Beware of the Lie

 How can a man who gives praise to Allah for his accomplishments fight against the very people who pray to Allah? Is he saying Allah gave the victory?

"And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie." (2 Thessalonians 2:11 KJV)

One of the greatest dangers facing America today is not found on the battlefield, in the economy, or even in foreign nations. The greatest danger is our willingness to believe what is not true.

We live in a generation where people no longer ask, "Is it true?" They ask, "Does it support my side?" If it supports their side, they embrace it. If it challenges their side, they reject it.

That is not discernment.

That is deception.

The devil has never needed to create the truth. He only needs to convince people to believe a lie.

In the Garden of Eden, Satan told Eve, "Ye shall not surely die." The statement sounded good. It appealed to human desire. It promised power, knowledge, and advancement. But it was still a lie.

Today, the same spirit is at work.

When leaders declare complete victory while the battle still rages, we should question the claim.

When politicians tell us that an enemy is utterly defeated while missiles are still flying and soldiers are still fighting, we should question the claim.

When governments claim absolute success while evidence shows a far more complicated reality, we should question the claim.

Truth does not fear examination.

Truth welcomes scrutiny.

Truth stands even when challenged.

Propaganda demands blind acceptance.

The Bible warns us repeatedly about deception.

"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." (1 Thessalonians 5:21 KJV)

Notice Paul did not say to believe everything a ruler says.

He did not say to trust every report.

He did not say to accept every claim made by those in power.

He said, "Prove all things."

Test it.

Examine it.

Compare it to reality.

Measure it against the facts.

The danger begins when people become emotionally attached to leaders and stop questioning what they say.

A man can claim an enemy is defeated.

But if the enemy is still fighting, the claim is false.

A man can claim total victory.

But if the war continues, the claim is false.

A man can claim that nothing is getting through a blockade.

But if ships continue to move and trade continues, the claim is false.

A speech does not change reality.

A headline does not change reality.

Reality is not changed by repeating a statement over and over.

A lie repeated a thousand times is still a lie.

The devil understands this principle well.

He knows that if he can get people to accept small distortions of truth, they will eventually accept larger ones.

The same spirit that said, "Ye shall be as gods," is the same spirit that tells people today, "Do not believe your eyes. Do not examine the facts. Just trust what you are told."

Christian people must never surrender their discernment.

Our loyalty belongs to Christ, not to political parties.

Our allegiance belongs to the Kingdom of God, not to earthly kingdoms.

We should never be so committed to a leader that we cannot acknowledge when he is wrong.

Nor should we be so committed to an ideology that we refuse to see reality.

The prophet Isaiah warned:

"Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness." (Isaiah 5:20 KJV)

That warning applies whenever truth is exchanged for narrative.

The church must be a pillar of truth in a world drowning in deception.

We must refuse to believe something simply because it is repeated often.

We must refuse to believe something simply because it comes from a powerful person.

We must refuse to believe something simply because everyone else accepts it.

Our responsibility is to seek truth.

Not partisan truth.

Not political truth.

Not media truth.

God's truth.

In these last days, deception will increase. Scripture warns that many will be deceived because they love the comfort of a lie more than the discomfort of truth.

Let us be people who love truth enough to follow it wherever it leads.

For when a nation begins believing lies, judgment is not far behind.

And when a church begins to believe lies, revival is not far from disappearing.

"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:32 KJV)

Not slogans.

Not personalities.

Not political movements.

The truth.

And the truth alone.

There Is Only One God

"I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another..." (Isaiah 42:8 KJV)

Over the past several days I have been studying the pride of Lucifer. Before there was sin in the Garden, before there was rebellion among men, there was rebellion in heaven.

Lucifer looked upon himself and said in his heart:

"I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God... I will be like the most High." (Isaiah 14:13-14 KJV)

Notice the five "I wills." Pride was the first sin. Lucifer was not content to serve God; he wanted to replace God.

That same spirit has never left this world.

When Satan came to Eve in the Garden, he offered her the very same temptation that had caused his own downfall.

"Ye shall be as gods." (Genesis 3:5 KJV)

The lie has not changed.

Man still wants to be his own god.

Governments want to be gods.

Kings want to be gods.

Religious leaders want to be gods.

And sometimes people are willing to make gods out of men.

Recently I read statements where political leaders were being described as "next to God" or spoken of in language that borders on worship. As I read those words, my heart became troubled.

I do not care whether the person is a Republican, Democrat, Independent, king, president, preacher, pope, or prophet. No man belongs next to God.

