Jeff Schreve - Has God Said?
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The devil is a master liar. He tells lies that sound good and plausible and right. And he tempts us to disobey God by getting us to doubt the goodness and truthfulness of our Creator. And that’s exactly what he did with Eve when he spoke with her in the Garden of Eden. Hey, we’re in a new series today called «Sin and Salvation: A Study of Genesis chapter 3». So let’s expose the deceitful strategies of the devil in a message titled «Has God Said»?
Genesis chapter 2 ends on day six. How many days did it take God to create everything? Six days. How long was a day? Twenty-four hours. And on the day six, He created Adam and every day He says, «It’s good, it’s good, it’s good, it’s good, it’s good». And then He says this after He creates Adam and He puts him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and to keep it. He said, «It is not good for the man to be alone. I’ll make a helper suitable to him». And God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man. He performs the search, first surgery, takes out of his side a bone and from that bone, He fashions this creature known as woman, and Adam sees her and says, «This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man».
For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife and the two shall become one flesh and the man and his wife were both naked and not ashamed. That’s the end of day six, and after God makes Eve, He says, «And it was very good». It’s good, but when Eve comes along, then it’s very good. And it’s a wonderful thing. And that’s how Genesis 2 ends. And it’s like, man, this is awesome. You have a perfect God, you have two perfect people. They are in love, they are naked and not ashamed. There are no secrets and it’s a perfect environment. Everything is perfect in the Garden of Eden, and then enter the serpent. «Now the serpent,» Genesis 3:1, «was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, 'Indeed, has God said, „You shall not eat from any tree of the garden“? '»
Now, the Bible tells us about the devil in 2 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 11, that we are not ignorant of his schemes, Paul said. We know about the schemes of the devil. The devil is very methodical. He has a scheme, he has a strategy, he has a plan. And when he comes at Eve, it’s the same way he comes at you and me. He doesn’t really change up his plan. He’s got one plan. It’s tried and true to tempt you to sin. It’s what he did to her. And it comes in three stages. What are the schemes of the devil as seen in the Fall of man? Stage one, the devil wants to get you to question God. To get you to question God. So he comes at Eve. Now, who would have thought that you would meet the devil in the Garden of Eden? He didn’t come as the devil. He didn’t present himself to Eve as the devil.
See, the only party the devil ever comes to is a masquerade party. He doesn’t ever show you his true colors. He’s too crafty, he’s too cunning, he’s too sly for that. He disguises himself, the Bible says, as an angel of light. And when he came to Eve, he came to her in such a way where she wasn’t afraid of him. He seemed, you know, the name «Lucifer,» which that was his name as the number one angel, that name «Lucifer» means light-bearer. And so he comes before her and he probably looked beautiful and there was nothing to fear that she sensed, to fear about him. And he comes with the expressed purpose of, step one in the strategy, stage one, cause her to question and cause her to doubt. «Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'»?
Boy, that just sounds so weird. «Are you sure you heard God say that, that you can’t eat from any tree of the garden, question mark». So it bears to review exactly what God said because now the serpent is more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. He is very subtle and he is very slick. No doubt he heard what God said when God spoke those words to Adam. He heard the command of God. He takes it, he twists it a little bit and he adds a question mark. So what did God say? It says in Genesis chapter 2, verse 16: «And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, 'From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat from it, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die.'»
That’s what God said. But see, he takes it and he twists it a little bit and he adds a question mark. So the devil, that’s step one in his plan, in his scheme: get you to question God. What does he want you to question about God? Question His Word. He wants you to question the Word of God. Is the Word of God, is it something that can be trusted or is it something that you need to question because, yeah, you just don’t know about God’s Word? We have people today, they’re questioning everything related to the Word of God.
The Bible says, «Who are you, O man, to question God? Shall the thing molded say to the molder, 'Why did you make me this way? '» If I wanna know the truth, where do I go? I go to the Word of God because the Word of God is true and it’s impossible for God to lie. But right off the bat, the devil comes, puts a question mark on the Word of God. He wants you to question the Word of God, and Eve responds to the devil and she didn’t respond very well. Verse 2, «And the woman said to the serpent, 'From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, „You shall not eat from it or touch it, lest you die“.'»
Now you say, «Yeah, she got it pretty close». She didn’t get it. She’s got one command to memorize. She doesn’t get it right. So what did she say to him? Well, she leaves some things out. She left out «freely». «From the fruit of the trees of the garden, we may eat». God says, «You may freely eat». So she takes out some of the generosity of God. «But from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it.'» Well, God didn’t say, «You can’t touch it». You added that to the Word. Proverbs 30, verse 6, «Do not add to His words, lest He reprove you and you be proved a liar». So she added to the Word and then notice, she said, «Lest you die». She took out the word «surely». «Lest you surely die». That’s what God had said. And so the devil gets her to question the Word of God.
