Did God Really Say. . . ?
By Dennis Love
McDowell Count
The Bible opens with what may be the most dangerous question one can find in the Bible. It is a question that can potentially render the rest of the Bible meaningless. In the beginning, God did not give Adam hundreds of rules. There was only one very simple rule: Don’t eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
“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 of it you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17)
It was a simple enough command: “Don’t eat the fruit of this one tree.” The consequences were clearly explained: “If you disobey, you will die.” (Not physically, but spiritually) It should have been easy enough to obey. The garden was loaded with plenty of trees bearing an abundant supply of wonderful fruit. Adam and Eve really didn’t have a reason to eat from this forbidden tree. But they did, and you know the reason why.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, you must not eat from any tree in the garden?”
(Genesis 3:1)
These four words raise dangerous uncertainty about the authority of the Word of God. (Did God really say?) These four words even raise suspicion about the goodness of God. And these four words can cause one to assume that God’s word is up for debate. These four words resulted in Adam and Eve doubting what God said, and the end result was a defining moment for them and all mankind. Doubt can be dangerous to us, and damaging to others when we fail to heed the Word of God.
“Did God really say. . .?” Yes, He did, and He meant what He said. If someone asked you. “Is the Bible the Word of God?” most of us would immediately say yes! However, the world today is telling us no! I asked Google this very question and the first thing that popped up were these words. THE BIBLE IS NOT THE WORD OF GOD. After reading these words, I realized something—Satan is still asking the dangerous question, “Did God really say . . .?”
Is the Bible really the Word of God? You’d better believe it. How do I know? I know because God used it to radically change my life, and if you know Him as Lord and Savior, He has changed yours too. “Did God really say. . .?” Yes, He did, and He meant it then, and when He speaks to us from His Word, He still means it today!
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Dr. Dennis Love is the Associational Missions Strategist for the Blue Ridge Baptist Association in McDowell County. Dr. Love has been in full-time ministry work for 31 years. He and his wife Vicki have been married for almost 42 years, and they have lived in Marion for almost 8 years. They have two sons, four grandchildren and two step-grandchildren. He can be reached via email at: dlovebrba@yahoo.com
Read more of his articles here
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