Welcome to answers to the big questions. I'm your host, Allen Sonter, and I'm glad you could join me today. In the first two episodes, I focused on God evidence for his existence and what he is like.
But as we look at the world around us, we see much that does not reflect what a good God would do. Where did these discordant elements come from? I believe they came from an enemy often called Satan, who hates God and wants to destroy what God has made. So the question I will try to answer in this episode is who is Satan? The answer to this question starts a long way back.
God has always lived, so no doubt he started creating living things millions of years ago. The Bible tells us that God is surrounded by millions of angels who are happy to do anything he asks them to do. But we also get a picture of a rebel angel whose name, before he became a rebel, was shining one better known to many as Lucifer.
The Bible indicates that he was the leader of all the other angels, but he disagreed with the way God was running the universe and wanted to do things his own way. A symbolic description of the situation given by the prophet Isaiah in chapter 14 and verses twelve to 14, indicates that Lucifer became so ambitious that he wanted to take God's place. Apparently, he went around seeking support from the angels.
And Revelation twelve, verse four, indicates that about a third of the angels were prepared to follow him. The apostle John, writing in chapter twelve, verse seven of the Book of Revelation, the last book in the Bible, tells us that as a result of Lucifer's rebellion, there was war in Heaven, the place where God lives. Lucifer, who became known as Satan, meaning the accuser or adversary, supported by the angels who accepted his leadership, fought against God, but he was defeated and thrown out of Heaven.
He came with his angels down to this earth, which seems to have been created not long before. He determined that he would set up his own kingdom on this earth to demonstrate that his system of government was better than God's. To accomplish his aim, the first thing he had to do was to get human beings to accept his leadership in place of God's.
Now, let's change the scene for a moment. God's final act, when he created all living things on this earth, was to make humans. He created one man, Adam, and one woman, Eve.
And he told them to populate the earth. He made a beautiful garden called Eden for them to live in, and warned them about Satan, telling them not to eat the fruit of one particular tree in the garden. He said that if they ate that fruit, they would eventually die.
He wanted Adam and Eve to trust him to know what was best for them and the simple test of their trust would be their obedience to his command not to eat from that tree. Now we return to Satan and his activities again. Soon after creation, before any children were born to Adam and Eve, satan came into the garden and by lying to Eve about the fruit of that tree called the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, he tricked her into eating the fruit.
He told Eve that she would not die if she ate it and she believed his lie and ate the fruit. She then gave some of the fruit to Adam and he ate it too. By eating the fruit, Adam and Eve showed that they were willing to obey Satan rather than God.
So Satan claimed the world as his domain. He said that humans had accepted him as their ruler, so he should be free to try out his form of government. Here.
All the created beings in the universe were perplexed about whether Satan or God was right. Although most of them did not join Satan in his rebellion, they had heard his claims that God was overbearing and dictatorial and that he had not treated Satan fairly. And they were puzzled.
They had never heard lies before, so didn't know what to make of Satan's accusations against God. So when humans believed Satan and disobeyed God, all the loyal angels and other created beings in the universe watched to see what God would do if he destroyed Adam and Eve. They might have continued to obey him, but out of fear rather than love.
Because God was a loving and honest God. He didn't want to force his created beings to obey him from fear. And he had decided to give them genuine free will so they could decide for themselves whether they would accept his rulership.
That's why he had put the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the garden in the first place. So when Adam and Eve chose to listen to Satan instead of God, god didn't force them to obey him. He allowed Satan to try out his form of government here on this earth as he wanted to.
There's an interesting account of some of the interaction between God and Satan in the Book of Job in the Bible. When Adam and Eve realized what the result of their disobedience really was, they were sorry and tried to obey God again. But the damage had been done and they had developed a weakened nature so that they couldn't stand up against Satan by themselves and they were condemned to die for disobeying God.
As time passed, Adam and Eve had children and the people multiplied on the earth. But they eventually died just as God said they would. All Adam and Eve's descendants, and we're among them, have a weakened, sinful human nature.
So we can't escape Satan's control by ourselves and we will all eventually die unless we choose to accept God's solution to our problem. Because God still respects our freedom of choice. When we want God to be our ruler rather than Satan, god will step in when we ask him to and put limits on what Satan can do.
It's only because God does this that any of us can escape the control of Satan. Way back before the creation of the world, god and his son, whose name was originally Michael, but who is better known to us now as Jesus Christ, had worked out a plan to deal with the rebellion should it arise. Under this plan, sometimes called the Plan of Salvation, god's son was to come to this earth as a human being and was to live just as we live here, but without in any way accepting Satan's rulership or obeying him by sinning.
Sin is obeying Satan rather than God. He knew that Satan would try desperately to get him to accept his rule, and he decided that he would allow Satan to kill him rather than for him to accept Satan's rule. The death that he died would be special in that it would be accepted by God in place of the death of any people who chose to accept God's rulership rather than Satan's.
Only by accepting Jesus as their savior could human beings escape from the death that would result from accepting Satan as ruler. Satan has been busy for several thousand years now, trying to establish his control of this earth and trying to prove that his system based on pride, selfishness and coercion is better than God's based on love and freedom. The loyal angels have watched what has happened and they can see that God's way is best.
