Fighting the Lie: "You Will Not Surely Die"

Reader, I'm having a hard time knowing how to start this blogpost. What I have to say isn't necessarily ground-breaking or even that lengthy, but it has seriously altered how I approach my fight against sin, particularly in an area of my life that has been a battle for years. It's a big deal to me, and that's why I'm struggling to know where to begin.

What I want to talk about relates to where sin all began, in the Garden of Eden, with Satan tempting Eve, asking what God actually said about the forbidden fruit:

                  And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit 

                  of the trees in the garden, but God said, 'You shall not eat of 

                  the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither 

                  shall you touch it, lest you die.'" But the serpent said to the 

                  woman, "You will not surely die. ..." (Genesis 3:2-4)

The serpent said to the woman, "You will not die." Adam and Eve believed Satan, and the fruit looked so satisfying, so they ate it. 

Then, death. 

When I was a kid, I was sometimes confused by the story of the Fall because Adam and Eve didn't immediately die. They eventually died, but not right away, so that kind of made Satan right, didn't it? At that point, I didn't understand that there are other kinds of death.

Immediately after eating the fruit, Adam and Eve were ashamed, and they hid from God. Their intimacy with God had been broken. They could no longer stand freely in the presence of the One that had once walked with them in the garden. They were separated from their Creator, and that was a death far worse than the physical kind we most often think about. They lost fellowship with the Giver of life.

Reader, that is what I lose when I pursue sin. 

I am so easily distracted by the glittering idols around me. When I am tempted, Satan is always there to say, "You will not surely die." Too, too often, I believe him. I think that indulging in sin won't bring death; I convince myself that idols will actually satisfy me. Yet every time I take a bite of the fruit, whether it's just a nibble or hasty, messy mouthfuls, I feel utterly ashamed, and I hide from the God who loves me.

My sin always drives me away from God. That is death. 

Of course, indulging in sin doesn't cause me to lose my salvation. Because I believe in Jesus as the perfect sacrifice and atonement for my sin, I am completely righteous, accepted, and beloved in Him. There is nothing that can change that. However, when I choose sin, I break my intimacy with God. He is still near to me and loves me and even likes me, but I lose my ability to be close to Him and delight in Him. 

A very wise British man named Marsh Moyle once explained it to me like this: It's as if you and God are standing across from each other, and your idols live in between the two of you. God wants you to get rid of your idols and sin so that you can be close to Him. 

When I face temptation, sin always looks so good, and Satan is ever whispering, "You will not surely die." But I have to remember that my sin breaks closeness with God, and distance and separation from God is death. It's the death of satisfaction and joy and hope and rest. But that's what I'm choosing when I choose sin.

But when I put my sin and idols aside, what joy and satisfaction and rest there is to be found in the arms of our Redeemer! What abundant life! Surely He is the only One worth living for, for with Him there is joy and life everlasting.