On Wednesday we looked at the first part of Satan’s temptation of Adam and Eve in the Garden: “The Laugh.” Today we will look at part two, “The Lie.” Remember, as soon as Satan showed up in the Garden of Eden, he launched his fiery dart at our first parents.
THE LIE
The lie is found in Genesis 3:4—“The serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die.’” We know this is a bold-faced lie, because it is a direct contradiction of the Word of God in Genesis 2:16-17.
The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Here we have the Word of God versus the distortion of the father of lies. It is instructive to note that Satan does not attempt to deny the existence of God, nor does he try to deny the law of God. He does not attempt to deny the will of God. The devil delivers a declaration of defiance—not against the existence, the law, or even the will of God, but rather he denies the goodness of God. When the laugh and the lie of Satan are rightly understood, we see it for what it truly was: an attack on the goodness of God.
Satan was essentially saying that God wanted to deny Adam and Eve the fullness of life by delivering His one prohibition. Satan got Adam and Eve to focus on the one thing that was forbidden, rather than everything else that was graciously given and permitted. Satan intimated to our first parents that there was a happier life than what they had with God. He sold Eve on a more satisfying existence, one she had not yet experienced, an experience apart from God.
What a sales pitch the devil delivered! He convinced Adam and Eve that God’s borders were narrow and restricting, and that God’s ultimate goal was to deny them the best that the Garden had to offer by demanding obedience to the proscription of that one forbidden tree. Satan’s “you can be like God” offer was too much for them to resist. They believed the lie, exchanged kingdoms, shrunk the size of their lives down to the size of their lives, and sent all of creation on a downward spiral. What they got was exactly what God promised: death. Satan was the one who was robbing Adam and Eve of the best life, and every man, woman, and child to follow was plunged into bondage to sin because of their deliberate disobedience.
The lie that promised more actually delivered less . . . so much less! You see, God never designed us to live apart from Him. We were made to be dependent upon our Creator, and we were never to find our identity, purpose, significance, or meaning apart from Him. Yet God refused to leave us in our rebellion. He pursued us in the middle of our sin, purchased us with the blood of the Savior, and set us apart by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is no lie!
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 