From the beginning man has been confronted by Satan’s unceasing attempt to destroy God’s absolutes and to substitute a rationalization of spiritual and moral values that carries in it the seeds of destruction.
When God said, “You shall not eat of the tree in the midst of the garden,” Satan’s response was, “Did God say?” When God told Adam that the penalty for disobedience was death, Satan offered a flat denial of God’s word. “You shall not die,” he assured Adam.
God had good reason for his “You shall not.” He knew that the result of disobedience would be broken fellowship between himself and man, a continuing warfare between man and Satan, the cursing of the ground, and the shame of nakedness and expulsion from the garden he had prepared for man.
And Satan’s method has never changed. Now, as then, he gains his victory by offering an apparent advantage if man will disobey God. Sometimes he offers that which is “good for food” and which gives physical satisfaction—thus exploiting the “lust of the flesh.” Or his temptation may come in the form of a “delight to the eyes” (esthetic pleasure), which the Bible refers to as the “lust of the eyes.” Or it may lie in the area of that which is “desirable to make one wise,” spoken of in the Bible as the “pride of life.” Satan will offer us as much of this world as is necessary to keep us in his domain. And he is not deterred by the fact that the Bible says all will one day be destroyed: “All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides for ever” (1 John 2:16, 17).
The implications of our Lord’s own temptation in the wilderness are obvious. Changing stones to bread—this represents the merely physical. A leap from the pinnacle of the temple—this would be something spectacular, eye-catching. All the kingdoms of this world (without the Cross)—this stands for the pride of life in the world. The “first Adam” succumbed to Satan; the “second Adam” was completely victorious.
In the victory of the Son of God is to be found our victory. Through faith in his sinlessness we can become righteous.
God’s spiritual and moral absolutes have never changed. He is the only God, and he alone is to be worshipped (idolatry in any form is forbidden). His name is sacred and holy and not to be taken in vain. He has laid down the principle of one day in seven to be set aside for God and for physical rest, mental refreshment, and spiritual renewal. Parents are to be honored. Man shall not murder, nor shall he take or even covet what belongs to another. Lying is forbidden.
To all this Satan replies that there are no absolutes—a statement that is not only a lie but an absolute in itself. But lying does not deter the devil, for he is “a liar and father of lies” (John 8:44). He speaks through “situation ethics” to declare that one’s actions should be determined by circumstances—thus giving precedence to man’s opinion over God’s command.
Satan goes on to try to convince man that there are many gods, all worthy of consideration and all pointing to the same ultimate goal. Then, too, he intimates that idolatry is not basically wrong; it only shows man’s “innate religiousness.”
As for the misuse of God’s holy name—that, he tries to say, is a small matter. Perhaps it is revealing that cursing and blasphemy are now found even on the lips of some who profess to be Christians!
The Sabbath? A relic of the past with no binding obligations for man today. The rebellion of children against their parents? “That’s what a lot of them deserve” the devil avers. Murder? Satan’s cleverest trick is to instill confusion over the difference between judicial exercise by a government and the wanton taking of life by an individual, either with premeditation or in sudden anger.
Adultery? Circumstances may justify such acts, we are told, and promiscuity is not too bad, provided there is protection against undesirable physical consequences.
Satan also tries to convince us that stealing may be all right under some circumstances. And as for diverting the Lord’s money into secular, political, or purely social programs—perfectly all right, of course!
Lying and bearing false witness must be recognized as a natural part of living in today’s world, the devil tells us. And what about coveting? Sure, get all you can, whether by inflated prices or by decreased productivity in labor. We are in the world to succeed. Use any method necessary to get what you think you should have.
What is God’s reply? “Break these absolutes and they will break you,” for “the wages of sin is death.”
Confronted with God’s absolutes man finds himself in a predicament: he cannot, unaided, have victory over either self or Satan. Furthermore, there is the ever present call to go ahead and live as he pleases. And the undeniable fact is that man—the sovereign of his own will—is at liberty to reject God and his revelation of truth, reality, sin, atonement, and forgiveness. Or he can surrender to God and by faith alone gain victory through Christ.
On the one hand there is Satan, the consummate liar, deceiver, and fraud, and on the other, God, who is ever loving, kind, forgiving, and compassionate. Man is free to choose Satan and his lies, or Jesus Christ and his atoning work.
God never requires of man anything for which he has not made provision. Man has the ability to accept and the responsibility to believe he is accountable for his actions.
The builder of a house is confronted with absolutes having to do with measurements, materials, and methods; these are known as the building code. If he complies with these standards, he will produce a good house. If he disregards the code, the house will be dangerous to live in.
Life also has its “building code” governing morals, spiritual values, and man’s relationship to God. This code is being violated on every hand, and as a consequence chaos permeates every area of the social order. Life is a one-way street—God’s way. But Satan leads in the opposite direction, and physical and spiritual death await the traveler who follows his leading.
There is one gloriously sure solution set forth in Romans 8:3, 4: “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as a sin offering, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit.”
There is only one way—God’s way.
