A perfect world is what Adam and Eve enjoyed. They walked with and fellowshiped with God. They couldn't get sick, they couldn't die, there were no tornados, hurricanes, earthquakes, no famine, no poverty. They couldn't murder because people couldn't die, nor would they want to. They couldn't commit adultery, they couldn't covet because they owned everything, but... they had free will. Without free will they could not truly have been created in the image of God. They could do anything they wanted, but in order to exercise their free will there had to be a test of it. God gave them one thing they could not do, eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The serpent (under the influence of Satan) tempted them and they succumbed. They were no longer covered by the Glory of God and they felt naked and ashamed. The first sin was disobedience to God. They immediately died spiritually. They separated themselves from the God who created and loved them. With the first bite they brought death and devastation into our lives. They caused all mankind to become separated from our loving Creator and Heavenly Father. He was put in the position of having to judge and take vengeance against the sin which he loathes because of the harm it creates. A son of Adam and Eve, Cain, murdered his brother Abel, eventually Adam and Eve died physically, now we all face sin, sickness, poverty, disasters (both natural and otherwise), and death. But the worst part of the curse of sin is our separation from God.
Sin brought with it a curse on us and our world, and the results are what we suffer from today. When something dreadful happens you often hear someone say "How could a good God allow this to happen?", but it was mankind, not God that brought suffering and devastation into the world. Proverbs 19:3 (NIV) reads "A man's own folly ruins his life, yet his heart rages against the Lord."
Satan also attacks us with disasters and diseases. Satan was permitted to test Job by the death of his family, destruction, poverty, and sickness. Job actually put himself in the position to be able to be tested, in his agony he revealed the truth (Job 3:25 "For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.") Job 1 reveals that he constantly offered burnt offerings for his children to sanctify them because he was afraid they might have done something wrong. He was allowing fear, rather than faith in God, prevalence in his life. Luke 13 recounts the story of a woman bound by a "spirit" of infirmity for 18 years and was bowed together, Jesus healed her, and when the ruler of the synagogue complained that it was done on the Sabbath day Jesus replied that a daughter of Abraham, who was bound by Satan for 18 years ought to be loosed.
1 Peter 5:8 admonishes us "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the Devil, as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.
Most of what we endure is a result of the curse that sin brought on us, that is not to say that sometimes God will not use disease, disaster, or even humans as judgment against certain human actions and lifestyles. It was God that brought the judgment of leprosy on Moses' sister, Miriam (Numbers 12:9), when she spoke against Moses (but He also healed her after seven days because Moses asked Him to), and on King Uzziah for transgression in the temple of the Lord (2 Chronicles 26:19). It was God that commanded Saul to slay every man, woman, and child of the Amalekites and their animals, because they ambushed the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt. God brought the flood that destroyed everyone except Noah and his family and select animals, God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, and Lot's wife for looking back to her destroyed city. Romans 1:27 states that people with a deviant lifestyle "received in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet," in other words they are justly paid back for the sins they commit. The just God that created Hell for Satan, fallen angels, and demonic spirits, but will also allow the people who refuse to reconcile themselves to Him to be confined there for eternity is also able to use sickness and disasters as judgments against sin. Absolutely God is Love, his perfect will is to reconcile us to Himself and be our Father and our protector, not our judge.
This is a link to a site where you can look up scripture references in many different versions of the bible: http://www.biblegateway.com/
Showing posts with label Satan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Satan. Show all posts
Sunday, August 14, 2005
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
HOW ART THOU FALLEN?
What happened between Genesis 1:1 and 2?
"For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water. Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men."
2 Peter 3:5-7.
The world of Noah's day didn't perish, these scriptures refer to the period between Genesis 1:1 and 2. Notice that Genesis 1:2 states that the "darkness was upon the face of the deep (or waters). And the Spirit of God moved on the face of the waters." Genesis 1:9 states "And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place and let the dry land appear, and it was so." God didn't create the earth filled with water, He created the earth and it was destroyed by a great flood, long before the re-creation of the earth and the creation of present day mankind.
But why?:
The New Living Translation
Ezekiel 28:12-17
"Son of man, weep for the king of Tyre. Give him this message from the Sovereign LORD: You were the perfection of wisdom and beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God. Your clothing was adorned with every precious stone – red carnelian, chrysolite, white moonstone, beryl, onyx, jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald – all beautifully crafted for you and set in the finest gold. They were given to you on the day you were created. I ordained and anointed you as the mighty angelic guardian. You had access to the holy mountain of God and walked among the stones of fire. "You were blameless in all you did from the day you were created until the day evil was found in you. Your great wealth filled you with violence, and you sinned. So I banished you from the mountain of God. I expelled you, O mighty guardian, from your place among the stones of fire. Your heart was filled with pride because of all your beauty. You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth and exposed you to the curious gaze of kings."
Lucifer (king of Tyre) was placed on earth as a guardian, perfect in beauty, blameless in all he did, till iniquity was found in him, his heart was filled with pride. He actually thought he could dethrone Almighty God and take His place. His beauty caused his pride, but could it have been something else as well?
