This is the third message in our series talking about DeepFakes

Deepfakes are synthetic media that have been digitally manipulated to replace one person’s image convincingly with that of another – or to insert someone’s image and/or voice into a situation that never really happened

Deepfakes typically use Artificial Intelligence technology to create images or video that are very convincing.

 

You might have been able to detect that this image is not legitimate. I never met Elvis and Nixon at the White House. But this image wasn’t generated by AI, and so it doesn’t look very good. On the other hand, earlier this year, this image was in the news.

 

A lot of people saw it and had some strong reactions, both positive and negative.
But this image is fake; Pope Francis never wore an awesomely stylishly coat like that.

And less than two weeks ago, there was a news story that a DeepFake of the actor Tom Hanks was being used to promote advertise a dental plan. But he had nothing to do with it, they were using his likeness without his permission.

Whether people are using this technology to make funny images and videos for the internet, or whether they are using it to scam people and commit fraud, the thing they all have in common, are that these images and videos are fake.
They can look incredibly convincing, but they are not real, they are counterfeit.

We all have to be careful, because we now live in a world where we are surrounded by counterfeits and fake things. Half the time you call customer service for anything, you get a simulated person…

 

Back in 2013 a movie was released staring Joachin Phoenix, called “her.”
It was about a man who gets a digital personal assistant. It is an A.I. computer program, but it is able to speak with a human, female voice. And over the course of the movie, he begins to fall in love with “her” even though he knows it is not a real person.

That’s an interesting idea, it makes for a good, quirky movie. But that would never happen in real life…

 

Now, in 2023, this person is Caryn Marjorie. She is an internet influencer, and this year she made a digital, A.I. version of herself. And for a subscription fee, you can chat with the A.I. version of this woman, and it will act like your virtual girlfriend. She is already making thousands of dollars a month from a limited release of this thing, and some people predict it could make millions.

Usually, for a counterfeit to work, the recipient needs to believe that it is real. If I have a fake $100 bill, and I want to use it to buy something from you, it will only work if you don’t know it’s fake. If you know that it is counterfeit money, you won’t take it.

These people know that their “virtual girlfriend” isn’t real, but they don’t care. They’re paying money to have access to something they know is fake.

 

FALLING IN LOVE WITH A LIE

People can fall in love with a lie. This might seem like an extreme modern example, but it might be more common than you think.

This is exactly in line with the enemy’s plan. As Chris has laid out

People are made in God’s Image Genesis 1:27

Sin hijacks the image and corrupts it.

Satan hates God and hates us because we were made in God’s image.
So Satan offers us a false picture, a false image to break our relationship with God.

For instance with Eve in the Garden of Eden, “picture this, if you eat this fruit your eyes will be opened, and you will be… better” He showed her a convincing fake picture and she bit.

But the really diabolical way he works, is that it’s not good enough to have us accept the fake image he offers. If possible, he wants us to love it.

We’re made in God’s image.
Sin corrupts that image.
Through Jesus we can reclaim the true image…

But not if we love the fake image too much to let it go…

Loving a lie can take so many forms beyond some weirdos AI girlfriends.

Lots of people are committed to showing the world a picture of themselves that doesn’t really match their daily life. Social media helps a lot, but people have been doing this since before the internet. This (fake) version of me is the real me, and that’s what I want people to see…

Addiction can work the same way. “I’m fine, and I don’t have a problem.” Despite what I know I’m doing. I’m in love with making sure people see that I’m okay, even though I’m not okay.

 

CHASING THE (FALSE) IMAGE

If only I had this, or that, or that person, or that job, then I’d be happy. That will make me happy. I’m love picturing myself being happy with that thing. (That’s a fake picture. That’s a false image.)

People fall in love with a picture of their life that’s not real, and they will hold onto it for dear life.

But where does it lead? You’re clinging to something that is a fraud. It will never be real. God is truth and live. The lie you’re holding onto is empty. It’s been dead this whole time, and that’s where Satan wants it to lead you.

Not me though, I go to church!  I post Bible quotes on Facebook… (The last time I really felt God moving in my life was back in … 2003) but that doesn’t matter because I love this picture of myself as a church-going Christian…
Examine that picture of yourself, have you been deep-faked?

As I said, that is the enemy’s goal. Not just to corrupt the image of God within us, but to make us love the fake. Because that cuts us off from the truth.
The truth is always available, but if we get seduced into loving the lie, the Truth can be hard to receive.

 

HARD TRUTH

Jesus is kind beyond measure, but He doesn’t pull any punches. When someone is committed to a lie, and they encounter Jesus, He gives them truth.

In the gospels of Matthew and Mark someone comes to Jesus who is described as a “rich young ruler”

MARK 10:17 NKJV Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?”

Jesus tells him, keep the commandments…

MARK 10:20 NKJV And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.”

MARK 10:21 NKJV Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.”

MARK 10:22 NKJV But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

He met face to face with the Truth, and he went away sad. Because his image of himself was the RICH young ruler, and now Jesus told him that wasn’t really who he was. Or maybe his picture of himself was someone who always did what got commanded… until the Son of God told him to do something he really didn’t want to do…

The truth can be hard. Hard to receive. Hard to accept. It challenges the beautiful lies that we may have based our lives on.

But it is THE TRUTH. The ONLY TRUTH. He may have things to say that are difficult for us, but their true, and the alternative is a lie.

In the book of Revelation, Jesus is sending letters to seven churches. The letter to the church in Laodicea in Revelation 3 is well known for its use of the word “spew”. But Jesus goes on to tell them that they have embraced lies, and instead reveals the truth.

REVELATION 3:17 NKJV You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

But Jesus goes on to tell them what they need to do.

REVELATION 3:18 NKJV I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

The truth of their situation could be hard to receive. But He doesn’t just tell them they are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked and leave it at that. He offers a solution. Really He is the solution.

 

LOVE THE TRUTH

If you have embraced a lie, it can be very difficult, and painful to acknowledge that it is fake, and to move on from it to instead embrace the Truth.

But only the truth is true. And the Truth is Love.

Jesus is the Truth. Jesus is God. God is love.

The lie doesn’t love you. It might make you feel good for a time, but it is completely empty. It has no feelings for you whatsoever. It was developed my the enemy who hates you. And ultimately, its end result is death.

On the other hand, the Truth loves you so much, that He came down from Heaven and died in your place, to give you life.

MARK 10:21 NKJV Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him…

Jesus told the rich young rule the truth because He loved him.

REVELATION 3:19 NKJV Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.

If His Truth challenges us, if it feels like a rebuke, it’s because we need it.
We need His Truth to help us reject the lies we’ve embraced.  ***MUSICIANS***

And when we realize that we have been embracing and chasing after a lie, there’s only one thing to do.

 

EMBRACE THE IMAGE OF GOD

The enemy tries to lure us off course and away from God with these fake images of who we could be, and who we should be, and what we could have…
and we chase these false images. You don’t have to chase God.

-You were made in the image of God.
-Sin hijacks that image and corrupts it.
-We can reclaim the image of God through Jesus.
-Jesus is the image of the invisible God! (Colossians 1:15)

Recognizing His truth, all you have to do is turn back toward Him and embrace Him. Embrace His Truth. Embrace who He says you are.

You are a child of God. You are chosen. You are beloved.

ALTAR TIME!