The Lie About the Truth, Pt. 3: You Can Decide – A Wicked Enticement
The Lie About the Truth, Pt. 3: You Can Decide – A Wicked Enticement [TRANSCRIPT]
In Genesis 3:4-5 we read,
As we continue to look at the subject of Deception here on Truth Matters, we now come to deception’s strongest and most powerful enticing lie. This lie is at the core of the eternal temptation of power. This deception can and will plant itself in the heart of a person’s soul. But there is a deep danger in this deceptive lie. Let’s look at the deceptive lie that threatens the eternal destiny of any who believe it.
***
This is part three of our introduction in this series on Deception. If this is your first time to listen to Truth Matters, I encourage you to go back and listen or watch the previous two episodes. But let me briefly review where we’ve been.
Deception has in its formation in the Deceiver, the Liar, and Satan himself. The Deceiver’s main attack is against God. It’s against who He is, and what He represents. Scripture records that on earth, Satan’s attack first played out in the Garden of Eden. What we have is the serpent coming and confronting Eve in a very cunning dialogue with the purpose to deceive and to destroy. And even though the conversation is with Eve, the real target is God. We see this clearly as we examine the deceptive approach he uses.
Remember, Satan begins by questioning God’s very words. He says, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” The enemy challenges the veracity of what God said by deceptively manipulating God’s words. The purpose of this deception is to create doubt about God’s Word.
Next, the enemy offers an alternative to the very clear words from God. God had said that they were to not eat this forbidden fruit or else they would “Certainly Die!” God clearly states that to disobey His warning is dangerous and deadly. The enemy then declares the absolutely opposite consequence. He says, “You certainly Will Not Die!” He contradicts what God said and in the process insinuates that God is lying. The truth is, Satan is the liar.
So, you see the process. Create doubt by calling into question what God said, His Word. Next, contradict what God said by offering an alternative narrative of reality, while at the same time insinuating that God is lying. The by-product of the lies lays the groundwork for doubt and distrust of God Himself.
Now comes the final attack strategy. The Deceiver questions God’s motives with a wicked enticement. The enemy proposes an accusation against God. And if that were not enough, laced in the accusation against God is an invitation to consider a possibility of enormous power. It is a power that is alive and thriving in our world today. Now, let’s look at it.
In Gen. 3:4-5 it says,
As we said, Satan contradicts what God had said about the consequences that will accompany disobedience to God’s prohibition. Now he backs up this up with a substitute reality by challenging God’s character. The Deceiver accuses God of deception. He says that God is hiding behind His command. He suggests that God is hiding something He doesn’t want mankind to know. Satan says that God is hiding a knowledge that God alone possesses. He suggests that if they eat the fruit, their eyes will be opened. They will see what God is hiding. In fact, when their eyes are opened, they will possess what God possesses. They will be like God, knowing what God knows.
Let’s break this down. This part of the conversation begins with the enemy insinuating that God is lying. This is an interesting tactic that is still in use today. A recognizable method used by deceivers is to misdirect attention by accusing their opponent of the exact thing they themselves are doing. The Liar accuses God of lying. Now, rather than focusing on the deceiver, the attention shifts to the innocent party.
Think about that a moment. The Liar is calling God a liar. Imagine it, the cunning liar launches a character assassination against God. Maybe if you had been standing there, you might have thought, “Well, what does the accused have to say for Himself?” Good question. God is accused of lying. What does God have to say in His defense?
Well, in Num. 23:19 we read,
God does not lie!
Again in Heb. 6:17-18a we read,
You see, the very character and nature of God makes it impossible for Him to lie. Now, can you see how the enemy attacks God in the process of deception? It’s always interesting to me how some who proclaim that they don’t even believe in God equally use this tactic of accusing God and impugning His character. It’s as silly as slandering Santa Claus. But the enemy here doesn’t attack the fantasies of the world. Instead, he attacks the reality against which he himself is rebelling. This is not the God of anyone’s imagination. This is the True and the Living God. And He is NOT a liar. His Words are true.
Satan also questions God’s character by suggesting that God is hiding something. He’s holding back. It’s like Satan is saying, “Why is He doing that, huh?” There’s nothing subtle in that is there? Deceivers, when they are control of the conversation, they love to call into question the God that they wish to discredit. They even do it while sounding morally superior hoping to disarm any rebuttal. “Well, the God I believe in doesn’t act in that manner.”
The truth of the matter is, it really doesn’t matter the type of God anyone believes in. The only relevant point that matters is the God that IS. And as we heard earlier, the True and the Living God is true to His character. He can be believed because He DOES NOT LIE. He can be trusted.