The New Living Translation
Isaiah 14:12-15
"How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning! You have been thrown down to the earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world. For you said to yourself, 'I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God's stars. I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north. I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High.'
But instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead, down to its lowest depths.
There were pre-Adamic nations on earth before the world was destroyed by a great flood and re-created for present day mankind. We know that Lucifer deceived them and they were destroyed. Could it have been that they began to worship him because of his beauty, is that why his heart was lifted up? Or was it because he became so enthralled with his own beauty that he deceived them into worshipping him instead of God? We can only conjecture about this because the bible doesn't reveal much about this period.
This was the period of the dinosaurs. Maybe they were a judgement of the people of that period because they began to worship Lucifer. Maybe they were gentle and became ferocious, again we can only conjecture.
The bible does reveal that these pre-Adamic nations were weakened by Lucifer's rebellion and pride and eventually destroyed. We don't know how long the period was between this destruction and the re-creation of the earth and the creation of the Adamic race in Genesis 1:2-31.
Lucifer was cast down to the earth because of his fall, not to hell, but to the earth. He was already here as Satan when Adam and Eve were created, ready to tempt them to sin. He is called the "Prince of the power of the Air" (Eph. 2:2), his dwelling is in the atmosphere of the earth, not in heaven or hell. I'm sure if truth were known, he doesn't want to go anywhere near hell. But he doesn't mind deceiving us and causing our destruction like he caused the destruction of the pre-Adamic nations.
Recommended reading: "Dake's Annotated Reference Bible";
"God's Dispensational and Prophetic Plan"
by John G. Hall.
This is a link to a site where you can look up scripture references in many different versions of the bible: http://www.biblegateway.com/
"For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water. Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men."
2 Peter 3:5-7.
The world of Noah's day didn't perish, these scriptures refer to the period between Genesis 1:1 and 2. Notice that Genesis 1:2 states that the "darkness was upon the face of the deep (or waters). And the Spirit of God moved on the face of the waters." Genesis 1:9 states "And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place and let the dry land appear, and it was so." God didn't create the earth filled with water, He created the earth and it was destroyed by a great flood, long before the re-creation of the earth and the creation of present day mankind.
But why?:
The New Living Translation
Ezekiel 28:12-17
"Son of man, weep for the king of Tyre. Give him this message from the Sovereign LORD: You were the perfection of wisdom and beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God. Your clothing was adorned with every precious stone – red carnelian, chrysolite, white moonstone, beryl, onyx, jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald – all beautifully crafted for you and set in the finest gold. They were given to you on the day you were created. I ordained and anointed you as the mighty angelic guardian. You had access to the holy mountain of God and walked among the stones of fire. "You were blameless in all you did from the day you were created until the day evil was found in you. Your great wealth filled you with violence, and you sinned. So I banished you from the mountain of God. I expelled you, O mighty guardian, from your place among the stones of fire. Your heart was filled with pride because of all your beauty. You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth and exposed you to the curious gaze of kings."
Lucifer (king of Tyre) was placed on earth as a guardian, perfect in beauty, blameless in all he did, till iniquity was found in him, his heart was filled with pride. He actually thought he could dethrone Almighty God and take His place. His beauty caused his pride, but could it have been something else as well?
The New Living Translation
Isaiah 14:12-15
"How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning! You have been thrown down to the earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world. For you said to yourself, 'I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God's stars. I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north. I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High.'
But instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead, down to its lowest depths.
There were pre-Adamic nations on earth before the world was destroyed by a great flood and re-created for present day mankind. We know that Lucifer deceived them and they were destroyed. Could it have been that they began to worship him because of his beauty, is that why his heart was lifted up? Or was it because he became so enthralled with his own beauty that he deceived them into worshipping him instead of God? We can only conjecture about this because the bible doesn't reveal much about this period.
This was the period of the dinosaurs. Maybe they were a judgement of the people of that period because they began to worship Lucifer. Maybe they were gentle and became ferocious, again we can only conjecture.
The bible does reveal that these pre-Adamic nations were weakened by Lucifer's rebellion and pride and eventually destroyed. We don't know how long the period was between this destruction and the re-creation of the earth and the creation of the Adamic race in Genesis 1:2-31.
Lucifer was cast down to the earth because of his fall, not to hell, but to the earth. He was already here as Satan when Adam and Eve were created, ready to tempt them to sin. He is called the "Prince of the power of the Air" (Eph. 2:2), his dwelling is in the atmosphere of the earth, not in heaven or hell. I'm sure if truth were known, he doesn't want to go anywhere near hell. But he doesn't mind deceiving us and causing our destruction like he caused the destruction of the pre-Adamic nations.
Recommended reading: "Dake's Annotated Reference Bible";
"God's Dispensational and Prophetic Plan"
by John G. Hall.
This is a link to a site where you can look up scripture references in many different versions of the bible: http://www.biblegateway.com/
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