Here is what William MacDonald says about those three things: “The LUST OF THE FLESH refers to such sensual bodily appetites as proceed from within our evil nature. The LUST OF THE EYES applies to such evil desires as may arise from what we see. The PRIDE OF LIFE is an unholy ambition for self-display and self-glory.” That verse concludes by saying these are “not of the Father but is OF THE WORLD.” In other words, these three things are what characterize the world of unbelievers who are under the influence of Satan. We see this in two passages of Scripture. The first one is Ephesians 2:1-3, “And you were dead in your offenses and sins, in which you previously walked according to the course of this WORLD, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all previously lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of THE FLESH and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the rest” (NASB). The second one is 1 John 5:19, “We know that we are of God, and that the whole WORLD lies in the power of the evil one.” We learn here that the DEVIL, the “evil one,” uses the WORLD to attract the FLESH.

Mr. MacDonald goes on to say, “These three elements of worldliness are illustrated in the sin of Eve. The tree was good for food; that is the LUST OF THE FLESH. The tree was pleasant to the eyes; that is the LUST OF THE EYES. The tree was desired to make one wise; this describes the PRIDE OF LIFE. The Devil still uses these three things in his attempt to cause people to sin, and I believe the PRIDE OF LIFE is the greatest allurement of the three. Let’s read Genesis 3:1-4 to see how the Devil (the “serpent” …2 Corinthians 11:3; Revelation 20:2) tempted the woman: “Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Indeed, has God said, You shall not eat from every tree of the garden’? The woman said to the serpent, ‘From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’ The serpent said to the woman, ‘You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and YOU WILL BE LIKE GOD, KNOWING GOOD AND EVIL.’” We then read that “she saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was DESIRABLE TO MAKE ONE WISE” and then she “took from its fruit and ate, and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate” (verse 6). Notice, the Devil had not even mentioned how the tree was “good for food” and a “delight to the eyes,” he emphasized that once she ate it, she would “be like God, KNOWING good and evil.” His main attraction for her appealed to the PRIDE OF LIFE, telling her that she would have KNOWLEDGE EQUAL TO GOD.

In closing, this is quite striking, for what was it that caused the angel Lucifer to become the Devil/Satan? It was PRIDE! We read of his fall and rebellion against God in Isaiah 14:12-14 and Ezekiel 28:12-15. In Ezekiel we read that he was “full of WISDOM and perfect in BEAUTY” (verse 12) and in Isaiah we read that he said in his heart, “I will ascend to heaven, I will raise MY THRONE ABOVE THE STARS OF GOD….I will MAKE MYSELF LIKE THE MOST HIGH” (verses 13-14). Lucifer not only wanted to BE LIKE GOD; he wanted to BE GREATER THAN GOD! And this, dear friend, is the desire he seeks to implant in every human heart. This is the epitome of the PRIDE OF LIFE! For those who reject God, His Word, and His Son who wants to be your Savior, it is mainly your PRIDE that is causing this rejection of God and your rebellion towards Him. PRIDE was the sin that caused Lucifer to fall and to be judged by God (see 1 Timothy 3:6), and he wants men to fall into condemnation through PRIDE.  (DO)  (711.5)