Worldwide deception

A spiritual problem

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. (Psa 19:1–4; Rom 1:20)

The more I read the Bible, the more I realize that people who accept the theory of evolution do so because they have a spiritual problem.

Their problem is that they will not believe what creation and the Bible so clearly reveal about God. Normal reasoning would conclude that what we see around us is far more likely to be the result of intelligent design, than to have come from nothing all by itself.

Look up at the stars

One night, recently, I stayed up into the early hours to finish a sermon and, before I went to bed, I walked over to the window and looked out. It was a clear, starry, night and as I looked up at the stars twinkling in the universe, I felt so close to God.

I realized that the God who created those immense stars and galaxies, billions of miles away, loves me and cares for me. It was a wonderful feeling of security. God told Abraham to look up at the stars (Gen 15:5), and it's a good thing to do because 'the heavens declare the glory of God'.

I know and understand that God has created everything because he's revealed that truth to my spirit. Those who don't understand haven't had that revelation.

However, the Bible says that the whole of creation speaks of his divine nature and invisible qualities, so that man doesn't need revelation—it's apparent to him from what has been made, and yet he still cannot understand it.

That means there must be something more than revelation involved—and there is. The reason man cannot understand spiritual truth is because he's been deceived.

Blinded minds

The god of this age [Satan] has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2Co 4:4)

Satan has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot understand the gospel. The same is true with respect to creation and other spiritual truths.

Isa 44:13–20 describes the folly of a man who made an idol out of a block of wood and then bowed down and worshipped it. Half of the wood he used to cook his meal, and from the rest he made a god to worship. He believed it had divine power over him and asked it to save him.

Surely that is ludicrous. How can a block of wood have power over a person's life? And yet millions of people in the world believe that objects they've made with their hands have such power.

In v20, Isaiah says: '…a deluded [the Hebrew word means deceived] heart misleads him'. The man believed that a block of wood could save him because his heart had been deceived.

The deceiver

At this point we should ask ourselves how he had been deceived. The Bible reveals that Satan is the deceiver. Satan has been deceiving mankind since the dawn of creation (Gen 3:13) and will do so until he's locked away at the end of the age (Rev 20:1–3).

It's an act of deception that persuades someone to believe that a block of wood can help them, and such deception has nothing to do with intelligence. The most brilliant minds in the world cannot understand spiritual truth unless God reveals it to them because they, too, have been deceived.

Examples of deception

Many intelligent people believe that their lives are governed by the stars: that lumps of matter, billions of miles away can (somehow) control the minutest details of their lives.

Similarly, a lot of people believe that chi affects their livelihood and prosperity. Feng shui (pronounced fuhng shway) teaches that a life-force energy called 'chi' flows from both living and inanimate objects.

A badly arranged environment may corrupt chi, making it destructive. Whereas, a properly arranged environment can allow chi to flow creatively and improve the inhabitant's health, happiness, and professional life.

Many rational and intelligent people now employ feng shui consultants to advise them in creating an environment for their businesses and homes. They believe that an action as simple as moving a piece of furniture can have an effect upon their lives.

Such people are in gross bondage; they are giving more power to created things than to the Creator (Rom 1:25). They do this because they've believed the lie that has come from the deceiver.

The father of lies

The whole world has been blinded by all kinds of deception that comes from the evil one. Jesus said that the devil is a liar and the father of lies. When he lies he speaks his native language, for there is no truth in him (Joh 8:44).

Satan is behind every lie that opposes the truth about God (Gen 3:1–4), and only a revelation of the truth, from God, can set people free (Joh 8:31–2).

Michael Graham
October 2005

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