The devil's damning delusion!
(Be sure to LISTEN to the Audio, as you READ the text below.)
Genesis 2:17, "You will surely die!"
Genesis 3:4, "You will not surely die!"
From the first lie in Eden until now, Satan's most successful weapon has been the same: "You will not surely die!" With subtle craft, he whispers that sin is harmless, that God is too kind to punish, that there will be no judgment, that grace excuses rebellion. And multitudes, like Eve, listen--and perish!
The serpent's words were a direct contradiction of God's truth. The Lord had said, "In the day that you eat of it, you will surely die." Satan replied, "You will not surely die!" Every false religion, every self-justifying heart, and every unrepentant sinner, repeats the devil's old lie. They deny the severity of sin, the certainty of judgment, and the absolute holiness of God.
Yet God is not a man that He should lie. His threatenings are as sure as His promises. The flood did come, and Sodom did burn! The cross itself is the greatest testimony to the fact that God does not trifle with sin. Jesus bore the full weight of divine wrath in the place of His chosen, redeemed, and believing people.
When men treat sin lightly, it is because they secretly believe Satan's lie. They presume that they can indulge sin, and yet escape the wages of their sin. But the day is coming when every false hope will crumble, and every soul outside of Jesus will learn too late, that the threatenings of God's Word are absolutely true.
Yet, how merciful is God! The same Lord who spoke the curse in Eden, immediately revealed the promise of redemption: "The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head." On Calvary, the serpent struck the Savior's heel; but in that very act, Jesus crushed the serpent's head. Now, whoever sincerely believes in Him shall never perish, but have everlasting life.
Reader, do not be deceived by the tempter's ancient lie! Sin still damns, and Hell is still real. But there is life: true, eternal, glorious life--for all who flee to Jesus for refuge. Trust not the liar who says, "You will surely not die!" Trust the Lord who promises, "Whoever . . . believes in Me, shall never die!" (John 11:26).
"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him!" (John 3:36)