There is only one God.

The Christian faith is built upon the truth that Jesus Christ alone is Lord.

"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:12 KJV)

No president died for our sins.

No politician shed his blood on Calvary.

No government rose from the grave.

No earthly leader sits at the right hand of the Father making intercession for the saints.

Only Jesus.

As a country preacher, I have watched Christians become so attached to political leaders that they defend them more passionately than they defend Scripture. Some know more about campaign speeches than they do the Word of God.

That should concern every believer.

God has used kings, rulers, and governments throughout history. He used Cyrus, a Persian king, to help restore Israel. He used Nebuchadnezzar to chastise Judah. He used Roman roads to spread the Gospel.

God can use any leader He chooses.

But being used by God is not the same as being godly.

And it certainly is not the same as being divine.

The danger comes when Christians begin to place their faith in men rather than in God.

Jeremiah warned:

"Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm." (Jeremiah 17:5 KJV)

Our hope is not in Washington.

Our hope is not in Congress.

Our hope is not in political parties.

Our hope is not in elections.

Our hope is in Christ alone.

I have lived long enough to watch presidents come and go. Some promised prosperity. Some promised peace. Some promised to save America. Yet every one of them eventually left office.

But Jesus remains.

The same Jesus who walked the shores of Galilee still reigns today.

The same Jesus who calmed the storm still reigns today.

The same Jesus who rose from the grave still reigns today.

The same Jesus who is coming again still reigns today.

The devil would love for Christians to become so distracted by earthly kingdoms that they forget the Kingdom of God.

He would love for us to put crowns on men while ignoring the King of Kings.

Brothers and sisters, let us be careful.

Support leaders if your conscience permits.

Vote according to biblical conviction.

Pray for those in authority.

Honor whom honor is due.

But worship only God.

The moment we begin speaking of men in terms that belong only to Christ, we step onto dangerous ground.

Lucifer fell because he wanted the glory that belonged to God.

Let us never give to men the glory that belongs to Christ alone.

"Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." (Matthew 4:10 KJV)

And that settles the matter.

Amen.

The Fall From Grace Chapter 12: The Curse

 Key Scriptures

"Unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree... cursed is the ground for thy sake." (Genesis 3:17 KJV)

"In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground." (Genesis 3:19 KJV)

"For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." (Genesis 3:19 KJV)

As we come to Genesis 3:14-19, we arrive at one of the saddest passages in all of Scripture.

In the previous chapter, we saw Adam and Eve believe the serpent's lie.

They chose disobedience over obedience.

They chose self-will over God's will.

They chose the serpent's word over the Word of God.

Immediately after they sinned, shame entered the human heart.

Fear entered the human heart.

Guilt entered the human heart.

The fellowship they once enjoyed with God was broken.

But the consequences did not stop there.

Sin never affects only the sinner.

Its consequences spread outward.

A father sins and a family suffers.

A leader sins and a nation suffers.

Adam sinned, and all creation suffered.

What follows is not God throwing a temper tantrum.

This is not God acting unjustly.

This is the righteous Judge declaring the consequences of rebellion.

The same God who warned Adam of the danger of sin now explains the cost of sin.

And the cost was far greater than Adam could have imagined.

The Curse Upon the Serpent

God begins with the serpent.

"And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle." (Genesis 3:14 KJV)

The serpent becomes a visible reminder of the Fall.

From that day forward, the creature itself would bear the mark of God's judgment.

Yet God's words reach beyond the animal.

Verse 15 points directly to Satan himself.

"And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed."

This is often called the first prophecy of redemption.

Theologians sometimes refer to it as the Protoevangelium—the first announcement of the Gospel.

In the very moment judgment is pronounced, God reveals hope.

The serpent would bruise the heel of the coming Redeemer.

But the Redeemer would crush the serpent's head.

Satan may have won a battle in Eden, but God was already announcing his ultimate defeat.

What grace!

Before Adam ever left the garden, God revealed that a Savior was coming.

The Curse Upon the Ground

Then God turns to Adam.

"Cursed is the ground for thy sake."

Notice something important.

God did not curse Adam directly.

He cursed the ground because of Adam's sin.

The earth itself came under judgment.

The world Adam once ruled with ease would now resist him.

The soil that once produced abundance would now produce:

"Thorns also and thistles."

Before the Fall, work was joyful.

After the Fall, work became difficult.

Before the Fall, creation cooperated.

After the Fall, creation resisted.

