BY Argie Simonis
"Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which you have delivered: and many such like things do you." Mark 7:13
The fact that Jesus became a man, or in other words, God became a man and dwelt among us, is the greatest miracle that ever happened!
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1
"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelled among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." John 1:14
Have you ever wondered why God waited 4000 years from the day Adam and Eve sinned, to send Jesus to Earth and redeem mankind?
"But now has he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises." Heb. 8:6
So if what we have now is better than the Old Testament they had then, why did God wait 4000 years to put the New Testament into effect? The Old Testament saints had NO idea of the benefits we enjoy today under the New Testament.
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- Have you also ever wondered why God chose to come as a man, live here on earth and suffer death on a cross to redeem mankind?
As God that he is, couldn't He do it in some other, more painless way?
- Why did Jesus have to be born of a virgin?
These questions will be answered in this series of posts, and the more you begin to understand the sequence of events that led to the birth of Jesus, who as a man came to earth to redeem mankind from the yoke of sin, I am sure you will appreciate much more the real meaning of the Christmas celebration, and what Jesus really did for us!
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"But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law," Gal. 4:4
Notice that here Paul speaks of the "fullness of time," meaning that God had an appointed time for it. In other words, some other things had to happen before Jesus became a man, redeemed us from sin, and offered us the salvation that is available to ALL people today.
Just what I've said so far, I'm sure debunks a lot of traditions that some of you have been taught. And the first thing that comes to my mind is this:
-- Since God can do whatever He wants, why did He choose this way to redeem us, and by extension, since God can do everything, why does He allow all this evil that exists in the world and why does not He make it just disappear?
Many believe that everything that happens in the world is God's will, and somehow God causes or "allows" it. There are terms even in insurance company contracts that cover you from "Acts of God", that is, from the wrath of God that may fall on your property (storms, floods, earthquakes, fires...). So many blame God for everything bad that happens on earth, when God is NOT to blame for it at all.
"Now to Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us," Eph. 3:20
This passage is a prayer that Paul prays (Eph. 3:14-21), for believers to understand the
the breadth and the length, and the depth and the height of the love of Christ.
In verse 19 says:
"And to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that you might be filled with all the fullness of God." Εph. 3:19
So how is it possible to know something that "passes all knowledge"? What Paul means here is to EXPERIENCE God, something that surpasses ALL intellectual knowledge.
There are many who take only the first half of this verse, that God
"is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think"
and they leave out the second half which says
"according to the power that works in us."
Many people use the first half and say that God can do everything, without ANY limitations. What this verse is actualy saying is that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or imagine with our minds,
ACCORDING TO THE POWER THAT WORKS WITHIN US! In other words, if there is NO God-working power within us, the first part of the verse does NOT apply.
There is an analogy here, and I will explain it. There are things that limit God in how He operates. This does NOT mean that someone else limits Him, but God is limited by Himself. If this sounds strange to you, let's read from Psalms:
"My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips." Psalm 89:34
Just right here we see something that binds God. This means that when God says something, it is binding for Him. It is a Covenant, it is a contract.
See what he also read in the letter to the Hebrews:
"That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie..." Heb. 6:18
And in the Corinthianths:
"For all the promises of God in him are YES, and in Him AMEN, to the glory of God by us." 2Cor. 1:20
It is impossible for God to break His word because that is His nature and His character.
"Who (Jesus) being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, ..." Heb. 1:3
This means that Jesus was not simply a representative, or an ambassador of God. Jesus is THE PERFECT representation of God, that is, God himself who took on flesh and came and dwelt among us (John 1:14).
"...upholding all things by the word of His power..."
What he is telling us here is that the entire Creation, the universe, is held together by the power of God's word. The Lord spoke Creation into existence (Gen. 1), therefore the entire Creation responds to God's word.
Science today has succeeded in seperating nuclei only from unstable atoms, such as uranium and plutonium. But did you know that the nuclear energy contained in the atoms of a slice of bread is capable of moving a cruise ship from one end of the Atlantic to the other?
