In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve renounced allegiance to God by choosing to follow Satan and ingest the poisonous fruit of the tree of knowledge.
Satan continues to successfully lure many of us into sin and idolatry by convincing us that the delightfulness and desirability of the tree of knowledge is superior to the simplicity of God’s Word.
Genesis tells us that Eve found that forbidden tree to be a “delight” and “desirable.” (Genesis 3:6) According to the First Book of Enoch, the tree of knowledge was “very large, beautiful, glorious, and magnificent.” (1 Enoch 32:3) How much credence we should give to the First Book of Enoch is another subject, but it seems, in this case, to agree with Genesis and, perhaps, add to the suggestion in the Bible that this tree was not just another tree, but one of superior desirability. We are not told anything about how the tree of life looked. Perhaps it was just as wonderful, but, judging by how God’s truth appears next to the devil’s lies today, it might not have impressed Eve. Regardless, we know how things turned out. Eve and Adam were seduced by the devil’s deception and the supposed delightfulness of the forbidden tree so that they were disloyal to God.
Believing a lie is the root of all sin.
Realizing that the church in Corinth was also being lured away from the simplicity of God’s truth, the apostle Paul wrote.
But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:3 (NASB95)
Satan is a liar.
According to Jesus, he is the “father of lies,” and no truth resides in him. (John 8:44) It is his habit, as illustrated in Genesis, to contradict God’s words.
The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! 5 “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.” Genesis 3:4–5 (NASB95)
He flatly contradicted what God said would be the consequence of disobedience. In addition, he enticed them with the empty promise that through the pursuit of knowledge they would become like God.
From a human point of view, godhood status gives us the ability or right to define reality as we see fit and to do whatever we please without reference to God or consequences. This prospect tantalized Satan into rebellion against his Creator and has proved irresistible to countless people since.
Jesus, on the other hand, is God’s eternal truth residing in a resurrected and glorified human body. He is God’s Word, the eternal Logos who became flesh (John 1:14). He once described himself as “the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6) Unlike Satan’s boastful and empty claims, when Jesus spoke it was always the truth and carried God’s authority.
Jesus chose to submit himself to his heavenly Father in every particular. His willingness to embrace his human status as a dependent being illustrated the kind of humility that God intends for us all.
Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. 7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, 8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. 9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:6–11 (NLT)
A big part of humility is our choice to believe and submit to all of God’s words in the Bible.
Any time that we make the choice to pick and choose which words of God to believe and receive we show the same pride that fills Satan.
If we choose a lie over God’s truth, it is a betrayal and abandonment of God’s Word in general and Jesus, God’s Word incarnate, in particular. This makes it, by definition, idolatry.
Believing what science and mankind’s immense “bank of knowledge” tells us, when it contradicts Scripture, is a sin. By so doing, we elevate man’s words over God’s.
When Copernicus introduced the Bible-defying heliocentric theory, those who adopted his view betrayed God by abandoning the scriptures.
The devil has been able to weave a vast web of deception regarding cosmology for centuries now. He used and uses godless people to introduce clever and immensely attractive lies that flatly contradict the truth found in the Bible. He also has fabricated supporting “evidence” that most people believe is unassailable. This has been done to alienate people from the Scriptures and to further the boastful assertion that man is smarter than God and does not need him to figure things out.
Satan has been so successful that most of the church today embraces and defends pagan heliocentrismover the revealed truth of God’s Word found in the Genesis account.
Just as Eve found Satan’s bold lie to be more desirable than God’s simple words of truth, today a large part of the church has been convinced that the overwhelming “evidence” amassed by the “scientific” community more than outweighs the simple words of Genesis Chapter One. This means that, when it comes to cosmology, most of the church is committing idolatry. The globe might well be the most ubiquitous idol in the world.
Just as God tested Adam’s and Eve’s loyalty in the garden, our Lord is testing the church today regarding whether we will admire and believe his Word more than Satan’s lies.
He has allowed the devil space to create a vast array of supposed “evidence” against Genesis Chapter One to discover what is in our hearts. Many of us have been so intimidated by the scientific world that we have been willing to twist and reinterpret the plain meaning of the text rather than stand by God’s truth regardless of the personal cost. Most of the church seems to be quite comfortable claiming that God’s words in Genesis cannot possibly be a true account of creation because we “know” from “science” that it could not have happened that way. In so doing, we commit Adam’s and Eve’s sin of betrayal of God and his Word.