Now, it’s critical that you and I rightly handle the Word of God. The Bible tells us, 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 15, «Study to show yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth,» to take the Word of God and to study it and to handle it accurately, to cut it straight is literally what that means. But not only does he get you to question the Word of God… see, it’s very subtle. In questioning the Word of God, he gets you to question the character of God. «Indeed, has God said», it’s kind of like this. The devil comes to Eve and she doesn’t ever ask him, «Who are you? Why are you engaging me? Why are you questioning things about God»? «Indeed, Eve, I’ve heard something. Tell me if this is right. Has God really said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'? Did He really make all these trees and then say, 'Uh-uh-uh, you can’t eat from any tree that you wanna eat'»?
See, he tries to turn God into a negative. «Hey, you can’t trust God». God is the one that dangles a carrot in front of your face, and then when you try and get it, He says, «Uh-uh-uh, You can’t eat from every tree». Well, God said the opposite. God says, «From any tree you may freely eat. Have at it. There’s just one tree». I don’t know how many trees were in the garden. Let’s just say, for round numbers, God planted 100 trees, 100 fruit trees. Well, you got one tree that you can’t eat from, one out of 100, and the devil wants to focus in on the one; God focuses in on the 99. «Hey, you see all this, Adam and Eve? From any tree of the garden, you may freely eat».
So he wants to get you to think negatively about God, that God is a cosmic killjoy, that God is not good, that God is not somebody that you can trust. And he does all of that in one verse: questions the Word of God, questions the nature of God, the character of God. Hey, you know, when we have bad things happen to us, what’s the danger, that we start looking at God through the lens of our circumstances? And if our circumstances are good, «Oh, the lens of my circumstances are good, though, so God is good. But if my circumstances are bad,» you live long enough on the earth, you’re gonna run into bad circumstances. «If I look through the lens of bad circumstances, then God is bad».
You don’t look at circumstances… or at God through the lens of circumstances; you look at circumstances through the lens of who God is. God is good. 2 Chronicles 7:3, «Truly He is good, truly His lovingkindness is everlasting». And you and I, as believers in Jesus, we need to have that carved into our hearts. «God is good. Life might be terrible, right now, but God is good and God loves me and God works all things together for good to those who are called according to His purpose». And hey, when you understand that «God is good and God loves me and God works everything together for good to those who love Him,» you can handle anything in life, anything in life.
So that’s step one, get you to question God. Step two, the devil wants you to deny God. See, from questioning God to denying God, «but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, lest you die.' And the serpent said to the woman, 'You surely shall not die! '» Now, that’s a direct contradiction to what God said. Now, the devil heard what God said. She didn’t add the word «surely,» but he did. «The day you eat of it, you will surely die». And he contradicts that directly. And he says, «You shall not surely die». And this is, I think, how he comes across to Eve. He’s just incredulous. He’s like saying to her, «He told you what? That if you ate of the tree, you would die? Well, you shall not surely die. I can’t believe that God is up to His old tricks again, lying to you».
That’s the flavor that he comes at her with. And this is what is amazing in the Garden of Eden, in this perfect place with this perfect couple serving a perfect God, here is the devil and he has the audacity to call God a liar. Calls God a liar, wow. «You can’t trust God. God’s a liar». The devil is a liar and the father of lies. This is what Jesus said of him: «You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies». And here you have the father of lies talking to Eve, calling God a liar. Amazing. Did you know that the New Testament tells us we do that today? People today in our world, they do the very same thing: call God a liar.
You say, «Nobody would ever call God a liar». 1 John chapter 1, «If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us». When you disagree with what God says about you, «I’ve not sinned. I can do what I want. I have not sinned,» you’re calling God a liar and His Word is not in you. So the devil says, «Hey, God’s a liar,» and he says, «You shall surely not die. There are no consequences for your sin. You can eat of this fruit and you’re not gonna die. There are no consequences for sin. You can live however you want. You don’t have to worry about some sort of Damocles hanging over your head if you do this. There are no consequences. You can do what you want. There’s no judgment». He says there are no consequences for sin.
Romans 6:23, «For the wages of sin is death». Death. «The soul that sins,» Ezekiel 18:4, «shall die». Romans 2:9, «There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil to the Jew first and also to the Greek». That’s from the Word of God. «Do not be deceived», Galatians 6:7, «Do not be deceived for God is not mocked, for whatever man sows this, he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption. But the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life». Hey, you can’t mock God. God has built in to the fabric of this world «if you sow to the flesh, you will from the flesh reap corruption».
But see, stage two in the devil’s strategy is to deny God, from questioning God to denying God, and then that takes us to stage three: He wants you to replace God. See, he says that «there are no penalties for sin, and so you don’t have to worry about that. And let me tell you the good stuff, Eve. You surely shall not die, for God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil». Hey, Eve, if you eat of this fruit, you know what? You won’t need God anymore because you can be your own god.
