ĀĀIn the beginning God said “Let us make man in our image and our likeness”. And God did. But the man was distracted by another. Man was tempted by the fruit of another tree of one who said “For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God”. It was Satan who offered godliness, meaning god-like-ness, in a different way.
You see it was not a lie “that you would become as Gods” because God had already said “let Us make man in our likeness” and fulfilled when God sent man out of Eden. It was after eating the forbidden fruit that God saidĀ Ā āBehold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live foreverāāĀ 23Ā therefore theĀ LordĀ God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.Ā The lie and deception was not that they would become as Gods but that to “become as Gods” was offered through another venue. Another source.
And this is what the 2nd coming message does. It denies godliness through the knowledge of God, to become partakers of the divine nature by faith in the Christ of the cross in the here and now and ascribes the gift of godliness to another. Instead of the gift by faith they want it as fact in the material realm. The gift to become Gods children and being transfigured by reformatting their minds through the gospel is circumvented to become godly at a 2nd coming rapture or a futureĀ resurrection. To be transfigured by that event, that is the lie. They ascribe saving power and transforming power later and miss out.
That which was from the beginning” as John the apostle referred to. You see the garden patterned for us our choices when we read scripture. And the forbidden fruit is godliness from another venue. A different offering for godliness.
Ā It is clear to see that the lie from the beginning is still active. And lucky for us we can choose to eat of the tree of life (Revelation 3) by eating of the tree of the cross for “cursed is everyone who hangs from a tree? And Christ did just that for us. The tree of life is to eat of that and become godly in that way and not another. Both of these messages use scripture. Which one isĀ palatableĀ to you? Are you the elect? Or are you deceived? Ā “For this reason God shall send forth a strong dillusion to believe a lie, to those who had pleasure in unrighteousness”. And it is a righteous thing that the Word of God who became flesh mapped out the way of godliness through the gospel,,, or use scripture to be yet fulfilled in another gospel of anither Jesus to come on the scene because the first Christ was too weak.
But we “are not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe”. This is those who have faith to receive it and need not an encore presentation for another saving.
The Kingdom of God is at hand, active and present in the here and now.