LIE: I can become a god, part 1

Lie:      I can become a god.

Truth: I can become a king under God.

This is the oldest lie, the original lie and therefore the most fundamental, most integrative and silently influential of all deceptions. What may sound ludicrous and therefore harmless – who in their right mind would think they can become a god?! – turns out to be the most insidious because it flies so far under the radar.

In order to see just how dangerous this lie is, we must start at the beginning where the lie was first spoken.

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’”? And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. — Genesis 3:1–7

What is the serpent really saying here? and what was the appeal of the tree and its fruit? Is there some truth in what the serpent claimed? or was it only a bald-faced lie?

Let’s look at it more carefully. The serpent said:

Has God indeed said, “you shall not eat of every tree of the garden.”

With this question the serpent set up the temptation. Notice he did not specifically name the forbidden tree. Was he subtly suggesting that God should not make anything off-limits at all? He implied that Eve really should have access to every tree. The further implication was: God is holding out on you — he’s keeping something from you which is rightfully yours. But the question is, why would God be doing that?

Here is Eve’s response to the serpent:

And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die,’”

Notice that she is not able to name the tree. She simply says, “ . . . the tree which is in the midst of the garden.” But another tree grew in the midst of the garden — the Tree of Life, which God never forbade (Genesis 2:9). Eve is having trouble distinguishing the two trees that are in the middle of the garden.

Now that the serpent has established doubt and confusion, and particularly doubt of nothing less than God’s own character, he goes in for the kill:

Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

The serpent does tell one bald lie: “You will not surely die,” in direct contradiction to God. And then the serpent continues and puts his own spin on it, which actually turns out to be true, but only in the proper context. This gives insight into how the devil lies to us. He frames and re-frames the context of the truth, transforming it into a powerful lie.

Upon eating the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve gained the knowledge of good and evil, presuming the right to make moral choices based on their own understanding and spurning what, up to that time, was only to be done in the light of God Himself.

No doubt Adam and Eve would have gained the knowledge of good and evil over time, but only after they had acquired it in practice and as a result of trusting the words from God’s mouth. But then, that ‘knowledge of good and evil’ would be understood properly and only in terms of, and in light of the Presence of God Himself — which is life! This is what God had made accessible and convenient in the midst of the garden, and from the beginning had never forbade.

The serpent tempted Eve with the forbidden fruit, tempting her to assume God’s own freedom for herself, when actually this has become man’s central sin — our presumption to be our own god.

But what is a god? and weren’t we made in the ‘likeness and image of God?’ and isn’t that being ‘like God?’ To answer these questions we have to look at what it means to be made in the image of God. God’s original design was always to make ‘man a little lower than the angels’ but to ‘crown him with glory and honor.’ (See Psalm 8.) God meant to make us kings and queens who possess true dominion, who are able to make wise decisions; he wants to elevate us, but only rightfully under Himself, the King of kings. We were never to have this dominion as an independent right for ourselves. We were to rule, but rule benevolently, like God, who takes proper responsibility and care for his subjects. Satan’s temptation to ‘godhood’, was to throw off all divine restrictions and to exercise our rule in complete independence of God. This was the lie.

The truly pernicious thing here is that the serpent twisted God’s magnanimity into a stinginess and smallness. But the truth is that God is a good Father and desires to lift his sons and daughters. He does not require anything that he is not willing to endure himself.

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. — I Peter 5:6–7

But how does this actually work out in practice – what does it look like to ‘become a god?’ In part two we’ll dive into the three sub-deceptions that make this possible.

See also the introduction to this category: Lies attacking our self-understanding.