The serpent has initiated conversation with Eve by asking her, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden?'" He knows God didn't say Adam and Eve couldn't eat from any tree in the garden. There is only one tree from which they've been instructed not to eat. His fake misunderstanding prompted her to correct him. Now they are in a conversation.
There is never a good reason to get into conversation with the devil. He doesn't speak to us through serpents today but sometimes he does speak through other people, in a sense, when they try to entice us into sin. Have you ever had anyone try to persuade you to do something that you know is sinful? Or have you ever had anyone try to talk you into something that isn't necessarily sinful in itself but is something you know is not the will of God for you? Don't they use the type of words Satan would use if he was standing right in front of you? They question you just like Satan questions Eve. They ask, "Is God really against this? Are you sure that's what the Bible means?" Or they say, "Who is it going to hurt? You deserve to have some fun! You just need to loosen up a little. It will be good for you." The wise King Solomon knew that there are people who do the devil's bidding, even though they may not realize it, so he thought it was important to begin the book of Proverbs by warning his son: "My son, if sinful men entice you, do not give in to them." (Proverbs 1:10)
Satan doesn't speak to us today through serpents or through any other animal. He most often speaks to us through human beings whose hearts aren't right with the Lord. Sometimes, sad to say, he even manages to cause a fellow Christian to get off track and then he will try to use them to take us off track with them. The best thing to do is not to argue with them or get into any type of debate or discussion with them when they try to entice us into sin with them. That's where Eve went wrong. She kept talking to the serpent. The best thing to do is nip the debate in the bud by clearly stating your principles and by telling the person that you will not continue the discussion. If they don't respect your wishes and stop talking about it, shut it down by doing whatever you have to do. If you're talking to them face to face, it's ok to walk away. If you're talking to them by text, you can stop replying. If you're talking to them on the phone, hang up the phone. Do whatever you have to do in order to be firm about having your principles respected. A person who doesn't respect what you stand for and who keeps trying to get you to violate your principles is not really your friend. I've had to be firm from time to time about not getting into conversations that question whether God really said I shouldn't do this or that or about whether I "deserve" to go ahead and do something I know is wrong and then ask for forgiveness later, thereby dishonoring my Lord. Sometimes people have respected my principles and have apologized for what they said to me. Other times they ridiculed me. Other times I just had to cut off all contact because they refused to stop pestering me about joining with them in wrong things. Do what you have to do, but remember to be Christlike about it. You can lovingly state that the things they are enticing you to do are against the word of the God whom you serve and that because you want to obey and honor Him you cannot listen to any more of this particular subject.
Eve explained to the serpent that there was only one tree she was forbidden to eat of because to eat of it meant death. Now Satan uses one of his favorite tactics: he scoffs at the idea that eating of the tree means death. In scoffing at the idea, he casts doubt on whether God really has Eve's best interests at heart. He makes her think God is keeping something from her that is enjoyable and beneficial. Isn't that what Satan does today? He tells us that God is a party pooper. He feeds us the lie that the Christian life isn't a fun life, or that it isn't a satisfying life, or that it isn't an exciting life. "'You will not certainly die,' the serpent said to the woman. 'For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.'" (Genesis 3:4-5)
I can't help hearing his voice in my mind, and his voice has a contemptuous laugh in it. I hear him saying in a sarcastic tone: "You shall not certainly die." If he were a person I think at this point the serpent would make those annoying little quotation marks with his fingers when he says "certainly die", perhaps rolling his eyes disdainfully at the same time. What he is really saying to Eve is this: "God is a liar. You won't die when you eat the fruit. He just told you that because He wants to keep something from you. He knows that when you eat the fruit you will be like Him, and He doesn't want you to be like Him. He wants to be the big guy, the head honcho, the one whose word is law. But if you eat this fruit, you'll be His equal. If you become His equal, you won't have to do what He says anymore. You won't have to serve Him anymore. You won't have to recognize Him as God because you'll be a god yourself."
When we refuse to acknowledge God as the Lord of our lives, we are making gods of ourselves. We are serving ourselves. We are obeying only what our human natures want. The human race fell for the same reason Satan fell: we wanted to be our own gods. What does the Bible say Satan said when he decided to rebel against God? "I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned in the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High." (Isaiah 14:13-14) Satan's ambition was to be worshiped in place of God because he considered himself a god. Human beings may not necessarily want to be worshiped in place of God, but humans often want to serve themselves instead of worshiping God. They want to do their own will, just as Satan wanted to do his own will. What is the devil saying in Isaiah 14:13-14? He's saying over and over, "I will, I will, I will, I will, I will." That's the same thing we say when we refuse to let God be our Lord. But what does the heart of the person committed to the Lord say? It says what Jesus Christ said, "Not as I will, but as You will." (Matthew 26:39, Mark 14:36, Luke 22:42, John 6:38)
If we maintain the attitude Christ had, we will fall into far fewer sins. If we look at every situation and ask, "What would God have me do?" and if we are faithful about studying the Scriptures so we have a clear understanding of what God has said, we will be better equipped to recognize sin as sin. We will be in a better position to quickly see that someone's words are enticing us to do wrong. We will be able to tell right off the bat that something is getting into our heads and tempting us.
The Lord Jesus Christ was struggling more than anyone has ever struggled when He said to God the Father, "Not as I will, but as You will." He was in so much emotional and mental distress that a few minutes earlier He told His disciples, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death." (Mark 14:34) He knew that the next several hours were going to be His worst hours on earth. He was about to be arrested, falsely charged, beaten and mocked by the soldiers of the high priest, whipped to within an inch of His life by Roman soldiers, and nailed to the cross---which was the most torturous form of capital punishment the Roman government had been able to come up with. On top of all this, He was going to literally become sin in our place. Every curse that was pronounced in the law upon a sinner was going to be pronounced against Him. He was going to cry out in misery from the depths of His soul, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" How did He find the strength to face this? How did He manage not to give into what I believe was the very real temptation to bypass the cross and take the promised throne of David by supernatural force? I think He did it by humbly saying to God, "Not as I will, but as You will."
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