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“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12)
The Apostle Paul revealed that the New Testament church was not without opposition. He clarified that its opposition was spiritual. As a result, it was obvious that Paul was referring to the devil and his angels who chose to rebel against God before the foundation of the world. (cf. Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:12-19; 2 Corinthians 2:11; Ephesians 2:2; 1 Thessalonians 2:18; Revelation 12:9; etc.) In addition, Paul revealed that the devil and his angels were arrayed in a spiritual hierarchy of evil against the New Testament church. Therefore, the ecclesia of God was compelled to engage in “wrestling, struggle or hand-to-hand combat.”[1] In the history of the church, many different responses to the opposition of the devil and his angels have been proposed, penned, presented, and promoted. Without biblical precedent, however, they are ineffective and even deceptive in origin. The Bible reveals only one approach that is effective against spiritual opposition. It begins and ends with Jesus Christ. He alone provides the necessary position, power, and protection for the New Testament church to stand firm and resist every scheme of the devil. Origins The eternal kingdom of God was originally populated with angelic beings. (Job 38:7; Nehemiah 9:6; Psalm 148:1-6) They were created holy, immortal, and spiritual. (Matthew 25:31; Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26; 20:36; Hebrews 1:14) Satan was one of the most remarkable of the angelic beings. He “had the seal of perfection” and was “full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.” (Ezekiel 28:12) Further, he is described as having been beautiful and splendorous. (Ezekiel 28:17) Possibly the most extraordinary of the angelic beings, he served God in the role of the high priest on the original, eternal earth. Despite his lofty position in the kingdom, Satan coveted the glory of the King. Thus, he devised a scheme by which he would challenge God for His throne. The original scheme of Satan was founded on his presumption that the attributes of the nature of God could not be expressed concurrently in an unbiased manner. More specifically, Satan questioned whether or not God could demonstrate love and mercy together with justice. Believing them to be contradictory to one another, he resolved to test the sovereignty of God. Satan was convinced that his scheme would reveal God as vulnerable and weak and, thus, susceptible to deposition. Satan understood the potential advantage of co-conspirators. Consequently, he persuaded many angels to join him in his rebellion against God. (Revelation 12:3-4) By the “abundance” of his unrighteous “trade”(trafficking or conspiring), he convinced about one-third of the angels that his plan would succeed. (Ezekiel 28:16, 18; Matthew 25:41; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6; Revelation 12:3-4) As a result, they willingly abandoned their privileged citizenship in the kingdom of God and followed his lead. (Matthew 25:41; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6; Revelation 12:3-4) God answered the rebellious challenge of the devil and his angels in the only manner possible, in perfect accord with the attributes of His nature. Consequently, they experienced His judgment and were sentenced to punishment in “eternal fire.” (Matthew 25:41) While the judgment of the devil and his angels was immediate, God temporarily postponed their sentence. (cf. John 12:31; 16:11; Isaiah 24:21-22; Matthew 8:29; 25:41; Romans 16:20; Revelation 20:10) It allowed Him the opportunity to address any thought of His presumed vulnerability and, consequently, vindicate His nature. After the postponement of their sentence, God banished the devil and his angels to a state of separation from His immediate presence. Thus, they were exiled from the kingdom of God to “outer darkness” or the “domain of darkness.” (Matthew 8:12; 22:13; 25:30; Colossians 1:13) Darkness is frequently symbolic of divine judgment in the Bible. When describing judgment, darkness is also characterized by death and degeneration. As a result of their banishment and exile to darkness, the devil and his angels were no longer obligated to God according to the rule of life (zoe). In the realm of darkness, death and degeneration there is only the rule of law. It provides necessary boundaries for the fallen. The angelic challenge of the divine nature not only resulted in darkness, death and degeneration but significant destruction. It resulted in the deformation of the angelic habitat, the original, eternal earth. Much like the devil and his angels, their habitat was relegated to a state of ruin, emptiness and darkness. (Genesis 1:2) Relative to their rebellion and the consequent judgment of God, the devil and his angels presently exist in an unenviable position of separation from God and banishment from His kingdom. It is characterized by death, degeneration, and darkness. Their conduct in the “domain of darkness” is subject to moderation by the rule of law. |
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Vindication: Renovation
According to eternal plan, God renovated the original, devastated, uninhabitable heavens and earth to be inhabited once again. He accomplished the renovation within the framework of covenant stipulation. The stipulations of the Renovation Covenant provided protective guidelines by which God unveiled and secured His eternal purpose and plan for the renovated earth and its inhabitants. (Genesis 1:2-31) His fulfillment of the covenant stipulations precisely as He had stated beforehand demonstrated His veracity and protected Him from any further accusation of wrongdoing. Consequently, His sovereignty was no longer subject to challenge, and He would not be viewed as vulnerable or susceptible to deposition. The renovated earth was perfect. It lacked nothing. Therefore, God pronounced every aspect of His renovation “good,” and His holy angels rejoiced. (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31; Job 38:4-7) In harmony with His eternal plan, God allowed the devil and his angels access to the renovated heavens and earth. (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6) However, banished from King and kingdom, their access to the renovated earth was moderated by the rule of law. God did not renovate the earth to again serve as a habitat for spiritual, angelic beings, but a new type of creature; mankind. (Genesis 1:26-30) In contrast to the angelic beings, He created humanity with a physical or material