One with God the Father, Jesus & one another, chapter 13
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Through deception and mankind’s fleshly inherited nature Satan has been astronomically successful at deceiving the whole world. His successes aren’t surprising to followers of Jesus because Jesus told us, he knows and desires to thwart God’s plan of redeeming people to Himself, he knows his demise, will cause him to more ruthless as his end nears, knows God’s chosen people will rule with Jesus and ultimately be served by angels.
Satan knows God’s purpose is to call and make a people at one with Himself, take away their sins and make them righteous in His View. Satan knows he too is a creation of God! So let’s speculate about what caused Satan’s rebellion? (Study Isaiah 14:) He was named, Lucifer according to our King James translators, and described by Net Bible Translators as “O shining one, son of the dawn!’ Saying you have been cut down to the ground, ‘O conqueror of the nations!’ You said to yourself “I will climb up to the sky. above the stars of El, I will set up my throne, I will rule on the mountain of assembly on the remote slopes of Zaphon. I will climb up to the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High!)
Jesus and His apostles referred to Satan as, ‘the old devil, the dragon and ancient serpent.’ In Jesus’ revelations to His apostle John, He identifies Satan’s rebellion, purpose and characteristics more specifically.
(Rev 12:7-10; Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, the dragon and his angels fought back; but the dragon was not strong enough to prevail, so there was no longer any place left in heaven for him and his angels. So that huge dragon – the ancient serpent, the one called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world – was thrown down to the earth, and his angels along with him.
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, ‘the salvation, the power, the kingdom of our God, the ruling authority of His Christ have now come, because the accuser of our brothers and sisters, the one who accuses them day and night before our God, has been thrown down.)
Satan is still the spiritual being Job described, as the accuser God allowed to persecute him, but God reestablished Job, as He will help those trusting Him.
(Rev 12:11-12; But they, (followers of Jesus) overcame Satan by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die. Therefore you heavens rejoice, and all who reside in them! But woe to the earth and the sea because the devil has come down to you! He is filled with terrible anger, for he knows that he only has a little time!) Pray for believing IN faith, Jesus’ work on our behalf leading to our salvation.
(Rev 12:13-18; Now when the dragon realized that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to The Male Child. (Meaning: Mary, Jesus’ mother and Jesus’ church, that He’s head of.) But the woman ’church’ was given the two wings of a giant eagle so that she could fly out into the wilderness, to the place God prepared for her, where she is taken care of – away from the presence of the serpent – for a time, times, and half a time. Then the serpent spouted water like a river out of his mouth after the woman in an attempt to sweep her away by a flood, but the earth came to her rescue; the ground opened up and swallowed the river that the dragon had spewed from his mouth. So the dragon became enraged at the woman and went away to make war on the rest of her children, ‘those who keep God’s commandments and hold to the testimony about Jesus.’ And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore.”)
Israelites remain God’s chosen and all followers of Jesus are spiritual Israelites. (See Galatians 3:29)
Cain is our first example of one yielding to demonic influence worshiping as seeming right to himself, caused his jealousy when he knew his brother pleased God. Rebellion and jealously are likened to Satan’s thinking. Unbelievers in general, are characterized as inherited Adam’s nature, and vulnerable to Satan’s devices, which are, ‘self serving, jealous, and easily made merchandise of by the devil’s workers.’
Understanding GOD’S truth hinges on our knowing that Jesus created all things. (Re-study John 1:1-5, Colossians 1:15-20, and Hebrews 1 again.)
(Col 1:15-20; He (Jesus( is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, for all things in heaven and on earth were created BY Him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers – all things were created through Him and for Him. He Himself is before all things and all things are held together in Him. He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn from among the dead, so that He Himself may become first in all things. For God (THE FATHER) was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in the Son and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself by making peace through the blood of His cross – through Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven.)
Jesus is the Creator Lord God that communed with Abraham, the One Abraham worshiped and who called Abraham friend. He also called His apostles ‘friends rather than slave’ because He shared all that the Father shared with Him. He called Moses and through him led the Israelites from Egypt which represents sin. Jesus is still leading people from practices He views as sin, to righteous living.
Jesus purposely endured and overcame Satan’s temptations as our example; He will bind Satan in a pit for 1,000 years not allowing his temptations! Afterwards, God will destroy Satan and all evil. As always study the whole.
