“For
God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever
believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life"(John 3:16).
Men
were made in God's image and endowed with a dignity and dissimilarity
with animals according to God's special management. We were created with
a mind to understand God's will and character and with a sturdy
appearance. Then what has corrupted our minds? What happened to the
world that God saw to be good, and why is the world full of pain, sorrow
and misery? This is because sin has entered into this world.
How
did sin enter into this world, and by whom? Jesus said to Jew, "You
belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your
father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to
the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his
native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44)
John also said, "He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the
devil has been sinning from the beginning"(1 John 3:8). Sin entered the
world through the devil and those who are sinful are of the devil,
those who lie, hate one another and have too much greed are of the
devil's followers. People these days who respect science and follow
materialism claim atheism and believe that there is no good God or an
evil God. However, but the Bible clearly states that there is a God and
also an evil god, the devil. In the New Testament the word devil is
recorded 34 times, and the name Satan is recorded 37 times so he was
mentioned a total 71 times! Therefore we cannot deny the existence of
God or the existence of an evil god, Satan. In the book of Psalms, King
David said, "The fool says in his heart there is no God"(Psalms 53:1).
It says those who deny the existence of God cannot be regarded as wise
men.
Jesus
said, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven"(Luke 10:18). In the
book of Isaiah it is written, "How you have fallen from heaven, O
morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you
who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, " I will ascend
to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit
enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred
mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself
like the Most High. But you are brought down to the grave, to the depth
of the pit"(Isaiah 14:12-15).
In the verse above it says the
name Lucifer meant "morning star, the son of the dawn." Lucifer was the
most beautiful angel in heaven and received Gods utmost love and was the
leader of the angels, but he became unsatisfied and rebelled to be in a
higher position. His rebellion changed his name from Lucifer, which
meant the morning star, to Satan and was cast down to earth along with
1/3 of the angels in heaven. "And there was war in heaven. Michael and
his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels
fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in
heaven. The great dragon was hurled down- that ancient serpent called
the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to
the earth, and his angels with him"(Revelation 10:7-9). In the verse
above Michael is Christ, the Son of God. Lucifer was jealous of His
position and complained, but God admonished him and searched into his
heart for repentance of his immorality, but his complaints grew bigger
which led to betraying God. Michael could no longer tolerate Lucifer's
complaints, which broke the peace and harmony of heaven and drove
Lucifer and his angels out of heaven. The fact that this all happened is
very puzzling. We must remember the fact that God created everything
man as well as angels with a gift of choice. God wants us to obey and
follow him because we choose to and not because we are forced to. To
know how to love others and obey is a value and a privilege that can
make a society truly happy. Therefore, in heaven the most fundamental
principles are freedom and love and in Satan's world oppression and
oddness is the fundamental principles.
Our
God of love made a beautiful garden to show his love and affection to
the first human beings, Adam and Eve. The garden was created for them to
enjoy and live happily together. As parents who visit their child's
home to see if they are living happily and wish them to, God also
promised his love forever to them and truly wished for their happiness.
In the Book of Genesis it says, "Now the Lord God had planted a garden
in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. And the
Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground- trees that were
pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were
the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. A river
watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into
four major tributaries. The Lord God took man and put him in the Garden
of Eden to work it and take care of it. And He commanded him, "You are
free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will
surely die"(Genesis 2:8-10, 15-17). God prepared the garden for the
couple to be truly happy and satisfied. God told them, "You must not eat
from the tree of knowledge of good and evil;" not because He spared the
tree, nor because the fruits were poisonous. He commanded them because
God wanted them to recognize the relationship between God and man that
He is the Creator and the Lord of all things in the universe.
Adam
and Eve were not loyal to God and were disobedient. Satan, who was
banned from heaven tricked Adam and Eve. In the Bible it is recorded,
"Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord
had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, "You must not eat
from any tree in the garden?" The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat
fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, "You must not eat
from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not
touch it, or you will die." "You will not surely die," the serpent said
to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be
opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."When the woman
saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the
eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.
She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate
it"(Genesis 3:1-6). The serpent that appears here is the ancient serpent
mentioned in the book of Revelation, which was the devil or Satan who
wanted to take over the universe. After being banished from heaven,
Satan lied and said "You will not surely die." trying to bring man into
his side and interfere with God's administration. Satan transformed into
a serpent, which was a beautiful creature before it was cursed, and
tricked Eve in disobeying God and believing his false words. Satan still
deceives us, and the entire world trying to make us disobey God also.
How many of us are fooled and deceived by Satan, being kept away from
God!
Betraying
God, disobeying Him, who created the Garden of Eden for them and
trusting Satan was a great treason against God. Breaking their vow to
God was like cutting the cord of God's love. As a result of their sin,
man was cursed, the road of eternal life was blocked, and pain and
misery was to follow them the rest of their lives. In Genesis it is
recorded, "To the woman he said "I will greatly increase your pains in
childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire
will be for your husband, and he will rule over you. " To Adam he said,
"Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I
commanded you, 'You must not eat of it.' "Cursed is the ground because
of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your
life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat your
food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for
dust you are and to dust you will return. (Genesis 3: 16-19)
"After
he drove man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden
cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to
the tree of life"(Genesis 3:24). As a result of their disobedience Adam
and Eve lost their privilege to live in the Garden of Eden and eat from
the Tree of Life. They realized that the world became mortal when they
saw the flowers wither and the leaves fall from the trees. Falling
farther and farther away from God made man wicked and his body weak.
This was not a result of evolution but a result of degeneration. Satan
came into power to rule the earth and rule over man. Jealousy, war,
misery, starvation, fear, disease, and death, became the fate of man and
their hearts were filled with lies and evil. Such a phenomenon was far
from God's plan when he created man and He was not going to let this
continue. So God cleansed the world of sin to changed it to a world full
of love and righteousness as he planned.
These
days there have been many bus and airplane accidents. Many people go on
trips not knowing they are inevitable to accidents. It is man's nature
to see what's ahead of him, but God has the ability so see the future.
God foresaw the terrible result of sin and planned to save man from sin.
God the Father and the Son had the "peace discussion"(Zechariah 6:13).
As man committed sin and became depraved, the Son of God came into the
world personally in the appearance of man, and served the human race to
save us from our fate of death. He was nailed to the cross to give man
another chance at eternal life. The salvation of man was in God's plan.
Jesus will be born as a man to conquer Satan, "the offspring of a woman
will crush the head of the serpent"(Genesis 3:15). God also taught man
to sacrifice a lamb and one day the Creator will come to be sacrificed.
Through this practice will show our faith towards our Savior. John the
Baptist said about Jesus, "Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin
of the world!"(John 1:29). The apostle John said, "all whose names have
not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was
slain from the creation of the world"(Revelation 13:8). The innocent
lamb, which had been sacrificed to God for the atonement from the
beginning of the world, was a symbol of Jesus being nailed to the cross.
Therefore, those who offered sacrifice to a deity in the Old Testament
meant that they believed in God and were forgiven.
