The Lies Of The Emeny Series

#2.Satan's weapon: lies

Satan came to Eve as the serpent, the subtle deceiver.

Revelation 12:9 (NKJV)

9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

John 8:44 (NKJV)

44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

Let’s look at the steps that satan took to get Eve to believe his lie.

#1.He questioned God’s Word.

“Indeed, has God said . . .?” He did not deny that God had spoken; he simply questioned whether God had really said what Eve thought he had said. “Perhaps you misunderstood what God spoke,” is Satan’s suggestion. “You owe it to yourself to rethink what he said.”

It is worth noting that in this suggestion Satan is also questioning God’s goodness. “If God really loved you, he wouldn’t keep something from you.” He tried the same approach with Jesus in the wilderness: “If you are God’s beloved Son, why are you hungry? Make Bread, God wants you to be feed.

#2.He denied God’s Word.

“You surely shall not die!” It’s but a short step from questioning God’s Word to denying it.

We know that neither Adam nor Eve had ever seen death. All they had to go on was the Word of God, but this was all they needed. If Eve had not listened to Satan’s questioning God’s Word, she would never have fallen into his trap when he denied God’s Word.

#3. He substituted his own lie.

“You will be like God!” Adam and Eve were already made in the image of God, but Satan tempted them with an even greater privilege: to be like God! This was, of course, Satan’s great ambition when he was Lucifer, God’s angelic servant.

Isaiah 14:12-14 (NKJV)

12 "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!

13 For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north;

14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.'

Satan is a created being, a creature, but he wanted to be worshiped and served like the Creator. It was this attitude that led him to rebel against God and seek to establish his own kingdom. “You will be like God” is the one gigantic lie that has controlled civilization since the fall of man.

Romans 1:25 (NKJV)

25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

Satan desires worship and service, and Jesus Christ would give him neither!

Matthew 4:8-10 (NKJV)

8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

9 And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me."

10 Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.' "

Satan’s lie’s, “You will be like God,” motivates and controls much of our civilization today. Man is seeking to pull himself up by his own bootstraps. He is working to build a utopia on earth and possibly take it to outer space. Through education, psychiatry, religions of one kind or another (most of which ignore Jesus Christ, sin, and salvation), men are defying God and deifying themselves.

They are playing right into the hands of Satan. How did Eve respond to Satan’s approach? She responded by making three mistakes that led her into sin.

#1. She took away from God’s Word.

Genesis 3:2 (NKJV)

2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;

Eve omitted the word “freely.” God’s original word in Genesis 2:16 was,

Genesis 2:16 (NKJV)

16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;

” We get the impression that Eve caught Satan’s subtle suggestion, “God is holding out on you!” When you start to question or forget the grace of God and the goodness of God, you will find it much easier to disobey the will of God.