Life on the Lowest Plane (Subtitle)
The devil slanders God to man (Genesis 3:1-7) and man to God (Job 1:9-12; 2:1-7).
He is called "the wicked one."
Matthew 13:19, "When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart."
He is not only the personification of evil, "the wicked one," but he is the source of evil in others.
1 John 3:8, "He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil."
The devil is a liar and cannot speak the truth. He is a murderer and bent on the ruin and destruction of men. He was the first sinner; therefore he is the forefather of sinners.
John 8:44, "Ye are of your father the devil and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar and the father of it."
He is called "the tempter." He tempted the Son of man and he tempts all men.
Matthew 4:3, "And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread."
1 Thess. 3:5, "For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, and our labor be in vain."
He is called "the deceiver." He deceives both individuals and nations. He began his wicked work in Eden by deceiving Eve.
Revelation 12:9, "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the devil, and satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him."
1 Timothy 2:14, "And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression."
On the threshold of divine revelation we read the prophecy of a conflict between satan and God and every page from that on is but an unfolding of its progress toward its divinely appointed end, the ultimate and absolute defeat of satan, the eternal and perfect victory of God.
The Commencement of the Conflict
That a good God created everything good is a logical supposition as the character of God must be expressed in His works. But when God says that every creation of His was "very good," then the statement is lifted out of the realm of supposition into that of fact.
God, then, did not create evil nor did He create the evil one as the evil one. From whence then did evil come? How did "the anointed cherub" become the "devil," "the wicked one," "the tempter," "the deceiver"? How did the beautiful archangel who held the highest rank in heaven become the diabolical traitor who will be cast into the depths of hell? How did he who "abode in the truth" become an apostate and "the father of lies"?
We have seen already that it was because he said,
"I will ascend into heaven.
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.
I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation.
I will ascend above the clouds.
I will be like the Most High."
Every word of this defiant, presumptuous declaration is the very breath of treason and anarchy. lucifer is unwilling longer to be a subject in and a prince over the world; he is determined not to be a subordinate but a sovereign.
God could brook no such independence of action; He could countenance no such effrontery to His sovereignty over the universe or His moral government of created beings. Such treason brought satan and God into deadly conflict.
The Consequences of the Conflict
The die had been cast. satan was henceforth to contest with God the possession of the earth and all therein; to set himself up as a rival claimant to the world's sovereignty and to man's worship. He would establish a kingdom of his own. God, for a purpose which we shall understand as we proceed with the unfolding of His wondrous plan of redemption, permitted satan to go forward with his evil designs.
Two Sovereigns. There are now in the universe two separate distinct kingdoms, the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of satan. Two sovereigns claim authority over Heaven and earth.
By His creatorship God is the rightful Lord for all things were created by Him and for Him. God has never given away to any created being, angelic or human, any part of His universe. He holds the possession of the whole universe in perpetuity.
Deut. 10:14, "Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord's thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is."
Psalm 24:1, "The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein."
~Ruth Paxson~
(continued with # 22)
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