In the beginning of human history God warned Adam and Eve about a certain tree in the Garden and that they were forbidden to eat the fruit of this tree. Why did God put this dumb tree in the Garden? GRRRR....We believe God to be all powerful. We believe God to be the ultimate power in the universe, every and all universes. There is no power greater that God. So we believe God knew what Adam and Eve would choose to do. Even before Eve was deceived by satan to pick the fruit of the forbidden tree and take a bite, God knew this would be the choice she and Adam would make, and because of the inevitable choice to sin Jesus was briefed that the cross was his destiny. So why?
This is one of those questions we struggle with. Why did God create the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil? Why is there evil in the world?
My best answer through my understanding of Scripture is because God wanted his creation to possess the power of choice. The whole point to the book of Job is that this guy chooses to be faithful in spite of all the evil things that happen to him. His choice to be faithful in face of intense suffering brings more glory and honor to God than his obedience to God when his life was going great. Does this remind you of someone else? Just like Jesus, who in heaven, ruled as the Son of God and yet chose to give up the throne room to live among us, and in the face of intense suffering he brings glory and honor to God through his obedience.
You have a choice. The same kind choice that was placed in the Garden of Eden. You have the choice to obey God. You have the choice to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. You have the choice to pick up your cross, deny your selfish nature and follow Him.
There are a lot of folks who just can't believe this. They'll say things like, "this is like saying war is good because it gives us military heroes. We'll take a world that has no heroes if we can have a world without any war." So the fact that God would make evil so that Jesus could make himself into some kind of super-spiritual hero seems inhumane. I don't understand what God gets out of a human being choosing to believe His Son is the Savior of the world. I don't understand what God gets out of a human being living out a lifestyle of obedience to His Word even in the face of intense persecution or suffering. I don't get it. I'm not God.
For God, though, it must be some kind of AWESOME. So, I choose Jesus. I say, God if choosing Jesus is what gives you joy, if choosing Jesus is what brings you honor, if this is what you want from me, then I choose Jesus. For those of you who struggle with the idea that you don't want to be considered an idiot, or foolish because you believe in God, because you believe in the Cross, because you believe in your rescue from hell, read this:
1 Corinthians 1:18-29
So now let's take a moment and talk about the nature of evil, the nature of Satan.
In the hours before Jesus was arrested he was nervously praying in the Garden of Gethsamane. I wonder if in his mind He was reflecting on memories from the original Garden. When he walked with Adam and Eve as friends with no shame, no guilt, and no sin. When I read the prayer His best friend John summarized, with the idea that He was reflecting on his walks in Eden, I feel loved by God. Deeply and intensely loved by God. One line from this prayer of Jesus is, "I'm not asking you to take them out of the world” Jesus prayed, “but to keep them safe from the evil one.” Apparently Jesus is concerned about this thing He calls, the "evil one." From one Garden encounter to another, what exactly is Jesus concerned about?
We're going to look at one thing, the most significant thing about Satan. He's a con-artist. Satan sells death and he makes it look good. Jesus said it this way, "Why can’t you understand what I am saying? It’s because you can’t even hear me! For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies." You want to know who Jesus is talking to here? He's talking to a group of folks who won't allow themselves to believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
People who don't believe in Jesus as the Messiah are deceived. But they're also the first ones to deny that. No one likes to admit they've been conned. Have you ever been conned? A friend of mine was a victim of a con artist. We were on a band trip in New York City and we were given an afternoon to walk around Times Square. We saw a group of people gathering around this guy standing at a small folding table. As we grew closer we noticed that he was rapidly moving three small plastic cups around. He asked one of the onlookers if they wanted to guess which plastic cup covered a little rubber ball. He guessed correctly, and then went on his way. A bigger crowd was beginning to form now and the con artist asked another person to volunteer to guess under which cup the rubber ball was, and again the person guessed correctly and quickly walked away. My friend was watching this with growing interest. "I think I have this guy figured out," he said. "Uh, don't you dare, go over there" or something to that effect was the counsel we all gave him.
After a few minutes and a couple more correct lucky guesses my friend decided it was his turn to guess. When he approached the table, the con artist asked him if he wanted to play, and of course my friend said, "yes." At this point the con artist asked him if he wanted to make some money and put a fat wad of bills on the table. I have no idea how much money it was, but, my friend was really excited about it. He turned and looked at us, and we were all motioning to him and yelling at him to stop and walk away. But my friend was convinced he could win. We saw him take out his wallet and place all the cash he had on the table. He didn't guess correctly. In a matter of seconds a couple of the previous lucky guessers miraculously showed up and helped the con artist escape with his cash, the cups, and the folding table, they were gone. My friend had been conned. And he was deeply embarrassed.
He should've seen the signs we saw, but, my friend had already made up his mind that he knew what he was doing. This is the power of the con. The power is with the con artist. The victim of a good con artist always believes they are in control of their decisions until after they've been duped, then when it's too late, they realize how they were deceived.
Satan deceives people into thinking they are in control of their destiny. Jesus says, "If you want to follow me, you must deny yourself and pick up your cross every day." If you love Jesus then you'll obey Him. This is what Jesus said. But most folks don't want to hear that. They want to do what they want to do, live the way they want to live, and be who they want to be. Satan whispers Scripture, "God loves you." Which is true, but, Satan will continue to whisper, "God loves you, so, you won't die." The victim of the con artist believes they are in control of their destiny. You see Jesus continues John 3:16 to say this in verse 20-21, "All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants."
Are you doing what God wants, or what you want?
Satan is a con artist. He's the father of lies. He's the guy at the folding table selling people that they are in full control of the game. He says, "You don't need God to tell you how to play. You can figure it all out all by yourself. You are enough. You don't need God. You don't need Jesus." Satan is a liar. He's been deceiving people from the beginning.
Paul tells us to be armed with all the resources God provides so that we can stand firm against all the strategies of Satan. There are a lot of ways Satan deceives people. A result of a recent survey taken by the most credible researcher among church and faith, George Barna, showed that only 27% of Christians have a confident belief that satan exists.
If that doesn't spit in the face of Jesus what does? Hey Jesus, I know you prayed for protection against the "evil one" and all, and I know you identified him as the 'father of lies' and you claim that you went to the cross to defeat him, but, nah...he's just a made up thing. I would love to hear someone go up to a wounded war vet and tell her that the enemy she fought and was wounded against was just a figment of her imagination. I dare you. Yet, so many clueless people, even Christian people, do this with Jesus.
Satan is a con artist. His ultimate con is death itself. Listen to the first lie recorded in human history, “You won’t die!” Slick huh? Death is the result of sin. People die. That is what we all have in common, because we all have sin in common. "What about babies and children" you might be thinking? What did they do to deserve death? No sane person would claim that babies and children deserve to die. I certainly don't. But isn't that what I just said? Nope. I said that death is the result of sin in the world. Satan sells it like candy. God hates it. Death is God's enemy. Can you claim a victory over something that is not your opponent?
Let's play baseball. If my team is victorious, it's because we scored more runs than the team we were playing against. Can I claim to be victorious over a hockey team that played the same day, because they scored 3 goals, and we scored 5 runs? Does that makes sense? "Hey, we beat you hockey guys because we scored more runs than you scored goals." To claim victory you have to beat an opponent on the same field, on the same ice.
"O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? Thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ"
Death is the enemy and Jesus Christ destroyed it. You have the choice to believe this. Death is the ultimate con. People who die who rejected the truth of Jesus don't look any different than those who die who daily denied themselves everyday to pick up the cross and follow Him. People who went to church and did a bunch of religious stuff, but, rejected the truth that God was after their heart instead of their activity will look the same in death as someone who denied themselves every day to pick up the cross and follow Him. The face of the Pharisee looks just as peaceful in death as the sold out follower. The face of the unrepentant thief looks just as peaceful in death as the repentant thief. And this is the ultimate con.
Satan is a con artist and death is his ultimate con. If the physical body of the Pharisee contorted to reveal what the soul of that man was experiencing, there would be no such thing as a legalist. (someone who sacrifices obedience to Jesus for religious rituals) Anyone who saw that body in the casket would immediately become a believer, for all the wrong reasons.
Faith means something significant to God. Obedience means something significant to God. We own the choice between living with His Son Jesus or doing our own thing. The choice to obey brings God glory, just as the obedience of Jesus did.
I can't count how many times I've been to open casket funerals and overhear people say things like, "well at least now they're not suffering." Or, "Doesn't he look peaceful." And my thoughts are I really hope so. I'm not the judge. I don't know. But I do know, because of what the Scripture teaches, that if a person dies who has rejected living with the cross of Jesus they are anything but peaceful.
Satan is a con artist. He's the best. The reason people refuse to deny themselves to follow Jesus is because satan deceives them into thinking they don't have to. God and Satan are enemies, and the creation of God is the battlefield. It's not human logic that defies God. People defy God based on lies that satan has sown into humanity through the ages, and he is so good at what he does that people believe it makes sense to reject the truth of Jesus.
It makes sense to them to deny that satan exists.
How about you? Are you being conned?
