THE GREAT TEMPTATION Part 2 (FREE FROM FEAR Part 7)
As we discussed yesterday, the strategic temptation of the serpent was in these areas:
Did God really say?
You will not certainly die.
Your eyes will be opened.
You will be like God.
You will know good and evil.
The first thing the enemy does is to try to get you to question God and his word. The second thing the enemy told Eve was that if she partook of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, she would not certainly die. In other words, the enemy wants you to think that there are no consequences, that you can do it your own way without total dependence upon God. The devil wants you to believe that God is holding out on you, and his plans for you are actually keeping you from your best. But what does the word of God say?
Galatians 6:7-8 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
The most pleasing thing to the flesh of man is to be in control of his own life, trusting in his own willpower and performance. However, a person who lives by the flesh will reap destruction.
The third temptation of the enemy was that their eyes would be opened. Interestingly, the devil usually comes as an angel of light, bringing partial truth. Apostle Paul says, And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 2 Cor 11:14 It was true that their eyes would be opened, but the opening of their eyes would not make them like God (the fourth temptation) in a good way but instead, like God in a way that would remove them from the blessedness of being one with God.
The last part of the strategic temptation of the enemy was that they would be like God, knowing good and evil. Again, the devil’s words had partial truth. When Adam and Eve partook of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they became intimate with it, bound and married to it. This transaction caused Adam and Eve to be separated from God and no longer have the power to fulfill the righteousness that the knowledge of good and evil demanded.
The greatest seduction of the enemy in the body of Christ today is to get Christians to try to be righteous by their own efforts. The results of this style of “Christianity” is condemnation, fear, and failure. You need to understand that Adam and Eve didn’t simply partake of some casual knowledge, they actually became intimate with it as in the bonds of marriage. In the next couple of days, we will be discussing what exactly that knowledge was and how we know that they became bound to it as in marriage?
Please know that I’m praying for you and believing God for great increase in your life! Exciting things are ahead for those who know Jesus because the body of Christ is getting ready to step into a higher level of the life of God…
FREE FROM FEAR
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