Paul warned us against doing this.
O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge”— 21 which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith. Grace be with you. 1 Timothy 6:20–21 (NASB95)
We must conclude that most prefer Satan’s lie to God’s truth.
To illustrate this, think of how many Christians will defend a Star Wars version of space against the Genesis Chapter One account of the earth existing under the protective dome of the firmament, atop which sits God’s throne. Today otherwise Bible believing followers of Christ snicker at the model of the cosmos believed by the authors of the Bible. This is in spite of our affirming that we believe every word was inspired by the Holy Spirit and is infallible. The only way to justify such a betrayal is to claim that God’s Word in Genesis Chapter One does not mean what it says. If that is the case, when does the Bible begin to be true? Doesn’t that make us judges of God’s Word? Does that not elevate us to a sort of godhood status, which allows us to decide which words of the Bible describe reality and which do not?
Those who will stand up for God’s Word in Genesis soon discover that the devil tries to intimidate us with his false “scientific” knowledge. Those who stand by God’s truth found in that old book called the Bible are called ignorant, anti-science, and deceived. I for one cannot conceive of the devil doing anything to make us believe more fully in the truth of the Bible, can you?
It is also claimed by some who love the Lord that we should stay away from such controversial subject matter because it will detract from the gospel, split the church, and make us seem to be fools in the eyes of the unsaved.
Building unity at the expense of the truth was not practiced by Jesus. He split Judaism wide open, requiring people to make a choice between him and the old wineskin of Judaism. The New Covenant makes no room for the sacrificial system, temple worship, and other Jewish practices. The apostle Paul fully understood this, but many even today still love the old wine better than the new. Jesus said:
Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword. 35 ‘I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 Your enemies will be right in your own household!’ 37 “If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine. 38 If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. 39 If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it. Matthew 10:34–39 (NLT)
Today the choice is different but the underlying issue is the same. Will we choose to side with the truth, even if it alienates us from many? Or will we take the easy path and go along to get along?
Many of the kings of Judah partially followed the Lord but failed to demolish the high places. Was this because they thought the cost would be too high? Would it alienate them from their constituency? Do not modern pastors face the same crisis? The apostle Paul faced a similar choice. He could have backed off from his grace teaching and gone along with the Judaizers, but he knew that would be a betrayal of God’s truth.
But we refused to give in to them for a single moment. We wanted to preserve the truth of the gospel message for you. Galatians 2:5 (NLT)
This issue still divides the church because many prefer a lie to God’s truth.
If we stand for truth, it will cost us, just as it did Paul.
Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you. 9 I say again what we have said before: If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed. 10 Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant. Galatians 1:8–10 (NLT)
Paul’s battle was against the grace defying legalism that sought to keep in place the Old Covenant of law. That battle continues, but today we face a foe unknown to Paul – heliocentrism. I am convinced he would be appalled to see how the church has swallowed that lie “hook, line and sinker.”
Regarding biblical cosmology and the gospel, our failure to stand up for every word of God reveals that we do not take the Bible very seriously, something for which atheists despise us.
Is the resurrection of Christ from the dead and his consequent ascension “up” into heaven any less “unbelievable” than Genesis Chapter One? Science also says that no one can be born of a virgin or rise from the dead. Why are we not intimidated out of declaring these truths?
Is it not because Satan has especially attacked Genesis, knowing that undermining the Bible’s very first chapter casts doubt on its overall veracity?
The essence of what it means to become a Christian is to proclaim allegiance to Christ. This means that we, with God’s help, determine to be steadfastly loyal to him and his words. It is a contradiction to say Jesus is Lord while simultaneously rejecting his words.
Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. 24 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 25 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed? 26 If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels. Luke 9:23–26 (NLT)
May God awaken us to understand that presently we are in a giant struggle for allegiance.
Satan is doing his best to convince the whole world to follow him, but the church belongs to Jesus. Let’s act like it.
May the church stand up against the intimidation of the tree of knowledge and reaffirm our complete allegiance to Christ and his Word, regardless of the consequences.
