deception, coveting the worship given to the Most High. Satan was originally called 'Lucifer', which means 'morning star'. As Lucifer, he was the most beautiful of all angelic beings God created. Ezekiel 28 describes Lucifer as the model of perfection, the fullness of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Scripture tells us from the day he was created he was blameless in all his ways --until wickedness was found in him. At that point, his heart had become corrupt and he said, "I will ascend on high; I will make myself like the Most High" (Isaiah 14:13-14).
Satan coveted God's position of supreme authority, so God hurled him to the earth in judgment, along with a league of angels who joined in his rebellion. Discontentment is the disease of the devil! When Satan tempted Eve, he said, "Did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden?" (Genesis 3:1). In other words, is there really a prohibition here? "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman, "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (3:4-5). Satan planted enough doubt in Eve to make her question God, and both Adam and Eve took what did not belong to them. And that is exactly what happened! God knew what would happen if Adam and Eve acted independently from Him. When the couple ate from the forbidden tree, their eyes were opened --they saw that they were naked. Prior to their disobedience, the couple had walked in a relationship of moral perfection. However, disobedience resulted in the couple's loss of moral character which caused a separation between themselves and God, and between each other as well. Indeed, they had become like God in the sense that as disobedient humans, they now knew what it had been like to have been declared 'good' by God, but unlike God, once sin had been entered into, they, through firsthand experience, knew what it was to be evil.
The devil's tactic is to tell us everything is not enough. 1 John 2:16 names three areas that are not of God, but of this world: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Satan introduced Eve to all three. The fruit was good to eat (lust of the flesh); pleasing to look at (lust of the eye); and suitable for gaining knowledge (pride of life). This seemed to offer something better than what they already had, but what it did instead, was introduce sin into the world, severing the spiritual bond God shared with Adam and Eve. Losing their moral character, they could no longer accurately depict the moral likeness of God in which they had been created. Since that fateful decision, sin has now become inherit in human beings, and as God cannot partake in sin, He withdrew his Spirit from humankind. Coveting began in the heavenly realms, a spiritual disease called sin, a destructive heart condition with crushing consequences. The subtle way in which Satan tempted Adam and Eve characterizes his work on earth. Whether we realize it or not, there is a battle for our souls, and Satan will do whatever it takes to lure us away from God. We are no match for his cunning. When faced with temptation, Christ is to be our strength. He is our spiritual elder Brother, and when we call in His name to help us in this moral warfare, we walk away in the power and righteousness of Christ. If we do not call out to Him, we fight in our own strength.