DON’T FALL FOR THE DEVIL’S STRATEGY
By Bishop Mike Okonkwo
Tuesday 25th June 2024
“And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”
Genesis 3:4-5 (KJV)
God made man a spirit, but the earth was made to function as a material earth. A spirit cannot function without a body on earth since the earth is for material things. Therefore, God, in His wisdom, took the dust of the ground and formed man, He “…breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.” Genesis 2:7(KJV).
When man opened his eyes, everything God created was there. His first contact was with God. In other words, as long as he saw God and saw that he was like God, man would dominate the world. God, in essence, was saying: “I made you, and I alone have the right to define you. No other person has that right. Any other thing anyone says is a lie. I am the one who made you. You are like me, and you have authority like me. Stay connected to me, and you will fulfill your purpose.”
Note that Adam never did anything special for God to make him in His image. There is nothing that the Bible records that he did to please God. It was God’s idea that he would be made in His image. The tragedy of the fall is that the devil came and said to Adam: “You must do something to be what you already are. Eat the fruit, and you will be like God.”
The devil still uses the same strategy today. Every time you attempt to do something to become who you already are, you are functioning in the arena of deception. Every time you attempt to do something to qualify for what God gave to you freely, you have already entered the arena of deception. And I guarantee that the devil will defeat you because that is his speciality. Everything you are struggling to become, you already are.
Further Reading: Genesis 3: 1-19; John 3: 1-8; 1 Peter 5:8
Daily Bible Reading: Morning- Job 3-4; Evening- Acts 7:44-60