Sounds sort of familiar doesn't it? Its a quote from Genesis 3:1. The Bible says in Genesis 3:1-5, "Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." The first story in the Bible that the devil, in the form of a serpent, put doubt into the mind of mankind and then followed up with an outright lie.
I was looking for a statement I had heard on the radio early one morning the other day when I came across this article about atheists. The article is found at, http://www.npr.org/2014/02/26/281450206/ardent-atheists-spread-their-reverence-for-disbelief. As I read the banner displayed on their booth's covering, I couldn't help but see a similarity to the scriptures quoted above. The banner read "RELAX- HELL DOES NOT EXIST- OR HEAVEN EITHER- ENJOY YOUR LIFE." The Lord Jesus said in John 8:44b, "... He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."
When the serpent spoke to Eve in the Garden of Eden, he first cast doubt into her mind about whether or not God had spoken. He said, "Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" The devil would like for you and I to doubt God"s word also. Eve almost sounded defensive when she replied, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die." I am not sure where she got that last phrase, "neither shall ye touch it." I told the church in Tigard Oregon when I was their pastor that it sounded like something Adam might have said by way of emphasis, "Don't eat of that tree, don't even touch it!" Wherever the phrase came from the devil then twisted what God had said to Adam and said, "Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." The devil told Eve an outright lie. He said she wouldn't die, she did die, and she would become as God, she didn't.
In Genesis 3:6, the Bible tells us, "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat." Let me refer the reader back to Genesis 2:9 "And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil." Notice that all the trees of the Garden were "pleasant to the sight, and good for food." What they weren't promised to do was to make one wise. Then in Genesis 2:15-17 the Bible says, "And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat..." They were all good to look at and good for food. God only had one prohibition, "...But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."
As we read in Genesis 3:6 Eve "took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat." Thus death entered into the world of mankind. The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 5:12 "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned..." Oh yes, the very phraseology that those so-called atheists had on there banner, "Relax, hell does not exist, or heaven either, enjoy your life," sounds just like what the devil is trying to say to the world of mankind. You don't have to worry, eat, drink and be merry (See Luke 12:15-21) for "Ye shall not surely die" Don't be fooled by the devil, God's word is true. The Lord Jesus will come back just as He said He would. The Apostle Paul said, "that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed." (See Rom 13:11)
No comments:
Post a Comment