Angelic Conflict part 235: The victory of the Christ – 1Ti 2:3-4; Pro 6:16-19; 5:5-6; 8:13; 1Pe 5:6-11; Psa 45:7; 11:5; 97:10.Title: Angelic Conflict part 235: The victory of the Christ – 1Ti 2:3-4; Pro 6:16-19; 5:5-6; 8:13; 1Pe 5:6-11; Psa 45:7; 11:5; 97:10.
The King came and dethroned all powers, all authorities, and all opposition, and their judgment is certain. Again, in baptism or identification this means that any believer also has triumphed over all of them through Him. Claim it! He is near!
When this is realized, the whole of our civilization will be seen in a new light. The mad rush of men to get to the pinnacle of their selfish desires by climbing and climbing even at the expense of those they ruthlessly brush aside in the race for what they call success – is seen for what it really is – foolishness.
Luk 16:15 that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.
It is the same as what we see in satan. For when we put fallen man’s desires without God beside satan’s similar method to achieve power and worship, we see all the similarities and can easily discern the source and the influence.
When we put the world's systems for success besides the work of Christ, then salvation becomes even brighter and lovelier.
Until we are absent from the earth and face to face with the Lord, we are required to see this through faith in the doctrines that we learn during our sojourning on the earth.
God's good creation has been seized by hostile, evil, cosmic forces that are seeking to destroy God's beneficent plan for the world. God has allowed this and God wages war against these forces. Through the person of Jesus Christ God has secured the overthrow of the evil cosmic army. The Church as the body of Christ has been called to be a decisive means by which the victory is carried out and realized.
Many theologians of old and new have struggled to find an origin to the evil that exists in this world. They have approached the problem of evil by framing it as a problem of divine providence that, when carried through to its conclusions, makes evil flow from God's character. While knowing that God is loving and good they assume that divine omnipotence meticulously controls every event and therefore it is the loving and good God that has done the evil with some purpose in mind. This creates some glaring theological problems and misrepresents God as the author of evil and sin.
As members of the human race have a free will it is clear that fallen angels also had a free will and continue to have it in order to oppose God.
Eph 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
1Ti 4:1 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,
Satan is called the father of lies and so it was satan who first lied. He is called a murderer from the beginning and so satan was the first murderer.
The classical theological model proposed by such men as Augustine (400 AD) have God exercising meticulous control over good and evil concluding that satan is not independent but an agent of God.
This would make all evil the will of God, which it is not. It is God's will that all men be saved and come to a full knowledge of the truth.
All sin is against God and it is perpetrated by creatures who exercise their free will independently from God's will.
Now, certainly, God can and does turn curses into blessings and that His power is more than enough to overcome evil, but that in no way condones sin or evil in this world.
In this false theology, evil becomes an intellectual problem to be debated and not a spiritual problem to be overcome in our own lives.
A believer can overcome evil in his own life. He cannot vanquish it from the world, but he has been given superior power over it, which comes in the form of very real application of the truth that is alive and powerful and according to the new and living way which Christ has given through the Spirit of God from the right hand of the throne of God.
When man attempts to eradicate evil from the world he only adds more to it.
Evil is concrete and real. It is not abstract. It is performed by very real creatures with a very real intent. It is completely against God and it has spread fully in God's world. It was first done by fallen lucifer, the star of the morning, and subsequently by those angels, who in their free will followed his rebellion against God and therefore against everything that is good. Mankind followed suit, but salvation was brought to man and some accepted it in faith and others rejected it (Cain and Abel). Those who rejected the offer of deliverance through the Messiah will follow in the judgment of the rebellion of satan. Those who have accepted the offer through faith are regenerated and will follow Christ into eternal glory.
The point is that sin and evil are very real and extremely hurtful, painful, detrimental, and bring death.
Evil cannot be adequately grasped in a detached, neutral, abstract way. It can only be seen in the light of God’s word and it can only be overcome with God’s good.
Rom 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Evil is sin. Evil is the creature claiming to do what only God can do. Evil is man and angel thinking that he is superior to others and equal with God.
It cannot be known through faceless, nameless statistics or abstract theorems. All approaches to the problem of evil that do not go beyond these will be in danger of offering cheap and trite solutions. Radical evil can be known only when seen incarnate and experienced concretely.
For example, child abuse is not God's will, yet in allowing free will God has allowed atrocity.
In rebuttal to the presence of evil, God brought grace through the person of Christ. This grace is all sufficient and able or powerful to overcome all evil by far.
So although a child may experience horror they can, and through faith will, be delivered from that horror through the overwhelming love of God. And as I know in one such case a person who experienced much abuse as a child felt drawn to God even more. Though God can turn all evil on its ear through faith in Christ and trust in God's grace this does not remove one ounce of the detestability of sin and evil in the eyes of God. It is attributable to real angels and real people who follow their example in rebellion against God. There will come a time when it is all over and done with and will be no more. Until that time we fight the good fight of faith, illustrating through doctrine and the power of the Spirit, the evil of the evil one in this world with the hope that many will be set free and become sons of glory.
It seems to set our minds at ease to know that God controls everything and that there is a divine purpose in everything. This statement in true on one level and that is that God is victorious and will be, with all the elect angels and regenerated mankind, the only ones standing in the end. God certainly does work all things for good, but not to every person. God does this over and above for those who love Him. To say He does so for everyone is to diminish the great, supernatural blessings that come to those who love Him. He is our greatest love. Not all mankind is saved. That is directly against the will of God.
1Ti 2:3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
1Ti 2:4who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
It was never God's will for angels or mankind to sin against Him.
The reality is a bit more scary than the liberal theology that God in some way smiled when satan fell, knowing that He was to use it as His purpose. While He certainly did use the occasion of evil to bring grace we would not conclude that the evil of satan was God's sovereign desire. Did God smile when Cain murdered his brother? In fact God pleaded with him as He saw the plan being hatched in Cain's heart.
Gen 4:7 And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.
Pro 6:16 There are six things which the Lord hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him:
Pro 6:17Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood,
Pro 6:18A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil,
Pro 6:19A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.
The very real presence of evil in this world that is directly opposing God and God's Church is certainly scarier than liberal theological explanations, but knowing the power of evil to do real evil puts them in the proper place - a dark army opposing God and God's people and not in the camp of God.
Also, knowing the power of God through Christ and the victory already won brings us tremendous peace and the reality of evil makes us very alert.
Under the liberal view a believer doesn’t take evil as seriously as he should and therefore, like one who thinks he is not under threat of his enemy or underestimates his enemy and is quickly defeated, the liberal, usually legalistic believer who is apathetic towards detailed doctrine is much more easily deceived and compromised in his conscience.
The reality of evil makes the positive believer very alert and he is not easily duped or deceived.
1Pe 5:6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,
1Pe 5:7 casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you.
1Pe 5:8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
1Pe 5:9 But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.
1Pe 5:10 And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.
1Pe 5:11 To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.
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