Monday, August 28, 2006
Created
God created Satan to have free-will, pride, and jealousy. Or did He? We are created with the all-inclusive traits: free-will, jealousy, and pride, in His image. Or did God have nothing to do with the pride part? Is Satan the originator of self-centered pride? Well then, where did Satan’s pride come from? This is the kind of heartfelt questioning that arises from the intelligent yet young believer. To continue with the questions…Here we are in this rotten, evil world, where we, in all our weakness, have been put by Him; how fair is that? He has placed us amongst temptation with a predisposition to SIN! And then the God of love sends upon us His wrath! Conclusion? Satan got a bum rap, and let us surmise from that, so did we.
Next thought comes in the words of my mother. “I blame the parents!” The youth born into this time, when the devil knows his time is short and attacks are barraged against family, church, and culture, are the conquests. Do they even have a fighting chance? Are the above questions valid? Valid indeed! In all humility I say that. I take great pity on our children but I am not so sure I blame the parents because I am one. I know how I have raised my guys and I know how discouraging it can be now, to watch their mistakes. Do I have answers? After round two of theological debate, I am brain weary. As with any discussion of God’s character and fairness, we must, in the end, realize our limitations and fall flat on our faces in utter surrender. I did this many years ago after a long dry season of rebellion and fruitless searching. It was at a Bible study (I never did entirely quit God) and my loveliest of sisters in Christ said, “We just have to trust Him that He will judge in ALL FAIRNESS and PERFECT LOVE.”
In review of some of the things I have concluded besides that MAYBE Satan actually did get a bum rap,
1) Judas is a character I have been known to feel sorry for because it was predestined that he would most certainly betray Jesus. He ALSO made the choice of his own free will. Both statements are one hundred percent true.
2) If we are to grieve Satan’s demise because, after all, he is much like us in our ugliest moments of proud and jealous rage, THEN I MUST TAKE THIS SAME SYMPATHY TO MY MOST DESPISED ENEMY. Closer to home, the idea loses much of its glory! Oh please God, not THAT! But THAT is exactly what the most sanctified among us will do. “Love thine enemy.”
3) God did create us to be eternal, perfect in obedience, lovely and free. He could not in any manner of truth, create us under oppressive possession. For God to achieve true companionship (that was His goal), there was no way we could have built in loyalty to Him! He would always KNOW it was fake! And the relationship would not, could not be real for Him, even if it seemed real for us.
4) God in all His power and might has limitations. He cannot contradict Himself or do anything which conflicts with Truth…what we can understand as Reality. So why are we to be “punished” for the sin which entered the world through a serpent? God surely could have stamped the snake dead before it ever laid eyes on Eve. But no, He promised He would do that later. Hmm. I have thought so very long and hard about this and I have some fully formed answers but for now, it is best to remember, if there had been another way, a better way, God would know it and do it, IF HE COULD. The omnipotent God cannot lie. There is good reason for the presence of SATAN in this world. “All things work together for good TO THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”
5) Do you hear the trust? ALWAYS, it comes down to a leap of faith. If you have questions and what seems like insurmountable doubts about God’s character, open His Book about Him. It is ALIVE. Supernaturally LIVING. You open it and He will be there. You will learn that He is 100% love and 100% holy, righteous judge. There can be NO CONFLICT in Him. Therefore, His judgment must be fair and loving.
6) If you believe this time of testing and refining is like a bad joke, in all its cruelty, because some greedy God wants our truest love and affection, be wise to know, it is not ALL about pleasing Him. He wants to please us. He is love and so he waits while we dwell in this life of heaven and hell on earth, mixed up, confusing, and full of second chances, third, fourth, nth….no. He waits but not to the nth chance. WHYYYYYYYYYYY? The desperate scream resounds amongst even the MOST faithful. The omniscient Creator should know, we don’t do eternity well. We cannot wrap our minds around it. Given an eternity to decide, would we take an eternity? I am pretty sure some would. God KNOWS who they are.
