2002-01-01
Good Morning Fellow Believers,
I am led to continue the discussion begun yesterday on the question: Did God ever create anything evil? The Lord has given us some meaningful "combat intelligence" on the adversary and revealed a great deal about Himself in the Scriptures. By reading and meditating on them and by looking up cross-references, we are allowed to have a remarkably deep understanding. We become equipped to deal with our battles with Satan and his followers, by knowing the will of and the wonderful attributes of our awesome God Who goes into battle with us. COL 1: 15-16, "Christ is the visible likeness of the invisible God. He is the first-born Son, superior to all created things. For through Him God created everything in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen things, including spiritual powers, lords, rulers, and authorities. God created the whole universe through Him and for Him." When we looked back at IS 14: 9-15 and EZK 28: 11-19, we saw that the adversary was not created to be an adversary at all. Instead, he was created to be God's chief and highly loved angel in charge of heavenly worship, given a life filled with the music of harps and lived among sparkling gems. It was not God's choice that this foolish heavenly being, Lucifer, misused the free agency which God had given him to do evil. It was not God's choice that he and the one-third of heavenly host that followed him were cast down to earth and to the darkest part of the world of the dead.
We all know that evil is insidious and can be passed from being to being. This is what happened when the serpent deceived Eve and then Adam in the garden of Eden [GN 3: 1-6]. It is how God had to watch all of mankind born in sin and to come up with a plan to give them escape from slavery to it. The plan was no accident. COL 1: 19-20, reveals that this plan was in place even before the creation of the world. "For it was by God's own decision that the Son has in Himself the full nature of God. Through the Son, then, God decided to bring the whole universe back to Himself. God made peace through His Son's death on the cross and so, brought back to Himself all things, both on earth and in heaven." 1 PET 1 :20-21, "He had been chosen by God before the creation of the world and was revealed in these last days for your sake. Through Him you believe in God, Who raised Him from death and gave Him glory; and so your faith and hope are fixed on God." Since Adam and Eve were not evil until the original sin was committed, we can see that God created them to be righteous, "in His image." If we are to understand God's will as He revealed it to David, then we can pray with confidence PS 31: 4-5 knowing that the Lord has the power to protect us from Satan's evil. "You are my Refuge and Defense; guide me and led me as you have promised. Keep me safe from the trap that has been set for me; shelter me from danger. I place myself in Your care. You will save me, Lord; You are a faithful God."
In the course of the research that I do to write these messages, I found some very interesting and meaningful "combat intelligence" on the use of the term "star" in the Scriptures and will now share it with you. You may notice that the word "star" appears twice in the IS 14: 12-14 passage. "King of Babylon, bright morning star, you have fallen from heaven! In the past you conquered nations; but now you have been thrown to the ground. You were determined to climb up to heaven and place yourself above the highest stars. You thought you would sit like a king on that mountain to the north where the gods assemble. You said you would climb to the tops of the clouds and be like the Almighty." The word in Hebrew for star is "helel" or "shining one." Now let's see some cross references that will help shed some light on this subject. In JOB 28: 4-7 God speaks of creation, "Were you there when I made the world? If you know so much, tell me about it. What holds up the pillars that support earth? Who laid the cornerstone of the world? In the dawn of that day the stars sang together and the heavenly beings shouted for joy." This is hardly a view of God creating evil. Who were the stars to which God was referring here and in the Isaiah passage? These were the heavenly beings we call angels. There is more to say on this subject, which I will do in tomorrow's message.
We need to ask ourselves about the human propensity to blame God when evil happens. This morning I listened to a question put to Pastor Michael Youssef of the Church of the Apostles in Atlanta, GA. What should a pastor say when a member of his church has just experienced the loss of a loved one and wants to put the blame on God? This very learned pastor replied, "For a short while, let the grieving person have his feelings about not being in the mood to praise God. Once a little time as gone by, help him to understand that he must get back to praising God, because He and His word are the best defense we have against the devil gaining a stronghold in our lives." When we continually refuse to praise God, we are in a desert in our lives. If we stay there, then we are ungrateful for the blessings, ill-equipped to fight evil, and vulnerable to sure spiritual death.
PRAYER: O Lord, The Psalmist in PS 121: 7-8 helps us understand why You deserve our continual praise. "The Lord will protect you from all danger; He will keep you safe. He will protect you as you come and go now and forever." PS 124: 6-8 illuminates the Source of our help when we are in trouble. "Let us thank the Lord, Who has not let our enemies destroy us. We have escaped like a bird from a hunter's trap; the trap is broken, and we are free! Our help comes from the lord, Who made heaven and earth." You bring me back to Your Son's very own words in JN 8: 32, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." PS 134: 2-3 expresses what our attitude toward You should be, "Raise your hands in prayer in the Temple, and praise the Lord! May the Lord, Who made heaven and earth, bless you from Zion!" The praise we offer You today is from our hearts. We come to You as sinners, needing the life-giving water that pours from Your heart to ours. We ask You to refresh our spirits, fill us with the Holy Spirit, encourage us to have the courage of our faith in You that we should endure Satan's arrows and fight them off successful in the name of Christ Jesus. You are a great God and deserve our highest praise for all that You are and all that You do for us. We pledge You our humble worship, adoration, loyalty, diligence, honor, glory, praise, and thanksgiving for eternity. Your kindness, goodness, and generosity are not lost on us. We come before You today to listen intently for Your will in our lives and to act on it. In Christ's name, we pray. Amen.
What intriguing questions the Holy Spirit brings before us! Tomorrow, we will continue, as promised above, to investigate the "combat intelligence" our loving Abba gives us to wage successful warfare. In the meanwhile, we need to meditate on the love that He has for us that prompted Him to set up the plan involving the death of His only Son on the cross before the world was created. Our God is omniscient (all-knowing), compassionate, and patient. He really does know what is best for us, even if the path to that leads to some pain and suffering along the way. For His sake, His Son's, and our own, we are being asked to endure in our faith by the Lord Who loves each of us so very much. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn