The first spoken words recorded in the Bible are those of God as he spoke the universe into existence, gave it order, and illuminated it with the presence of his holy glory. God said, “Let there be light.” With these words we see the nature of God revealed in beauty and in clarity. We see his essence which is light itself. There is no darkness in God. There is no lie, no fault, no impurity. This is why he first spoke by saying, “let there be light.”
Note that God did not first say, “let there be space and time” or “let there be creation” or “let there be the heavens.” Instead, he first said “let there be light.” He said this because in light there is no darkness, no lie, no sin. We need the light of his word and truth. We need his truth. For we shall know the truth and the truth shall set us free!
If we walk without the light of God, we will stumble and fall. If we cannot see where we are or where we should go, then we will be lost! If God’s word is not lighting your paths in thought, word, deed, worship, prayer, etc, etc. then we are without hope. This is why the Psalmist says “your word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” God’s word is light and truth. We absolutely, positively, beyond the shadow of a doubt, must have it, study it, put it in our hearts, and live it.
In contrast, observe that the first recorded words in the Bible from Satan are words that are a challenge and contradiction to God’s word. He asks “is it true that God said you can’t eat from any tree of the garden?” And Eve says “well not entirely. We can eat from any tree except the one in the middle. That one, God said, if you touch it, you’ll die.” And he replies “oh come on, you misheard him, he was exaggerating, you won’t die! God knows that you’ll be more aware like him. And just like him, you’ll be able to discern good from evil.” Then Eve sees the tree as good and goes and eats from it. What’s worse? She also gives some to her husband and he eats. Then they gain awareness and realize they aren’t wearing any clothes so they quickly gather up and sew fig leaves and make loin coverings.
Notice, one of the enemy’s plays is to bring you away from trust in God’s word. First, he gets you to doubt God’s word. How does he do it? He puts his TOADS in formation.
TOAD is an old acronym I remember from my keyboarding course that stands for the most common keyboarding errors: transposition, omission, addition, and doubling. The devil gets his TOADS in formation. First he has his transpositions. Where he flips the letters around and wants to make God look like a dog! He transposes the word, that is puts what should be before, after and what should be after, before. He says to Eve “you will be like God. You will be able to discern good from evil.” This is a transposition because we all know that discerning good from evil does not come through human wisdom but its acquired through knowing and being like God! I can’t go around declaring I know good from bad, fair from foul, and right from wrong if I don’t know the Lord in the pardon of my sins! When my pride gets in the way and I think I know so much that’s not like God! That’s why Proverbs 3:5 says “trust in the Lord with all thy heart and lean not…”
You’ve got to watch out for the Devil’s transposition! He’ll tell you it is more blessed to receive than to give! He’ll have you believing that big blessings should come down before you send praises up! He’ll have you believing that you owe the tenth after you’ve spent the rest of your earnings! He’ll make you think you should love yourself before you love your neighbor! You need to watch out for those transpositions!
You also need to watch out for omissions! Omissions are serious errors because they leave out vital information. Good words get typed as bad words when there are omissions. The devil omits the G in God and wants to make him look odd! The devil says “Eve, let me make sure I got this right; God said you can’t touch any of this fruit in the garden?” That was an omission! He left out that Eve could eat any fruit but the one in the middle. But he uses all-inclusive trickery to get us to doubt God’s word! You don’t have to go to church EVERY Sunday! You don’t have to praise him for EVERY thing! You don’t have to bless the Lord at ALL times! You don’t have to keep ALL his commandments! You don’t have to read the WHOLE Bible! You don’t have to trust in the Lord with ALL your heart! ALL things aren’t working for your good! The devil omits the important stuff and makes you doubt God!
The devil has additions! Not only does he take away from the Word but he also adds his own spin to the Word! Notice back when God admonishes Adam and Eve not to eat from the middle tree he doesn’t say “or else you’ll gain knowledge!” Of course God knows the consequences of our actions but he never says them because for some of us, the consequences are more attractive than the crime itself! This is why the Devil uses his additions to make us doubt God! If he adds an l then God becomes gold! So instead of seeking God, who is supposed to give me the desires of my heart, I do what the devil tells me to do so I can get the gold! Don’t worry about what God says! Listen to me and you’ll get rich! Listen to me and you’ll get considerable recognition! Listen to me and you’ll be healed!
Finally, watch out for the devil’s doubling. There’s nothing worse than hitttting ththe kkey twtwice and having your work sound like you’re stuttering! Likewise there’s nothing worse than when the devil tries to outpromise God! The devil appeals to our personal gain. He tries to convince us that we can have it all! Both what our eyes desire and eternal life! Not only will you be like God, but you’ll also get knowledge! Your God claims to be so great but he won’t give you but one thing at a time! I see his blessing and I raise him!
The devil is a liar! And there’s nothing more evident about this than when he interprets God’s word. “Listen girlfriend, God knows that you’ll know what he knows and you’ll be like him, able to tell good from evil.” Within this last comment of the devil, we see the heart of Satan: He wants to be like God and he uses the deceptions of self-will, self-sovereignty, and self-rule to replace God’s word with his lies. In those lies is an appeal to the person to be like God, to be independent of God. The devil uses an appeal to personal power and/or glory!
