Something God cannot do

In our lives, we often face individuals and institutions that engage in continual deceit to advance themselves at our expense and to our detriment. How often have we wished that they could be made unable to lie? How much better the world would be!

“Liar Liar” is a 1997 American fantasy comedy film that features Fletcher Reede, a lawyer in Los Angeles on the fast track for promotion to partner in the law firm for which he works, who has built his entire career on dishonestly exaggerating the stories of his clients for court victories.

Fletcher has a 4-year-old son named Max with his ex-wife Audrey. Though he loves them, his inability to keep his promises due to placing preeminence on his career has alienated them from him. When Fletcher misses Max’s fifth birthday party, a disappointed Max makes a birthday wish that his father be unable to lie for one day.

Fletcher quickly finds out through a series of embarrassing incidents that he is unable to deceive, mislead, or withhold the truth. One of the funniest moments in the film was when he is in court desperately seeking a delay in his case from the judge. When the judge asks what the problem was, Fletcher exclaims, “I CAN’T LIE!”

Fletcher’s life changes when, after the time has elapsed and he is able to lie again, he no longer desires to do so. He realized that truly loving his son and Audrey means telling them the truth, keeping his promises and making his family the top priority of his life. He expressed sorrow for how he treated them and sincerely apologized to them. A year later, Fletcher is running his own law firm, and it is apparent that he and Audrey have reconciled and were together again as they celebrated Max’s sixth birthday.

We live in a society where too often the legal system is used to deprive innocent citizens of life, liberty and property because dishonest prosecutors or judges will unjustly stack civil or criminal charges against them for career advancement and greater power. There are too many cases of people falsely accused who have lost property or spent years in prison because evidence exonerating them was suppressed. Imagine how much better society would be if the “legal system” were truly a “justice system.”

Government health and medical institutions, collaborating with pharmaceutical corporations instead of regulating them, will announce medical emergencies exaggerated or manufactured to maneuver people into certain medical treatments for great profits and power. Many people deceived by this public-private partnership have themselves or their loved ones suffered lifelong injuries or death. How much better would the health, well-being and longevity of people be if modern medicine truly and universally followed the ethics of “Do No Harm.”

Religious authorities claiming to represent God and speak on His behalf, too often for popularity and the wealth and power that come with it, have proclaimed an ear-tickling message that the way to reconciliation and peace with God is broad and includes many paths (Matthew 7:13-14; 2 Timothy 4:1-4). One example of this is the head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis, who in a Sept. 13, 2024, inter-religious meeting with young people at Catholic Junior College in Singapore stated:

“All religions are paths to God. I will use an analogy; they are like different languages that express the divine. But God is for everyone, and therefore, we are all God’s children. ‘But my God is more important than yours!’ Is this true? There is only one God, and religions are like languages, paths to reach God. Some Sikh, some Muslim, some Hindu, some Christian.”

How much better it would be for Pope Francis and other religious leaders around the world if they believed the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, and proclaimed His message to a lost world needing redemption (John 10:7-11; Hebrews 13:20-21).

Regarding the most important of issues, our relationship with God, we can be thankful that we do not, like Max concerning his father in “Liar Liar,” have to make a wish for Him to tell us the truth. What Fletcher said in dismay during a day of irresistible honesty, God declares in His word is an immutable aspect of His nature: He cannot lie (Numbers 23:19; Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18).

Jesus is the Word of God, the Creator and Sustainer of all things, and it is in Him that God speaks to us (John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:13-17, 2:8-14; Hebrews 1:1-4). He shares the same nature as His Father and so can only tell the truth. Contrary to those who say all religions are ways to God, Jesus says:

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6)

Jesus Christ, the embodiment of truth, is not “a way” but “the way” to forgiveness, reconciliation with God, and eternal life. There is no other way (Acts 4:12).

We may be disappointed by family, friends, political, medical, and religious leaders and institutions that let us down or betray our trust in devastating ways, but God never fails in His consistent love and truth.

Because it is impossible for God to lie, we can have utter confidence in the gospel message that if anyone repents of their sins and trusts solely in Jesus’ perfect righteousness through His sinless life, bloody death on the cross for sinners, and bodily resurrection from the dead, God declares that person forgiven, reconciled to Him, and a recipient of eternal life.

In the same statement made by Jesus of being the only way to God, He promises to prepare a place in His Father’s house for all who trust in Him and come again to take them home to be with Him forever (John 14:1-3), where there will be fullness of joy and peace, and a permanent refuge from the father of lies, the devil, and all who practice his ways (Revelation 22:13-15).