| The Greatest Story Every Told About The Greatest Man That Ever Lived |
This
This
Is
Is
His
His
Story
Story
The question has been asked "Why did God only provide redemption for man and not for the devil and his
fallen angels?" This is a very valid question because knowing the nature of God, he is totally fair toward
everyone. God sent Jesus to redeem mankind from his sins, but there is no redemption for the devil
mentioned in the bible. Why not? The devil was at one time God's right hand man. He was the greatest
angel in heaven. He was adorned with precious stones and walked in the holy places with God. God
loved the devil. Why then is there no redemption for him? Instead the Bible says that "hell was created
for the devil and his angels". So the devil's fate is to spend eternity in the lake of fire, but mankind has a
choice. This doesn't seem fair.
I thought about this for many years, and heard many different opinions, and after much study and prayer
came to this conclusion. The reason there is no redemption for the devil but there is for mankind is
because of the nature of the sin and the way each responded to their sin. Lets look at both sins and
compare them. Lucifer, who was God's right hand man in heaven, at one time ruled the earth which was
populated by some type of beings. He conspired against God and led a rebellion against God with an
army consisting of some of the heavenly angels and these beings. He wanted to de-throne God and take
over. As he said "I will establish my throne above the throne of God". Of course that didn't happen. He
was cast out of heaven and God judged the inhabitants of the earth who all perished, and became
disembodied spirits. They are now the demon spirits that possess people because they don't have a body
of their own. The bible is silent on the origin of demon spirits, but this is where I think they came from.
The devil and his crew established their command post in the"mid heavens" and now enter heaven and
earth from there.
God then chose to re-populate the earth through Adam and Eve and gave them dominion over the earth.
This of course made the devil furious and his first task was to win the earth back from them. He did this by
deceiving Eve and getting her and Adam to disobey God. By doing so, they were now under his influence
and control and man has been ever since. Adam and Eve realized that their life would never be the
same, and God gave them their penalties for their disobedience. God drove them out of the Garden of
Eden and guarded the way to the tree of life "lest they eat of it and live in their sins forever." Already God
had a plan to redeem mankind because he didn't want to leave them in that hopeless state. God sent
Jesus to die for mankind to pay for their sins, and to win the earth back from the devil. After Jesus'
resurrection, he said "all authority in heaven and earth has now been given to me". The devil realized he
lost, and that's why he has been persecuting those who love Jesus and manipulating the rest of mankind
and turning them against God ever since.
If we compare these two stories, we see that man's sin was simply a sin of disobedience, but the devil's
sin was much more serious. Let me try to show an example of this. Suppose there is a family business in
which a father works with his sons. One day one of the sons does what he is not supposed to do. He
disobeys his father. What does the father do? Does he punish him and throw him out of the business?
No, he sits down with him and they have a talk. They discuss the issue and once they have resolved it,
and the son sees that this was wrong, he apologizes, and the father forgives him and they go on as if it
never happened. The other son however has a different idea. He decides that this is enough of working
for dad and wants to"take over". He gathers up some of his friends and comes into the business one day
with the intention of driving out his father and brothers and taking over the business. Of course all the
employees run to the father's aid and overpower the son and his friends. The father kicks his son out of
the business. At that point the father realizes that he can never trust his son again. How could he. His
son had turned against him. He didn't just disobey, he actually wanted to drive his father out and take
over the business. Unbelievable. How could he do that?
The father is very grieved by this and tries to reach out to his delinquent son but the son wants nothing to
do with his father anymore. Instead, he carries on his evil ways, causing trouble for his father's
employees, spreading rumors against his father, telling lies to their competitors, and so on. The father is
hurt by all this because he still loves his son and wishes that he would come to his senses. But he cannot
repair the damage because the son is not willing to repent and say he is sorry. And even if the did, could
they ever restore their relationship to what it once was? Could he ever trust him again? Instead, the son
keeps doing evil things against his father, his brother, their business, and everyone else. His father
realizes that his son is lost forever unless he changes his ways which seems very unlikely. So he
excludes his wayward son from his inheritance in the family business. He prays that some day his son
will see the error of his ways and repent.