Have you thought about how protons, the positively charged elements of an atom's nucleus, stay together and don't fall apart because of their positive charge?
Basically, what the laws of magnetism and electricity teach us is that two particles with the same charge repel each other. If you approach the two positive or the two negative ends of two magnets, they repel each other. The same should be true of the protons in the atom's nucleus, because they are positively charged.
What keeps them together and not falling apart? The nuclei of atoms are so strongly bound together that only certain unstable nuclei have been able to break apart and release all that nuclear energy that holds them together.
This explains this verse in Hebrews 1:3 that we read. It is the power of God's word that holds the nuclei of atoms together.
-- In other words, the integrity of god's word is what keeps the ENTIRE universe in existence. --
If God ever lies, breaks His promise, or breaks His Covenant, the whole universe will collapse!
-- Do you understand this? It's an awesome revelation! --
The reason I mention this is to dispel this notion that God as God is, can do anything and control everything, without any limitations.
So when the Lord said for example:
"SUBMIT yourselves therefore to God. RESIST the devil, and he will flee from you." James 4:7
Right away we see that the Lord Himself limits Himself, because He tells us that WE are the ones who MUST resist the devil and he will flee from us.
When we do NOT resist the devil and accept his own suggestions, we limit God from intervening in our lives. If the Lord were to intervene in our lives while we are cooperating with the devil, He would violate His word, and this as we have seen is something that CANNOT be done.
Do you understand this? Unfortunately many Christians do NOT understand this. God can NOT just do whatever He wants.
"He that walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart." Psalm 15:2
"... he honors them that fear the LORD. He that swears to his own hurt, and changes not." Psalm 15:4
When the Lord promises with an oath, He does NOT break it.
In the times we live in, the complete opposite is happening. As soon as people see that they are losing their profit or that they have to make some sacrifices to keep their promise, they go for the easy solution:
"I've changed my mind and I won't keep my word to you."
With a good lawyer they can overturn or void entire contracts they signed.
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If you're wondering how all this so far relates to the birth of Jesus, stay with me and I'll explain.
Remember what we read at the beginning:
"But when the FULLNESS of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law," Gal. 4:4
This fullness of time refers to something done at the FIRST opportunity.
-- Jesus came
at the FIRST opportunity. --
From the moment man sinned, God began to work His plan to send His Son to earth to take upon Himself the burden of sin and every curse that had fallen upon us because of that sin.
But God was limited in how He could do this because He had given ALL control and authority over the earth to Adam and Eve.
"The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD's: but the earth has he given to the children of men." Psalm 115:16
"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." Gen. 1:26
"And God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." Gen. 1:28
This is exactly where the limitation comes in. When the Lord gave man ABSOLUTE authority and dominion over the earth, He actualy limited Himself in how He could intervene on the earth. And this, because when the Lord gives a gift He cannot take it back:
"For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance." Rom. 11:29
If I give you a car as a gift, it is now yours and you have the right to keep it, sell it or even burn it if you want!
God loved us so much that he gave us the whole earth unconditionally! He never said "I give you the earth on the condition that you obey me". And I explained that His word is a contract!
Surely it was NOT in His plan for man to hand over this gift to the devil. There are so many passages in the Scriptures that reveal this, what God's original plan for us really was!
Do you understand now how God limited Himself in the way He intervenes on earth?
Here I would also like to clarify something that seems like a contradiction:
"The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD's: but the earth has he given to the children of men." Psalm 115:16
"The earth is the LORD's, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein." Psalm 24:1
There is NO contradiction here. God created the earth, and as Creator is also the owner of the earth, but He put man to RULE it with absolute and unconditional dominion and authority.
It was never in God's plan for us to destroy the earth or our very lives with the wars, enmity, rapes, injustice and all that evil that exists today. But He created us and gave us such authority and freedom of will that even when we decided to do things against His will, He did not come to take back His word and cancel His Covenant with us. If God ever did such a thing, I explained that the ENTIRE universe would collapse!
