You Are Of Your Father The Devil

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John 8:39-47

39 They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”

 
 

Way back at the beginning of the Bible, the Lord speaks to the serpent after it tempted the man and woman to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil:

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel” [Genesis 3:15].

Note that the Lord says there will be two kinds of people:

  • People who are offspring of the woman;

  • People who are “offspring” of the serpent, because of their rebellion against God.

The very next story in Genesis is the story of Cain and Abel, whereby Cain acts like an animal and gives over to sin and anger and murders his brother.

Here, Jesus is pulling from the same idea—that His opponents are actually working for the devil and against the purposes of God.

44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies [John 8:44].

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Every time we engage in falsehood, we are doing the work of the devil. There is a lot at stake in being a person who tells the truth.