HOW DO I GET VICTORY OVER SELF-DECEIT? [PART 3]

HOW HUMANS GOT DECEIVED & CONTINUE TO BE DECEIVED 6000 YEARS LATER

From the past articles, we learnt about how deception started and how the Devil managed to deceive a third of holy angels. We learnt that he worked through lies. Today we'll go deeper and find out: how is it that we are deceived too and we find ourselves in such a sticky situation. Yet we need not to fear because we serve a wise God.

7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.-Revelation 12:7-9

The Devil was expelled from heaven as a result of his rebellion and He was cast down on earth. This signifies that God does not coerce us to worship Him. After the fall of Lucifer, God created planet earth. Genesis 1 & 2 give a thorough account on the creation story and we’re told after each instant God declared ‘it was good’.

The Bible gives us this account about the origin of mankind:

²⁶ And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

²⁷ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

²⁸ And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

From this we learn:

·        Mankind was made in the image and likeness of God

·        Mankind was given dominion upon creation

·        Both male and female when created in the image of God

·        God blessed them

·        He told them to be fruitful i.e. to inhabit the earth

Like we learnt that in heaven there are commandments which angels subscribe to (Psalm 103:20), God gave Adam & Eve a command:

¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

¹⁷ 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.-Genesis 2:16,17

From this command they were given the liberty to eat from every tree except one. Following the command, God also told them the consequences that will occur upon breaking this command. Another trait about God shines out: He is a transparent God. Furthermore, there’s a principle: every action has a consequence. After every good thing that befell Adam and Eve, Genesis opens with an interesting scene; we find the Devil exercising his deception again:

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?

² And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

³ 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.

⁴ And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

⁵ 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.

⁶ 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.

⁷ And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.-Genesis 3:1-6

In this instant, the Devil used the serpent (which is said to subtle than any other animal) to lure and deceive. It’s important to note that the Devil’s war is truly against God and His law. He used the very command which God had laid out to be obeyed.

From the account we see that the Devil:

·        Questioned Eve so as to cast doubt

·        He tweaked God’s word to suit his plan, which was to deceive in this case

·        He then painted God as a jealous God who withholds information and stated they shall be as ‘gods’. Quite an interesting observation to make. Satan was the one who desired God’s office and yet He was perpetuating the very agenda.

·        Through Satan’s deception: Eve saw the tree differently. She saw it ‘good for food’, ‘pleasant to the eyes’ and a ‘tree desired to make one wise’. Eve wanted more than God had given and unfortunately she took of the tree and gave her husband too.

·        Unfortunately, our original ancestors, Adam & Eve gave in to Satan’s deception. But instead of gaining wisdom, we learn that instead they became naked and had to cover themselves.

·        Prior to this: they were covered with the same covering as God’s (Psalm 104:2)

Paul mentions how Satan made our parents fall into sin:

But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. – 2 Corinthians 11:3 (emphasis mine)

Eve, upon deceiving herself that she will be wiser and the fruit looked lovely to eat, fell into sin. The lesson here is: self-deceit results when we decide to go against God’s expressed will. It also occurs when we listen to the suggestions of the Devil, who happens to be the greatest deceiver.

Our safety against self-deceit is knowing what truth is, so that we may be able to have a barometer to test every suggestion whether it’s from within or from the Devil himself. Not only is it important to know the truth but it’s important to take heed of it and do it.

This is the sad story of how mankind bought the lies of Satan and how everything went from ‘good’ only to evil too. Death, strife, hatred, oppression, pain, poverty, homosexuality, fornication, lust, intemperance and every evil originates from this very event INCLUDING self-deceit. And from the pair giving into the suggestions of Satan, the great controversy has been the result- a war between good and evil (God & Satan) and the Devil seeks to do the very thing he did to our ancestors and have us perpetuate his own agenda and die hopelessly.

On the next article we’ll zoom into self-deceit and look at the cure for it. We’ll also look at what truth is and how it can help from self-deceit and more.