Christian Living

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Once a serpent, always a serpent! Let's go back in time, way back to the Garden of Eden. It is here in Genesis 3:1 that we are introduced to the serpent and his infamous question addressed to Eve. “Did God really say?”

God created Adam and Eve and placed his new creation in the Garden which was a perfect culture. They were to multiply and care for the earth, plants and animals. They only had one restriction. Do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or you will die. This was God's word, Do not eat of the tree or you will die and the serpent slithers onto the scene with one simple question. “Did God really say? Eve, did God really say you will die? You won't die Eve, You'll be like a God knowing good and evil.

Satan was the first fundamental transformation specialist for change. Did Adam and Eve need a change? They were in paradise, they walked with God, they had eternal life and security as long as they obeyed and trusted the words of God. The serpent attacked God's word as being the truth. Did God really say?

Why did Adam and Eve eat the fruit? No one would choose a piece of fruit over life. What would you and I choose if we were told behind door number one is eternal life and behind door number two is a nice juicy piece of fruit? No body in their right mind would pick door number two! Were Adam and Eve stupid? I don't think they were, I think they were looking at the attractive side of sin. The good they could accomplish if they became gods like the serpent suggested.

Louis Matthews Sweet has this to say about evil. “Men are not tempted by evil per se, but by a good which can be obtained only at the cost of doing wrong. The whole power of sin, at least in the beginnings, consists in the sway of the fundamental falsehood that any good is really attainable by wrongdoing.”

That is a powerful, eyeopening statement. Adam and Eve were attracted to the good the serpent promised and forgot about the word of God which stated they would die if they disobeyed. Look at what we could accomplish if we became gods, look at all the good we could do! The world could use a few more gods. Give us the fruit! Here we see the fundamental falsehood that any good is really attainable by wrongdoing. Every time we stray from the word of God there is a cost. Adam and Eve's sin brought sin, death, pain, sickness, and evil into the world. Their sin destroyed the world and ripped the Son of God from his throne in heaven down to a cross on earth for our redemption.

Adam and Eve went beyond the word of God and did what they thought was right in their own eyes. Not only did they die but their sin has followed each succeeding generation with death and carnage. There is a simple, basic, biblical principle, as simple as one plus one equals two and that is this. Satan is a liar and God is the truth.


John 8:44. “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire, he was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

John 14:6. God says: “I am the way and the truth and the life.”

There we have it. The power of the Christian life is in the truth. “If you eat of the fruit you shall surely die.” The power of Satan is in the lie. “You shall not surely die.” Whenever we try and change the word of God which is the truth into a lie we will die. How do I know that? God said we would die and I'm one hundred percent certain that we will all die if the Lord doesn't return in our lifetime.

Truth does not change from one culture to another culture over time. Truth is constant and unchangeable. Our dress habits might change, our cities might change, our technologies and medical practices might change but the word of God does not change. Truth is unchangeable, that's what makes it the truth. The truth of gravity is that if you jump out of a plane without a parachute you are going to die. It's unchangeable like a rock. I have a beautiful rock that I picked up years ago and set it on my desk. It's been in my possession for twenty years and guess what? It hasn't changed! It's still exactly the same as it was when I picked it up twenty years ago and it will still be the same twenty years from now. A rock is unchangeable.

The bible refers to God as the rock. Psalm 89:26 “You are my Father, my God, The Rock my Savior.
Psalm 94:22 “The Lord has become my fortress, and my God the Rock in whom I take refuge.” Psalm 61:2 “From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I. And in 1Corinthians 10:4 we are told that the rock is none other than Jesus Christ.

When the Israelites were building altars out of stone so they could offer sacrifice's to God. God told them not to alter the stones. Exodus 20:25 “If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones, for you will defile it if you use a tool on it.” What did God have against them dressing up the stones and making a beautiful altar for sacrifices? The name of God was being honored on the altar and since God is the unchangeable rock they were not to altar the stones. Malachi 3:6 “I the Lord do not change.”

If God and his word are the unchangeable rock that does not change do Governments, churches and cultural laws have the right to change Gods word in order to fit it into the current culture? If we change the word of God in order to fit it into the way society wants to live and behave then we have a new gospel of compromise. Are we willing to rewrite the word of God for social tolerance? God says his word is an unchangeable rock but the serpent says. “Did God really say?” Surely you will not die if you continue in your sins.

Down through the ages Christian men and women took a stand against evil and willingly gave up everything they had for Christ and His word. They refused to be forced into a system that opposed Christ. Today we stand at a crossroad of decisions. Will we believe the lie of the serpent or the truth of Gods word. The bible says “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life; and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:13,14. how does Satan keep the gate wide? He keeps the gate wide and appealing to society with an anything goes, easy lifestyle of do whatever gives you pleasure. After all you won't live forever so get all you can out of life while you can.


Christians who follow the narrow gate refuse to compromise scripture, they go all in for Christ and live their life through the guidance of His Holy Spirit.. They don't follow the crowd who are marching through the wide gate, they stand on what scripture says. No compromise, no ifs, and or but. The word is the word no matter how difficult it might be.

Leonard Ravenhill said. “Christianity has been weighed on the scales and found wanting. Christianity is not only to difficult for the world----It has also become to difficult for the church.”

George Barna in a recent study found only 30% of Christians read the bible and less than 10% read it cover to cover. Only 9% of Christians have a biblical worldview and only 51% of their pastors have a biblical worldview. He also reported that 70 to 80% of people say they are Christian and only 34% say they believe in absolute moral truth. When it comes to moral issues Barna says he is finding no substantive statistical difference between Christians and non-Christians. His studies are showing that church people are as guilty of the same kind of ruinous behaviors as secular people.

Christianity becomes hard for the church when it tries to dissect the word of God to fit into a cultural lifestyle. We cannot take Gods word and try to dress it up so it looks good in order to justify our sins. That's what Satan did to Adam and Eve. He made the fruit look appealing and something to be desired----He offered them the wide road, a different road then the one God said to stay on. Those who adhere to a literal interpretation of scripture are accused of having a dark age mentality. What's wrong with those people? The world and many churches are moving into a new age of tolerance, change, and acceptance. A move away from the literal word of God. Did God really say homosexuality, adultery, polygamy, murder, lust, divorce, stealing, abortion were sins?

Once our spiritual eyes grow dim on truth the serpent will use our blind spots as strongholds to drive us away from God's word. Will Christians abandon Gods word as unbiblical, will they go with the flow and follow the world and wayward churches, will they cheer on sin, and cave in to the cultural good times of change?

The apostate church is becoming more and more well defined, the sheep and goats are being separated, Christian leaders who are standing firm on a biblical definition of sin are being attacked from within and without. We are entering a new culture war, a spiritual war that is raging all around and gaining more power each and every day. Ultimately the battle comes down to the truth found in God's word and the lie of the serpent. “ Did God really say?”

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