Genesis 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
The world was good; the animals loved and respected and did no harm to one
another. All the life God created was good and deserved to live. In this
world God created man in His own image. He created man, not when he formed a
lifeless statue of dust, but rather when He breathed in man's nostrils the
breath of life and man became a living soul. It is the living soul or the
spirit that is created in the image of God; and this spirit is love and
compassion in the heart of man and woman. God is love and it is the love
within us that is created in the image of God. Adam and Eve were good and
loving and they deserved to live according the Law of God.
Some of the angels
like Satan were not given the ability to unselfishly love others and they
became evil. According to God, love is the true measure of greatness; but as
Satan sees it the measure of greatness is power. This means that in the eyes
of God we humans are actually superior to powerful Satan, but Satan is
greatly offended that God considers humanity superior to him. Satan and
other loveless egocentric angels were determined to destroy humanity, but
they knew humanity had to be destroyed without violating God's Law.
Wisdom of Solomon 2:23-24 For God created man for immortality, and made him the image of his own eternity, But through the devil's envy death came into the world, and those who belong to his party experience it.
Satan convinced Adam and Eve to disobey God. God had required that the
powerful angels of Heaven respect the humans He had created. Satan could not
enter into Eve's mind and entice her to disobedience because God would not
allow it. Satan had to appear before Eve as a serpent and persuade her to
disobey God.
Because of the disobedience of Adam and Eve the great beings of Heaven were
allowed to enter the bodies of these first two humans. Eating the forbidden
fruit was the “original sin”, but it was not an evil act. It was merely
disobedience. God would no longer require the angels of Heaven to stay away
from the humans because the humans could not stay away from the forbidden
fruit as He had required them.
The tree was called the knowledge of good and evil. Biblically speaking to
know someone is to become one with them as when husband and wife are said to
know each other. Eating the forbidden fruit meant the good and evil spirits
of Heaven are now allowed to know or to become one with humans. This means
that Satan would now be allowed to enter into our bodies and become one with
us.
Satan had taken the bait. This is exactly what God had in mind, and this is
what God knew would happen. Now God has beings who struggle within
themselves between good and evil. God has always been in control, and He
always will be. This is not to say that God controls everything that
happens, but that God foreknew everything that would happen. God foreknew
every possible outcome of every event; and though rarely, He intervenes when
necessary to achieve the desired outcome. God created time, but He is not
governed by time. God exists in all time, and He sees the end from the
beginning. Satan is a powerful spirit, but he is nothing compared to God,
and it is absurd to think that Satan could ever do battle with God.
Satan is large and powerful and his spirit fills the world. His spirit is
all around us, and with the fall of Adam and Eve his spirit is in our hearts
and minds as well. Satan does not control us; he is part of us. Satan
influences us just as air pollution and climate will both have an effect on
our mood and behavior.
With the influence of Satan all of humanity has been less than perfect and
has become subject to death under the Law. This death comes from Satan, and
it is his desire for humanity. Satan is not the leader of hell who battles
God for the soul of man; Satan has no desire for the soul of man but to
destroy it. Satan is not in hell at all; he is still an angel of Heaven. He
is a narcissistic, self-righteous angel who persuades humans to sin and then
accuses them before the throne of God.
John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
Satan is the accuser. Satan influences our behavior, but we are the ones who sin. We commit sins and we are convicted as Satan himself points out our sins before the throne of God.
Revelation 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
Sin is in the heart; it is not the physical act, but a physical act of sin does reveal the sin in the heart. God is in every physical "place" in creation. God sees all evil acts that are committed in the material world. If Satan commits a physical act of sin, God will witness the sin even without looking into Satan's evil heart. If Satan commits murder, even the murder of a human, then Satan will be guilty of violating the Law of God. If Satan bears false witness he will be guilty.
Jeremiah 23:24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.
Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.
Satan has always tried to avoid doing anything for which he can be found
guilty of violating the Law of God. Even when humans
have come to hate each other because of his influence Satan claims this is a
product of human weakness. Weakness is what Satan sees as inferior.
Since the fall of Adam and Eve the world has been the dominion of Satan. The
physical world has been governed by the law of Satan which is survival of
the fittest. Satan believes he has demonstrated that power is the true
measure of greatness. The Law of God is based on love not power; yet even
under the Law of God, the powerful Satan lives up to the Law because of his
strength of will; but the compassionate yet weak humans fail to live up to
the Law.
The spirit of Satan reaches throughout creation and influences all creatures
in creation; but Satan himself does not kill, not even animals. Under the
influence of Satan animals kill each other just as humans kill each other.
Satan makes every effort to gain permission from God to act against humanity
as he did in the book of Job. Satan realizes he can not be convicted for
actions that are sanctioned by God.
Job 1:8-12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
Satan killed the sons and daughters of Job, but he did so with authorization from God without revealing any hatred he felt for those he killed. Satan does not kill without permission from God; he does, however, get people to kill each other as when Cain killed Abel. The spirit of Satan fills the world, and the self-centeredness that came from Satan caused jealousy to develop within Cain. Satan merely brings his presence into the world. The hatred developed and grew in the heart of Cain.
Genesis 4:8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
Satan has dominion in the world by his spirit influencing all living fleshly
creatures, not by controlling them. Satan does not even control inanimate
objects as far as being able to use objects to violate the Law of God. Satan
does not cause earthquakes or hurricanes unless he is first given permission
from God. If Satan were actually in charge of natural disasters, the
disasters would come continuously until all of humanity was destroyed since
Satan seeks the destruction of humanity.
Many natural forces were put in place after the fall of Adam and Eve.
Hurricanes are produced by energy from the sun; earthquakes are the result
of the movement of tectonic plates. By the influence of Satan we sin and in
accordance with the Law we die, but God also established natural forces by
which the influence of Satan in the world causes us to replace ourselves
with the next generation.
God made us so that the presence of Satan would cause us to experience lust. Our flesh is born because of the
influence of Satan. Adam and Eve were created by God, but the rest of us are
products of sex which means we are products of Satan. It is therefore only
reasonable that our flesh be influenced by and under the dominion of Satan.
In this way the fall of Adam and Eve is passed to all humans who have lived
since.
Even though Satan is able to destroy all humans he is unable to destroy
humanity. Each generation replaces itself, and Satan is limited in what he
is able to do because he tries not to violate the Law of God. The only thing
Satan can do to us is what he can cause us to do to ourselves and to each
other. Yet, Satan enjoys the game, and has no regret that he can not
completely destroy humanity. Satan takes pleasure in playing God in the
Earth and destroying each generation.
Satan uses humans to destroy each other, and by causing us to sin he uses
the Law of God to secure the inevitable destruction of each individual
human. We do violate the Law; we are less than perfect; we sometimes
experience hatred and behave selfishly. We also self-righteously become
angry with others because of their faults even though their faults may be no
worse than our own. Even by our own words we do not fairly deserve eternal
reward. In the end Satan will be condemned and the children of God will be
redeemed; but after the fall of humanity in the Garden of Eden it is
humanity that faces eternal death under the Law, not Satan.
Yet, everything is going as expected. One thing that had
to be accomplished is that Satan had to acknowledge, accept and completely
support the Law of God. For thousands of years Satan has caused humans to
sin as he accuses them before the throne of God. Satan continuously points
out to God the sins of humans; he points out that all of God's precious
humans must be destroyed according to the Law of God. In the end Satan will
be condemned with the same words he has used to condemn humanity.
Genesis 9:6 Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.