Jesus said:
Satan’s great lie:
“Ye shall not surely die: 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.” Genesis 3:5-6
It is easy to refute the first part of the lie.
Experientially: 10 people out of 10 die!!!
The authority of God’s word: It is appointed unto men once to die, then the judgment. Hebrews 9:27.
Examples of religions who have been deceived by the second part of Satan’s lie.
Roman Catholic church: “The Son of God became man so that we might become God. The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods.” Article 460, Catechism, taken from Vatican Website.
Jehovah Witnesses: “When we claim on the scriptural warrants, that we are begotten of a divine nature and that Jehovah is thus our father, it is claiming that we are divine beings - hence all such are Gods.” Watchtower, December 1881, page 3.
Jim Jones: “When I was Moses, you were with me in the wilderness, and I led you out of slavery and death into the promised land. When I was Buddha, you were my followers, and I taught you to meditate on me. When I was Mohammed, you sought after my teachings and served me with all your heart and being. When I was Jesus Christ, you were my disciples.” Cults The Continuing Threat, Lowell D. Streiker, page 127.
“On numerous occasions I was in the congregation when he told us, ‘I am God’ and ‘there is no other God.’.” Deceived, Mel White, page 218.
Shoko Asahara (cult leader who ordered the nerve gas to be placed in Tokyo subway). “He claimed to be a god on the same level as Shiva or Gautama Buddha…To promote the idea that Asahara is supreme guru, superior to God.” Terror in the Subway, Calgary Herald, May 21st, 1995.
David Koresh: “I offer you my sealed secrets. How dare you turn away my invitations of mercy … Who are you fighting against? The law is mine, the truth is mine. I am your God and you will bow under my feet. I am your life and your death.
My hand made heaven and earth. My hand also shall bring it to the end. You have a chance to learn of my salvation. Do not find yourselves fighting against me. Please listen and show mercy and learn of the marriage of the lamb. Why will you be lost? The letter was signed Yahweh Koresh.” Time, May 3rd, 1993.
Rev. Sun Myung Moon: “God is living in me and I am the incarnation of Himself,’ he told Time Magazine, ‘The whole world is in my hand and I will conquer and subjugate the world.’.” Moonie Madness, Calgary Herald, November 12th, 1995.
M. Scott Peck: “God wants us to become Himself (or Herself or Itself). We are growing toward godhood. God is the goal of evolution.” The Road Less Traveled, M. Scott Peck, page 270.
Margot Adler: “We are gods and might as well get used to it.” Drawing Down the Moon, Margot Adler, page 25.
Rajneesh: “Notorious cult leader Rajneesh, who in Poona, India, took on the title Bhagwan Shree (Meaning “Sir God”)”. Christianity in Crises, Hank Hanegraff, page 107. “When you call Jesus, really you have called me. When you call me, really you have called Jesus.” Fear is the Master, Jeremiah Films
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: “Be still and know you are God.” Meditations of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, page 178. Note he was misquoting Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God: (KJV)
Morris Cerullo: “Did you know that from the beginning of time the whole purpose of God was to reproduce himself? Who are you? Come on, say it! And what does work inside us, brother, is that manifestation of all that God is and all that God has. And when we stand up here brother, you’re not looking at Morris Cerullo; you’re looking at God. You’re looking at Jesus.” The endtime manifestation of the Sons of God. Morris Cerullo, autotape 1, side 2.
Mormon Church: “God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man.” The Teachings of Joseph Smith, Joseph Fielding Smith, page 345. “Gods exist, and we better strive to be prepared to be one with them.” Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, page 238. “As man is, God once was: As God is, man may become.” Lorenzo Snow, former president of the Mormon Church, Millennial Star, Volume 54.
Didn’t Jesus proclaim our divinity?
John 10:34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
Jesus is quoting from Psalm 82:
Psalm 82 God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods. How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked. They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course. I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High. But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes. Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.
God is rebuking the unjust judges. They were ignorant, walking in darkness. They thought they were gods, but God declares that they will die like men.
Jesus was not defending the lie of Satan, he was arguing against the Jews charge of blasphemy against himself. If judges are called gods (Elohim) in the Bible, because they are agents of God’s justice (See Romans 13:1-7), then how could they accuse Jesus of blasphemy for doing the will of His heavenly father?
The King of Tyre was deceived by the lie of Satan: His “so called” divinity could not save him from God’s wrath.
Ezekiel 28:1-10 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God: Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel;… There is no secret that they can hide from thee: Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee. Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
The Bible warns, that in the last days, many will be deceived by “a lie”. That lie is the lie of Satan, “Ye shall be as gods.”
2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
The Good news: If you have been deceived by “the lie”, salvation and liberty is possible, if you repent of your sins (Note believing “the lie” is a sin) and receiving Christ as your Lord and Savior. Believe on the LORD Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Acts 16:31. You should avoid any church that teaches the lie. Romans 16:17
Satan’s big lie
Written by Larry Mitchell
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