Introduction.

1. What you believe about God and yourself will largely determine the focus of your love, the way your think and act, what you find beautiful and pleasurable. The fundamental building blocks of what you ought to believe about God and yourself are set out in the first three chapters of Genesis. From the first three chapters of Genesis we learn six extremely crucial things:
   
   
1. God is the all powerful Creator. He created everything there is from nothing. Not a thingexists that he didn't make. Everything that he made was good, excellent and fully functional.
   
   
2. God created Adam and Eve. The Creator deliberately and purposely took some clay from the earth and fashioned a man in his image and likeness. God in his wisdom concluded that it was not good for Adam to be alone, therefore God created Eve to be a suitable helper, companion, and co-regent with him.
   
   
3. God created Adam and Eve to rule, work and enjoy the garden and the creatures he created. The life Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden serving God was pure delight.
   
   
4. God created Adam and Eve to enjoy fellowship with himself. From Genesis 3:8-9 it seems that part of the daily routine of life was that the Lord himself came to the Garden of Eden in person and had face to face fellowship with Adam and Eve.
   
   
5. Adam and Eve chose to believe the lie of Satan and ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God had said, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." Genesis 2:16-17. The death Adam and Eve died was not physical but spiritual. The evidence of this death was the fact that they hid from God when he came to fellowship with them. From then on everyone born of Adam and Eve would be born spiritually dead.
   
   
6. God's judgment on Adam and Eve was marked by amazing mercy. The Lord would have been perfectly just to cast Adam and Eve into the pit of hell immediately. God expelled them from the Garden of Eden with a promise contained in the cursing of Satan, ‘And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heal' (Genesis 3:15). This is the promise of salvation in Christ Jesus who would reconcile sinners to God by making full atonement for sin. It is as John says in 1 John 3:8, ‘For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.' Jesus came to save sinners condemned by the curse of sin.
   
   
2. These 6 things explain who God is, who we are, why we do not have fellowship with God from birth, and why we need to be reconciled to God, and the work that Jesus came to do. If you believe these six things then the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the best and the greatest news you could ever hear. In 1971 John Lennon released the song ‘Imagine' which rejected all religions and the ideas of heaven and hell, calling for a brotherhood of man to live in peace and harmony sharing the world. The kind of optimistic atheism which John Lennon advocated has become the adopted attitude of western society. The world we are to ‘Imagine' is the modern secular world - the world which denies God and tries to remove him from his all-creating, all-sustaining, all-defining, all-governing place on the throne of glory. The thought of removing God is quickly embraced by those spiritually dead and dominated by sin as they still believe the lie of the devil when he told Eve, "You will not surely die.^ For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:4-5).  Sinners love the idea of being like God and knowing good and evil as it makes them believe that they will be the ones who rule themselves because they will determine what is good and evil. Adam and Eve were already like God for they were made in his image and likeness. The consequences of believing the devil's lie did not make them more like God, but like Satan. The devil's lie is attractive to sinners for it promises to give the knowledge that will enable them to rule themselves and others. If you think about it our modern secular world has no choice but to make itself god and to create its own morality. In other words, when man abandons God and his Word as the source of what is objectively true and right, beautiful, and pleasurable the next highest court of appeal is man himself.

1.    Believing the lie of Satan is the way to despair.

1. If God is not the measure of what is true and right, beautiful, and pleasurable then you and I become our own measure; we become our own gods and do what is right and good according to our own self-centred thoughts. If everyman and woman is their own god what happens when the gods disagree? When the gods disagree the only alternative is might is right. Violence and intimidation determines which god is right and the others need to scrap their own sense of right and good and submit to the one who has the power. Life becomes dominated by a power-struggle. There is a real sense in which education, media, business, churches and politics becomes a battle for power. When God is not the one who determines what is right and good there cannot be a quest for objective truth and right, beauty, and pleasure since they cannot exist, everything is geared to securing power.
   