This brings us to the crux the Deceiver’s lie. Now, remember. Remember this. Satan is a rebel. He is a being in rebellion against the Living God. And this rebel seeks to generate similar rebellion wherever he goes. We’ll study more about the weeks ahead as we begin looking directly at Devil in particular in our study. But know this, this third lie is at the heart of his own rebellion and he invites mankind to join him. Let’s look at it.
The enemy insinuates that God is hiding something. What is it that he accuses God of hiding? Answer: Ultimate Power. Now, it doesn’t get any more tempting than that. Let’s look at it.
Gen. 3:5 “For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will become like God, knowing good and evil.” The first false promise is that knowledge itself is the key.
You may have heard the statement, “Knowledge is power.” And in one sense is may indeed hold a certain degree of power or at least influence. But knowledge on its own is equally dangerous. You see, knowledge without truth is merely unguided information which is absolutely susceptible to deceit and manipulation. A lie is information unhinged from the truth. Such information can manipulate and destroy. I recall the words of a 1960’s English rock group King Crimson. “Knowledge is a deadly friend when no-one sets the rules. The fate of all mankind, I see, is in the hands of fools.” We could add, “It’s in the hands of evil and dangerous forces.”
Always beware of the promise of secret knowledge detached from God’s truth. You can almost always be certain that our lying adversary is at work to deceive.
But the enemy attaches a false promise to this knowledge that he tempts with. He says that it holds the promise of godhood. Now, he isn’t as bold to suggest that we can do what God can do. That’s another form of deception that we’ll look at on another occasion. No, this is the knowledge, this is the awareness, this is the discernment, this is the control of good and evil.
This temptation is an offer to have what God alone possesses. You see, God, being God, sets the boundaries, He has the delineation of right and wrong. This is the prerogative of God. But to disobey God is to take control of right and wrong, of good and evil. In essence Satan is saying, “You can decide. Choose for yourself what’s right and wrong.” This is the power to control.
You must understand, this is a powerful temptation. This is the tempting fruit which Satan himself sought and seeks to possess. He desires a sovereignty over reality which God alone possesses. His rebellion is against the sovereign God who sits on the throne of all reality.
At the heart of sin is a rebel heart that desires to control reality. The sinner wants to define right and wrong for themselves. They want to control the rules freed from the consequences stated by the Truth of God. We see this every day in our lives. It’s in history. It’s in our daily news.
But know this, remember this, control is an illusion. Let me ask you, “Did you decide the day of your conception or the day of your birth?” Someone may say. “Well, well I can control the day of my death!” You mean suicide? Huh? The answer is very simple. Reality extends beyond death you know. “Do you control what happens after you die?” Again, control is an illusion. There are so many things effecting our lives that are totally out of our control.
But who does control such realities? …… God does. Hear what God declares.
Isa. 40:13-14 says,
How arrogant, how foolish to presume to claim to be God like He is in His sovereignty. Whether in the rebellion of Satan, or in the Garden or in the hearts of mankind today, God alone is Lord. He alone declares the end from the beginning. He is control.
Now, this truth incenses the rebel heart. The proud and the dissident soul fights against the truth of God. The liar is having a field day among such hearts today. The proud and the sinful want a reality where they can control what is true. But God’s truth, we know that God’s truth is being rejected in the rebellion against Him today. We will see this over and over again in this study.
But let me just say this. I believe better things concerning you. God’s Word warns us not to believe the lies of the enemy. This is why I’m covering this topic. The fact that you are listening to this tells me that you recognize the Lord God. There is a God. But we are not Him. You understand that the sinful heart that is in you needed rescuing from the delusion of control. Left to ourselves we stand guilty and judged. I mean, the honest truth is, we’re not smart enough to be gods. Knowing this, recognizing this, we bow before the Lord God who saves us. We have discovered strength and safety in Him.
We believe God. We believe what He says. We believe Him.
Heb. 11:6 says,
We believe Him, we seek Him and He responds.
We believe the truth and not the lies.
Hold to His Truth and you will recognize it. And then we can affirm the truth of God. For it is the Truth that Matters.
The serpent said to the woman, “You certainly will not die! For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will become like God, knowing good and evil.”
And in Numbers 23:19 we read,“God is not a man, that He would lie, nor a son of man, that He would change His mind; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
Isaiah 40:13-14 the Bible says,Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or as His counselor has informed Him? With whom did He consult and who gave Him understanding? And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge, and informed Him of the way of understanding?
In Isaiah 40:18 God declares,To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare with Him?
Also in Isaiah 40:25 we read,“To whom then will you compare Me That I would be his equal?” says the Holy One.
