One of the top movies of the 1970s was Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The story was about humanity’s encounter with an alien ship and in the end, a human being, named Roy, joins them in their exploration of the universe. In Genesis 3 we are confronted with a “close encounter of the third kind”—not an encounter with an alien or the living God but rather with Satan, the “god of this world”—the god who rules the new age with the old lies.

Up until the 1960s, Satan staged a frontal assault on truth. He emphasized “scientific atheism,” which was taught by the likes of Richard Dawkins and his book, The God Delusion and Christopher Hitchens with his book, God Is Not Good. But things and his tactics are much different. Now the approach is more subtle, more sophisticated, more “spiritual.” Satan loves to talk about “Jesus,” God, harmony and peace, brotherhood, unity, light, love, hope, angels, and salvation.

The Greeks laid siege to Troy for ten years with no success. So they built a large wooden horse and apparently sailed away. The Trojans were curious and ignored the warning to “beware of Greeks bearing gifts.” Therefore, Troy was captured, the people massacred, and the city burned. These stories are like the Old Testament to us. Paul warned the Corinthians believers in 1 Corinthians 10:11, “These things (what happened to the Israelites) happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come.” As we look at Genesis 3 and how Satan likes to operate, let us be reminded and made aware of the lies and tactics he likes to use to lead us astray. In a sense, the god of the new age is trying to sell us old lies.

There are five lies Satan loves to tell in Genesis 3:1–5: the first two are meant to cripple you and set you up for the final three, which are Satan’s knockout blows to our faith.

The first lie is: “You can’t really trust the God of the Bible.” In other words, God’s character is suspect. In verse 1, Satan paints the picture that God is unfair. He wants to make the rules and give moral commands and restrict many of your freedoms and privileges. “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” God is so unfair!

He goes on to say in verses 2-4 that at best He is an ignorant and, at worst, a dishonest God. “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.’” Therefore, God is either ignorant and has no idea what He is talking about or He is a liar.

And then in verse 5, Satan makes God out to be selfish. “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.” God does not want to share His privileges and wisdom and deity with you. He is selfish and wants to keep it all for himself.

Satan does not paint a very flattering picture of God. His purpose is for us to doubt who He says He is.

Secondly, if you cannot trust the God who claims to have written the Bible, then how can you trust the Bible? There are so many “uncertainties” in the Bible: “Has God really said . . . ?” It is all a matter of opinion. It is all a matter of interpretation. There are so many “contradictions” in the Bible. God says, “You will surely die” and Satan says, “You will not surely die.” Who can you trust?

You cannot really trust the Bible because of higher criticism and liberal theology: The Bible may contain the word of God somewhere, but the Bible is not the Word of God. We must first demythologize it, take the supernatural out, and reconstruct it.

You cannot really trust the Bible because of Neo-orthodox theology: The Bible may become the word of God, but the Bible is not always the word of God—“Has God really said…?”

Now, if you have believed these first two lies, you really need to be careful. Your faith is now beginning to slide onto the sand. You are against the ropes without much left holding you up…

The third lie is there is no such thing as eternal death, the final judgment, and hell. Regardless of what the God of the Bible says, since you cannot trust God or His book anyway, “you will not surely die.” This is not something new. Many years ago, teaching came out called universalism. Everyone will be okay in the end, because “love wins.”

Their premise is a loving God would never judge anybody or send anyone to hell forever. Other things like reincarnation allow the follower more chances or overcome bad karma. Therefore, God is the God of endless chances, not last chances. I think we have all heard the stories of people who have had near-death experiences. They “come back” with stories about their feelings of love, peace, joy, and that great light at the end of the tunnel? So forget the sinfulness of man, the holiness of God, and the atonement of Christ. Relax! There is no eternal death, the final judgment, or hell.

Another great lie Satan uses is that you can be God. You have the divine nature and life within you; you have just been so ignorant for so long. In verse 5 we read, “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.” Again, these are not new revelations and teachings. They have been around for a long time just under different labels. Teachings such as pantheism, transcendentalism and the “new age” movement tell us that all is one, all is god, I am a god.

Lastly, Satan tells us that all this secret knowledge is available to you, and is superior to the Bible. One of the oldest teachings in the world is Gnosticism. It was a prominent heretical movement of the 2nd-century Christian Church. Gnostic doctrine taught that the world was created and ruled by a lesser divinity, the demiurge and that Christ was an emissary of the remote supreme divine being, esoteric knowledge (gnosis) of whom enabled the redemption of the human spirit.

In other words, there was a secret occult knowledge beyond what has been revealed to us in God’s Word. Satan again says in verses 5-7, “your eyes will be opened… knowing good and evil… desirable to make one wise… then the eyes of both of them were opened.” Now the occult does not come out and say, “We are evil,” rather, it infects us in more subtle ways like fortune-telling, astrology, witchcraft, séances, and crystals? You can have secret knowledge superior to the Bible.

Now for many of us, these teachings seem ridiculous. Do people really believe these lies? The truth is, all the time! Look at Adam and Eve. They were created perfect and in the image of God, yet they were deceived by Satan and we read later on in chapter 3 how devastating the consequences were.

So how do we respond? The only effective response to Satan’s lies is God’s truth. The God of the Bible is the only true God and fully trustworthy. Therefore, God’s Word to us, the Bible, is fully trustworthy also. There is eternal death, a final judgement, and a hell to come. We are not God and never can be. Neither can Satan be God. Secret knowledge is that which Satan provides and it will kill you. Certain knowledge is that which God provides and Jesus Christ will save you.