Tag Archives: Satan

inadvertent

06 Wednesday Jun 2012

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accidentMy uncle used to work for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) as a civil engineer. Before he retired he moved into a position of public relations, doing things like holding town meetings to convince the citizens why a new highway should be built in their back yards, and testifying for the State in lawsuits pertaining to motor vehicle accidents on the roads and highways of Pennsylvania. I learned from him that the word “inadvertent” is a word that should never be used when taking a defensive position in a court of law, for that word carries the meaning of negligence. And for PennDOT to admit negligence nullifies their whole defense—they lose the case and fork over millions of dollars in settlement. As a defendant, PennDOT may have constructed some roads, or bridges, or intersections, etc., in such a way that the design attributed to an accident, but nothing about their design is ever done inadvertently! Thus, be careful in the words you choose, for one word can change everthing!

Question: Did God inadvertently place Adam in the Garden of Eden where the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil happened to be?

Answer: Absolutely not! Satan fell for the bait, got himself trapped in the flesh of man, and that flesh was taken to the cross by the Lord Jesus and judged by God, thus initiating the end of God’s enemy forever!

Hebrews 2:14—Since therefore the children have shared in blood and flesh, He also Himself in like manner partook of the same, that through death He might destroy him who has the might of death, that is, the devil,

“but”—No.3

24 Saturday Mar 2012

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Well, I am back from vacation and writing another post on the word “but.” Although there are numerous other “buts” in the Bible, this will be the last one for now. After this I’ll move on to other interesting words that can change everything.

Genesis 6:5-7 says, “And Jehovah saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And Jehovah repented that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him in His heart. And Jehovah said, I will blot out the man whom I have created from the surface of the ground, from man to beast to creeping things to the birds of heaven; for I repent that I have made them.” Then verse 8 begins with the word BUT—“But Noah found grace”! Satan, the evil serpent back in Genesis 3, had corrupted man to the extent that God had determined to utterly destroy the whole inhabited earth, including the very people that He had created in His image for His purpose. “But Noah found favor [(or grace)] in the sight of Jehovah” (v.8). Thus, there was a man whose life and work provided a way for God to gain the victory over Satan and to change the age (the flood terminated one age and inaugurated another). This is huge!

Simply put, grace is God coming to us to be our supply. Noah was enabled to walk in that crooked and perverted generation because he found a strength and supply in his relationship with God. The age that we live in today is not that different from the age in which Noah lived. It is an age of immorality, depravity, violence, and darkness. And, concerning His second coming, the Lord Jesus told us, “For just as the days of Noah were, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as they were in those days before the flood, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day in which Noah entered into the ark, And they did not know that judgment was coming until the flood came and took all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matt. 24:37-39). May we all, in the midst of this dark age, find grace. May we find a strength and supply in our relationship with the Lord that would enable us to be instrumental in changing the age and bringing the Lord back! By the way, one of the most practical places to find this wonderful grace is in the Christian gatherings. There God comes to us to be our supply!

“but”—No.2

11 Sunday Mar 2012

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In the New Testament book of Ephesians, chapter two, we catch a glimpse in the first three verses of our fallen condition: dead in our offenses and sins, walking according to the age of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, of the spirit which is now operating in the sons of disobedience, conducting ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the thoughts, and by nature being children of wrath. This is quite a bleak picture as a background displaying the damage caused by God’s enemy Satan to us, the vessels originally made in the image and likeness of God for His purpose (Genesis 1:26). However, the next two words, which begin verse four, change the entire negative scene into a gloriously positive scene—“But God!” Verses four through nine say, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,/ Even when we were dead in offenses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)/ And raised us up together with Him and seated us together with Him in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus,/ That He might display in the ages to come the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus./ For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves; it is the gift of God;/ Not of works that no one should boast.” Although Satan did step in to damage God’s work (so he thought), his interference only provided more opportunity for God to display His multifarious wisdom. To Satan and to us these two words change everything—But God!

“but”—No.1

01 Thursday Mar 2012

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In the Old Testament book of Isaiah, chapter 14, we catch a glimpse of the background of Satan, the fallen angel who is the source and embodiment of all evil. Verses 12-16 read, “How you have fallen from heaven, O Daystar, son of the dawn! How you have been hewn down to earth, You who made nations fall prostrate!/ But you, you said in your heart: I will ascend to heaven; Above the stars of God I will exalt my throne. And I will sit upon the mount of assembly In the uttermost parts of the north./ I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High./ But you will be brought down to Sheol, To the uttermost parts of the pit./ Those who see you will gaze at you; They will ponder concerning you, asking, Is this the man who made the earth tremble, The one who shook kingdoms.” Five times did this Daystar (Lucifer) say “I will,” consummating with “I will make myself like the Most High.” As he intended to highly exalt himself, even to make himself like God, the divine answer sounded out with one word that changed everything—“BUT!” God seemed to say to Lucifer, “You intend to highly exalt yourself and to make yourself like Me, but, I say you will be brought down to Sheol, to the uttermost parts of the pit!” After this statement was made by God, in the course of time He partook of blood and flesh like us “that through death He might destroy him who has the might of death, that is, the devil” (Heb. 2:14). Indeed, the word of the Lord is the determining factor, and His word abides forever!

mutation

26 Monday Dec 2011

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DNA mutationThe microorganism that causes malaria, Plasmodium falciparum, has been called the million-murdering death, because that’s about how many people it kills each year. During World War II, the drug chloroquine was developed, which was very effective at killing malaria. But within 40 years the deadly bacteria had evolved resistance to chloroquine and rendered the drug useless in most cases. It turns out that a change in the amino acid sequence of a single protein encoded by the parasite’s DNA confers the drug resistance, and this change is caused by two primary mutations. Thus, because of mutation, the whole landscape has changed in the fight against malaria.

No doubt, of this story of malaria there are many applications to our Christian experience, and I can contribute more blog posts at a later date. For one, the apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 11:14 that “Satan himself transfigures himself into an angel of light.” The devil is always changing his tactics in his attempt to destroy the believers in Christ and tear down the Body of Christ. As this age progresses on toward the second coming of Christ, Satan will mutate himself in more insidious forms “so as to lead astray, if possible, even the chosen” (Matthew 24:24).  May we who are Christians be fresh in our contact with the Lord and ever on guard against the stratagems of the devil!