The Truth About God (Part 2)
The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows). – John 10:10 (AMPC)
In John 10, Jesus is speaking and in verse 10 He gives the job description of Himself and the job description of the enemy. From there we learn that the thief’s “job” or goal is for death and God’s is for life. What God pointed out to me is that when things happen in life, it’s important to put them through the right filter. Does this situation or circumstance look or appear to be like something that God would approve of? Remember that in Genesis 1 we learned that WHEN God saw that something was good, He approved of it.
Now let’s look at John 10:1 and Genesis 3:1…
“I ASSURE you, most solemnly I tell you, he who does not enter by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way (elsewhere, from some other quarter) is a thief and a robber.”
“NOW THE serpent was more subtle and crafty than any living creature of the field which the Lord God had made. And he [Satan] said to the woman, can it really be that God has said, you shall not eat from every tree of the garden?”
In John, Jesus tells us that anyone who does not enter by the door but “sneaks in” some other way, is a thief and a robber. Notice in Genesis that the enemy is appears as a serpent and as we know, serpents aren’t easily noticeable they tend to “sneak in to places.” Sure enough Satan snuck in. Not only did he sneak in, but he stole, he killed and he destroyed. How so?
Take a look at Genesis 2:16-17
“And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, you may freely eat of every tree of the garden;
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and blessing and calamity you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
God told Adam the consequences of eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The enemy used that to deceive Eve into thinking that she was missing out on something. I won’t get into the spill about who was at fault here. Let’s stay focused on the task at hand that GOD is GOOD. 😉 So, the enemy snuck into the garden and deceived Adam and Eve into eating from the tree they were not supposed to eat from.
Keep in mind that God warned them—beforehand—about what would happen if they ate from said tree. God did not intervene because love allows you to choose—it’s not love if it’s forced, just saying. 😉 God is also not a liar, had He relinquished the consequences that He warned them about beforehand, He would have been lying against Himself. If you lie once, you’ll lie again and God will NOT.
To sum it up, God is GOOD. The devil is BAD. God’s plans for us were and are still for our good. Bad things are due to a few things: there’s a consequence for every action AND we live in a fallen world. As I mentioned before, love is not forceful. God is love and He is NOT going to force Himself into our lives nor into things that we don’t allow Him access to. Again, there’s a consequence for every action. No, God is not in any way punishing you, He wouldn’t do that. But there is God, our Savior, Father, Friend, Provider, Protector and the list goes on. There is also the enemy is god (little g) of the world—the physical senses. The enemy is not my god, he’s only god to those who allow him to be. But, he’s no good, so I wouldn’t follow him if I were you.
My God is creator of all good! Worthy of all praise. And Good, all the time! In closing, I pray that all of the above makes sense to you. This is the revelation that God has given me and it has opened my heart and my eyes to so much. I pray it does the same and more for you!