“You followed the ways of this world and obeyed the devil. He rules the world, and has spiritual power over everyone who doesn’t obey God.” (Eph 2:2, CEV)
This devotional follows yesterday’s, which demonstrated how God’s concept of “free will” (Phil 1:14) not only influenced the world as we know it, but also my and your life. This background is necessary so that you can be led by God to be able to choose. When Satan chose against God, he divided the Kingdom of God. If a kingdom is divided against itself, then it cannot stand (Mark 3:25). For this reason God could no longer allow Morningstar in His kingdom and he was thrown out: “How you are fallen from heaven, o Lucifer, son of the morning!” (Is 14:12). Jesus reports later in Luke 10:18 that He “saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven”. Satan’s name (in Scripture often indicative of an identity) also changed: from Morningstar to Satan, which according to Thayer means “adversary (one who opposes another in purpose or act)”. This later becomes Satan’s biggest mission on earth: to oppose purpose and calling.
Why, then, did God not destroy Satan? One of the most important characteristics of God is the fact that He is Love (1 John 4:8) and love ALWAYS includes choice – you cannot force someone to love you! And because this is God’s essence, He had to respect even Satan’s choice. He could not just have created a being to obey Him, because then we would have all been mere robots that would have not loved Him willingly.
Another important characteristic of God is righteousness (Ezra 9:15). A big number of the heavenly beings followed Satan in his rebellion and they were banished with him from the Kingdom of God. They received – purely because of God’s righteousness – a third of the cosmic universe to rule over, which is known as the kingdom of darkness (Rev 16:10). Part of this domain was the planet earth. Although the earth and all its fullness belongs to the Lord (Ps 24:1), God does not rule on earth (1 John 5:19). This has huge implications for me and you.
- Sela: Think and pray about the second-last sentence above. Make sure you understand the huge implications of this and how it influences how people, history, and how you perceive God.
- Read: Gen 11: Ps 11; John 11
- Memorise: John 11:25-26.
- Going deeper: Read chapter 1 & 2 of Juan Carlos Ortiz’s The cry of the human heart.
