Lie #2: GOD and Satan do not exist.
Truth: GOD does exist and is Eternal. Satan exists and will be eternally punished.
GOD: Alright Satan, reveal how you convince so many to believe that neither I nor you exist.
Satan: Well, LORD and Master, this, too, is quite easy. Many of these people are intellectuals and run in circles of academia. They worship knowledge and intellect and dismiss the Supernatural. They, therefore, always demand tangible proof for their beliefs and have no use for GOD, Christ, or Christianity. Many others are people whose wealth is their god; they, too, have no use for GOD.
2A- GOD Does Not Exist
I'm sure Satan has probably said to GOD, “Hey GOD, I'm going to convince people that you don't exist, and make them believe that they themselves are gods. I'll tell them there is no heaven, no hell, no judgment, and that they can live freely without accountability to You. I’ll even convince them that I don’t exist, and I'll bet You that many will believe these lies.” Well, we can speculate whether or not Satan had such a conversation with GOD, but one thing is for certain; today, we witness people from all walks of life who believe these lies of Satan. Satan has duped many people today into believing that GOD, heaven, hell, nor he exists. Likewise he has also convinced many that there is no day of judgment forthcoming and that they can live their lives any way they choose with accountability to no one. Perhaps you are one of these people- maybe you fall into one of these categories! Well, keep reading because I think it would be wise for all of us to realize that Satan has a solid campaign of lies against the truth on each of these topics. At the forefront of your mind, you should be asking, why is it so important for Satan to convince you that GOD does not exist? Well, it’s because he realizes that if you deny GOD’S existence you will completely misinterpret everything about life- starting with your own existence.
Satan knows that before you can accurately interpret who you are and why you are here- the most important questions any man will grapple with- you must first accurately interpret and determine who GOD is. That’s right! In case you didn’t know it, if man is to have the right view and perspective of himself, his purpose, and his world, he must first have the right view and perspective of GOD. Satan’s job, then, is to pervert man’s view of GOD with the intent of obstructing man’s view of himself and more importantly of obstructing man’s ability to relate to GOD. The cost then is very high for those who believe this lie of Satan. Belief in this lie will prevent you from ever coming to the knowledge of your true identity and it will certainly prevent you from ever having or cultivating the awesome relationship that GOD desires to have with you. Belief in this lie puts you on a path to an identity crisis and a path to no formal, substantive relationship with our Heavenly Father. Thus, this lie renders your whole life to be misdirected, shallow, and meaningless.
This term ‘meaningless’ should cause every one of us to shutter. The term meaningless should be applied to the color of the prom dress you wore in junior high, but it should never be applied to the content of your life. However, if you believe the lie that GOD does not exist, it’s the only term that’s applicable to your life’s endeavors and let me clarify why this is the case. The lie that GOD does not exist poses a very serious problem for man because it promotes an imbalance in man’s world view. Our world view encompasses our fundamental beliefs, philosophy, ideas, and values and it determines how we see ourselves and how we function in this world. It also determines how we interact with our world as well as with our fellow man. But, if man misinterprets who GOD is, he will also misinterpret everything else in his life; thus his worldview becomes twisted. His views are likely to be anti-GOD and pro-humanism. His interactions with man are likely to be self-centered as opposed to other-centered. I submit to you that when man tries to interpret his existence apart from GOD he opens a watershed of error in his life. His life is grossly affected because He believes there is no GOD, and so every other measure and aspect of his life is completely out of balance. His views will be misguided because his orientation is misguided- it lacks GOD as its reference. He’s like a man trying to build a house who has no idea of what a house looks like. He’ll construct some object, but it won’t resemble a real house because he has no reference point. Similarly, when you try to build your life without GOD, you don’t get real life; you get your own misguided version of life, in which case, everything you do is destined to be pointless because GOD is left out of the equation. The real tragedy here is that if GOD is subsequently left out of the equation, then your relationship with GOD is also jeopardized because your denial of His existence impedes any such relationship. That is the purpose of Satan’s insidious lie; it is intended to supplant the good life that GOD has ordained for you and exchange it with the life of irreparable destruction that he has purposed for you. Therefore, I think the term ‘meaningless’ is not an exaggeration, but is quite appropriate in describing the life of the person who denies GOD’S existence. But if a disbelief in GOD makes life meaningless, belief in GOD can make life meaningful. The Bible makes it clear that man’s existence is predicated on the very existence of the invisible GOD. I mean, we can’t see air either, but our existence is totally dependent upon the atmospheric conditions and environment. Likewise, though we can’t see GOD, He is the vital link to our existence. Moreover, the Bible also reveals that GOD relates to man in some very specific ways- ways in which He relates to no other creature on this earth. You know, man is currently emitting transmissions from earth into outer space seeking communication from intelligent life forms from other worlds. Well, that search is an unknown quantity for man which may never seriously materialize. However, man already has an opportunity to communicate with a Being from the unknown worlds- man has the awesome ability to establish a relationship with the Almighty GOD of the Universe. When GOD created man, He created him with this unusual capacity to relate to Him and even to develop intimacy with Him- a Divine Being. As we survey the Bible, we discover numerous of these GOD-to-man relationships through which man’s life is richly enhanced, rewarded, and made meaningful as he interacts with the GOD of the Universe. This is not your average run of the mill relationship. Nor is this some fantasized relationship you have with celebrities like Snookie, Oprah, or Justin Bieber. This is a real relationship that you can have with Deity- with the GOD of the Universe. But here enters Satan: Satan’s lie is designed to nullify, exploit, and cheapen every one of these exclusive relationships that GOD has with man. This lie usurps every reward and benefit intertwined in these Divine-to-human interactions which occur when we acknowledge who GOD is. So make no mistake; there’s a great fallout when you believe this lie. You automatically obliterate any chance of discovering who GOD is or of discovering your own identify and purpose. You also eliminate any chance of cultivating an intimate relationship with GOD- the Being from which your whole existence is dependent. That’s a nice caveat for Satan; because this one lie subverts a person’s entire life. Such a person will aimlessly drift through life trying to answer the age old questions of “Who am I and why am I here?