Lesson 10

A commonly held belief comes with another adopted word. Although this concept is almost universally held by all humanity, most Christians claim they can find proof for it within the pages of the Bible. The belief pre-dates the New Testament and Jesus. It predates Moses and the first written words of God. Pre-dating the flood, Noah carried it in the ark along with all the animals. This belief is the first one humans followed that did not come from their maker. It even predates the original sin. Even though it does not come from God, the belief is recorded for us in the Bible. Most people miss or ignore the lie as they concentrate on the story as a whole. As with all good lies this one is served up with the truth. Unless you recognise the lie, you will swallow it along with the truth. God spoke the truth, if they ate from the tree of knowledge they would die. Satan lied by saying humans somehow had eternal life within themselves, a life beyond their ability to see and that would not die. Satan’s lie was wrapped in the truth that the tree would give them the ability to choose right from wrong. When they chose that fruit they rejected God’s truth and chose to make their own truth, just as Satan did when he rejected God and rebelled against him.

Genesis 3:1-5 Christian Standard Bible
3 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’” 4 “No! You will certainly not die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Satan’s lie is completely exposed later in chapter 3 when God evicted man from Eden. He did not want humans to live forever so he kept them away from the tree of life and immortality. What have you been told about eternal life? Are you conscious beyond physical death? If so, does that part of you live forever? Does the idea that humans have something immortal come from God or Satan? 

Genesis 3:22-23 Christian Standard Bible
22 The Lord God said, “Since the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he must not reach out, take from the tree of life, eat, and live forever.” 23 So the Lord God sent him away from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.