A Pastor's Perspective

“Final Word” by Mike Hill, pastor of Calvary Chapel Aberdeen (mjhill@ida.net)

My friends and I had the bright idea of embarking upon a long journey with our bikes to the cinema in town.  Our excitement made our words fire out of our mouths like a machine gun as we rode toward our destination.  “The Eagle Has Landed!  The Eagle Has Landed!”  “Roger—10-4!”  I felt giddy...with a sense of dread.  A nagging thought plagued me.  “I don't have permission from my mom.”  I pushed those fears aside with,“What will my friends think if I don't go?  Besides, my mom won't find out...”   I didn't always completely think through my decisions and consequences when I was in junior high.  I didn't want to ask my mom because I knew her final word.  “No.”

Adam and Eve both knew God's final word concerning feasting upon the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  “No.”  Consequence?  Death.  God gave complete access to every tree of the garden to the first two human beings on the planet.  God only gave one prohibition.    “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:16b-17).  They knew.  God's word hadn't changed.  They were aware of His final word.  What happened? 

The serpent insinuated that God's Word was not the final word.  He implied God's word was different or had changed.  He asked Eve, “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”  He cast doubt on the truth.  Then he directly opposed God's Word.  “Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil”  (Genesis 3:5).  He lied.  Satan was, in essence, calling God a liar.  Basically, he was saying, “No, no, no. Don't believe what God's Word says.  It's wrong.  It's mistaken.  It's changed.  You won't suffer consequences for believing something other than what God has said.  In fact, you'll become a god if you listen to me instead.”    We all know the rest of the story, right?  Adam and Eve ate. Death, disease, pain, and suffering was thrust upon a once perfect world.

I hear Satan's lie echoed today.  I'm not so surprised.  What I am amazed about is the fact that so many people still listen to the same ol' lie.  God has said that His word is forever, unchanging, and will not pass away or be lost.  The Bible says, “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven......The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever...Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Psalm 119:89; Isaiah 40:8; Matthew 24:35).  But what do I hear many say?  “There are errors in the Bible.  Truth has been lost...You need to have the extra books we provide to fill in the gaps.”  God has said the final word.  Others attack and say the very opposite.  Reminds me of the same lie in the garden. 

As my friends and I rode up into the parking lot of the theater, I suddenly froze in terror.  My mom drove up and called out to me.  I experienced consequences for not believing my mom's final word.  “Oh, I should of listened!”  Obviously, time goes on and I'm still here today.  Sadly, people who buy into Satan's lie of “you shall not surely die” will suffer that very thing.  Eternal death.  Listen to the God of the Bible today who offers you His life and love, before it's too late.