Rules of Engagement

One way the enemy attempts to draw us away from trusting God is by perverting our perception of God’s character. He did this in the garden with Eve when he asked her, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (Gen. 3:1). He twisted God’s commandment in order to attack and distort His character.

God had said, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen. 2:16–17).

In essence the serpent was saying to Eve, “God is withholding everything good from you.”

But God’s emphasis was, “You may freely eat, except …” God had given mankind the entire garden to enjoy and all the fruit to eat with the exception of one.

The serpent was twisting how the woman saw God by saying, “God doesn’t really care for you. What good thing is He keeping back from you? He must not love you as you thought. He must not be a good God!” She was deceived and believed a lie about God’s character. The desire to sin was then aroused because God’s Word was no longer life but law. And “the strength of sin is the law” (1 Cor. 15:56).

The enemy still operates this way today. He perverts the character of the Father God in His children’s eyes. We have all had authorities over us such as dads, teachers, bosses, or governors who have been selfish and unloving. Because they are authority figures, it is easy to project their nature onto God’s character since He is the ultimate authority.

The enemy has masterfully distorted the character of the Father by perverting our view of our earthly fathers. God says that, before Jesus returns, the hearts of the fathers will be returned to the children (Mal. 4:6). His character or nature will be seen in His leaders, and it will be a catalyst for healing.

When you know God would never do anything to harm or destroy you, and whatever He does or does not do in your life is in your best interest, then you will give yourself freely to Him. You will gladly be one to lay down your life for the Master.

If you have given yourself totally to Jesus and are committed to His care, you cannot be offended because you are not your own. Those who are hurt and disappointed are those who have come to Jesus for what He can do for them, not because of who He is.

When we have that attitude we are easily disappointed. Self-centeredness causes us to be shortsighted. We are unable to view our immediate circumstances through the eyes of faith. When our lives are truly lost in Jesus, we know His character and share His joy. We cannot be shaken or shipwrecked.

It is easy to become offended when we judge by our natural surroundings and circumstances. This is not seeing through the eyes of the Spirit. Often God does not answer me in the manner or amount of time I feel is absolutely necessary. But as I look back at every case I understand and can see His wisdom.

Occasionally our children do not understand our methods or the logic behind their training. We try to give explanations to the older children so they can benefit from the wisdom. But at times they may not understand or agree because of their immaturity; later on in life hopefully they will. Or perhaps the reason is to test their obedience, love, and maturity. It is the same with our Father in heaven. In these situations, faith says, “I trust You even though I don’t understand.”

The serpent was craftier than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (GENESIS 3:1-5).

Adam and Eve knew nothing of crime, murder, road rage, war, credit-card debt, or sickness. Everything was coming up roses when the first question ever asked in the Bible takes place in Genesis 3:1: “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”

The serpent, otherwise known as “the devil” or “Satan,” crafted his question to make Eve question God: “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” The answer was no. God said eat from every tree except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The devil is never looking out for your best interests. Anytime he tells you to do something, he is not trying to help you; he is trying to hurt you. He will try to get you to doubt the word of God, and he will lie in the process.

Lucifer was perfect “till iniquity was found in him” Ezekiel 28:15. Isaiah 14:13–14 tells us what happened in Lucifer’s heart when he rebelled against God:

You have said in your heart: “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.”

Lucifer’s heart was captivated by pride. He decided it was no longer good enough to be an angel created in the beauty of God. Lucifer wanted to be like “the Most High.” He desired God’s place in heaven—God’s position, His power, His perfection, His privilege. And when Lucifer (day star) became Satan (adversary) due to this sin in his heart, he was banished from heaven. His proud heart was the reason for his fall, and the Bible tells us he did indeed fall. Here are Jesus’ own words: “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” Luke 10:18.

The essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. . . . It was through Pride that the devil became the devil. Pride leads to every other vice. It is the complete anti-God state of mind.
C. S. Lewis

Sounds good. Spiritual deception may be Satan’s most insidious weapon in his undercover spiritual warfare against us. Jesus and the apostles speak of it nearly thirty times in the New Testament. John 8:44 records Jesus’ reply to a group of Jews who were resisting His message. Jesus boldly told them that they were children of their father the devil and that they were not hearing the truth because their father’s native language was lies. A person’s native language is what he or she converses in most easily. And Satan speaks the language of deception quite fluently.

In fact, Revelation 12:9 refers to Satan as the one “who deceives the whole world,” and he does so by imitating the work of God through counterfeit and camouflage. Satan’s last and greatest deception will be to bring the Antichrist to the world at the end of the age. Initially the Antichrist will be a peacemaker who uses persuasive speech and manifests supernatural powers much as Jesus Himself did. But once people fall for this counterfeit, the Antichrist will lead them not to God but away from Him.

Pastor and theologian R. Kent Hughes explains one of the reasons for Satan’s effectiveness as a deceiver and manipulator:


The devil’s disguises are very clever, and he hides in the most unbelievable places. One of his favorite hideouts is religion. He also hides behind intellectualism. He hides in poetry and art and oftentimes in music. He hides in psychology and human understanding. Satan can even use the subtle method of Scripture taken out of context to deceive. When people take verses out of context and use them to prove something they were not intended to prove, those people are falling right into Satan’s trap.

Satan never tempts us to believe blatant error: that would be too easily discerned. Satan is subtle, and that is why we as the people of God must stay alert.

Interesting. About why Satan hates us so much. Since Satan wanted to be like the Most High and were created in God's image just might have something to do with it.

“And God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness” (Gen. 1:26). Did you know that you look like God? Not only do you resemble Him, but you were made in His image. I know this is a deep subject and there's a lot of fine points to look at but bottom line is we were created in his image.

You may say, “But what about the angels, they look like humans, too. Wouldn’t that mean they’re in God’s image also?” Nope! God has a body (Jesus), spirit, and soul (great discussion for the Holy Trinity) just like humans. Angels lack one thing: a body.

So, every time Satan looks at us, He sees God, and he can’t stand it. This is why he tries to make us believe that we’re worthless, ugly, stupid, no good, etc. Because he knows that we aren’t that. He knows that we’re God’s finest creation, but the lie is to make us believe that we’re something we’re not, so we’d never know our fullest potential. This is why Satan hates you.

Great topic of discussion to know our God intimately, know our enemy and his schemes and that all men are created in Gods image. Bronson I like your thoughts on the image of Christ and how that relates to believers. Good spiritual insight.