Beckett: Pastor’s Thoughts – The Old LIE (Genesis 3:1)

Continuing my devotional reading through the Bible, Genesis 3 is perhaps the most infamous chapter in the entire Bible because it details the Fall of Man. As always, many things can be gleaned from this chapter, but my specific focus is on Satan’s old Lie that persists to this day, “Did God actually say…”

Anytime you find yourself asking the question, “Did God actually say,” you can bet your bottom dollar that God actually did say it, especially when it concerns “controversial” hot topics. “Did God actually say He only created two genders?” Yes, He did. “Did God actually say marriage is only between a man and a woman?” Yes, He did. “Did God actually say homosexuality is a sin?” Yes, He did. “Did God actually say adultery and fornication are sins?” Yes, He did. “Did God actually say life begins in the womb?” Yes, He did. “Did God actually say there is only one God and there are no others like Him?” Yes, He did. “Did Jesus really rise from the dead?” Yes, He did. “Did God actually forgive my sins?” Yes, He did. “Did God actually say there is eternal life in Him?” Yes, He did. The list is endless.

There’s a reason why lies are so powerful. It’s because of Satan, the father of lies, and any who buy into his lies are his children (John 8:44). God uses His Word to create life. Satan uses words to destroy life. I like the way Rev. Jonathan Fisk puts it in his book, Echo, “This is why words are such a phenomenally powerful thing. With words, you can do terrible damage to your neighbor… All that it takes is for somebody to straight up lie about it. Lies are so powerful that they don’t even have to be true to have long-enduring effects” (p. 101; emphasis the author’s).

This is why the old modern proverb is absurd, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” Anyone who’s been bullied knows this is a straight up lie. You see how sneaky and insidious lies can be? Lies take what is delusional and straight up false and manages to twist it into reality. Whether this is someone believing they’re a gender in which God did not create them or a child who believes she’s worthless because the bullies at school tell her she is, the fact of the matter is that these lies are the bastard children of the LIE from the devil that takes what God has created and totally mucks it up.

Anytime God’s Word lays a claim on you—that you are male, or female, forgiven, a child of God—despite what you may feel about it, you bet Satan will lie about it. “Oh, God said you’re a male? No you’re not.” “Oh, God said you’re forgiven? No you’re not.” “Oh, God said you’re His child? No you’re not.” “Oh, God is good and just? No He’s not. Just look at all this evil in the world (that you and I are responsible for).” The list is endless.

Yet Satan’s lying words will not have the final say. For Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, was crucified for you and He is risen for you. A sharp sword shall come from His mouth—a symbol for His Word—that will destroy Satan and his evil, lying minions (Revelation 19:15). Satan corrupted creation with a twisted word. Christ, the Word made flesh, is coming to restore all creation, even you who believe this.

Theology Terms Used

• The Fall of Man: when Adam and Eve believed the words of Satan, the serpent, over the Word of God, were tempted, deceived, and ate of the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
• The Old Lie: Satan’s lie since the Fall of Man that questions the truth of God’s Word, usually with something like, “Did God actually say…”

Bibliography

Fisk, Jonathan. Echo: Unbroken Truth. Worth Repeating. Again. Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2018.