Now, the devil paints God in this light of insecurity. The «Why has God not told you this»? «Let me tell you why He hadn’t told you this, Eve. It’s because God wants to keep you in the dark. God is insecure. God is very jealous. God doesn’t wanna share His godhood with anybody. And so, you know, He’s lying to you because you eat of this fruit, you’ll not die. And, furthermore, once you take the penalty out of it, here’s the promise: You eat of the fruit and you’ll be like God. And God’s holding out on you. Insecure God wants to keep you in the dark. And that’s why he says, Eve, you’re like a babe in the woods, your eyes aren’t even open yet. I mean, why are you saying these things about this tree that God told you, that we’ve already established the fact that you can’t trust God. You eat of the fruit, you’re not gonna die. You’re gonna really live».
And he turns everything on its ear. And he says that his way is the way to godhood. His way is the way to fulfillment. «That’s what you need to do. You eat of this fruit and you will be like God». You know what’s really interesting about that? That’s exactly what the devil did. He is Lucifer. Didn’t start out as the devil. And people ask the question, «Why did God create the devil»? He didn’t. He created Lucifer, the number one angel; Lucifer, light-bearer. Lucifer, Ezekiel 28, gives us the impression that Lucifer was the worship leader. And Lucifer said, «I’m too beautiful. I’m too wise, I’m too glorious, and this worship doesn’t need to come through me, it needs to come to me».
And so Isaiah 14, we are introduced to what he said when he fell: «How you have fallen from heaven, O (Lucifer) star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, you who have weakened the nations! But you said in your heart», and then these are the five «I wills» of Lucifer. «I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the cloud; I will make myself like the Most High». And God says, «Oh no, you will not». And it says that «the Lord thrust him down to Sheol, To the recesses of the pit».
And so when the devil tries to get the appearance to Eve, that God is very jealous and insecure, He doesn’t want anybody to be God except Himself, he is licking his wounds, so to speak. Because when he tried to exalt himself to the level of God, he was kicked to the curb, literally, kicked all the way down. You know, he led a revolt in heaven. A third of the angels followed him. You wanna know how persuasive and winsome this Lucifer was, he was extremely persuasive and winsome. So a third of the angels followed him in the rebellion against God. Revelation 12 tells us about that, and God kicked them all out and the beautiful, shining, holy angels became filthy, hairy demons with their leader who is Satan. Once was Lucifer light bearer.
Now he is Satan, the father of the night. And he says, «You need to do what I did». He is trying to deceive Eve so she’ll eat of the fruit, so Adam will eat of the fruit, so that he can damn the human race. That’s what’s happening in Genesis chapter 3. He says his way is the way to godhood, but he’s a liar and the father of lies. The three steps. He does it today. I mean, like I said, he’s not original. He’s got a tried and true method. Step one, «I’m gonna get you to start questioning God, question His Word, question His character». Step two, then we’re gonna to deny the Word of God. We’re gonna say it doesn’t say what it says, it doesn’t mean what it obviously means. And step three, we say we don’t need God. We can be our own god. And going the devil’s way, believing his lie, according to the devil, that is what is going to lead you to godhood.
Now you mark it down: at the heart of every sin is a desire to be in charge. Why is this appealing, what he said in verse 5: «Your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil»? See, this isn’t a temptation to fall down. This is a temptation to rise up. This is a temptation that says, «Hey, if you eat of this fruit, well, you can be God». And she said, «Wow, man, wouldn’t that be awesome, to be my own god»? That’s at the heart of every sin. People want to be their own God. They wanna call their own shots. They wanna be in charge, large and in charge. And then here is the irony. See, the devil is subtle. He’s more crafty, more subtle than any beast of the field. And what he says to Eve, «If you eat of this tree, you will be like God, knowing good and evil». And he means it as a negative, obviously, you’re not gonna need God.
But when he says, «You’ll be like God,» ask yourself this question: Does God not want us to be like Him? Answer: He does. He wants us to be like Him but not independent of Him. And the devil’s temptation is «you eat this and you won’t need God anymore. You can be on plane with God,» and God’s never gonna have us be on plane with Him. But He wants us to be like Him. And here is the big question: Are you going to believe God, the God who loves you, the God who created everything, the God who sent His Son to die on the cross for you, the God who says, «I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, but through Me,» the God who says that it is impossible for Him to lie? Are you going to believe God or are you going to believe the devil?
You say, «Well, I’m just gonna believe myself». Hey, when you believe yourself, you’re believing the devil because there is only one true North, and that is the Lord and His Word. He is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father, but through Him. You and I have a choice. We can believe the Lord and say «Yes, Lord,» and follow the Lord, or we can say, «I’m gonna go do my own thing». And as we learn from Genesis 3, when you go do your own thing and disobey God, it brings death and destruction, and you know evil, but not in a way you thought you would. You know evil the way a cancer patient knows cancer. You don’t wanna know evil like that.