IT WASN'T ME

And the serpent said unto the woman, 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
(Gen. 3:3,4).
Anytime I read this Scripture, I cannot but feel some amount of grief. It really saddens my heart to remember that the fall of man is a product of this discourse between the devil and the woman. But the main cause of my grief is the fact that this is still the case. That after a long time, the devil still has men in this corner- unbelievers and believers alike.
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Ye shall not surely die. Meaning God lied to you. He cannot be trusted. I (devil) am the revealer of the truth which the Lord has hidden from you by telling you a lie.
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.
Meaning the commandment that you should not eat of the tree was not for your own good. It was to prevent you from being as God, who because of His selfishness wants to keep you in the dark. In other words, God is the enemy here. He is the one who cannot be trusted because He only thinks of Himself; a selfish God who because He is sovereign does
whatever he wants to the detriment of man.
Isn't this idea about God still found in the world today? Do not men distrust God because they do not believe He has their interest at heart? But what about you? Do you believe He has your interest at heart and that all He does is for your sake and not His? Well I hope you do.
There is a system functioning in the world programmed to turn men against God; be it consciously or unconsciously. The Bible refers to this as the systems of this world- this secular world controlled by the devil through men. This system is subtly or conspicuously anti-God depending on the domain of its functioning. In what is the greatest irony, the world portrays God as the enemy whiles the real enemy lurks in the darkness. In the Church, some may even harbor a secret dislike for God but for fear of hell, carry on. In the end this only breeds more contempt for a God who has 'trapped' them with the threat of Hell. Such people, who do not feel free to live the life they wish to live secretly admire daredevils who come out boldly to do God-defying things. The believer in the Church thinks in his or her heart that the unbeliever is better off and ends up envying his ways. Outside the Church, people boldly parade their dislike and distrust for God. It is on television, the radio, internet, in movies, everywhere. The world is truly anti-God and it is because of the misrepresentation of God to them. The gospel is hid from them because the god of this world has blinded their eyes through misrepresentation (cf. 2 Cor 4:4). How sad.
First of all, God is love and it is in the nature of love not to think of Himself but the object of His love. It is in the nature of love to give and not to take away, to bless and not to ruin, to increase and not to subtract, etc.

Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: (1Cor.13:4-8a).
Now this is love and God is love. When the Scriptures say God is love, it does not just mean He decides to love or does lovely things. It means love is His nature. And a person can only act according to his nature. So God is love and there is no way that can change. This is the God who is now being portrayed as inconsiderate and selfish. Can you believe that?
Like I said, it is in the systems of the world: lie upon lie against the true God peddled even in the Church. Things that indirectly tell you God does not really care about you like the devil implied in his discourse with Eve. The sad thing is that these lies are so subtle that you may not notice it and being according to the senses are easily believed by the natural man.
It is as though God is responsible for every bad thing. Tsunamis, fires, earthquakes, etc, are called 'acts of God.' Things regularly done by God (over which we have no control) because He is sovereign. Such a gross doctrine is even accepted in the Church. Is God the mastermind and power behind all these catastrophes? Is He really behind the killing of thousands of innocent lives? To what end? Yet this is the falsehood that engenders grudges in a person's heart towards his God.
Someone dies and it is God who caused it. In the Church, don't be surprised the minister will stand and affirm that it is God who gives and it is He who takes away. How can such a God then be lovable to any reasonable person? What kind of a God will give me a mother and decide to take her away from me abruptly like that? For what good purpose? Why will God kill my father with a heart attack? Why will He do these cruel things? To what end? What does He gain from it? I believe that if not for fear, many people would want to stand up to God and question Him.
Beloved, God does not do these things. It is the thief who comes to steal, kill and destroy. God is not the thief. He is the owner of the house. He has no hand in the things that bring sorrow to you.
There are many things that happen that men cannot explain and in situations like that they take the easiest way out: thus, it is God who allowed it to happen. How come we do not rather look at ourselves and our lack of faith or the devil and his sinister schemes? I submit to you that the bad things that happen in this world are not caused by God. They are caused by the devil working in collaboration with fallen man and also because of the already fallen state of this world- the result of Adam's transgression.
Many also believe God brings bad things their way to teach them lessons. Why will you think that? What then is the use of the Scriptures? So far as we are in a fallen world whose systems are controlled by the devil, it is a given that unpleasant things will come our way. But it is God rather who through Jesus Christ has given us victory over these situations. By our faith we appropriate this victory. By our faith we change situations to our favour, heal the sick, raise the dead, walk in prosperity, etc.
For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith (1 John 5:4).
Beloved God is a good God and therefore can only do you good. He has your interest at heart even more than you do. I pray that you would carefully follow this series so that any question or doubt in your mind about the absolute goodness of the Lord towards you may be answered. Amen.