He Is a Liar and the Father of Lies

Meditations for Seeking the Life in Christ

The Gospel of John

August 8, 2024

 He Is a Liar and the Father of Lies

Jesus told them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I have come to you from God. I am not here on my own, but he sent me.

John  8:42

The people called Abraham their spiritual father, yet they wanted to murder Jesus because they didn’t like what he had to say. If Abraham was truly their spiritual father, they would have lived their lives in accordance with the life of faith modeled by Abraham. Jesus confronted them with the truth; they had a father, but it wasn’t Abraham. Jesus was quite blunt in describing their father: “For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).

The more our secular culture shapes our lives, the more Christian people see shades of gray in morality and the more a life of holiness (harmony with God) becomes an abstract idea rather than a very real way of life. Even so, Jesus is quite clear: “I am telling you the truth, why don’t you believe me? Anyone who belongs to God listens gladly to the words of God. But you don’t listen because you don’t belong to God” (John 8:46b-47). From Jesus’ perspective, we are either following the truth or we are not; we are either telling the truth or we are not.

Today, far too many people call themselves Christians and want all the benefits that favor with God brings, but do not want to embrace the truth that faith in God is evidenced by a willingness to invite God to change our lives. God doesn’t want us to just believe in Him. God wants us to become like Him.

My Takeaway: God had called Israel to be bearers of His light. Instead, they had become bearers of darkness. God has called the Christian church to be bearers of His light. This may be a good time for a reality check, to ask God to give us eyes to see the truth. Are we, and our Christian community, bearers of light, or darkness?

Sē’lah

My book on prayer,

First Think, Then Pray

is now available on Amazon Kindle.

 

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2024 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.