THE WORD OF GOD

Vol 3 No 29 THEO'S DEVOS


Genesis 3:1-5 1Now the serpent was the shrewdest of all the creatures the LORD God had made. “Really?” he asked the woman. “Did God really say you must not eat any of the fruit in the garden?”
2“Of course we may eat it,” the woman told him. 3“It’s only the fruit from the tree at the center of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God says we must not eat it or even touch it, or we will die.”
4“You won’t die!” the serpent hissed. 5“God knows that your eyes will be opened when you eat it. You will become just like God, knowing everything, both good and evil.”


Someone has said that the more things change, the more they stay the same. For many years the Bible, the Word of God has been under attack. How important is that? I know that, for the Christian we would be quick to state that the Bible is the one book that we can count as a way to live and a way to God.

It is also important to know that strategy of one's enemy is important to know. It is easy to lose in a battle if you don't know the strategy of your opponent. We know that Satan is our enemy. We know that he is at war with God in the battle for souls. What is his strategy? Where does he make his attacks and how can he be overcome?

The verses for today hold that key to these questions and it is interesting to note that his strategy has not changed since the beginning of time. Satan knows that the key to a relationship with God is His Word. He also knows that the scriptures hold the guidelines for living the Christian life and defeating his attacks. So what was his strategy back there in the garden?

Satan makes takes three shots at God's Word and Eve falls for them all as do many modern day Christians. The first thing that Satan does is to question God's Word. “Did God really say...?” The answer is obvious and Satan knows that but to begin an attack by asking questions is deadly. Many a Christian has virtually lost his/her faith simply because they were asked questions that they did not know how to answer. Please be careful here. Just because you do not know an answer to a question about the Bible does not mean that there is no answer. I could ask you a question about nuclear physics and, if you couldn't answer them does not mean that nuclear physics is faulty.

The result of Satan's simple question is that Eve adds to the Word of God. Her answer is “God says we must not eat of it or even touch it, or we will die.” There is no indication in all of scripture that God said they couldn't touch it. Eve, apparently, made that up. It reminds me of pastors in the church who seem to think that just about everything is sin. In many churches there are so many things considered sin that the people fear doing just about anything for fear of being in trouble.

Satan's next strategy is to simply deny the Word of God. “You won’t die!” Now that is so easy to do. Simply say that whatever the Bible says is wrong. The problem is that the person making the accusation doesn't feel as though he or she has to back it up. I have had many an occasion to have a college student tell me that there are many mistakes in the Bible. When pressed to produce them it becomes obvious that the student had never read the Bible and is simply parroting an accusation he had heard somewhere. If more Christians would read the Bible, and study it, they would be much more prepared to stand up against the pitiful attacks of Satan and those blinded by him.

These verses have much more to consider than we can go into here. We will revisit them in the future but, for now, suffice it to say that those who would go against God's Word are using the same tactics used by the devil so many years ago. The fact is that you can believe what God has said in His Word. It holds the key to life and life everlasting. Please do not fall for the strategy of Satan whenever it lifts its head.

May God bless you today. I am praying for you.

Ted
Eph 4 :11-13