Do we understand this? They are great truths and revelations from the Scriptures, and I am slowly building the foundation to explain why it took God 4000 years to send us Jesus.
I will also explain why God did not choose another way to solve the problem and redeem us.
The main thing I have explained so far is that God was bound by his own word. He couldn't just take it back, nor force us against the free will He gave us.
Therefore God HAD to become a man. Because He gave ALL the authority and dominion of the earth to one flesh and blood being, man. Let us not forget that God created physical beings and gave absolute dominion of our physical planet to physical beings, with flesh and bones. But He is a spirit:
"God is a SPIRIT: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." John 4:24
Thus, He would violate His own word if, as a spirit that He is, intervened on earth to correct the errors of man. In other words, if He came as God and simply with His words eliminated the devil from the face of the earth, along with death and every other evil, He would violate His own word and the whole universe would collapse.
This is exactly why Jesus had to come as a man. In John chapter 5, Jesus was talking about the authority given to Him by the Father. He had even declared His divinity:
"Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, MAKING HIMSELF EQUAL WITH GOD." John 5:18
"Truly, truly, I say to you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live." John 5:25
"For as the Father has life in himself; so has he given to the Son to have life in himself;" John 5:26
"And has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the SON OF MAN." John 5:27
Do you see this here? As a MAN, Jesus had authority to judge and intervene in people's affairs. This in itself is an awesome revelation!
When Jesus is called the Son of God, it refers to His divinity (John 5:18), and when He is called the Son of man, it refers to His human nature:
"And without controversy great is the MYSTERY of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached to the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." 1Tim. 3:16
When Jesus was born, the angels said:
"For to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ THE LORD." Luke 2:11
The word -Lord- belongs only to God and is the word by which God is characterized throughout the Bible. How many Lords do we have as Christians? ONE of course.
-- So Jesus did NOT progressively become Lord as He grew up, but WAS Lord AND God at His birth. --
That is why when the Scriptures refer to Jesus as the Son of God, they are talking about His divinity, His divine nature. But when the Scriptures speak of Jesus as the Son of man, they refer to His human nature, His physical body:
"And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man." Luke 2:52
Jesus grew up as a natural man. He was not born speaking Hebrew. While growing up, He learned to walk and talk. His physical body had to grow like any human body.
-- But in His spirit Christ was Lord from His birth! --
Therefore, what we read in John. 5:27, speaks of the authority that Jesus has on earth because he is the Son of man. He has authority to judge and intervene on earth because he has a physical body. NO spirit has such power. That is why even the devil and the demons need people submitted to them in order to be able to flow through them.
The same goes for God.
Do you see the wisdom and justice God uses in the laws He sets?
Do you also see that God can NOT do everything?
- He CANNOT lie,
- He CANNOT take back His word,
- He CANNOT break His Covenant and His promises.
and
- He CANNOT simply step in and wipe out in one moment all the evil that exists and thus solve at once the problem that man created because of his disobedience.
That is why Jesus came at the first possible opportunity, 4000 years after the disobedience of Adam and Eve.
And as I explained, it was NECESSARY for God to become a man. Jesus had to become a man, so that He could have the authority to judge and intervene on earth.
So, if God Himself is limited by His word, how do we expect to see or experience the power of God in our lives when we do NOT cooperate with Him and the laws He has set?
This is what we will look at in this series of messages, as well as the significance of the virgin birth of Jesus.
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"Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which you have delivered: and many such like things do you." Mark 7:13
I don't mean to offend anyone's traditions, but when all our excitement at Christmas is centered around a white-haired old man in a red suit, flying on a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer and handing out presents to the whole world, first, it's tragic, and second it makes us miss the real meaning of Christmas.
I agree that all this festive atmosphere these days is very beautiful, but as Christians we need to start looking beyond the fun, the nice clothes and gifts and all the emotions it creates.
"Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You, that I may find grace in Your sight: and consider that this nation is Your people." Ex. 33:13
Here Moses asks the Lord to show him His way so that he may know Him. What most people ask God to do is help them with their healing, their finances, their job or their relationships. There are few who only ask the Lord to know Him better.
So let's look at the significance of the virgin birth of Jesus and how much it helps us understand the character and way God operates.
The Lord did not wait 4000 years to send Jesus to earth because He had marked that date in His calendar. It was because He was looking for people He could move through.
Let's go back to the book of Genesis, where it all begins:
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Gen. 1:1
Let's combine this with Paul's words in Romans:
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;" Rom. 1:18
"Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God has showed it to them." Rom. 1:19
"For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:" Rom. 1:20
There are people today who profess to be atheists and say they don't believe there is a God. Do you know that this is a lie? Paul just explained it to us in the book of Romans that we read. At a heart level, EVERYONE knows that there is a God and that God is not them.
It's awesome how Moses begins and writes in Genesis that
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Gen. 1:1
He doesn't try to explain or justify how this happened ortry to make you believe there is a God, because it is something you already know and has been revealed to ALL people.
"And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." Gen. 1:3
"And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so." Gen. 1:9
"And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth: and it was so." Gen. 1:11
"And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that has life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven." Gen. 1:20
"And God created great whales, and every living creature that moves, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good." Gen. 1:21
"And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth." Gen. 1:22
"And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so." Gen. 1:24
"And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creeps on the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good." Gen. 1:25
"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." Gen. 1:26
God SPOKE Creation into existence, even man. This is very important because today the word of a man has no power. People easily take back their word and break their promises. They make an appointment and never show up. And they don't even have the basic decency to tell you that they will be late or that they won't be able to come.
And this is a very basic reason that even Christians do not experience what they proclaim:
"For truly I say to you, That whoever shall say to this mountain, Be you removed, and be you cast into the sea; AND SHALL NOT DOUBT IN HIS HEART, but shall believe that those things which he said shall come to pass; he shall have whatever he said." Mark. 11:23
So when we do NOT keep our word on simple things like the appointment I mentioned earlier, it means that we do NOT believe in the power of our words and we confuse our own hearts.
Back in the day, a handshake was enough to close a deal, because someone's word counted. Today even entire contracts can be voided if you have a good lawyer.
Words may not matter to some people, but the Scriptures teach differently:
"Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof." Prov. 18:21
So when you start speaking all these negative things,
- I'll never make it,
- I am doomed to be alone in life,
- nobody loves me,
- nobody cares about me,
- everything is going wrong for me,
- I will never be able to stand firm on my feet again,
you are actualy speaking death into your own life.
So instead of blessing your life with words of faith and hope, the negative words you speak bind you and put you under a curse!
In the book of Genesis we saw that everything God spoke was good, and everything He said came to pass and brought forth good fruit.
We also read that God formed Adam from clay using His hands . But in reality the Lord did not create anything with His hands. Even for man, he spoke him into existence:
"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: ..." Gen. 1:26
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them." Gen. 1:27
-- Therefore, EVERYTHING in the
physical world responds to words. --
Do you know that your words have power, even if you DON'T believe it? They may not have the same power as they would if you really believed them.
How many times have you said to someone
"I will die if you do this to me"
but never happened? You know why?
"For with the heart man believes to righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made to salvation." Rom. 10:10
It's not enough just to say something; you have to believe it in your heart.
But every time you say something negative that you don't really mean, you know what happens? You bring all your faith into confusion and your heart does not know what to believe. Do you mean what you say or not?
In Mark. 11:23 Jesus clearly said that you must believe in your heart that what you say will be done. When you learn to honor and keep your word, your whole life will change!