   
2. When the lie of Satan is believed having power becomes the great quest, as the one who has power defines what is true, right, beautiful and pleasurable. The one with great power has the right to create new truths, make things of beauty, invent new pleasures, and define what is good. Due to modern technologies the world is in a sense is shrinking therefore the power struggle has become global. In the Second World War leaders spoke about the theatres of war: there was a European Theatre and a Pacific Theatre today leaders speak on a global scale. That there are Australian troops in Iraq and Afghanistan is part of the reality of the global power struggle. The twentieth century, the true age of modern secularism may well have been the bloodiest century in world history. Think of those at the forefront of the power-struggle Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Mao Zedong, Idi Admin Dada, Pol Pot, Slobodan Milosevic, Kim Il Sung etc. The power struggle killed millions of people in every corner of the world. When God is evicted from his throne as Creator and the Lord who determines what is true, right, beautiful and pleasurable then man sets himself up as god, violence becomes the key to power.
   
   
3. Can there be any real hope while the lie of the devil is believed? Listen to an extract from the preface to ‘The visual history of the modern world', ‘In spite of over 100 years of staggering scientific progress, we ought to find it shocking that we have greater faith in the likelihood of one of us walking on the surface of a distant planet over the coming century than in his ability to create a lasting peace in the Middle East, solve the internal struggles of Northern Ireland, ease the debt-ridden famines of the Third World or bring harmony to the Balkan States. Sadly, it seems tragically inevitable that many of the key historical events of the twenty-first century are likely to stem from these perennial conflicts.' The outlook for this new century is for even greater violence than the past. Violence is simply taken as a fact and reality of life. Genesis 4 is the first report of life in a world where the devil's lie is believed, is it not significant that it records that Cain killed Abel? Genesis 6:11 tells us ‘The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.' Violence is a symptom of sin, to stop it you need to deal with the cause. Listen to Matthew Henry's comment on this verse, ‘Wickedness, as it is the shame of human nature, so it is the ruin of human society. Take away conscience and the fear of God, and men become beasts and devils to one another, like the fishes of the sea, where the greater devour the less. Sin fills the earth with violence, and so turns the world into a wilderness.' The reality of violence whether it be on the global scale or in the home or school playground ought to be ringing all the alarm bells informing us that something is wrong. God in his grace has made sure that when life is lived according to the lie of the devil a profound sense that something is wrong will haunt us in everyday life.
   
   
4. The lie of the devil cannot erode the profound truth that something is wrong. The world knows that something is wrong but will not be bold enough to label what is wrong as sin. One of the most common phrases heard today is life sucks, which is an acknowledgement that things are not right. John Lennon, who in 1971 asked the world to ‘Imagine' a world without God released in the same year the song called, ‘Crippled Inside' which deals with hiding the truth about a broken life. Listen to a few lines: ‘You can shine your shoes and wear a suit, You can comb your hair and look quite cute, You can hide your face behind a smile, One thing you can't hide, Is when you're crippled inside.' ‘You can go to church and sing a hymn, You can judge me by the colour of my skin, You can live a lie until you die, One thing you can't hide, Is when you're crippled inside.' What does it mean to be crippled inside? A woman weighed down by a guilty conscience is crippled inside. A man living a life of deceit is a cripple inside. A person not at peace with God is crippled inside. The lie of the devil brings misery and the world knows and feels it but will never admit that it is sin that has corrupted every faculty and is the cause of the brokenness of life.
   
   
5. Perhaps the most tragic consequence of the lie of the devil is that it holds out death as a hope. The Bible makes it clear that death, even physical death entered the world through sin, but the world has packaged death as the end of pain, suffering and misery as it delivers you to paradise, or you come back as someone or something else or it annihilates your existence. Sadly many churches perpetuate the lie of the devil by teaching that death means annihilation for the wicked. Satan would have us believe that sin does not have grim and everlasting consequence. It is interesting to note that Jesus spoke more about God's judgment and the tortures of hell than he did about the love of God. For those who do not know Christ and his saving work death does not end their suffering, but greatly intensifies the pain, frustration and misery. For those who die believing the lie of the devil life beyond the grave is a million times worse not better. It is worse because death ends all hope of being delivered from the curse. There is no sense of hope in hell. Listen to Jesus talking about hell in Matthew 13:49-50, ‘So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.' Jesus makes it very clear that the consequences of sin is eternal condemnation where suffering is unbearable. Those who believe the devil's lie are deceived about the purpose, meaning and reality of life and death. The worst concept possible is captured by the words condemned forever.
   