body. By stipulation of the Renovation Covenant, God originally designed the human race as one collective entity. When He said, “Let us make man in our image,” He was not referring to an individual human being but the entire human race. (Genesis 1:26) The Hebrew noun for “man” (‘adam) was used in a collective sense. The first man, Adam, was appointed by God as the representative, covenantal head of humanity. All of his descendants, the entire human race, past, present, and future comprise his covenantal body. (cf. Genesis 1:26-27) According to the stipulations of the Renovation Covenant, mankind, represented by Adam, was given legal authority over the earth and its creatures. “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth’. God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth’.” (Genesis 1:26-28) God planned beforehand to vindicate His nature through the newly renovated earth and its human population. Initially, it was designed to occur by the willingness of humanity to obey God and choose to enjoy intimate fellowship with Him. Fallen Angelic Response While Satan was not cognizant of the entire plan of God, he was clear about Adam’s purpose on earth. It did not go unnoticed by him that God had replaced him in the kingdom with an inferior being. Further, it was clear to Satan that Adam had been awarded representative authority over the renovated earth. Within the legal guidelines of the Renovation Covenant, Satan schemed to deceive Adam into relinquishing his legal, God appointed authority over the earth. The success of his scheme would not only allow him to regain authority on earth but demonstrate to God that all of His creatures were incapable of obedience. Thus, the judgment of the devil would appear unjust, and he would be exonerated. |
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Fall of Mankind
God had warned Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It was the one condition of the Renovation Covenant. Their obedience to the stipulation was the means by which they could willingly remain in covenant relationship with God. Aware of the conditional stipulation of the Renovation Covenant, Satan manipulated Eve into challenging God’s covenantal command not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In the guise of a serpent, he deceived her. Tragically, she chose to believe Satan’s lie and ate from the forbidden tree. As forewarned, Eve suffered separation from God, immediate spiritual death and, consequently, began the long slow decline to physical death. Relative to Eve’s transformation, Adam was forced to make an extremely difficult choice. He could reject his beloved bride and allow her to experience her appointed destiny without him. It would be both lonely and heart-wrenching. Conversely, Adam could choose to remain in union with Eve by eating from the prohibited tree and join her in rebellious separation from God. Ultimately, Adam was forced to choose between God and His beloved Eve. Rather than Adam, Satan had originally deceived Eve into eating from the forbidden tree. (1 Timothy 2:14) However, by his deception of Eve, he was able to manipulate Adam into disobeying God. Eve chose to rebel against covenantal stipulation because of deception. However, Adam did so willfully. As a result, he abdicated his God-given authority to rule the earth. Thus, relative to the fall of Adam, the divinely appointed high priest of the earth and representative/representational head of humanity, the entire human race and its earthly habitat were subjected to a fallen state of death, degeneration, and darkness. By the success of his scheme, Satan regained some of his previous status and authority. Therefore, he presently and temporarily holds the legal titles of “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31) and “the god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4). According to the Apostle John, “….the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” (1 John 5:19) Nevertheless, Satan’s present status and authority related to the renovated, fallen earth is a distant shadow of the former glory he once enjoyed. Rather than ruling the pristine, original earth, however, his legally moderated authority extends only over the heavens and earth in their degenerated form, collectively described as the “domain of darkness.” (Colossians 1:13) Under the fallen headship of Adam, the entire human race became legally unsuitable and organically incompatible with God: |
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Relative to its legal unsuitability and organic incompatibility, mankind was relegated to a fallen realm of existence apart from God:
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The fallen realm of existence is characterized by a distinct familial standing, citizenship, security, and style of governance:
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Under the fallen headship of Adam the human race was rendered both legally unsuitable and organically incompatible with God. Therefore, mankind was necessarily separated from King and kingdom.
Vindication: Redemption Separation from God resulted in an unenviable state of existence for humanity. According to covenantal stipulation, the entire human race, inclusive of covenantal head and body, was subjected to death, degeneration, and darkness. The devil and his angels rejoiced. Unfortunately, their plan of deception was successful, and, as a result, mankind was reduced to a state of existence not unlike their own. Nevertheless, their exultation was short-lived. Satan was unaware that God had planned before the foundation of the world to remedy the fall of the human race. The Messiah or Christ (the Anointed) was foundational to His plan to vindicate His nature from angelic challenge and accusation. By His sacrificial death and subsequent resurrection, Christ Jesus would fulfill His role in the Eternal Covenant. (Isaiah 53:10; Acts 2:23-24; Hebrews 13:20; 1 Peter 1:20-21; etc.) Congruent with divine justice, it would allow fallen mankind to be restored to a state of legal suitability and organic compatibility with God. As a result, the restored would be made acceptable to accommodate and share the indwelling life of the Christ, the mediator of the Eternal Covenant. To the bewilderment of the devil, the eternal plan of God to vindicate His nature included His own sacrificial death and resurrection. Essential to the vindication of the divine nature, it constituted an unbiased, concurrent demonstration of selfless love, unfailing mercy, and absolute justice. © 2022 James Hiatt |
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