That fact that the physical world responds to words has also been proven experimentally. In an experiment that was done, they put two groups of plants in two different rooms, with exactly the same conditions (temperature, watering, fertilizer, light). In the first plants curses and negative words were spoken daily, while in the second group they spoke blessings and played soothing music. When they later opened and studied these plants with special methods and instruments, they saw that their growth and reactions were proportional to the words they "heard".
This may seem strange to you, but these experiments are real and their findings agree with God's word.
"And God blessed them, and God said to them, ..." Gen. 1:28
Study the book of Genesis and check how many times you read "God said."
"And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat." Gen. 1:29
The power of words is therefore directly connected to the coming of Jesus to earth. Understanding this power can change our lives for the better, while the traditions of men make this power of no effect (Mark 7:13).
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Let's go back to the original question:
Why did it take 4000 years for Jesus to come to earth?
The answer is this:
That's how many years it took God to create the physical body that Jesus "clothed" and walked on earth. If this seems strange to you, consider this: How did God create the first human body? And I already explained that God used clay with His hands is a symbolic analogy used in the Scriptures. God SPOKE Adam's body into existence:
"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: ..." Gen. 1:26
"... and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." Gen. 2:7
So, just as God created the first Adam with His word, He also created the last Adam:
"And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit." 1Cor. 15:45
But this time it was different. When God created heaven and earth, there was no devil to oppose Ηim.
And when God made the creation, He studied it very well before He made it. He didn't just think of it
how it would be in its original perfect form, but ALSO in its fallen state, since He knew from the beginning that man would sin. It is truly a miracle how the universe works!
Here I will open a small parenthesis:
Do you know that god made the earth in such a way that it has the ability to heal itself?
In fact, He has calculated everything that man could do against our planet.
I say this in response to some who spread fear with scenarios that the earth will be destroyed by the greenhouse effect, by environmental pollution, by climate change, by a nuclear war or by some other human intervention.
God in His word is very clear about how the earth will be destroyed. He himself will destroy it on the day of judgment:
"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." 2Pet. 3:10
And then God will create a new heaven and earth:
"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea." Rev. 21:1
These are WRITTEN and we as believers MUST know them so that no one can shake our faith with human theories and doctrines of devils.
So, when God thought out the whole plan of Creation, He SPOKE it and it was done! But after the fall of Adam and Eve, the control and dominion of the world was handed over to the devil.
If you're wondering where I get this from, I'll explain right away.
When Adam and Eve sinned because they chose to believe the lies of the devil rather than the commandment God gave them, a spiritual law came into effect:
"Know you not, that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are to whom you obey; whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness?" Rom. 6:16
The letter to the Romans may not have been written yet, but the spiritual law that Paul describes here was already in effect. All the truths described in the Scriptures pre-existed the time they were written.
Take electricity for example. Electricity has existed since the beginning of Creation, but it took time for man to discover its properties and its principles in order to use it to his advantage.
The entire Bible is ONE book that describes
- who God is,
- what His character is,
and
- how He relates to man.
All this was inspired by the Lord to people submitted to Him, to write them down on paper so that all of us can know Him and understand Him.
So the devil knew these truths before they were revealed to man. He knew the spiritual principle from Rom. 6:16 that we just read, and he knew that if he succeeded in deceiving Adam and Eve, he would have dominion over them.
So when Adam and Eve stopped obeying God and obeyed the devil and ate the forbidden fruit,
what they did was they took all the authority and power that God gave them and gave it to the devil. They became his slaves.
I read again:
"Know you not, that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are to whom you obey; whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness?" Rom. 6:16
The Scriptures call the devil god with a small -g- NOT of the universe, but god of THIS world:
"In whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine to them." 2Cor. 4:4
The devil is called god in the same sense that man is called god in the psalms:
"I have said, You are gods; and all of you are children of the most High." Psalms 82:6
This is the psalm Jesus quoted when He said:
"Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, You are gods?" John 10:34
"If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;" John 10:35
"Say you of him, whom the Father has sanctified, and sent into the world, You blaspheme; because I said, I am the Son of God?" John 10:36
Here man is called god but NOT with a capital -g-. The word god does NOT denote man's divinity but his status as ruler and dominator over the earth. So we were gods on earth in that sense, and when we obeyed the devil, we gave him all that power and we were actualy the ones who "crowned" him god of this world.