So the time will soon come when God says that Satan's experiment has gone on long enough and he will put an end to Satan and his evil angels who help him in his work. Unfortunately, people who have chosen to live by Satan's principles will then have to die as God originally said they would. So who is Satan? Satan is the rebellious angel, the Shining One, or Lucifer, who has been trying to take control of this world in defiance of the God who created the world and every other living thing, including Lucifer himself and all the angels who side with him.
Is God then responsible for what Lucifer has become and therefore for all the suffering that has resulted from Satan's activities? No, God did not create Satan. He created the Shining One, Lucifer, the beautiful leading angel. But he gave Lucifer free will and Lucifer misused that freedom and his pride led him to become the rebel Satan.
There's always a risk that any individual who has free will might misuse it. But would we rather therefore be simply robots who can't think and choose for ourselves? I think not. We should thank God for the freedom of choice he has given us and thank him too for the plan of salvation that makes possible a way of escape for us from the mess that Satan has got us into.
In this presentation, I mentioned that God told Adam and Eve that if they ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and Evil, they would eventually die. Death is to most of us an enemy that we don't like to meet. But what really is death? This is a big question that many people ask.
In the next presentation, I will answer the question what is death? And you'll see that there are two kinds of death. This answer is one you really should not miss. You've been listening to answers to the big questions.
I'm Allen Sonter and I hope you can join me next time.
if you have any questions or comments in relation to today's program, you can call 3ABN Australia Radio within Australia on 024-97-3456 or from outside of Australia on country code 6124-973-3456.
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Our God will work never failing our helper prevailing for still our ancient foe does see to work us well his craft and power are great hand armed with cruel hate on earth is not easy to do to do to do would do. And though this world with devil still should threaten to undo we will not fear. For God hath will is truth to triumph.
Through us the Prince of darkness we tremble, his rage we can follow. One little work shall fail him that word of no thanks to them abide the spirit and the gift are ours. Through him who with us let good and kindred go this mortal life also the body they may kill God through the fight and his kingdom is forever almighty for dress is I got.
This world is not my home, I'm just a passing through my treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. The angels beckoned me from heaven's open door and I can't feel at home in this world anymore. Oh Lord, you know I have no friend like you if heaven's not my home, then Lord, what will I do? The angels beckon me from heaven's open door and I can't feel at home in this world anymore they're all expecting me and that's one thing I know my savior pardoned me and now I onward go I know he'll take me through though I am weak and poor and I can't feel at home in this world anymore oh, Lord, you know I have no friend like you if heaven's not my home then Lord, what will I do? The angels beckon me from heaven's open door and I can't feel at home in this world anymore just up in glory land we live eternally the saints on every hand are shouting victory their songs the sweetest praise rip back from heaven shore and I can't feel at home in this world anymore oh, Lord, you know I have no friend like you if heaven's not my home then, Lord, what will I do? The angels beckon me from heaven's open door and I can't feel at home in this world anymore close SA roles and cracks we try to feel the void inside but nothing satisfies we pull more in but more falls out leaving us empty so empty of what can mean our brokenness is there a remedy? Close there is one who satisfies and fills our every need he gives us life and knows our hearts and who we're made to be.
He is there in our despair he never changes never changes his love command our brokenness. He is our remedy here. The fountain of living water.
The very source of life. He fills all these places. His Jesus Christ.
We are all broken. System full of holes and cracks, connected to the source of life. Forever satisfied forever satisfied here the fountain of living water the very source of life he fills all our empty spaces his name is Jesus Christ he is the fountain of living water the very source of love he fills all our empty spaces.
His name is Jesus Christ. Through the eyes of an orphan we see pain here on earth over hunger and starvation this world is going through. There are wars everywhere, people dying here and there, but there is hope.
Nothing. We are bound for glory. This is not our home.
This is not where we belong. God prepared a place for us to be happy eternally. One day we'll be there with his bright glory to share there will be no sorrow there will be no pain there we will see Jesus face to face at times the problems just get too much and we feel like giving up when we really fought the hardest yet we fail in the end.
Our friends have gone away. Everything seems just in vain. But there is hope.
It's nothing. We're bound for glory. This is not our home.
This is not where we belong. God prepared a place. For us to be happy eternally one day we'll be there with his bright glory to share there will be no sorrow, there will be no pain there we will see Jesus face to face we all desire to live in a perfect world.
It may not seem, but we're heading down. This is not our home. This is not where we belong.
God prepared a place for us to be happy eternally. One day we'll be there with his. Bright glory to share there will be no sorrow there will be no pain there we will see Jesus face to Facebook it do can wipe the tears from your eyes help me realize who can take your burdens and care ready now to share jesus how awesome is his name? Jesus he always is the same jesus, my redeemer for the loss he came who can wipe the tears from your eyes? Help me realize who can take your burdens and care ready now to share jesus, how awesome is his name? Jesus, he always is the same jesus, my redeemer for the loss he came do you have been listening to a production of Three ABN Australia Radio.
