LIES HAVE CONSEQUENCES.
The headline on every tabloid and cable network except the defendant’s own network of the multi-million defamation lawsuit screamed aloud, “Truth matters! Lies have consequences.”
Indeed! Truth does matter! Lies will have their ramification, be it legal, political or eternal. But you will wonder what is and why there is eternal ramification? On what basis would there be eternal ramification?
To understand this phenomenon of eternal ramification, one has to “travel back in time “, to the Garden of Eden. The once upon a time Paradise that God created when He placed man there to manage. Everything that was created was good as it was written in the book of Genesis, chapter 1, verse 31. This verse mentioned that God saw all that He made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning – the sixth day. So, what did happen that changed the perfect creation into a tragedy?
It was a sin. The entry of sin into the Garden of Eden ushered in by Satan. It was literally “heaven on earth” that God created for man, His most endearing and precious making in all of His creation. Sin is an insignificant three lettered word but packed with enormous destruction and eternal ramification. Creation was completely and eternally devastated, let alone man, languishing from the after-effect of sin. The aftermath of the great disobedience at Paradise was man’s banishment from the Garden of Eden and the separation from God. Their acts of disobedience, resulted from believing a lie, caused all of humanity to be separated eternally from God.
But for God so loved the world that He gave His only beloved Son, that whosoever believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life. Without a doubt, God knew their hopelessness despite His prompt and firm punishment. So, judgment must be meted out on the erring pairs and the deceiver. Simultaneously, the plan for redemption of man, without any hesitation, was immediately wrought at the very place and time where man fell spiritually. This plan will cost dearly. This salvation plan would heftily cost His only beloved son His life. But that was the only way that can restore man into a right relationship with Him and redeem us from eternity lost. Jesus said that He came to do His Father’s will and so He did when He took our sins upon Himself and went to the cross. 1 Peter 3:18 stated the Christ died once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God. He was put to death in the body so that together with us, he and we are made alive in Spirit.
The common ploy or game plan of Satan, the diabolical one, the Father of all lies was lies. So simple! Lies come in two forms; half-truth or blatant falsehood. To deceive Eve, he deployed half-truth by tempting her with the desire to be god. She desired to be like God who is always the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God described in 1 Timothy 1:17. The serpent told Eve that she would not die after eating the forbidden fruits. That lie was half correct. Certainly, she will not die because we are created with a soul and spirit that will live eternally after the destruction of the flesh. But the important issue here is whether we live eternally with God or eternally with Satan in the fiery Lake of Hell. That is the important issue. Therefore, we must choose wisely.
Another truth was that when God created man in the Garden of Eden, He had plan that we would live forever to have constant fellowship with Him. That was the reason He planted a Tree of Life along with the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Was Eve ignorant of God’s provision of the Tree of Life, along with the Tree of Knowledge that were already in the garden? Yet she fell for the temptation laid by the serpent. Some writer also implied that Eve ate the forbidden fruit thinking that she will possess the knowledge of both good and evil just like God.
So then, what is temptation according to the bible? Temptation can be defined by anything or situation in which one experiences a challenge to choose between fidelity and infidelity to one’s obligations toward God. The bible taught us in the 1 John 2:16, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the father’s, but is of the world. These are common temptations that have and had overtaken man, wreaking havoc and the eventual downfall for man. Satan knew our weakness and susceptibility towards these 3 ploys and he will never fail to include them in his arsenal of strategies to deceive man.
In the wilderness after our Lord Jesus fasted for forty days and nights, Satan was there waiting to ambush our saviour with these three ploys. It strikes me to think that the temptation at the Garden of Eden and the temptations at the wilderness were two experiments that God wants us to compare. Both experiments have one constant; the devil or deceiver. Next, there were two different sets of variables; Adam and Eve and our Lord Jesus Christ, and of course, the two environmental settings. The Garden of Eden represented provision, sufficiency and rest. The wilderness depicts barrenness, lacks and inhospitably bleak. At the Garden, both Adam and Eve have everything that they need, whereas, in the wilderness, Jesus was deprived of all the basic provisions that sustain a man yet He triumphed. The end result has different outcomes. Have you ever wondered why? I can only deduce that the Word of God was the factor that decided the victory for those tempted. If we look at verses 4, 7 & 10, chapter 4 of the book of Matthew, the replies from our Lord were the verses quoted from chapter 8, verse 3, chapter 6, verse 16, and chapter 6, verse 13 from the book of Deuteronomy.
The Word of God is the Sword of the Spirit stated in Ephesians 6:17. The wielding of the Sword of the Spirit defeated the enemy of Jesus. In Ephesians chapter 6, verses 10 to 18, the Apostle Paul urged us to put on the full Armour of God always when we enter into battle spiritually. The full Armour of God comprised of seven components; The Belt of Truth, The Breastplate of Righteousness, The Gospel of Peace, The Shield of Faith, The Helmet of Salvation, The Sword of the Spirit and finally, Prayer. Each component has its own merit and effectiveness to counter the attacks and moves made by the enemy.
Apostle Paul reminded us that our enemy is not flesh and blood but rulers, authorities, the powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. In order to withstand the schemes of the devil, we must put on the full Armour of God.
That was why Jesus prayed for us in the Garden of Gethsemane: “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” in John 17:17. Truth prevails! It is only through the presence of truth, which is the Word of God, can we really defeat and overcome all trials and temptations. Ignorance is not bliss, and ignorance to the truth will cause Christians to succumb and fall into temptations. Our enemy the devil was described as a prowling and roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. In 1 Peter 5:18, Peter warned and cautioned us Christians to be alert and of sober mind, lest we fall into temptation like Eve did.
Every action or decision that one makes has consequences and repercussions, whether it is good or bad. Like our Lord Jesus, if one chooses wisely and reacted within the perimeter of God’s Word, he/she will fulfill his/her purpose in life. But if not, we will be like Adam and Eve making wrong choice that brought havoc, destruction and separation from God. Unlike the famous defamation lawsuit of the century, only the erring party was penalized. At the Garden of Eden, all participants in the crime of humanity were cursed. Punishments were administrated to Adam, Eve and the serpent, Satan. That judgment cascaded down to all of humanity, and the rest of God’s creation was not spared either.
Do not be deceived, every action, decision or choice we make does have ramification. Ultimately, it is the question of who do we choose to be with in eternity. We can spend eternity with God or be tormented with Satan and his henchmen in the fiery Lake of Hell? Choose wisely!