The reason I put so much emphasis on this is that we MUST understand that the devil can do NOTHING to you without your consent or cooperation.
The authority of the earth was given to men, to physical beings with flesh and bones.
In Hebrews we read:
"Are they not all ministering spirits, (talking about the angels) sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?" Heb. 1:14
Do you understand what we just read? Who are they who are to inherit salvation? It is us! Here, in other words this tells us that part of the mission of the angels is to serve us! And in fact to serve not only
those who have already been saved, but ALSO those who are to be saved!
-- This is awesome! --
Since I was a kid the devil tried many times to take my life, but the Lord saved me. I know I could have died by stupid things I did in the past, especially when many times I was driving home drunk with my eyes ready to close from the afternight parties ...
The Lord has literally saved my life countless times, from things I know and things I don't know, BEFORE I decided to accept Him into my life.
And as He has placed angelic protection over me, He has done the same with you that are watching, because the Lord is NOT a respector of persons.
The Lord does NOT impose NOR predetermine who will be saved, but He KNOWS our hearts, the future, and who are those who will VOLUNTARILY accept Him and inherit salvation. To them He sends angelic protection according to Heb. 1:14 that we read.
Do you know that ALL of these things will be revealed to us when we go to heaven?
"For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." 1Cor. 13:12
In the gospel of John we read:
"The thief (the devil) comes not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." John 10:10
Do you know that if it had been solely up to the devil, there would not have been a living man left on earth long ago? And if there were living people, absolute chaos, absolute crime and absolute ungodliness would prevail everywhere, all the time !
--- As bad as things may seem today, be assured that they are NOT as bad as they could be! ---
And this is because there are still people today who submit to God and enjoy His protection.
The words that the serpent spoke to the Adam and Eve were a lie, because the devil was hiding behind it:
"But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." 2Cor. 11:3
"... He (the devil) was a murderer from the beginning, and stayed not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it." John 8:44
Have you thought why the devil chose a snake? Why didn't he prefer another stronger and more imposing animal such as an elephant or a lion to terrify Adam and Eve and force them to obey him?
He did it because he did NOT have the power or authority to do it. We just read it:
"Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?" Heb. 1:14
God did NOT create the devil; He created Lucifer, an anointed Cherub, with a mission to serve man:
"You are the anointed cherub that covers; and I have set you so: you were on the holy mountain of God; you have walked up and down in the middle of the stones of fire." Εzekiel 28:14
(Read Isaiah chapter 14 and Ezekiel chapter 28.)
So Lucifer was in the garden of Eden with a mission to serve Adam and Eve. He had NO authority to impose or force them to do anything.
I'll say it again:
"Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which you have delivered: and many such like things do you." Mark 7:13
We have so many religious traditions, that many Christians go and blame the devil for everything, with expressions like:
"It's not my fault. The devil made me do it"
It is certain that the devil is behind every evil desire and temptation, but what we do in the end depends on us, on the choices WE make. NO ONE forces us to do anything, not even God, much less a man, or even the devil.
If the devil really could force us to do his things, then there would be no point in trying to resist him.
So, the devil can do NOTHING to us without our consent and cooperation.
That is exactly why he chose and entered the crafty and cunning snake and not the strong and intimidating elephant.
This is a very important revelation because we must understand that the only power the devil has is deception. He can NOT force us to do anything, but only trick us. If he succeeds in deceiving us and making us cooperate with him, he is using our own power and authority against us! This is exactly what he did with Adam and Eve.
The devil is a spirit. Jesus casted demonic spirits out of people. They were spirits. They had NO physical body. The devil had NO physical body and therefore had absolutely NO authority over the earth. That is why he entered the body of the serpent, a physical creature, to deceive Adam and Eve.
