The Father of Lies

Posted on by korgrocker

“For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. So when I tell the truth, you just naturally don’t believe me! Which of you can truthfully accuse me of sin? And since I am telling you the truth, why don’t you believe me? Anyone who belongs to God listens gladly to the words of God. But you don’t listen because you don’t belong to God.”
John 8:44-47 NLT

Jesus didn’t pull any punches. The Pharisees and others before Him consistently and continually refused to believe in Jesus, believe who He was and believe in His message. After explaining to them that they were spiritually deaf, Jesus changed tack and pointed out to them that because they were sinners who refused to accept God’s gift of grace, they were, by definition, children of the devil. They followed the devil’s lead by refusing to believe the truthful statements Jesus made, and because of that they didn’t belong to God. There was only one other place that they could be and that was one fathered by the devil.

Jesus had some strong, but truthful, words about the devil. He spoke the first lie, which we can read in Genesis 3:1-4, “The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’” “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman”. By believing in the devil’s lie “You won’t die”, the woman, Eve, followed by Adam and the rest of mankind, have all died.

So the scenario that developed in the Temple that day became a clash point between God and His truth, and the devil and his Pharisaical disciples. How often the devil has lied his way into the hearts of men and women who started off by believing God and ended up following a lie. We consider the cults and false religions, just for a start. The Pharisees took what God intended for their good and twisted it into a loveless religion of rules, convincing themselves in the process that their pedigree and adherence to following their rules and customs would be all that God required and would assure them of eternal life. A lie from the devil. It was no wonder that Jesus had some hard words for them, and it was so sad that even being in the presence of God’s Son was insufficient to overcome their lie-infused thinking.

Most people around us today are also saturated with the devil’s lies. It is a disease so prevalent that the devil truly has the title “Father of Lies” and “god of this age”. There is only one remedy, only one escape, only one way to God, and that is through believing in Jesus. Only He can lift us out of the gutter of sin. Psalm 40:2, “He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along”. We pilgrims must constantly wash off us the dirt and dust of living in a world ruined by the devil and his lies. We do it by staying close to Jesus and His cross, keeping short accounts with our loving Heavenly Father. 

Father God. It is only from You that we can find the words of truth. Please help us to discern the devil’s lies, as we go about our daily lives. in Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Real Father

Posted on by korgrocker

“Yes, I realize that you are descendants of Abraham. And yet some of you are trying to kill me because there’s no room in your hearts for my message. I am telling you what I saw when I was with my Father. But you are following the advice of your father.” “Our father is Abraham!” they declared. “No,” Jesus replied, “for if you were really the children of Abraham, you would follow his example. Instead, you are trying to kill me because I told you the truth, which I heard from God. Abraham never did such a thing. No, you are imitating your real father.” They replied, “We aren’t illegitimate children! God himself is our true Father.””
John 8:37-41 NLT

The Pharisees and others in the Jewish crowd around Jesus in the Temple were convinced that they were descendants of Abraham and therefore they knew better than Jesus. They thought that they were on the moral high ground over this interloper, who was making claims that He was greater than Abraham. Jesus said that when He was with His Father in Heaven He was looking on as Abraham was prophesying about Him. God said to Abraham, “indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed like the stars of the heavens and like the sand on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. Through your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have heard and obeyed My voice” (Genesis 22:17-18 AMP). Some Bible translations take “seed” as being plural, meaning descendants, but others interpret “seed” as being singular, pointing to Jesus, the Messiah to come. So down the ages perhaps Abraham saw a glimpse of the Messiah, through Whom would come the salvation of the world.

Jesus rightly pointed out to the crowd that Abraham would never have wanted to kill the One whom he foresaw, so how could Abraham be the father of the Pharisees, who were fostering murder in their hearts. And therefore, as much as they stressed their heritage, there could only be one father of the Pharisees, and that was the devil himself. That made them illegitimate, something they protested vigorously. And once again they proclaimed that God was their true Father. So who was right? Who spoke the truth? We know from hindsight, and our own faith, the answer to that question, but in front of Jesus was a people who refused to accept what He said. I suppose if Jesus had said the words they wanted to hear, words that didn’t conflict with their world view and preconceived ideologies, then they would have accepted Him, but they had no room in their hearts for a counter-cultural message of truth from God’s Son.

The real father of the Pharisees could not have been Abraham, Jesus said. But bringing the same issue up to date, we have theologians and others who have interpreted the Bible to suit their own ends but to whom Jesus would direct the same message. Men and women who deny Biblical truths by saying that Jesus was just a good man, that His birth never came from a sinless conception, that many of His miraculous signs never really happened, and that His Resurrection was just Jesus recovering after swooning on the cross. Would these same people have argued with Jesus, if He came and stood among them, repeating once again His message that only those who believe in Him would receive eternal life? Would their real father emerge once again, driving the dissenting words that sought to destroy Jesus and His message? We pilgrims need to be constantly on our guards, lest we too get drawn into a position that seems plausible but pulls us towards a different father.

Dear Father God. We confess today that only You are our true Father. Only You have the grace to save us from the other father in this world. Amen.