Again in Isaiah 46:9 God says,“Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me,”
In Hebrews 6:17-18a we read,In the same way God, desiring even more to demonstrate to the heirs of the promise the fact that His purpose is unchangeable, confirmed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie,
In John 8:44 Jesus said,“You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies.
As we continue to look at the subject of Deception here on Truth Matters, we now come to deception’s strongest and most powerful enticing lie. This lie is at the core of the eternal temptation of power. This deception can and will plant itself in the heart of a person’s soul. But there is a deep danger in this deceptive lie. Let’s look at the deceptive lie that threatens the eternal destiny of any who believe it.
***
This is part three of our introduction in this series on Deception. If this is your first time to listen to Truth Matters, I encourage you to go back and listen or watch the previous two episodes. But let me briefly review where we’ve been.
Deception has in its formation in the Deceiver, the Liar, and Satan himself. The Deceiver’s main attack is against God. It’s against who He is, and what He represents. Scripture records that on earth, Satan’s attack first played out in the Garden of Eden. What we have is the serpent coming and confronting Eve in a very cunning dialogue with the purpose to deceive and to destroy. And even though the conversation is with Eve, the real target is God. We see this clearly as we examine the deceptive approach he uses.
Remember, Satan begins by questioning God’s very words. He says, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” The enemy challenges the veracity of what God said by deceptively manipulating God’s words. The purpose of this deception is to create doubt about God’s Word.
Next, the enemy offers an alternative to the very clear words from God. God had said that they were to not eat this forbidden fruit or else they would “Certainly Die!” God clearly states that to disobey His warning is dangerous and deadly. The enemy then declares the absolutely opposite consequence. He says, “You certainly Will Not Die!” He contradicts what God said and in the process insinuates that God is lying. The truth is, Satan is the liar.
So, you see the process. Create doubt by calling into question what God said, His Word. Next, contradict what God said by offering an alternative narrative of reality, while at the same time insinuating that God is lying. The by-product of the lies lays the groundwork for doubt and distrust of God Himself.
Now comes the final attack strategy. The Deceiver questions God’s motives with a wicked enticement. The enemy proposes an accusation against God. And if that were not enough, laced in the accusation against God is an invitation to consider a possibility of enormous power. It is a power that is alive and thriving in our world today. Now, let’s look at it.
In Gen. 3:4-5 it says,
The serpent said to the woman, “You certainly will not die! For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will become like God, knowing good and evil.”
As we said, Satan contradicts what God had said about the consequences that will accompany disobedience to God’s prohibition. Now he backs up this up with a substitute reality by challenging God’s character. The Deceiver accuses God of deception. He says that God is hiding behind His command. He suggests that God is hiding something He doesn’t want mankind to know. Satan says that God is hiding a knowledge that God alone possesses. He suggests that if they eat the fruit, their eyes will be opened. They will see what God is hiding. In fact, when their eyes are opened, they will possess what God possesses. They will be like God, knowing what God knows.
Let’s break this down. This part of the conversation begins with the enemy insinuating that God is lying. This is an interesting tactic that is still in use today. A recognizable method used by deceivers is to misdirect attention by accusing their opponent of the exact thing they themselves are doing. The Liar accuses God of lying. Now, rather than focusing on the deceiver, the attention shifts to the innocent party.
Think about that a moment. The Liar is calling God a liar. Imagine it, the cunning liar launches a character assassination against God. Maybe if you had been standing there, you might have thought, “Well, what does the accused have to say for Himself?” Good question. God is accused of lying. What does God have to say in His defense?
Well, in Num. 23:19 we read,
God is not a man, that He would lie, nor a son of man, that He would change His mind; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
God does not lie!
Again in Heb. 6:17-18a we read,
In the same way God, desiring even more to demonstrate to the heirs of the promise the fact that His purpose is unchangeable, confirmed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie,
You see, the very character and nature of God makes it impossible for Him to lie. Now, can you see how the enemy attacks God in the process of deception? It’s always interesting to me how some who proclaim that they don’t even believe in God equally use this tactic of accusing God and impugning His character. It’s as silly as slandering Santa Claus. But the enemy here doesn’t attack the fantasies of the world. Instead, he attacks the reality against which he himself is rebelling. This is not the God of anyone’s imagination. This is the True and the Living God. And He is NOT a liar. His Words are true.
Satan also questions God’s character by suggesting that God is hiding something. He’s holding back. It’s like Satan is saying, “Why is He doing that, huh?” There’s nothing subtle in that is there? Deceivers, when they are control of the conversation, they love to call into question the God that they wish to discredit. They even do it while sounding morally superior hoping to disarm any rebuttal. “Well, the God I believe in doesn’t act in that manner.”