So as we wrestle with the ABSOLUTE TOUGHEST QUESTION about who our GOD really is, do we throw out the GLORY with the MYSTERY? GOD IS. To find out who He is, His revelation is available at… creation.com…bible.com…prayer.com…church.com (be careful with that website, it is corrupted)…openthedoor.com…or come on back to christianityisjewish.com! Paul sent the people of Corinth to Christ.com:
“God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful…[He sent me] to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.” ~1 Corinthians 1:9 and 17
Next thought comes in the words of my mother. “I blame the parents!” The youth born into this time, when the devil knows his time is short and attacks are barraged against family, church, and culture, are the conquests. Do they even have a fighting chance? Are the above questions valid? Valid indeed! In all humility I say that. I take great pity on our children but I am not so sure I blame the parents because I am one. I know how I have raised my guys and I know how discouraging it can be now, to watch their mistakes. Do I have answers? After round two of theological debate, I am brain weary. As with any discussion of God’s character and fairness, we must, in the end, realize our limitations and fall flat on our faces in utter surrender. I did this many years ago after a long dry season of rebellion and fruitless searching. It was at a Bible study (I never did entirely quit God) and my loveliest of sisters in Christ said, “We just have to trust Him that He will judge in ALL FAIRNESS and PERFECT LOVE.”
In review of some of the things I have concluded besides that MAYBE Satan actually did get a bum rap,
1) Judas is a character I have been known to feel sorry for because it was predestined that he would most certainly betray Jesus. He ALSO made the choice of his own free will. Both statements are one hundred percent true.
2) If we are to grieve Satan’s demise because, after all, he is much like us in our ugliest moments of proud and jealous rage, THEN I MUST TAKE THIS SAME SYMPATHY TO MY MOST DESPISED ENEMY. Closer to home, the idea loses much of its glory! Oh please God, not THAT! But THAT is exactly what the most sanctified among us will do. “Love thine enemy.”
3) God did create us to be eternal, perfect in obedience, lovely and free. He could not in any manner of truth, create us under oppressive possession. For God to achieve true companionship (that was His goal), there was no way we could have built in loyalty to Him! He would always KNOW it was fake! And the relationship would not, could not be real for Him, even if it seemed real for us.
4) God in all His power and might has limitations. He cannot contradict Himself or do anything which conflicts with Truth…what we can understand as Reality. So why are we to be “punished” for the sin which entered the world through a serpent? God surely could have stamped the snake dead before it ever laid eyes on Eve. But no, He promised He would do that later. Hmm. I have thought so very long and hard about this and I have some fully formed answers but for now, it is best to remember, if there had been another way, a better way, God would know it and do it, IF HE COULD. The omnipotent God cannot lie. There is good reason for the presence of SATAN in this world. “All things work together for good TO THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”
5) Do you hear the trust? ALWAYS, it comes down to a leap of faith. If you have questions and what seems like insurmountable doubts about God’s character, open His Book about Him. It is ALIVE. Supernaturally LIVING. You open it and He will be there. You will learn that He is 100% love and 100% holy, righteous judge. There can be NO CONFLICT in Him. Therefore, His judgment must be fair and loving.
6) If you believe this time of testing and refining is like a bad joke, in all its cruelty, because some greedy God wants our truest love and affection, be wise to know, it is not ALL about pleasing Him. He wants to please us. He is love and so he waits while we dwell in this life of heaven and hell on earth, mixed up, confusing, and full of second chances, third, fourth, nth….no. He waits but not to the nth chance. WHYYYYYYYYYYY? The desperate scream resounds amongst even the MOST faithful. The omniscient Creator should know, we don’t do eternity well. We cannot wrap our minds around it. Given an eternity to decide, would we take an eternity? I am pretty sure some would. God KNOWS who they are.
So as we wrestle with the ABSOLUTE TOUGHEST QUESTION about who our GOD really is, do we throw out the GLORY with the MYSTERY? GOD IS. To find out who He is, His revelation is available at… creation.com…bible.com…prayer.com…church.com (be careful with that website, it is corrupted)…openthedoor.com…or come on back to christianityisjewish.com! Paul sent the people of Corinth to Christ.com:
“God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful…[He sent me] to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.” ~1 Corinthians 1:9 and 17
