Fool Me Once, Fool Me Always

A pastor this morning mentioned that Satan is not very creative. He keeps using the same tricks.

Of course he does. They seem to work with every generation. Satan uses the same lies to fool me - over and over again.

Here's the one that gets me most of the time: "You can do this one yourself." Quite often that means the same as "You don't need God for this one."

One of the big lies is that Jesus isn't God.

I get it. That Trinity thing is confusing. Like one Pastor said "Find someone who tells you they fully understand the Trinity and you can be sure he'll lie to you about other things, too."

Some religions even teach that Jesus isn't God, using Col 1:15 as the basis for that belief:

"Who [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:" (KJV)

The argument is that if Jesus is the firstborn, then he is the pre-eminent emanation of God, therefore he, like us, is a "god" with a small "g."

It just isn't true, which is clear if you read more of the Bible than simply one sentence clause. Or even continue that sentence in Colossians:

Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. (KJV)

I'll grant this is confusing, so let's go to the NLT paraphrase:

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth.He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.Everything was created through him and for him.He existed before anything else,and he holds all creation together.

I admit the New Living Translation is much more clear on this than the standard King James Version.

The bottom line is that Jesus is God, the one and only, in three Persons - The Holy Trinity.

And, no, I don't know how that works. I just know it does.

Satan uses the same lie over and over: that Jesus isn't fully God. You don't need to fall for it.

Just like I know I need God for everything I do in life.

If I think I don't, I'm just lying to myself - or am I believing another of Satan's simple lies?

Fool me once, and often again, Satan, but fool me no more.