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PRESENTS God and Satan
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| GOD ALONE IS SELF-EXlSTENT. He was First of all things. This being a Bible |
| truth, all
else must have come into being by Him.
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| Satan who was first called the Serpent, is a product of God’s own hand. Genesis |
| 3:1 tells us that the serpent became the craftiest of all field life which was |
| made by Yahweh Elohim. This is the same serpent that talked to the woman in the |
| garden of
Eden.
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| "Travailed has His hand with the fugitive serpent" (Job 26:13). |
| "And I, I created the ruiner to harm" (Isa.54:16). |
| It is important that we give this matter of God making the serpent some serious |
| thought, for in it lies the whole cause of sin’s entrance into the world. God is |
| a God of purpose, and He says, "All my counsel will be confirmed, and all My |
| desire
will I do" (Isa.46:10).
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| Did God make this serpent (Satan or the devil) just as an experiment? Or did He |
| know, being an all-wise God, just what would be the result? |
| Yes, He knew what the outcome would be, and it was, just as He had planned it. |
| God did not create a world and then turn it loose, as a boy does his balloon, |
| and stand off to see what the world would do. No, He worketh all things after |
| the council of His will. Yes, He watches each one of His creatures so closely, |
| that even the hairs of their heads are numbered. There is nothing that occurs |
| without His fore-knowledge, and God knew it would occur from the beginning of |
| time, just as though it had already occurred. His knowledge is unlimited, |
| knowing
the end from the beginning (Isa.46:10).
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| God in His wisdom saw He needed an adversary, someone to work counter to His |
| plans and purpose, and undertake to overthrow His ultimate plan of the salvation |
| and praise of all of the human family. So we see that Satan and sin was in God’s |
| plan. Without opposition God could never have shown His superiority. This fact |
| is simple when we think of it. God needed sin and wickedness in order to have an |
| opportunity to show to the world His mighty power over Satan and his satellites. |
| If King Pharaoh had not been motivated by a satanic spirit he would not have |
| held the children of Israel in bondage for more than four hundred years, but it |
| all occurred that God might show to the world His power over Satan. Paul says |
| Pharaoh was raised up for this very purpose. There are many events recorded in |
| Scripture, where God used Satan in carrying out His purpose. |
| Evidently Judas of himself would not have been strong enough to have betrayed |
| our Saviour, but he was fortified by the entrance of Satan. Then he was able to |
| betray Him, and God’s plan was completed, in that particular case. |
| We would never appreciate the good, if it were not contrasted with the bad. Had |
| we not known darkness, we would not appreciate the light. We must first be |
| hungry to
enjoy a good meal.
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| God could never have worked out His great purpose without contrast, which is sin |
| and wickedness. A physician would not receive any praise in his profession if he |
| found no one sick. Neither would God be praised for the deliverance from sin if |
| no one had been lost in sin. Nothing can be accomplished without contrast. But |
| the comforting thought is that God, by whom all things exist, is not only able |
| but will transmute all evil, wickedness and sin into good. No wonder the |
| Scriptures tell us, He maketh the wrath of man to praise Him (Psa.76:10). |
| Christendom would have us believe that Satan was first created an angel and fell |
| and lost his first estate. John says that he sinned from the beginning. If he |
| was created an angel, and then fell without God’s knowledge or attention, an |
| independent act of his own, I ask with all sincerity, Would the inhabitants of |
| heaven ever be safe at any time, not knowing when another one of the angels |
| might of his own authority decide to become a devil, and thus destroy the whole |
| of
God’s plan and purpose?
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| We are told in the Scriptures to let God be true, and every man a liar. |
| Let’s believe that God is working all things in accord with the counsel of His |
| own will (Eph.1:11). All things? That is what it says. Then God is operating the |
| whole universe, and is in full control, and is directing each occurrence. |
| Why try to shield God’s associating Himself with evil, when He says, "All is |
| contrived by Yahweh for His response, And even the wicked one is being kept for |
| the day of evil." (Pro.16:4). "Maker of welfare and Creator of evil, I, Yahweh |
| Elohim, make all of these things" (Isa.45:7). |
| Satan, who is cunning and crafty, would deceive the very elect if possible. He |
| will never succeed in undoing anything that God has purposed to do. "His are the |
| erring and
the causer of error" (Job 12:16).
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| Satan is like a chained dog. He can only go the length of his chain. In the case |
| of Job’s afflictions, God told Satan just how far he could go, and Satan could |
| not go any farther. In each instance where God told him what to do, he obeyed. |
| He is a subject of God and is absolutely under His control. |
| Dear reader, let us keep in mind that Satan is a product of God’s hand, and his |
| career is
only temporary, and will end at the consummation.
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