So, then, the first play the devil runs is go against God’s word. Why? Because the word of God is true! It reveals wisdom, goodness, faithfulness, and God himself. It also exposes the darkness and the evil of the devil’s playbook. The devil doesn’t want that!
The devil would rather bring confusion, misery and death. The word says he comes but for to steal, kill, and destroy! In China, a man surnamed Long, claimed people could leave behind the woes and cares of the world if they stood naked by a road with their identification papers on the ground, and killed the first person who came along to check their papers. On June 29, 1998, Wu, his wife Long Zaihua, his cousin Wu Qiugou and the cousin’s two sons went to a roadside at dawn, took off their clothes and put their papers on the ground. They grabbed the first farmer who approached, forced him to look at the papers and then stoned him to death, the report said. But such foolishness and murder only brought them judgment of the law. Be of sober spirit; be on the alert! Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour! He uses anything he can to get people to disobey God and bring destruction!
The devil’s playbook was so designed with the opponents’ areas of weakness in mind. He attacked Jesus after Jesus had fasted 40 days and had become hungry and was in need! Then the devil came in the hour of Jesus’ weakness and tempted him. The devil even tempted Jesus by using his TOADS and the word! The same thing he did to Eve in the garden! Here’s where you oughta get ready to shout: The devil’s plays are predictable!
Back in the day my brother Desmond and I had a Nintendo and we used to always play Tecmo Super Bowl. Desmond had many different teams. He had one in every division of both conferences! Thus, I could never study his plays or his personnel cause they were forever changing. I, on the other hand was sure to choose the Raiders. Desmond knew my starting lineup and the nicknames I had for them, what plays I had, and how I would work them. First down: Bo “Strokin” Jackson around the right corner. Second down, Marcus “First Down” Allen around the left corner. If that didn’t work, third down, shotgun with four wideouts looking for Willie “Only-the-lonely” Gault. Then fourth down, he knew I’d never punt or go for a field goal. If I had less than 10 yards to go for a first it was either Marcus “First Down” Allen around the left corner or Bo “Strokin” Jackson up the middle! If I had more than 10 yards it was the shotgun curl, looking for Mervyn “Quickman” Fernandez! I was predictable! So as a result, I didn’t get very far! Desmond always knew what play I was running and he chose the same play and busted it up-often causing a fumble which he’d pick up and run all the way back for his own touchdown! I used to get negged out by that but now I see it as a model for my life!
The devil has a predictable playbook! Appeal to physical appetite: Eve, you may eat of the tree! Jesus, you may eat by changing stones to bread! Appeal to personal gain: Eve, you will not die! Jesus, You will not hurt your foot! Appeal to Power and glory: Eve, you will be like God! Jesus, you will have all the world’s kingdoms! Yes, I know his plays, how he uses them, and when he uses them! So now I can bust them up! I can cause them to fail! I can cause him to fumble and pick up the ball and run for my touchdown in Christ!
How do you resist the devil? Well it’s the same way you can mount the best defense against an opponent’s offense. You gotta master your own playbook! You gotta rely on God’s word! The Bible is full of things to say about resisting and having victory over the enemy. But even Jesus, God in the flesh, resisted the devil by relying on God’s word! When the devil said “if you are the son of God, command that these stones become bread,” Jesus said, “it is written that man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God!” When the devil said, “if you are the son of God throw yourself down; for it is written, he will give his angels charge concerning you an on their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone,” Jesus said “it is written, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test!” When the devil said “All these kingdoms and thrones will I give you, if you fall down and worship me,” Jesus said, “get thee behind me Satan! For it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and serve him only!”
Jesus could have changed the devil into a heap of fertilizer with a command, but instead he quoted God’s word! Jesus relied on God’s word in his defense against the enemy!
Therefore, your best defense against the temptations of the devil is to rely on God’s word! The devil had no choice but to flee after Jesus quoted God’s word! The enemy has no power over God’s word. But you being a Christian have the power and authority (but as many as received him, to them he gave the authority to become children of God!) The authority to use God’s word! And you must know it and use it!
You have the power to use God’s word because if you are a Christian, then you have been saved by the sacrifice of Christ and made right before God by faith in him. You are from God little children, and have overcome them; because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world! All these things we overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us! For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor heights, nor depths, nor any other crated thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord!
We have no need to be afraid to go against the devil’s playbook because Jesus has defeated it! The devil wanted to run a sweep, but Jesus said “sweep around your own front door before you try to sweep around mine-touch not my anointed!” The devil wanted to run a dive, but Jesus said “get up!” The devil wanted to run a bootleg, but Jesus said “I am your REAL salvation!” The devil wanted to run a sneak, but Jesus said “whats done in the dark shall come to light, I am the light!” The devil wanted to run a pass: pass me his ignorance, pass me his problems, pass me his denial, pass me his greed! But Jesus made an interception! Because when the devil ran the flag pattern, Jesus ran the CROSS pattern!
At the cross, they hung Jesus wide right! And they hung him wide left! And they pierced him in his side! And blood came streaming down for me! And on that Friday he died…
But early, on Sunday morning, Jesus ran the interception back and made a touchdown!
