John 8:32 (CSB)
“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Read Genesis 3:1-7
“For way too many years, I lived with a totally distorted view of God’s love. I grew up believing that if I performed well, I received love. If I didn’t? Well, love was withheld. Sound familiar? This mindset carried over into my relationship with God. I viewed Him as a stern overseer, always ready to scold me when I faltered.”
If the enemy cannot stop us from believing that God exists, his very next step is to misrepresent God’s character and nature, sowing seeds of doubt.
This goes all the way back to Genesis where the serpent portrayed God to Eve as cruelly withholding the best from her. In Genesis 3:1-5, we see how the serpent subtly questioned God’s word: “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1). Notice how he first distorted what God actually said, making His command seem unreasonable. Then he directly contradicted God’s warning about death: “You will not certainly die” (Genesis 3:4), followed by the accusation that God was withholding something good: “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5).
This pattern of deception continues today. The enemy plants questions in our minds: “Did God really say He loves you unconditionally? Are you sure His promises apply to someone like you?” Just like Eve was deceived into believing, that if she truly wanted good in her life, she would need to step outside of God’s boundaries and pursue it for herself.
We too fall for the lie. Foolishly believing that we need to abandon the whole “live my faith” command. Thinking that If we want to be accepted we need to make ourselves adaptable.
Scripture makes it abundantly clear that our own righteousness falls devastatingly short. Isaiah 64:6 tells us that “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” in God’s sight. Our best attempts at earning God’s favor through our own efforts are completely inadequate.
Paul addresses this same issue in Galatians 2:21 when he writes, “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” Think about that. If we could earn God’s love and salvation through our own works, then Christ’s sacrifice would have been pointless.
The Bible repeatedly calls us to abandon our own solutions and to embrace God’s freely given love and salvation through faith. As Ephesians 2:8-9 reminds us:
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Just as Eve needed to trust God’s provision rather than reach for the forbidden fruit, we need to rest in God’s freely given grace rather than striving to earn what has already been provided through Christ.
Time to process
1. How would you describe your current understanding of God’s love? Is it based more on performance or on His character?
2. Can you identify any ways that fear might be influencing your relationship with God?
3. What lies about God’s love have you believed that might be preventing you from experiencing His love fully?
4. In what areas of your life might you be believing that God is withholding good from you? How does Genesis 3 help you recognize this pattern?
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