   
6. We need to remind ourselves frequently that all men and woman from birth have been conditioned by sin. Men and woman would rather believe the lies of the devil than the truth of God. The feeling that the problems and sorrows of the world can be solved by the wisdom and ingenuity of men and women apart from God is as strong as ever. The farcical optimism that put the label ‘the war to end wars' on the WWII continues to place its hope in man made organisations like the United Nations, World Bank and the myriad of trusts and foundations dedicated to making the world a better place. The evidence that despair in our age is growing is obvious. There seems to be no answer to terrorism, corporate greed, governmental corruption, illicit drug use, and senseless violence at every level. Francis Schaeffer was correct when he pointed out the fact that every philosophy of life other than that based on the absolute truths of the Bible would lead to deep and desperate despair. The world around us is crumbling and despair is capturing the hearts and minds of more and more people.  It does us no good to look at the sad and tragic situation in the world if we fail to apply the general principles to ourselves? Do you believe the devil's lie?
   
   
7. In all probability your immediate reaction to this question was ‘Of course not.'  Remember that from the beginning the devil dressed up evil (disobeying God) as beneficial and good. Sin never presents itself in its true ugliness, it always comes in disguise. The attitude of the world can easily rub off onto you without you fully realising what you are doing. During the last week did you think twice before you protected yourself by lying? Did your focus on getting ahead permit you to cheat? Did you put someone else down so that you could feel better about yourself? Did you enjoy the music of a download that was a breach of copyright? Did you look at a beautiful girl and have adulterous thoughts. Did you use gossip to enhance a friendship? Did you rage at the old lady who cut you off on the highway? In your mind did you swear at the policeman who gave you a speeding ticket? Did you take home some stationary from the office? I am asking these questions simply to raise the issue of whether or not in your daily life you are deciding what is right or wrong for yourself or are you submitting to the Lord and his word? It's one thing to say I do not believe the lie of the devil, but it's another matter to stop behaving according to the lie of the devil.

2.  Believing the truth of God or the lie of the devil.

1. God tells us that we are sinners who are spiritually dead and need new life and fellowship with himself. Do you really believe this? There is a simple test to determine whether you do or don't. Do you love God? Do you deliberately seek to obey him? Do you speak to God? Does God speak to you through his word? Do you desire to worship him? Is pleasing him very important to you? Do you find spiritual things stimulating? If you answer these questions in the negative then it ought to be obvious that you have no relationship with God. Your relationship with God is dead. God to you is a thing and not a living being with whom you fellowship.
   
   
2. If you are forced to conclude that God is right and that you are spiritually dead, then find hope in God's response to Adam and Eve after they sinned. Listen to Genesis 3:9, ‘Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?"' There are three important aspects to God's calling Adam.
   
   
1. The call of God is a call of divine justice.  God is omnipresent and omnipotent, he was fully aware of the fact that Adam and Eve had chosen to believe the lie of Satan. Knowing this the Lord could have cast Adam and Eve into everlasting damnation for that is what they deserved. This is the call of God to Adam and Eve to give account of their sins. The nature of God's character is such that he cannot overlook or ignore sin. If God was to forgive Adam and Eve for their sin it would require the death of Jesus Christ to atone for their sin. The call of God's justice will come to you, and you will appear before God. This call will come with power and authority and you will not be able to refuse. Listen to 2 Corinthians 5:10 and Hebrews 9:27, ‘For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.'  ‘And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.'  If you believe the lie of Satan it means you have disbelieved God.
   
   
2. The call of God is a call of divine sorrow. The sin of Adam and Eve grieved the heart of God. Their act of choosing to believe Satan rather than God filled his heart with pain. It grieved God as he finds no delight in the destruction of the wicked. Sin violates God's holiness and causes him deep pain.
   
   
3. The call of God is a call of divine grace and mercy. When God called Adam there was an invitation to Adam and Eve to come to the Lord to be restored. The call of God for us to come to him to be restored is the essence of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel calls us to come to God and be clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

Conclusion.

When God calls you to stand before the throne of judgment will you take your place clothed in the righteousness of Christ or will you take your place knowing that you believed the lie of the devil and acted as your own god? May God be gracious to us all so that none of us will hear Jesus say, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' Matthew 7:23.