Deception

d+L=D *SFB*

d=doubt. L=Lie. D=Deception. S=Shame. F=Fear. B=Blame. This formula interpreted means that doubt + Lie results in Deception and the fruits of deception are Shame, Fear and Blame.

Do you currently feel any shame in your life? Is there a presence of fear which determines every thought & feeling you have, word you say and actions you take? Who are you blaming for all the undesirable things in your life? If your answer to any of the above questions is yes and there is someone or something that you apportion blame to, you’re living under deception. As per our formula to find out what led you to deception, you will need to look at how the doubt was created in your life. Doubt opens the door to a lie which is very difficult to uncover without first finding out what created the doubt in your life in the first place.

Let us get familiar with The Formula from the Garden.

We need to understand that doubt enters our lives to create uncertainty around what God has spoken into our lives (commanded). God’s commandment to the man is found in Genesis 2:16-17 NIV – ……’you are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.’ The doubt created around this commandment is found in Genesis 3:1 NIV – …..He said to the woman,’’Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?’’ The doubt created by did God really say caused the woman to quote God’s commandment incorrectly (“but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ” Genesis 3:3 NIV) and this opened the door for the serpent’s lie.

Now in order to discover & uncover the lie, you must observe any action you took that is contrary to the commandment i.e. ask yourself what did I not believe about the commandment from God? Remember that our beliefs drive and determine our thoughts and actions therefore shaping the way we live. The lie is found in Genesis 3:4-5 NIV – ‘’You will not certainly die,’’……’’For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’’

It is important to note that a Lie is a cocktail mixture of lies, half truths and truth. This makes it very difficult for us to discern when we are being lied to or discerning the lies that are prevalent in our society. Let’s take a closer look at Genesis 3:4-5 NIV to discover the practical application. In verse 4, ‘You will not certainly die’ is a lie because in Genesis 2:17 NIV God said “but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” The first part of verse 5, “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened is true. The second part of verse 5, and you will be like God knowing good and evil is a half truth because it implies that the only thing that separates human beings from God is the knowledge of good and evil (which implies that human beings have an eternal soul). Genesis 3:22 NIV confirms the truth found in verse 5 and sheds light on the half truth and it reads as follows; “And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” i.e. eating from the tree of life would give human beings an eternal soul.

What impact did the Lie have on the woman? In Genesis 3:6 NIV we see that “… the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, but this was not new. It was always this way as confirmed in Genesis 2:9 NIV (“The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” It is clear then that what drove the woman’s actions is that she thought she would gain wisdom – Genesis 3:6 NIV in its entirety reads as follows “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” (i.e. in her thinking wisdom is what God was withholding from her which prevented her from being like God). Notice that the serpent clearly said ‘knowledge of good and evil’ and not wisdom. There is a big difference between wisdom and knowledge. Wisdom is reverence for God and the right application of knowledge which results from humanity (individual human beings) being in a relationship with God. Knowledge on the other hand is knowing without application which results from the current human condition where the majority of human beings believe they are gods and that knowledge is power.

How do I conclude that d+L=D? Let us look at God’s and humanity’s (Adam & Eve’s) response to Adam & Eve’s disobedience to God’s commandment. Humanity’s response is found in Genesis 3:7-8 NIV, “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.”

Essentially humanity covered themselves up and hid from God. God’s response is found in Genesis 3:9 NIV, “But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”” God responded to humanity’s disobedience by seeking humanity to find and meet them where they had chosen to hide themselves. After God had asked the question ‘Where are you?’, the man and the woman responded to God and this is found in Genesis 3:10-13 NIV. We start with the woman’s response in Genesis 3:13 NIV, “Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”” The doubt + Lie resulted in Deception. Therefore when we are under Deception we cannot obey God’s commandments and thus fulfill God’s purpose for our lives.