The farmer understands this truth.

The gardener understands this truth.

Every person who has ever battled weeds understands this truth.

The curse touched creation itself.

Paul later wrote:

"The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now." (Romans 8:22 KJV)

Creation is still groaning under the effects of Adam's sin.

Every drought.

Every storm.

Every disease.

Every natural disaster reminds us that something is wrong with the world.

Creation itself is waiting for redemption.

Pain and Suffering Enter the World

To Eve, God said:

"I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children." (Genesis 3:16 KJV)

Pain entered human experience.

Before sin, there was no suffering.

No grief.

No heartache.

No tears.

But once sin entered the world, suffering followed.

How many tears have been shed since that day?

How many broken hearts?

How many hospital rooms?

How many funerals?

How many sleepless nights?

Every one of us knows something about suffering.

Some of us know it all too well.

As I write these words, I think about the burdens many of God's people carry.

Aging bodies.

Chronic illness.

Physical pain.

Broken relationships.

Financial struggles.

Loss of loved ones.

All of these things trace their roots back to Genesis 3.

The world we live in today is not the world God created.

We live in a fallen world.

The Sentence of Physical Death

Perhaps the most severe consequence appears in God's words to Adam:

"For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."

Adam had been formed from the dust of the ground.

Now he would return to it.

Death entered the human race.

Until this moment, death had never touched God's creation.

No cemeteries.

No funeral processions.

No gravestones.

No mourning families.

Adam would now watch his body grow older.

His strength would fade.

His life would eventually come to an end.

The sentence of death was passed upon all humanity.

As Paul later wrote:

"For as in Adam all die." (1 Corinthians 15:22 KJV)

Every cemetery testifies to the truth of Genesis 3.

Every obituary reminds us that God's warning was true.

Sin brings death.

God had said:

"In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."

And exactly as God said, death came.

The Greater Tragedy: Spiritual Death

Yet physical death was not the only death that occurred that day.

There was a deeper death.

A more tragic death.

Spiritual death.

The moment Adam sinned, fellowship with God was broken.

The relationship that had once been intimate became fractured.

The man who once walked with God now hid from God.

The man who once enjoyed God's presence now feared God's presence.

Spiritual death is separation from God.

That separation still affects every person born into this world.

We are not sinners because we commit sins.

We commit sins because we are sinners by nature.

Adam's fallen nature has been passed down to every generation.

That is why every person needs salvation.

Religion cannot cure spiritual death.

Education cannot cure spiritual death.

Government cannot cure spiritual death.

Only Jesus Christ can restore what Adam lost.

A Lesson From the Family Farm

Years ago, I heard about a farmer who ignored a small crack in a dam on his property.

It seemed insignificant.

Just a tiny weakness.

Nothing to worry about.

But over time, the crack widened.

Water began to seep through.

One day, the dam failed.

The flood that followed destroyed fields, fences, equipment, and crops.

What began as a small crack became a disaster.

Sin works much the same way.

Many people think:

"It's only one compromise."

"It's only one act of disobedience."

"It's only one sin."

But sin never remains isolated.

Its consequences spread.

Adam's single act of disobedience affected the entire human race.

The curse that followed touched every generation.

The Hope Within the Curse

Yet even in this dark passage, hope shines through.

God did not destroy Adam and Eve immediately.

God did not abandon them.

God did not leave them without a promise.

The same chapter that contains the curse also contains the promise of a coming Redeemer.

The same God who pronounced judgment also provided hope.

That hope points forward to Jesus Christ.

The Last Adam.

The One who would bear the curse for us.

Paul writes:

"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us." (Galatians 3:13 KJV)

Think about that.

The curse entered through the first Adam.

The cure came through the Last Adam.

What sin destroyed, Christ came to restore.

Final Thoughts

Genesis 3 reminds us why the world is the way it is today.

The curse upon the serpent reminds us of Satan's rebellion.

The curse upon the ground reminds us that creation itself has been affected by sin.

Pain and suffering remind us we live in a fallen world.

Physical death reminds us that sin carries consequences.

Spiritual death reminds us of our need for redemption.

Yet the curse is not the end of the story.

God's plan of redemption was already unfolding.

The same God who pronounced judgment also promised deliverance.

And that promise would eventually lead to Bethlehem, Calvary, and an empty tomb.

In our next chapter, we will begin examining the great conflict that follows the Fall—the war between the seed of the serpent and the Seed of the woman that unfolds throughout the rest of Scripture.