Here is a summary of how this compares to the devil and God story. Lucifer was God's right hand man in
charge of ruling the earth. One day he decided to "take over". So he convinced some of God's angels to
hook up with him and the inhabitants of the earth and he led a rebellion against God with the intention of
driving God out and taking over. But he lost the battle and was thrown out. God then created Adam and
Eve and gave them dominion over the earth. The devil tricked them and won dominion of the earth back.
Jesus won the earth back from him by dying on the cross. Jesus will one day come back to reign and
rule this earth with his saints. The devil will be cast into a bottomless pit for 1,000 years after which he will
be released and lead another rebellion against God. He will then be cast into the lake of fire.
This is similar to our father and sons business story, but there's more to it than that. The reason I believe
there is no provision for the devil's redemption but just for man's is because the devil has no intention of
repenting. This is obvious because even after being chained in a bottomless pit for 1,000 years he still
leads another rebellion against God. And God could not let him into heaven in his current condition so
there is no point in making a way for the devil to be redeemed if he has no intention of changing his ways.
Mankind is just a pawn in this story because the real battle is between God and the devil. By creating
Adam and Eve and giving them authority over the earth, God knew that the devil would look for a way to
turn them against God, that's why God told them not to eat of one tree in the garden. He knew the devil
would use that to his advantage. By doing so, God set up a scenario that would show the angels of
heaven the consequences of sin which would be experienced by those angels that followed the devil. The
angels had never experienced sin before. They had never even seen it in action. They were obedient to
God they had never disobeyed God and had no idea of the consequences of doing so. By observing the
actions and fate of their fallen comrades, they could see that they made the right decision by sticking with
God. They could see that the devil and his angels and a lot of mankind were going from bad to worse and
that their lives were dramatically altered by sin. This reinforced their decision to never entertain that
temptation. Their fallen comrades who were experiencing the consequences of sin had the opportunity to
turn away from their sinful ways and choose to do good, but they didn't do so.
For as God said when Adam and Eve sinned "man has now become like one of us, knowing good and
evil." Now mankind had to learn to make the same choice. To chose good instead of evil. Man now had
the opportunity to experience both. Up till then, he only knew good. As Christians, we too know good and
evil, but we choose to do good. Adam and Eve did repent immediately after sinning. They were sorry
they sinned so God provided a way for them to be forgiven. The bible says "without the shedding of
blood there is no forgiveness". God killed the first animal and made skin coverings for Adam and Eve
when they sinned. The shedding of blood for forgiveness. He didn't do that for the devil though because
he was not yet ready to repent. And the devil had no remorse. Adam and Eve did. They immediately
knew they had done wrong and tried to hide from God. They already had a repentant heart.
So this was a lesson for all to learn. By observing these events both the angels and man could see and
experience the effects of sin. They could choose which they wanted in their life. God provided a way for
man to be forgiven, but not for the devil and his angels because they had no remorse.
However, there is more to this story. I personally believe that the story does not end here because God is
much smarter and much more compassionate than that. The devil and his angels indeed will be cast into
the lake of fire for ever and ever, but the term "for ever" could also be translated into "for ages and ages".