Let us now look at the fruits of Deception. Remember the fruits of deception are shame (S), fear (F) and blame (B). Let us start with shame. Humanity’s (Adam & Eve’s) response is found in Genesis 3:7-8 NIV. When their eyes were opened they felt shame for the first time so they covered themselves with leaves and hid from God. Note that shame causes humanity to cover themselves up and hide themselves from God. Humanity today responds to God in exactly the same way that Adam & Eve responded to God after they had disobeyed him. It appears that with all the much celebrated technological change and advancement in science and medicine in our society, human nature has not changed. How do I know that Adam & Eve felt shame for the first time after they disobeyed God? The answer is found in Genesis 2:25 NIV, “Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.”

A closer look at fear. In Genesis 3:10 NIV the man responded to God after God had asked ‘Where are you?’ and said “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” Four things to note from Adam’s response; (1) he heard God in the garden, (2) he was afraid (fear), (3) his fear was caused by the realization of his nakedness and (4) he hid from God. This was not the first time Adam was hearing God but this time he was fearful after hearing God in the garden. Adam was naked all along so was his fear really caused by his nakedness or was his fear caused by the fact that when he was separated from God (spiritual death as a result of disobeying God by eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil) he finally realized the reality of his situation which made him fearful of being naked in the presence of God? The fear of being naked in the presence of God resulted in him hiding himself from God. Please note; fear gives us an incorrect perspective on the reality that has always been there (the reality: Adam and Eve were naked and felt no shame in the presence of God and the incorrect perspective: now that we are naked how can we be in the presence of God? and so they hid themselves from God) and it causes human beings to keep themselves away from God. God’s response to Adam’s answer is found in Genesis 3:11 NIV, “And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”” God’s questions reveal the following ; (1) who has Adam ceded God’s authority to speak into his life to? (2) fear that causes us to hide from the presence of God enters our lives when we disobey God’s commandment (breach God’s protective boundary for us).

Adam’s response to the above questions lead us into the third fruit of deception which is blame. Look at Adam’s response below in Genesis 3:12 NIV, “The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”” Adam blames God and the woman for eating the fruit. Adam completely removes himself from the response-ability of keeping the commandment God gave him in Genesis 2:15-16 NIV (“And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”” Response-ability is the God given ability to each and everyone of us to choose an appropriate response to any given situation. God gives us this ability through his commandments. Please note; whoever and whatever you blame does not relieve you of the response-ability you have to fulfill in a given situation.

Before I conclude this chapter, let us look at the consequences of Adam and Eve’s disobedience on humanity. Genesis 2:17 NIV is the truth and Genesis 3:4 NIV is the lie, how did Adam and Eve die because they had a conversation with God after they ate the fruit they were commanded not to eat? They died spiritually (separation from God) as found in Genesis 3:23-24 NIV. The man and the woman were created spiritually first (Genesis 1:26,28,31) and then were physically formed (Genesis 2:5,7, 21-22 NIV) therefore when Adam and Eve die, they died spiritually first and then physical death followed i.e. humanity in the present age – have died spiritually and physical death awaits. Therefore in the beginning humanity was created in relationship with God: spirit – soul (thoughts & emotions) – body (actions). The relationship between God and humanity was severed when Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the forbidden tree. As a result humanity now exists as: soul (thoughts & emotions) – body (actions). Humanity in this current age is preoccupied with human thought, emotions and actions to transform the human condition but these may change the human condition (from a technological, scientific and medical perspective – lifestyle comforts) but they cannot change the nature of humanity because human thought, emotion and action is centered on the physical realm only. When humanity brings up spirituality, its focus is limited to how spirituality can change our physical conditions. This is a very limited view of spirituality.

To conclude this chapter, I will bring to your attention the consequences God gave the serpent, Eve and Adam after Eve had responded to him as follows; “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” Their consequences are found in Genesis 3:14-19 NIV. For the purposes of this booklet, we will focus on the serpent’s curse: “So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.””

Please note; this is the third chapter from a booklet I am working on. I recently shared it at our last Conversation With Men on the 3rd of March 2020 so I thought I should share it with the rest of the world as I believe many of us are under deception. My hope is that by reading this; you will discover the depth of deception in your life and awaken to the truth. More life and power to you!

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