When the Master Deceiver wanted to lead Adam and Eve into sin, he didn’t stand over them with a sword, threatening to cut off their arms if they refused to do what he said. He didn’t scream at them. He didn’t torture them by shoving needles under their fingernails or by making them watch endless reruns of I Love Lucy. He simply started a seemingly innocent conversation focused on attacking Eve’s mind. His goal: to change the way she thought about things.
Learn more about the ministry of The Purity Coach at http://www.thepuritycoach.com
When the Master Deceiver wanted to lead Adam and Eve into sin, he didn’t stand over them with a sword, threatening to cut off their arms if they refused to do what he said. He didn’t scream at them. He didn’t torture them by shoving needles under their fingernails or by making them watch endless reruns of I Love Lucy. He simply started a seemingly innocent conversation focused on attacking Eve’s mind. His goal: to change the way she thought about things.
Learn more about the ministry of The Purity Coach at http://www.thepuritycoach.com
When the Master Deceiver wanted to lead Adam and Eve into sin, he didn’t stand over them with a sword, threatening to cut off their arms if they refused to do what he said. He didn’t scream at them. He didn’t torture them by shoving needles under their fingernails or by making them watch endless reruns of I Love Lucy. He simply started a seemingly innocent conversation focused on attacking Eve’s mind. His goal: to change the way she thought about things.
Welcome to the Point of Purity Podcast! I’m your host Steve Etner – author, National Speaker, Certified Professional Mentor TM and Purity Coach for The Pure Man Ministry and this is Episode #152. In this week’s episode we continue walking through Chapter 9 of my book entitled “Are You a Super Man? Becoming God’s Man of Steel.” This week’s episode is entitled “Destroyed by Deception.”
In the movie Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of The Jedi Luke Skywalker surrenders himself to the evil Darth Vader in the hopes of saving his father. As Vader leads his son to meet the Emperor, Luke turns to his father and says, “I know there is still good in you; the Emperor hasn’t driven it from you fully. That is why you couldn’t destroy me.”
Later in the movie we see that Luke was right. The good in Vader won out in the end. The Rebels’ archenemy turned around and gave his own life for his son. Ahh, what a moving moment a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
Not so with Satan. Fact: in this galaxy, in this day and time, Satan was and is a murderer from the get-go. He hates truth. There is absolutely no ounce of truth in him. Did you catch that? No good is in Satan—none, nada, zip, big goose egg. He is evil itself. Not even the mighty Jedi warrior Luke Skywalker could draw out anything good from Satan.
Jesus said that “(Satan) was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44) And Revelation 12:9 tells us that Satan “that ancient serpent called the devil ... leads the whole world astray.
OK. Let’s travel back in time to the Garden of Eden, just before Adam chose to sin. As the scene unfolds before us, we see our archenemy, Satan, beginning his attack by seeking to deceive Eve. When the Master Deceiver wanted to lead Adam and Eve into sin, he didn’t stand over them with a sword, threatening to cut off their arms if they refused to do what he said. He didn’t scream at them. He didn’t torture them with bamboo shoots shoved under their fingernails or by making them watch endless reruns of I Love Lucy. He simply started a seemingly innocent conversation focused on attacking Eve’s mind. His goal: to change the way she thought about things.
In 2 Corinthians 11:3 the Apostle Paul writes, “I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpents cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
Now that’s a critical point, here. He attacked Eve’s mind. Satan knows that if he can impress your thinking, he can impact your living. Why? Because “as (a man) thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7 NKJV). What you think will eventually become what you do. When your thoughts are focused on King Me, your choices and actions will be for King Me. That’s why we are commanded in 2 Corinthians 10:5 to take captive all our thoughts and think only on godly things (Philippians 4:8).
Never forget that Satan’s target is your mind. His weapon is lies. His purpose is to get you to worship a false god, to live for King Me instead of God. Simply put, he wants to draw you away from the Almighty God of the Universe. He hates God, and he is going to try to use you to get to Him.
The steps Satan used on Eve in that garden are the same ones he uses on us today.
Step#1: He got Eve to question God’s Word. He began his crafty deception with a seemingly innocent question. He coyly asked her, “Did God really say what you think He said? What if you heard wrong? What if you’re misinterpreting what He meant?” It was a simple question meant to cast doubt.
Before we look at step two of the Devil’s master plan, I want you to notice Eve’s response to what Satan said. “The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden …” (Genesis 3:2). Seems like an innocent enough response, right? However, look carefully at what she said to Satan. Can you see evidence that the seed of doubt has already begun to grow in Eve’s mind?
You see, God actually said, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden …” (Genesis 2:16). Can you see the subtle difference between what Eve said and what God said? It’s there if you look for it. She left out one very important word. She neglected to tell Satan that she was “free” to eat from any tree in the garden.