In other words, it may take the devil and his angels that long to finally repent. They are very hard core
now, but time has a way of softening even the most hardened criminal. And maybe that is what it will take
for the devil to finally realize that God was right and he was wrong. In heaven, "all truth will be laid bare"
so we will all know what is in each other's heart and mind. Not like here on earth where we still have
secret thoughts. That won't happen in heaven. So when the devil is ready to repent, everyone will know
that it is indeed authentic. Then God will forgive him and restore him, and all of heaven will rejoice for
eternity. Just like when one sinner repents now, regardless of how "bad" he was. Then the story will be
finished. At least that chapter will......
fallen angels?" This is a very valid question because knowing the nature of God, he is totally fair toward
everyone. God sent Jesus to redeem mankind from his sins, but there is no redemption for the devil
mentioned in the bible. Why not? The devil was at one time God's right hand man. He was the greatest
angel in heaven. He was adorned with precious stones and walked in the holy places with God. God
loved the devil. Why then is there no redemption for him? Instead the Bible says that "hell was created
for the devil and his angels". So the devil's fate is to spend eternity in the lake of fire, but mankind has a
choice. This doesn't seem fair.
I thought about this for many years, and heard many different opinions, and after much study and prayer
came to this conclusion. The reason there is no redemption for the devil but there is for mankind is
because of the nature of the sin and the way each responded to their sin. Lets look at both sins and
compare them. Lucifer, who was God's right hand man in heaven, at one time ruled the earth which was
populated by some type of beings. He conspired against God and led a rebellion against God with an
army consisting of some of the heavenly angels and these beings. He wanted to de-throne God and take
over. As he said "I will establish my throne above the throne of God". Of course that didn't happen. He
was cast out of heaven and God judged the inhabitants of the earth who all perished, and became
disembodied spirits. They are now the demon spirits that possess people because they don't have a body
of their own. The bible is silent on the origin of demon spirits, but this is where I think they came from.
The devil and his crew established their command post in the"mid heavens" and now enter heaven and
earth from there.
God then chose to re-populate the earth through Adam and Eve and gave them dominion over the earth.
This of course made the devil furious and his first task was to win the earth back from them. He did this by
deceiving Eve and getting her and Adam to disobey God. By doing so, they were now under his influence
and control and man has been ever since. Adam and Eve realized that their life would never be the
same, and God gave them their penalties for their disobedience. God drove them out of the Garden of
Eden and guarded the way to the tree of life "lest they eat of it and live in their sins forever." Already God
had a plan to redeem mankind because he didn't want to leave them in that hopeless state. God sent
Jesus to die for mankind to pay for their sins, and to win the earth back from the devil. After Jesus'
resurrection, he said "all authority in heaven and earth has now been given to me". The devil realized he
lost, and that's why he has been persecuting those who love Jesus and manipulating the rest of mankind
and turning them against God ever since.
If we compare these two stories, we see that man's sin was simply a sin of disobedience, but the devil's
sin was much more serious. Let me try to show an example of this. Suppose there is a family business in
which a father works with his sons. One day one of the sons does what he is not supposed to do. He
disobeys his father. What does the father do? Does he punish him and throw him out of the business?
No, he sits down with him and they have a talk. They discuss the issue and once they have resolved it,
and the son sees that this was wrong, he apologizes, and the father forgives him and they go on as if it
never happened. The other son however has a different idea. He decides that this is enough of working
for dad and wants to"take over". He gathers up some of his friends and comes into the business one day
with the intention of driving out his father and brothers and taking over the business. Of course all the
employees run to the father's aid and overpower the son and his friends. The father kicks his son out of
the business. At that point the father realizes that he can never trust his son again. How could he. His
son had turned against him. He didn't just disobey, he actually wanted to drive his father out and take
over the business. Unbelievable. How could he do that?
The father is very grieved by this and tries to reach out to his delinquent son but the son wants nothing to
do with his father anymore. Instead, he carries on his evil ways, causing trouble for his father's
employees, spreading rumors against his father, telling lies to their competitors, and so on. The father is
hurt by all this because he still loves his son and wishes that he would come to his senses. But he cannot
repair the damage because the son is not willing to repent and say he is sorry. And even if the did, could
they ever restore their relationship to what it once was? Could he ever trust him again? Instead, the son
keeps doing evil things against his father, his brother, their business, and everyone else. His father
realizes that his son is lost forever unless he changes his ways which seems very unlikely. So he
excludes his wayward son from his inheritance in the family business. He prays that some day his son
will see the error of his ways and repent.
