Looking
with Lenses upon the Word
John
8:42-47
Jesus
said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded
forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative,
but He sent Me. “Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is
because you cannot hear My word. “You are of your father the devil, and
you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the
beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him.
Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a
liar and the father of lies. “But because I speak the truth, you do not believe
Me. “Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not
believe Me? “He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do
not hear them, because you are not of God.”
Gen
3:1-3
Now
the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had
made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from
any tree of the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the
trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the
middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or
you will die.’”
Lens
of the Deceiver: A restriction to our diet in Eden.
Lens
of the Redeemer: The provision of eternal sustainment in Eden.
Gen
3:4-6
The
serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! “For God knows that in the
day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing
good and evil.” When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it
was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one
wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with
her, and he ate.
Lens
of the Deceiver: Knowledge is the power that will save you from mediocrity
Lens
of the Redeemer: I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life
Psalm
1
How
blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in the
law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He will be like a tree firmly
planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.
The wicked are not so,
But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
Therefore the wicked will
not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the LORD knows the way
of the righteous,
But the way of the wicked will perish.
Lens
of the Deceiver: Knowing and obeying the Law of good and evil saves you
Lens
of the Redeemer: Receiving the Law of Life restores you to the Vine
John
9:1-3
As
He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him,
“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?”
Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his
parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
Lens
of the Deceiver: Prove your righteousness by fixing people
Lens
of the Redeemer: God restores what we have destroyed
Matt
4:1-10
Then
Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. And
the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that
these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘MAN
SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH
OF GOD.’”
Then the devil took Him into
the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him,
“If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘HE WILL
COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU’;
and ‘ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE
YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.’” Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is
written, ‘YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.’”
Again, the devil took Him to
a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their
glory; and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down
and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘YOU
SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.’”
Lens of the
Deceiver: By our fruit, by our knowledge, and by the evidence of our success do
we, the creatures, prove our legitimacy.
Lens
of the Redeemer: We live b His will and works, not by our own.
James
2:24
You
see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.
Lens
of the Deceiver: Our works, that prove our faith, make us righteous
Lens
of the Redeemer: The works are God's, as is the faith that He bestows on us
Romans
7:12
So
then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
Lens of the
Deceiver: Since the Law defines good and evil, and the knowledge of good and
evil make one like God . . . The Law defines the character of God.
Lens
of the Redeemer: Only God is good. The
Law is good because it serves the purpose of God. It leads us to repentance of our assertion
that we could be like God by knowing good and evil.
Matt
5:48
“Therefore
you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
Lens of the
Deceiver: You must be able to keep the Law without a mediator or else God will
not feel safe with you in His kingdom.
Lens
of the Redeemer: Perfection is not what man does,
but what God does
2
Cor 5:10
For
we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be
recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether
good or bad.
Lens
of the Deceiver: You will be judged according to your performance of the Law
Lens
of the Redeemer: He will reveal those who passed off their own works for the
works of God, works which abide in His children
