The Spirit World

GOD ALONE IS SELF-EXlSTENT. He was First of all things. This being a Bible truth, all else must have come into being by Him.

Satan who was first called the Serpent, is a product of God’s own hand. Genesis 3:1 tells us that the serpent became the craftiest of all field life which was made by Yahweh Elohim. This is the same serpent that talked to the woman in the garden of Eden.

“Travailed has His hand with the fugitive serpent” (Job 26:13).

“And I, I created the ruiner to harm” (Isa.54:16).

It is important that we give this matter of God making the serpent some serious thought, for in it lies the whole cause of sin’s entrance into the world. God is a God of purpose, and He says, “All my counsel will be confirmed, and all My desire will I do” (Isa.46:10).

Did God make this serpent (Satan or the devil) just as an experiment? Or did He know, being an all-wise God, just what would be the result?

Yes, He knew what the outcome would be, and it was, just as He had planned it. God did not create a world and then turn it loose, as a boy does his balloon, and stand off to see what the world would do. No, He worketh all things after the council of His will. Yes, He watches each one of His creatures so closely, that even the hairs of their heads are numbered. There is nothing that occurs without His foreknowledge, and God knew it would occur from the beginning of time, just as though it had already occurred. His knowledge is unlimited, knowing the end from the beginning (Isa.46:10).

God in His wisdom saw He needed an adversary, someone to work counter to His plans and purpose, and undertake to overthrow His ultimate plan of the salvation and praise of all of the human family. So we see that Satan and sin was in God’s plan. Without opposition, God could never have shown His superiority. This fact is simple when we think of it. God needed sin and wickedness in order to have an opportunity to show to the world His mighty power over Satan and his satellites. If King Pharaoh had not been motivated by a satanic spirit he would not have held the children of Israel in bondage for more than four hundred years, but it all occurred that God might show to the world His power over Satan. Paul says Pharaoh was raised up for this very purpose. There are many events recorded in Scripture, where God used Satan in carrying out His purpose.

Evidently, Judas, of himself, would not have been strong enough to have betrayed our Saviour, but he was fortified by the entrance of Satan. Then he was able to betray Him, and God’s plan was completed, in that particular case.

We would never appreciate the good if it were not contrasted with the bad. Had we not known darkness, we would not appreciate the light. We must first be hungry to enjoy a good meal.

God could never have worked out His great purpose without contrast, which is sin and wickedness. A physician would not receive any praise in his profession if he found no one sick. Neither would God be praised for the deliverance from sin if no one had been lost in sin. Nothing can be accomplished without contrast. But the comforting thought is that God, by whom all things exist, is not only able but will transmute all evil, wickedness, and sin into good. No wonder the Scriptures tell us, He maketh the wrath of man to praise Him (Psa.76:10).

Christendom would have us believe that Satan was first created an angel and fell and lost his first estate. John says that he sinned from the beginning. If he was created an angel, and then fell without God’s knowledge or attention, an independent act of his own, I ask with all sincerity, Would the inhabitants of heaven ever be safe at any time, not knowing when another one of the angels might of his own authority decide to become a devil, and thus destroy the whole of God’s plan and purpose?

We are told in the Scriptures to let God be true, and every man a liar.

Let’s believe that God is working all things in accord with the counsel of His own will (Eph.1:11). All things? That is what it says. Then God is operating the whole universe, and is in full control, and is directing each occurrence.

Why try to shield God’s associating Himself with evil, when He says, “All is contrived by Yahweh for His response, And even the wicked one is being kept for the day of evil.” (Pro.16:4). “Maker of welfare and Creator of evil, I, Yahweh Elohim, make all of these things” (Isa.45:7).

Satan, who is cunning and crafty, would deceive the very elect if possible. He will never succeed in undoing anything that God has purposed to do. “His are the erring and the causer of error” (Job 12:16).

Satan is like a chained dog. He can only go the length of his chain. In the case of Job’s afflictions, God told Satan just how far he could go, and Satan could not go any farther. In each instance where God told him what to do, he obeyed. He is a subject of God and is absolutely under His control.

Dear reader, let us keep in mind that Satan is a product of God’s hand, and his career is only temporary, and will end at the consummation.

W. D. THOMPSON

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