By deception, Satan caused the moral catastrophe called, "The Fall." The Fall infected all mankind with total moral depravity of which there is no cure outside of the blood of Jesus.
All tragic results of man losing the power to rule can be traced to the fall. It was the curse of the fall that brought sickness, sorrow, heartache, trouble, wars, famines, and earthquakes. All disasters of history are a result of the sin of Adam.
The sin of Adam has brought the curse upon the entire human family. The Bible states:
Rom 5:12...Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
In the Corinthian letter we read,
1 Cor 15:22...For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
As a result of Adam's sin, the earth is cursed with physical death. All the disasters and all the heartaches and all the trouble you have from the cradle to the grave are the result of Adam's transgression. The overflowing hospitals and insane asylums, the millions of people born crippled and deformed are all a result of the sin of Adam. Much of this tragedy has been incorrectly attributed to a direct attack of Satan and not to his, "past work" that caused the fall of man.
As a preacher, I did not understand why disasters occur, why wars occur, why so many people suffer in hospital beds, or why thousands of people are born deformed. Why would God allow that? "Without understanding the fall and without understanding the result of man's loss of dominion over the earth, I would have no answer." If you mistakenly attribute all suffering to the direct work of Satan in the present hour, you have concluded that Satan has complete "authority" over trouble, every disaster, and all evil problems that men face. You are automatically concluding these circumstances to be a direct attack of Satan and not a result of the curse of the fall.
The realm of Satan's authority
If you make the assumption that Satan stole man's authority and dominion "in the fall", you could also presume Christ came to "snatch" that authority from Satan and restore it to the believer.
If this were true, as some have claimed, then it would only take one believer exercising his "authority" to restore the entire planet to its former state of perfection.
The false doctrine of the "authority of the believer" has infiltrated the church world and been taught tirelessly, much to Satan's glee, as it has eventually overthrown the faith of countless zealous believers. When they were deceived, they lost sight of Him who has all authority and power in heaven and earth and their faith failed them.
The Scripture clearly teaches that the believer will not have this type of authority and dominion until Christ the Messiah reigns in Jerusalem during the Millennial Age.
Today we have a high priest, Jesus the Son of God, who has by Himself purged our sins and sat down at the right hand of Majesty on high where angels, authorities, and powers have been made subject to Him.
Heb 8:1...We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;
1 Peter 3:22...who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.
God the Father has made us partakers of the divine nature and delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of His dear son.
2 Peter 1:4...that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
Col 1:13...Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
When the true Gospel is preached, God will bear witness with signs, and wonders, and with divers miracles, and with gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to His own will:
Heb 2:4...God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?
There is no biblical account that tells us that Satan has ever had any "authority" on earth. He was trespassing in the Garden of Eden.
Many students believe the devil was an angel, but actually he was higher than an angel. Others have thought he was an archangel, but he was higher than an archangel. Some have thought he was a seraphim, but he was higher than a seraphim. Actually he was the highest order of created beings€the anointed Cherub.
Ezek 28:14...Thou art the anointed cherub
Man is not the greatest being ever created. In Psalms and Hebrews we read:
Heb 2:6-7...What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels;
Ps 8:4-5...what is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
Therefore, man does not have the power the angels have. He does not have the power archangels and the seraphim have. He certainly does not have the power that Satan has.*
*Take note! Although Satan has considerable power, it does not extend to ruling the visible earth.
Satan has more power than human beings by the nature of his order of creation. He has no God-given authority to use his power against man. He works through ignorance or deception. Satan's sphere of activity and power is expressed in Ephesians as being in the spiritual realm.
Eph 6:12...for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Remember that Satan can accuse the brethren before the throne of God and was allowed to bring disaster upon Job. Satan had to ask God's specific permission to bring disaster upon Job and his household because he, himself, had no authority on earth. So where did this erroneous concept originate that Satan has "authority" and controls the "keys" of all the things on earth? This is a Biblical error that grew out of 14th century mythology. There is no record that Satan has ever been in hell or had the keys to anything on earth. Jesus Christ has always had the keys of hell and death and always will have those keys.
Rev 1:18...I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
In the Scriptures, keys are use metaphorically to indicate authority. In this case we know Christ alone has authority over death and hell and the bodies and souls of men.
Christ raised three people from the dead as recorded:
1. Matt 9:23-26...and when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise, He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose. And the fame hereof went abroad into all that land.
2. Luke 7:12-16...there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother. And there came a fear on all:
3. John 11:38-44...Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
Jesus arose from the dead:
Rom 1:4...And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead
Jesus will destroy death in time:
1 Cor 15:26...The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
God is sovereign over all life, sovereign over death, and sovereign over hell. There is nothing that is not under His control. All evil that occurs is not the direct attack of Satan. More often, man's problems are the result of the curse of the fall. In the fullness of time, both the curse of the fall and the direct attack of Satan on the believer will cease to exist. If I did not believe that, I would get very discouraged in life. The God I serve has control over everything in time and in eternity and I believe that. Blessed be His name forever! He is sovereign over all of life Hallelujah!
No comments:
Post a Comment