Do you know that the snake had more power than the devil over the earth? Do you know that even pigs have more power than demons on earth?
That is why when the Lord casted out the legion, the demons asked Jesus to allow them to enter the herd of swine. (Mark 5:1-13, Matt. 8, Luke 8)
Check out something else you might not have noticed. Paul writes:
"And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." 1Tim. 2:14
Adam was NOT deceived. He knew very well what he was doing, but he chose to stay with his wife, even if that meant disobeying God.
An entire legion of demons (1 Roman legion= 6000 soldiers) could NOT stop the Gadarene demoniac from falling at Jesus' feet and worshiping Him!
A demonized man might not be able to free himself, but he could certainly run and throw himself on the mercy of Jesus!
So shake off any excuse like:
"I can't help it. The devil makes me do it"
This is a lie!
And the reason you have submitted yourself to this lie is because you have NOT understood that the devil can NOT do whatever he wants to you without your consent and cooperation.
If you are wondering how this can be done, I will explain:
You may cooperate with the devil when you submit to him willingly or even unknowingly, because many times we break God's commandments because of ignorance. However, breaking the spiritual laws that God has set always has consequences. This is what the law of sowing and reaping tells us.
"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap." Gal. 6:7
"For he that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." Gal. 6:8
There are consequences when you break physical laws as well, such as gravity. If you jump from the top floor of a building you will die.
If you ignore the laws of electricity and touch a live wire with your bare hand, you will die. It doesn't matter if you knew it or not. These laws are in effect whether we are aware of them or not. That is why the Lord says in His Word:
"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge..." Hosea 4:6
Religion has magnified the devil so much, and the reason is that they use the devil as a scapegoat. They accept no personal responsibility for the problem, and place all the blame on the devil and the people who have hurt them in the past.
"Because they did this and that to me, I cannot help it. This is how I am and this is how I will be."
This is the biggest lie you've ever believed!
You may have had pressures in your life that I didn't have, but the truth is that the devil can do NOTHING without your consent. Somewhere in the past, there were times when you opened doors for the devil to enter your life.
Astrology, divination, tarot cards, yoga, stargates, all of which are witchcraft, idolatry, sexual immorality, drugs, alcohol, gambling ... All of these lay a red carpet for the devil and his demons to enter, take over and make your life a living hell!
So when Adam and Eve, the gods of the physical world (and I emphasized, gods in the sense of dominion and power) fell into the devil's deception, they essentially crowned him the god of this world and handed him the authority and power given to them by God.
And according to Rom. 6:16 that we read, the devil became master and man his servant.
When the demons of the legion came out of the Gadarine demoniac and entered the pigs, the whole herd ran to the cliff and killed themselves. They drowned in the sea.
There are celebrities today, people with riches and fame, actors, singers, influencers. I believe many of them are living a completely immoral life because they are demonized.
Even the pigs at Gadara had more dignity than such people. They at least, fell into the sea, while these people even boast for all the ungodliness and immorality that characterizes their life.
What I want to emphasize here is that the devil as a spiritual being needs to have some physical body to exercise any kind of influence on the earth.
A pig, a frog, even a snail has more power on earth than the devil has.
That is why the devil and demons need a physical body, preferably a human, to submit and cooperate with them. They even take animals if they can't get a human because they are completely powerless without a physical body.
I hope you understand this. We do not need to fear the devil when we know these truths. Amen?
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With all this said so far, we're moving towards completing our initial questions:
- Why did God wait 4000 years to send Jesus to redeem us?
- Why did Jesus have to become a man and suffer death on a cross?
- Why did God not choose another, more painless way to redeem humanity?
- Why did Jesus have to be born of a virgin?
If you've understood what I've said so far, I'm sure you can already see how all these pieces are starting to connect together and provide answers to these questions.
To be continued...
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