Worldly religious denominations don’t teach this Jesus, or Satan’s devises that divide, and causes people to make various assumptions about Jesus’ deity. They’re prone to think highly of their intellect which is idolatry, making Satan their god.
A foundation for demonic worship is make Jesus fit one’s assumptions. Not worshiping Jesus as He manifested Himself to be through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and His apostles, is in fact idol worshiping. Believing these facts leaves no space for religions to be founded by human intellect. (There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way that leads to death.) Proverbs 14:12)
We can’t escape the fact that God chooses His followers, just as He chose Abraham, Isaac by promise, and Moses. By inheritance, all people are born God’s enemy, each live according to dictates of their intellect, according to what seems right. Jesus’ followers by faith recognize their inherited nature, and desire to turn from what seemed right to the fleshly mind; ‘to what God says is right.’ Paul expresses this to the Colossian Believers right after characterizing Jesus for their understanding.
(Colossians 1:21-23; And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your minds as expressed through your evil deeds, but now He (Jesus) has reconciled you by His physical body through death to present you holy, without blemish, and blameless before Him – IF indeed you remain in the faith, established and firm, without shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has also been preached in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become its servant.)
The gospel of obedience was taught to Adam and Eve, God telling them what was good and evil in His View, Cain and Abel about sacrifices their best. What did a disobedient spirit do to Cain’s mind? Jealously enter when learning his brother’s sacrifice was liked by God. Didn’t God lead Noah to warn the people about the result of their disobedience? Don’t we have Jesus’ commandments? By God’s calling and our believing IN Jesus’ blood sacrifice for the remission of our sins, HE is able to presents us holy, without blemish and blameless before Himself. IF we remain in the faith, NOT the faith of some denomination, but faith in His way, teachings and promises.
Paul taught in fact, we must prove - examine individually, and that God Himself makes Believers holy.
(1Thess 5:16-24; Always rejoice, constantly pray, in everything give thanks. For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not extinguish the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt. But examine all things; hold fast to what is good. Stay away from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace Himself make you completely holy and may your spirit and soul and body be kept entirely blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is trustworthy, and He will in fact do this.)
Gifted faith, teaches that God does it all. Believers are asked to pray for and have patience with denominational followers, those weak in the faith. Paul taught it to Jesus’ church in Rome.
(Romans 15:1-6; But we who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not just please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good to build him up. For even Christ did not please Himself, but just as it is written, “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on Me. For, everything that was written in former times was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and through encouragement of the scriptures we may have hope. Now may the God of endurance and comfort give you unity with one another in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.) Insults of those who insult us falls on Jesus!” Quote from Psalms 69:
After believing IN Jesus, we each have to fight against our inherited nature‘s pull. When we yield to our fleshly nature’s pull we set bad examples to those who may be new in the faith. The Psalmist realized this and stayed in the faith.
(Psalms 69:6-9; Let none who rely on You be disgraced because of me, O sovereign Lord and king! Let none who seek You be ashamed because of me, O God of Israel! For I suffer humiliation for Your sake, and am thoroughly disgraced. My own brothers treat me like a stranger; they act as if I were a foreigner. Certainly zeal for Your house consumes me; I endure the insults of those who insult You.)
Having a zeal for God’s Way causes insults in the world. Remember Jesus’ words, “they will hate you because they hated Me.” There are many examples of believing people being opposed by unbelievers.
(Acts 17:10-12; The church sent Paul and Silas off to Berea at once during the night. When they arrived, they went to the Jewish synagogue. These Jews were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they eagerly received the message, examining the scriptures careful every day to see if these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, along with quite a few prominent Greek women and men.)
God spiritually opened these minds. People of Berea were not open-minded because of education or breeding. When minds are opened to truth, God does it, less they boast. (See Acts 15:11, Eph 2:5-8, & 2 Tim 2:9.
(Acts 17:13; But when the Jews from Thessalonica heard that Paul had also proclaimed the Word of God in Berea, they came there too, inciting and disturbing the crowds.)
Thessalonica Jews yielded to their inherited jealous nature, a nature like Cain’s. Paul made this clear to Christian understanding, but unbelievers submit to beliefs, as seeming good to them, from their fleshly nature.