2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Today, I am led to continue dealing with the question: Should we believe Satan’s lies? While the answer seems obvious, “no,” God has given us Scriptures to reveal His will. They show us the pitfalls to which Satan tries to lead us and help us recognize when Satan is finding subtle ways to lie to us. Anything God has to say is well worth our time. Yesterday, I began writing about GN 2 & 3 with an eye to seeing Satan at his game. Let me recap. God’s instructions to Adam and Eve were not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The serpent [Satan] comes along and convinces Eve first and then Adam that they can be like God if they will eat that forbidden fruit. It is clear that the first two humans didn’t have strongly rooted faith in the Creator, so they believed the serpent and committed the original sin. Satan’s lie was that they would not die if they ate the forbidden fruit was not discerned as such. It was at that point, that we had to turn our attention to 1 COR 2: 14, which is worth repeating. “Whoever does not have the Spirit cannot receive the gifts that come from God’s Spirit. Such a person really does not understand them; they are foolishness to him, because their value can only be judged on a spiritual basis.” This is certainly hand in hand with the operational definition of sin, which is separation from God. The outcome of this series of events is the cunning serpent’s success at setting up the condition whereby sin spreads through Adam and Eve to all of mankind. Hence the truth of RO 3: 23, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
Let’s look at some of the consequences to Adam and Eve. I know we’ve talked about this before, but it’s important to understand the cost of sin to find motivation to take the steps to eradicate it from our lives. All too often, the sin is committed without ever assessing its cost beforehand. GN 3: 8-10, “That evening they heard the Lord god walking in the garden, and they hid from Him among the trees. But the Lord God called out to the man, ‘Where are you?’ He answered, “I heard You in the garden; I was afraid and hid from You, because I was naked.’” Never before had Adam ever had reason to feel afraid of God, not until he had sinned. Now, he was made aware of the poverty of his soul and the nakedness of his body. God was His Creator and the Source of all that Adam had, and now he was separated from Him. Because of this sin, any child born to Adam and Eve and any descendant of theirs would also be born in sin. That’s a huge price to pay for his disobedience. We all know from the Protevangelium, GN 3: 15, that God’s judgment is pronounced on both mankind and Satan. “I will make you and the woman hate each other,” God says to the serpent. “Her offspring and yours will always be enemies. Her offspring will crush your head, and you will bite her heel.” But that isn’t the only cost. GN 3: 16-19 reveals that Eve and all women after her will have to endure the pain (travail) of childbirth and that they will desire their husbands and yet be subject to them. For Adam, the cost is great too. He will now have to farm the land, and this toil will be hard as the land won’t yield easily. To have food, he will have to raise it by the sweat of his brow. This issue of death is raised in (19b), “You will go back to the soil from which you were formed, and you will become soil again.”
As for Satan, there will be consequences for him and his followers too. We have already discussed his fall from heaven [IS 14: 11-15; EZK 28: 11-19; REV 12: 9] and his knowledge that he has a limited amount of time to do his dirty work [REV 12: 12]. When we look at Satan’s motivation, we can see how destructive it is and why this dragon and his followers are headed for the worst fate imaginable-conscious and eternal torment in the lake of fire and sulfur. REV 12: 17 reveals his motivation, “The dragon was furious with the woman and went off to fight against the rest of her descendants, all those who obey God’s commandments and are faithful to the truth revealed by Jesus.” We must remember that this is the same dragon who “roams around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour” [1 PET 5: 8]. If we knew that our fate was to be that horrible and our time to do what we want limited, there would surely be some jealously toward those who would enjoy an eternity of joy and fellowship with the Father. I think Satan knows this. Satan is forced to accept God’s ultimate supremacy, and swallowing that for one so evil as he isn’t so easy. PS 94: 1-2, “Lord, you are a God Who punishes; reveal your anger! You are the Judge of all men; rise and give the proud what they deserve!” the Psalmist prays. Satan hears this. PS 93: 1-2, “The Lord is King. He is clothed with majesty and strength. The earth is set firmly in place and cannot be moved. Your throne, O Lord, has been firm from the beginning, and You existed before time began.” Oh how Satan wishes that it was he who was the subject of this prayer and not God! Satan hates mankind and wants to see them suffer. Yet, God is telling them through Paul in RO 8: 18, “I consider what we suffer at this present time cannot be compared at all with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.” Satan is listening when Jesus says in JN 12: 31, “Now is the time for this world to be judged; now the ruler of this world will be overthrown.” It’s not what he wants to hear. He wants revenge against God and knows he will never have it!
PRAYER: O Lord, You are the Supreme Ruler, and we offer You praise and thanksgiving for that. You will never abandon those who love You. We join David in his acknowledgment of Your power in PS 47: 1-2, “Clap your hand for joy, all peoples! Praise God with loud songs! The Lord, the Most High, is to be feared; He is a great King, ruling over all the world. Satan’s pretensions mean nothing in the end. He will not be greater or more powerful than You, Lord. Instead, he will go down in defeat and suffer for eternity, forever separated from Your love and provision. Your promise to those of us who obey, love, and trust You will be kept. Salvation from the horrific consequences of a lifestyle of sin and loving care, protection, and proximity to You will be ours, if we endure to the end in our faithful obedience. Like the rich man calling across the abyss to Abraham and Lazarus for relief [LK 16: 24-25], Satan’s calls will be unanswered. We who love You can take comfort in knowing the truth of RO 8: 1, “There is no condemnation now for those who live in union with Christ Jesus.” We stand before You today to voice our confession, present ourselves to You freed of human agendas, and in trust of Your wisdom, promise-keeping, and love for us. We ask that You will fill us with Your Spirit and pledge that we will yield leadership of lives to Christ, our Lord and Savior. We are Your friends and Your servants. We adore and worship You. Our trust is in You, and we promise to obey Your commands. You have our loyalty, diligence, glory, honor, utmost praise, and thanks for being the Presence in our lives that You are. We love You, Lord, and offer this prayer in Christ’s name. Amen.
The serpent may have won the battle, but he will surely lose the war. Tomorrow, we will look at some citations that will help us to understand that truth better. In the meanwhile, we are surrounded by angels that He has sent to protect us [PR 91: 11]. This is one more way that we can know the profundity of His love for us. How wonderful for us that we can face the spiritual warfare challenges of our lives knowing that God is with us! All we have to do is to turn to Him in time of trouble, and He is eager to help us. We should also remember to share our victories with Him. His love for us is such that He shares our joys, just as He shares our sorrows. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn