Luke 9:50 – Satan’s Secret

… whoever is not against you is for you.

Summary: Satan is a masterful liar. He continues to confuse us about the truth to this very day.

Satan has a secret. Actually, he has lots of them. He is, as Jesus points out, the “father of lies” (John 8:44). The definition of a liar is someone who tells you something they know is not true. In Satan’s case, he knows the truth but doesn’t want you to know the truth, so he lies.

His most famous lie was his first one. Going back to Genesis, God tells Adam, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die” (Gen 2: 16-17). Soon after we hear Satan saying, “You will not certainly die” (Gen 3:4).

Which one is true?

Satan’s lie is so effective that even now people who believe in God argue about the meaning of the words in these passages. Maybe God didn’t mean you would die right away? After all, it sure looks like Satan was right. Adam and Eve didn’t die right away. In fact, the Bible says Adam lived 930 years before he died (Gen 5:5). That doesn’t seem like much of a punishment for eating the forbidden fruit, does it?

Many years later Jesus tells us, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” (John 3:3) He goes on to explain, “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” (John 3:6) “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.” (John 3:5)

Obviously, Jesus is talking about a spiritual birth. As Nicodemus points out, “How can someone be born when they are old? … Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” (John 3:4)

And why would we need to be born again spiritually? Because God was telling Adam the truth when he said, “when you eat of it [the forbidden tree] you will certainly die.” That day Adam and Eve died spiritually. Satan had succeeded in separating us from God. Of course, God wasn’t going to let that stand. That is why, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

So what’s next? What is Satan’s next big lie to keep us from being with the Father? Jesus gives us a clue when he says, “whoever is not against you is for you.” Jesus’ disciples had come to him and said:

“Master,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.”

“Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you.” (Luke 9:49-50)

What if the opposite is true, too? What if Satan were to take this truth and twist it around to serve his own ends? What if he enticed people to believe that the “I” is more important than God? And then, let’s imagine he twists the words some more and they come out, “Whoever is not for you is against you.”

Sounds the same, doesn’t it? Yet the cruel truth is that when we judge God by our own standards, we put ourselves in the role of king. If God tells us to do something we don’t want to do, then he must be against us. If he is against us, I need to convince others to ignore him, or better yet, believe that good is bad.

Here on earth, for the few years I have to live, I can believe I am “king” if I can get away with rejecting God’s kingdom. All the while Satan is laughing. He knows that anyone who is not for God is against him. People who are against God reject his Son, Jesus, and people who reject Jesus end up in Satan’s kingdom. In case you are wondering, Satan’s “kingdom” is not a good place to be. When judgment is finally rendered:

“And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” (Revelation 20:10)

Application: The “father of lies” is still out there working to mislead you and me.

Food for Thought: How do we break free from Satan’s lies and think straight?