Here is a summary of how this compares to the devil and God story. Lucifer was God's right hand man in
charge of ruling the earth. One day he decided to "take over". So he convinced some of God's angels to
hook up with him and the inhabitants of the earth and he led a rebellion against God with the intention of
driving God out and taking over. But he lost the battle and was thrown out. God then created Adam and
Eve and gave them dominion over the earth. The devil tricked them and won dominion of the earth back.
Jesus won the earth back from him by dying on the cross. Jesus will one day come back to reign and
rule this earth with his saints. The devil will be cast into a bottomless pit for 1,000 years after which he will
be released and lead another rebellion against God. He will then be cast into the lake of fire.
This is similar to our father and sons business story, but there's more to it than that. The reason I believe
there is no provision for the devil's redemption but just for man's is because the devil has no intention of
repenting. This is obvious because even after being chained in a bottomless pit for 1,000 years he still
leads another rebellion against God. And God could not let him into heaven in his current condition so
there is no point in making a way for the devil to be redeemed if he has no intention of changing his ways.
Mankind is just a pawn in this story because the real battle is between God and the devil. By creating
Adam and Eve and giving them authority over the earth, God knew that the devil would look for a way to
turn them against God, that's why God told them not to eat of one tree in the garden. He knew the devil
would use that to his advantage. By doing so, God set up a scenario that would show the angels of
heaven the consequences of sin which would be experienced by those angels that followed the devil. The
angels had never experienced sin before. They had never even seen it in action. They were obedient to
God they had never disobeyed God and had no idea of the consequences of doing so. By observing the
actions and fate of their fallen comrades, they could see that they made the right decision by sticking with
God. They could see that the devil and his angels and a lot of mankind were going from bad to worse and
that their lives were dramatically altered by sin. This reinforced their decision to never entertain that
temptation. Their fallen comrades who were experiencing the consequences of sin had the opportunity to
turn away from their sinful ways and choose to do good, but they didn't do so.
For as God said when Adam and Eve sinned "man has now become like one of us, knowing good and
evil." Now mankind had to learn to make the same choice. To chose good instead of evil. Man now had
the opportunity to experience both. Up till then, he only knew good. As Christians, we too know good and
evil, but we choose to do good. Adam and Eve did repent immediately after sinning. They were sorry
they sinned so God provided a way for them to be forgiven. The bible says "without the shedding of
blood there is no forgiveness". God killed the first animal and made skin coverings for Adam and Eve
when they sinned. The shedding of blood for forgiveness. He didn't do that for the devil though because
he was not yet ready to repent. And the devil had no remorse. Adam and Eve did. They immediately
knew they had done wrong and tried to hide from God. They already had a repentant heart.
So this was a lesson for all to learn. By observing these events both the angels and man could see and
experience the effects of sin. They could choose which they wanted in their life. God provided a way for
man to be forgiven, but not for the devil and his angels because they had no remorse.
However, there is more to this story. I personally believe that the story does not end here because God is
much smarter and much more compassionate than that. The devil and his angels indeed will be cast into
the lake of fire for ever and ever, but the term "for ever" could also be translated into "for ages and ages".
In other words, it may take the devil and his angels that long to finally repent. They are very hard core
now, but time has a way of softening even the most hardened criminal. And maybe that is what it will take
for the devil to finally realize that God was right and he was wrong. In heaven, "all truth will be laid bare"
so we will all know what is in each other's heart and mind. Not like here on earth where we still have
secret thoughts. That won't happen in heaven. So when the devil is ready to repent, everyone will know
that it is indeed authentic. Then God will forgive him and restore him, and all of heaven will rejoice for
eternity. Just like when one sinner repents now, regardless of how "bad" he was. Then the story will be
finished. At least that chapter will......