At The Crossroads by Hugo Simberg
“Sin leads toward death. It kills relationships. It destroys families. It ruins careers. It may seem fun for a season but it will leave you destitute, despised, and miserable. No sin can leave you fulfilled in life because you weren’t made for sin. Sin only destroys.”
(Alan Nelson IV – Things Above) Last time, we saw that Satan tempts us in doubting God’s Word and downplaying the consequences to sin. In this post, we will look at 2 final strategies Satan uses for temptation in Genesis 3:1–5.
Distorting God’s Character
Essentially Satan has targeted the goodness of God in Genesis 3:4–5. He has called God a liar. He is essentially saying:
If God were truly good, He wouldn’t hold out on you like this. He must have ulterior motives. GOD IS A LIAR! You cannot trust His Word! He is holding back! He’s jealous of you! He knows if you eat you’ll be like Him and He can’t stand that! Don’t trust this God, for He doesn’t truly care about you!
Satan doesn’t often show his true colors. He is acting here like he is the one on Adam and Eve’s side. He is saying “This God you serve is pathetic.” Satan still works this way. 2 Corinthians 11:4 says that he disguises himself as an angel of light.
I don’t know for sure if we’ve ever lived in such an age where billions of people profess to know God but have no clue as to who He really is.
- People take attributes like God’s love and distort it to mean God loves sins or that He loves humanity above His own glory.
- People distort concepts of God’s justice or mercy or holiness.
- People say things like “I trust God but I don’t believe the Bible because it was written by men.”
Research