The truth of the matter is, it really doesn’t matter the type of God anyone believes in. The only relevant point that matters is the God that IS. And as we heard earlier, the True and the Living God is true to His character. He can be believed because He DOES NOT LIE. He can be trusted.
This brings us to the crux the Deceiver’s lie. Now, remember. Remember this. Satan is a rebel. He is a being in rebellion against the Living God. And this rebel seeks to generate similar rebellion wherever he goes. We’ll study more about the weeks ahead as we begin looking directly at Devil in particular in our study. But know this, this third lie is at the heart of his own rebellion and he invites mankind to join him. Let’s look at it.
The enemy insinuates that God is hiding something. What is it that he accuses God of hiding? Answer: Ultimate Power. Now, it doesn’t get any more tempting than that. Let’s look at it.
Gen. 3:5 “For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will become like God, knowing good and evil.” The first false promise is that knowledge itself is the key.
You may have heard the statement, “Knowledge is power.” And in one sense is may indeed hold a certain degree of power or at least influence. But knowledge on its own is equally dangerous. You see, knowledge without truth is merely unguided information which is absolutely susceptible to deceit and manipulation. A lie is information unhinged from the truth. Such information can manipulate and destroy. I recall the words of a 1960’s English rock group King Crimson. “Knowledge is a deadly friend when no-one sets the rules. The fate of all mankind, I see, is in the hands of fools.” We could add, “It’s in the hands of evil and dangerous forces.”
Always beware of the promise of secret knowledge detached from God’s truth. You can almost always be certain that our lying adversary is at work to deceive.
But the enemy attaches a false promise to this knowledge that he tempts with. He says that it holds the promise of godhood. Now, he isn’t as bold to suggest that we can do what God can do. That’s another form of deception that we’ll look at on another occasion. No, this is the knowledge, this is the awareness, this is the discernment, this is the control of good and evil.
This temptation is an offer to have what God alone possesses. You see, God, being God, sets the boundaries, He has the delineation of right and wrong. This is the prerogative of God. But to disobey God is to take control of right and wrong, of good and evil. In essence Satan is saying, “You can decide. Choose for yourself what’s right and wrong.” This is the power to control.
You must understand, this is a powerful temptation. This is the tempting fruit which Satan himself sought and seeks to possess. He desires a sovereignty over reality which God alone possesses. His rebellion is against the sovereign God who sits on the throne of all reality.
At the heart of sin is a rebel heart that desires to control reality. The sinner wants to define right and wrong for themselves. They want to control the rules freed from the consequences stated by the Truth of God. We see this every day in our lives. It’s in history. It’s in our daily news.
But know this, remember this, control is an illusion. Let me ask you, “Did you decide the day of your conception or the day of your birth?” Someone may say. “Well, well I can control the day of my death!” You mean suicide? Huh? The answer is very simple. Reality extends beyond death you know. “Do you control what happens after you die?” Again, control is an illusion. There are so many things effecting our lives that are totally out of our control.
But who does control such realities? …… God does. Hear what God declares.
Isa. 40:13-14 says,
Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or as His counselor has informed Him? With whom did He consult and who gave Him understanding? And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge, and informed Him of the way of understanding?
Isa. 46:9 says,“Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me,”
Isa. 40:18 declares, “To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare with Him?” Also in Isa. 40:25 he says, “To whom then will you compare Me That I would be his equal?” says the Holy One.”How arrogant, how foolish to presume to claim to be God like He is in His sovereignty. Whether in the rebellion of Satan, or in the Garden or in the hearts of mankind today, God alone is Lord. He alone declares the end from the beginning. He is control.
Now, this truth incenses the rebel heart. The proud and the dissident soul fights against the truth of God. The liar is having a field day among such hearts today. The proud and the sinful want a reality where they can control what is true. But God’s truth, we know that God’s truth is being rejected in the rebellion against Him today. We will see this over and over again in this study.
But let me just say this. I believe better things concerning you. God’s Word warns us not to believe the lies of the enemy. This is why I’m covering this topic. The fact that you are listening to this tells me that you recognize the Lord God. There is a God. But we are not Him. You understand that the sinful heart that is in you needed rescuing from the delusion of control. Left to ourselves we stand guilty and judged. I mean, the honest truth is, we’re not smart enough to be gods. Knowing this, recognizing this, we bow before the Lord God who saves us. We have discovered strength and safety in Him.
We believe God. We believe what He says. We believe Him.
Heb. 11:6 says,
And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for the one who comes to God must believe that He exists, and that He proves to be One who rewards those who seek Him.
We believe Him, we seek Him and He responds.
We believe the truth and not the lies.
Hold to His Truth and you will recognize it. And then we can affirm the truth of God. For it is the Truth that Matters.
Posted in Truth Matters - with Emilio Lartigue
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