SATAN PROMISES HEAVEN BUT DELIVERS HELL (PART II)

By Akin Ojumu

“You Need More than God is Able to Give”

Satan is a liar and the father of lies. Wherever Satan rules, falsehood is the coin of the realm, and fabrication, the currency of the domain. Since the day he was kicked out from the presence of God, along with a third of the angels, satanic strategy hasn’t changed. Over the course of the ages, Satan has always gone about his work of destruction by cunning craftiness and deceitful scheming.

Satan’s sales pitch is always the same: “You need something more than God can or will give you. And I’m willing to give it to you without conditions.” First, Satan convinces man that there’s something more that he needs. Next, he tricks man into believing he can’t trust God to provide that “more” that he needs. Then he promises man he can get the “more” for him with no downside.

At its core, the lie Satan peddles is not all that complicated to decipher. As wise as this evil angelic being is, his lie isn’t that sophisticated. All Satan does is to make man believe that God is not enough for him. His modus operandi is to trick man into thinking that he needs more than God can or will offer, and then lies that man can’t take God as His word. And the “more” that Satan claims man needs, he presents himself as the benevolent giver willing to offer it to man without any catch or consequence at all.

This was Satan’s ploy in the Garden of Eden when he misrepresented God and twisted His command. He made Eve believed she needed more than God was able or willing to allow her to have. According to Satan, God was maliciously withholding wisdom from Eve and her husband. He then conned Eve into thinking she would become wise and live forever if she disobeyed God’s command.

Being the one-trick pony that he is, Satan’s strategy did not change two-thousand years later when he tried his old trick on Jesus in the wilderness, following His 40-day fast. 

Three times, Satan attempted to derail God’s work of redemption in the life of man by getting the Redeemer to fall on His face even before the actual redemptive work began. Seeing that his trick worked on Adam and Eve thousands of years earlier, Satan saw no reason why it would fail this time around.

“God has been lying to you, you are not really the Son of God like He wants you to believe. If you think I’m wrong, prove me wrong by commanding these stones to turn to bread.”

The trick didn’t work, but Satan tried again.

“If you are truly the Son of God, prove it by jumping down from the pinnacle of the Temple. God wouldn’t want His Son to get hurt. Or would He? He’ll make sure He sends His angels to catch you before you hit the ground and get smashed into a thousand little pieces of flesh and broken bones.”

Again, the trick failed. But Satan wasn’t ready to give up yet.

“Listen Jesus, son of the Carpenter, I have more to offer you than you’ll ever get from God. I promise to give you all the kingdoms of the world and all its glory. All you have to do to own all the world is to fall down on your face and worship me.”

Satan failed the third time. 

Bruised and bloodied, Satan left Jesus. But the prince of darkness is a master in the art of living to fight another day. In the dictionary of this archenemy of righteousness, there’s no retreat or surrender. He continues to try, even to this day.

Power and prestige are the baits Satan dangles to catch the souls of men for his kingdom. As hell’s celestial fishermen, the promise of wealth and influence is the hook demons use to entrap men and usher them into eternal damnation.

To catch his prey, Satan first sows the seed of discontentment in his mind. The one who will be caught in Satan’s nest becomes disillusioned and dissatisfied with the blessings of God. As the imagination of his thoughts becomes more and more darkened, he gets impatient with God. Then he feverishly craves to have, here and now, whatever it is his heart desires. Thereafter, he gets embroiled in all kinds of sinful machination.

“But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (1 Timothy 6:9-10).

To be continued.