We Believe Lies

We so often believe the lies that Satan tells, but God always gives us truth because He loves us.

Pray and read Gen 3

Satan lies to us about God’s good created order.

verses 1-5

As we talk about order tonight, I’m referring to the organization and plan that God made for us in creation. The way that He designed things to be.

In his effort to destroy us, Satan twists and denies God’s words, to get us to rebel the design God created with and go our own way in sin.

What did God actually say?

Genesis 2:16–17 ESV

And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Have you ever been blowing up a balloon and you know it’s as big as it should be, but you have a friend talk you into putting just a little more air into it? “You could make it bigger! Keep going!” You really know you should stop, but you let them convince you that that balloon can hold a little more air, and then…

notes in Bible

Satan twists and denies God’s Word to try to make us believe that God is too strict or that He’s holding out on us or that He’s selfish or doesn’t want to give us good things.

If God is love then how can it be wrong to love anyone?

If God wants you to be happy then why wouldn’t He want you to do what feels good?

You’re wise enough to figure stuff out without God.

These are lies Satan tells us.

John 8:44 ESV

You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He 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.

For us to see it when Satan lies to us, we have to know God’s truth. Eve almost had it, but not quite and she messed up. But we have to know the truth and block out the lies. But we don’t always do this.

We believe the lies and reject God’s order.

verses 5-13

When we sin, we are effectively proclaiming that we know better than God. That we have a better plan. That exalting and pleasing ourselves is better than trusting God.

notes in Bible

Eve is like the kids from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory! We are too! We think we know better than the one who clearly does. We think we deserve more than we have. We seek immediate pleasure without delay. It’s in that attitude that we get ourselves into trouble.

When God is drawing out their confession, He does so according to the order of authority He established: man, woman, animal.

They all try to pass blame to where they should be leading. The man to the woman, the woman to the animal.

We all have to humble ourselves before God and admit a few things. He knows better than we do. He is stronger than we are. He has a better plan than we do. We are responsible for following his plan, living according to it. When we don’t, we are guilty.

Romans 3:23 ESV

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

God gave us order and direction out of his goodness and love for us. We must believe that. He shows us that by still loving us when we sin. By showing us grace. By reminding us of and reestablishing his good order when we mess up.

God reestablishes his order.

verses 14-24

God, in love, reestablishes the order He created with and gave to Adam and Eve.

When I was a kid there were these electric race tracks you could get. You could design the track yourself and then there were two tracks and you’d put the cars on there. They had a little piece of metal that went into the track and somehow that made it go. Then there was a remote that you held to make it go. Good ones could make the cars go too fast so they’d fly off the track in a curve. It became a game to see how far off the track you could make it fly. “Oh it went half way across the room!” “Ha! That one hit the dog!” But then you’d go grab it and put it back on track. When we get off track, God will put us back on track.

But sin still has consequences.

notes in Bible

Adam didn’t take the first step toward God, God took the first step towards humanity. He’s the one who reaches out to us.

1 John 4:10 (ESV)

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

In his love and mercy, He points us back to himself and to his way when we sin. But sin still comes with consequences…

There’s a lot here we could talk about in the consequences he passes out, if you’d like to talk about those things then grab me after, but not what we’re looking at right now.

We see that sin disrupts the relationship between God and man. We can no longer walk with Him in the garden because of sin.

We live in these consequences for sin, locked out of paradise in these days. But verse 15 points us forward to a day when sin will be done away with…