Know the enemy

Some time between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2 an angel that is now called Satan chose to sin. But who was he? In Ezekiel we get a glimpse of who he was.
Eze 28:11-19 Again the word of the LORD came to me saying, (12) "Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "You had the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. (13) "You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The ruby, the topaz and the diamond; The beryl, the onyx and the jasper; The lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald; And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, Was in you. On the day that you were created They were prepared. (14) "You were the anointed cherub who covers, And I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire. (15) "You were blameless in your ways From the day you were created Until unrighteousness was found in you. (16) "By the abundance of your trade You were internally filled with violence, And you sinned; Therefore I have cast you as profane From the mountain of God. And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the stones of fire. (17) "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I put you before kings, That they may see you. (18) "By the multitude of your iniquities, In the unrighteousness of your trade You profaned your sanctuaries. Therefore I have brought fire from the midst of you; It has consumed you, And I have turned you to ashes on the earth In the eyes of all who see you. (19) “All who know you among the peoples Are appalled at you; You have become terrified And you will cease to be forever."'"
First off how do we know that this is speaking of Satan? We understand this because of the statements in Verses 12 and 13 "You had the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering”. When we consider the underlined text we can conclude that this was no man. Verse 13 also speaks of the “day you were created” not on the day you were born as we would expect if this was speaking of a man. Also in verse 15 we read that “unrighteousness was found in you”, not that you sinned. This is clearly speaking of the first ever sin. Also in verse 15 we see “You were the anointed cherub who covers”, the word covers can also be rendered shields implying that this being was a guardian of some kind. So the total picture that we get here is of a perfect sinless being that guards who fell from that sinless state.

Spiritual Warfare

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
As Christians we are in a conflict that is older than the human race. A war which began in the angelic realm before humanity existed. A war that consisted of numerous battles throughout history, a war that was won in 33 AD with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and while the war has been won, the battle still rages. In order to understand the battle and our place in it we have to understand who the enemy is, how the war started, and most of all why we fight.
Over the next few days we will consider several aspects of our warfare. We shall look at who our enemy is , how the war started and the armor of God among other things.

Bible Study Magazine

Bible Study Magazine Has a very interesting article on textual criticism.
If you click on the image below it will take you to it.

What is God’s provision for sin?

Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.” This is what is known as the “seed of the woman promise.” This is the very first promise of a savior given. Notice that God puts “enmity” between Satan and the Woman. The word translated as enmity is the Hebrew wordאיָבה’ ēyḇāh (342) and means hostility, animosity, or ill will.[1] This can be seen throughout history in treatment of women in general. This can also be seen symbolically in the historical treatment of Israel.
Next we read “between your seed and her seed” . Her seed is a direct reference to Jesus Christ and the “your seed” is a reference to the antichrist.
In the last part of that verse we see that Satan is dealt a death blow while only inflicting a non mortal wound to Christ. “He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”
There are over 100 prophecies concerning the first coming of Christ in the Old Testament. Throughout the Old Testament God narrowed the “seed of the woman” promise through his dealings with Noah, Abraham, Israel and then finally bringing about the seed of a woman promise through Marry.
Christ was born and lived a sinless life, tempted in every way just as we are but without sin and finally being crucified He was placed in a grave and rose on the third day.
We have covered a lot of history with very few words and I am sure that those few words have raised a lot of questions. In order to answer some of those questions let us consider John chapter 3.
This is the story of how Nicodemus came to Jesus. Nicodemus was a Pharisee and he came to Jesus by night to ask Him a question. He greeted Jesus by calling Him Rabbi and acknowledging that He was from God. John 3:2.
Jesus cuts to the chase in verse 3 by saying "unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Now this did not compute for Nicodemus. "How can a man be born when he is old?"
Jesus responds in John 3:6, "that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." Every person on the earth has the potential to have two births, one physical and one spiritual. Notice that I said potential not necessity. One does not have to be "born again", but if the second birth is rejected then that person will experience two deaths, both physical death and spiritual death.
Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be?” John 3:9. Once again Nicodemus is confused. As a Pharisee he would have been taught that his being a Jew and his works would save him, now he is confronted with the concept of a new birth.
Jesus gives him an explanation and we should pay close attention to verses 14 and 15. This is a reference to Numbers 21:9. The Israelites had sinned and God had sent serpents to punish them. In verse 7 we see that they repented and ask Moses to intercede on their behalf. In verse 9 we see the results of Moses' intercession. The serpent is a symbol of sin judged; brass speaks of the divine judgment, as in the brazen altar and self-judgment, as in the laver of brass. The brazen serpent is a type of Christ "made sin for us" (2 Cor 5:21).[2]
This brings us back to John 3:15 - 17. It is true that God is love, but it is just as true that God is righteousness. The penalty for sin had to be paid and Christ paid it. Just as the Israelis in Numbers 21 had to look at the brazen serpent, we must believe in Christ in order to receive the gift of salvation.
Faith in Christ is how God saves us from the penalty of sin, but salvation is a starting block, not a finish line. Once we are saved we are expected to grow. (2Peter 3:16, Romans 8:29, Romans 12:2)


[1] The Complete Word Study Dictionary New Testament
[2] Scofield Notes on Numbers 21:9, Scofield Study Bible, HCS Version p. 219

The Judicial Effect.

With the fall of Adam and Eve we had a new circumstance in creation that was not and could not have been present with the angels. Adam and Eve could have children, angels could not. (Matthew 22:30 “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.”) When Satan and his angels fell they fell as individuals. When Adam fell he fell for the entire human race. Romans 5:17-18 “For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.” When Adam and Eve had children, it was after the fall, and they passed on their sin nature to those children. Genesis 5:3 “When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years; he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth. Was this the original image of Adam before the fall or was it the image after the fall? It was the fallen image that is passed on through the father to the children. Compare Psalms 51:5 with Ephesians 2:3. In Psalms we read “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.” This is David speaking of having sin from birth. In Ephesians we read “and were by nature children of wrath” not by action but by nature we were children of wrath. It is because of this nature being passed on from father to child that Christ could not have a human father. If Christ had a human father then He would have had a sin nature. If He had a sin nature then His sacrifice would not have been acceptable to God. If His sacrifice was not acceptable to God then we are not saved.
Why is all of that important? Because of Romans 5:18 “So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.” Because all mankind was condemned in Adam, Christ could redeem all mankind through one sacrifice.

Just a few thoughts

First off, I have decided that with the conclusion of the study on the gospel I will not publish every day from now on, I simply cannot keep up. I will try a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule and see what happens.

Second, I found a really good article over at AIG. And I recommend that you read it. The article is a response to an e-mail sent in by an evolutionist. It has some really good information in it.