“Seriously, now?” you may ask. “Are you really going to fuss over the omission of one small word?” Yup, I am. Jesus says in Matthew 5:18, “I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” Luke recorded it this way, “It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law” (Luke 16:17).
In other words, not only are the words of the Bible important to God; even the dotting of the “I’s” and the crossing of the “T’s” were inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16-17). God takes his Word very seriously, and so should we.
Here’s what I want you to understand. By removing the word “free,” Eve made God into something He is not. She made God appear to be stingy, selfish, and uncaring. We must be very careful not to take away from God’s Word. When we start down that path it becomes much easier to disobey God’s will. So, why exactly did Satan want Eve to question the validity of God’s Word?
· Psalm 119:11 “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”
· Psalm 119:105 “You word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
· Proverbs 30:5 “Every word of God is flawless.”
· Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.”
· 2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”
Hey, guys—as a Super Man of God, your archenemy wants to deceive your mind and draw you away from your Heavenly Father. He wants to get you to question God’s Word. “Did God really say that?” When he can get you to doubt the truth of God’s Word, he then bumps up his strategy to DefCon 2.
Step #2: He boldly denies God’s Word. “You will not surely die,” he whispered in Eve’s ear. You can almost hear the Devil’s voice dripping with sarcasm. Can’t you just see him snort at Eve’s answer, roll his eyes as he says, “C’mon Eve, do you really think you’re going to ‘die’? You’re not going to die. Truth is, God’s lying to you. He’s not a very good God if He isn’t telling you the whole truth.”
Keep in mind that Adam and Eve had not seen death up to this point. They had no concept of it. But God had spoken, and all they needed to do was believe and obey. Hmm, something you and I should take to heart – yes? Our responsibility isn’t to understand the what, why, where, when or how of God’s will – our is to just believe and obey!
You see, when you begin to question God’s Word, it’s not long before you then deny God’s Word. When you begin to doubt the truth of what God says, it becomes easy for you to decide to do something other than what God says. Doubting God’s truth will always lead to rejecting God’s truth. Once again, Eve’s response is very revealing.
“God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die” (Genesis 3:3). Satan just called the Most Holy God, the Creator of the Universe, a big fat liar to her face. Did she tell Satan he was full of it and to get lost? Did she defend her creator and benefactor? Nope. The seed of doubt had already taken root. Her thoughts were pulling her farther away from the Truth. And so, she saw nothing wrong with adding her own spin to God’s Word.
Consider what God had said. “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:17). Can you see what Eve added? She told Satan that God had said, “You must not touch it.” Now where did that come from? Certainly not from God.
So, why was she wrong in adding to what God had said? After all, isn’t it a good thing to not even touch the forbidden fruit? Hey dude, just steer clear of it completely and all is golden!
When Eve added to what God had said, she did two very serious things. First, she made God out to be less kind and generous. She stopped focusing on all that God had lovingly provided for them—hey, they had an entire garden at their disposal with more food than they could ever eat in a lifetime!
Instead, she zeroed in on the one thing she couldn’t have. She set her thoughts solely on what God was withholding from her. The doubts in her mind began to solidify into thoughts of what she believed she deserved and what God was denying. God was infringing upon her rights. There really was no good reason why she couldn’t eat of that fruit, other than the fact that God was just plain stingy and selfish.
The second thing she did when she added to God’s Word was to make God’s command a load too heavy for her to bear. Adding that additional restriction was just too much. I can almost hear her thinking: “How could God possibly expect me to walk through the garden and not think about this particular tree? Doesn’t He realize how hard it is for me to not just reach out and grab it?”
1 John 5:3-4 make it abundantly clear that God’s commands are never a burden. When Eve added to God’s Word, she changed God’s truth. It became something God never intended it to be—all about her. The Bible commands us to never add or subtract from Scripture (Deut. 4:2 and Prov. 30:6). God takes His Word seriously, and so should we.
As we close out this week’s episode, I want to leave you with four questions to consider.
1. All Adam and Eve had to do was believe and obey. Why is that so hard for us?
2. How does questioning the validity and truth of God’s Word lead to denying God’s Word?
3. Why do you think Eve added to God’s Word?
4. In what ways do we sometimes add to God’s Word?
OK. Let’s hit the pause button until next week’s episode as we continue our journey through my book “Are You a Super Man? Becoming God’s Man of Steel.” If you would like to learn more about today’s study, or if you’re interested in learning more about The Pure Man Ministry, be sure to visit our website to see the multitude of resources we’ve made available to you – you can find our website at ThePurityCoach.com.
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So, until next time this is Author, Speaker, Certified Professional Mentor TM and Purity Coach Steve Etner reminding you that if you are going to glorify God in your everyday living, He must first be glorified in your every moment thinking.