May 5th, 2015, Kichijouji Bible Study
Gotthold Beck
Isaiah
14:13 You said in your heart, ‘I’ll ascend to heaven, above the stars of God. I’ll erect my throne; I’ll sit on the Mount of Assembly in the far reaches of the north;
14:14 I’ll ascend above the tops of the clouds; I’ll make myself like the Most High.’
14:15 But you are brought down to join the dead, to the far reaches of the Pit.
14:16 “Those who see you will stare at you. They will wonder about you: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who made kingdoms quake,
14:17 who made the world like a desert, who destroyed its cities, who would not open the jails for his prisoners?’
[International Standard Version]
Ezekiel
28:11 Another message came to me from the Lord, and this is what it said:
28:12 “Son of Man, start singing this lamentation for the king of Tyre. Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “You served as my model, my example of complete wisdom and perfect beauty.
28:13 You used to be in Eden― God’s paradise! You wore precious stones for clothing: ruby, topaz, diamond, beryl, onyx, jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and carbuncle. Your settings were crafted in gold, along with your engravings. On the day of your creation they had been prepared!
28:14 “You were the anointed cherub; having been set in place on the holy mountain of God, you walked in the midst of fiery stones.
28:15 You were blameless in your behavior from the day you were created until wickedness was discovered in you.
28:16 Since your vast business dealings filled you with violent intent from top to bottom, you sinned, so I cast you away as defiled from the mountain of God. I destroyed you, you guardian cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones.
28:17 Your heart grew arrogant because of your beauty; you annihilated your own wisdom because of your splendor. Then I threw you to the ground in the presence of kings, giving them a good look at you!
28:18 By all of your iniquity and unrighteous businesses you defiled your sanctuaries, so I’m going to bring out fire from within you and burn you to ashes on the earth before the whole watching world!
28:19 Everyone who knows you throughout all the nations will be appalled at your calamity and you will no longer exist forever.”’”
In the past few meetings, we discussed three points together; the God of Trinity, the accomplishments of the Lord God before the Creation of the universe, and the foundation of the world.
Today, I would like to begin a discussion on a totally new subject. I know it does not sound very pleasant to you, but it is about the devil. The devil is the founder of sins. It is clearly stated in the Bible that the devil exists. Needless to say, Jesus as well as his disciples believed in the existence of the devil. It does not make sense for us to believe in Jesus but not in the existence of the devil. Let us look at what James wrote in this regard;
James
2:19 You believe that there is one God. That’s fine! Even the demons believe that and tremble with fear.
4:7 Therefore, submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will run away from you.
It is obvious from these verses that James was aware of the works of the devil and the demons. Now, let us move on to what Peter said;
1 Peter
5:8 Be clear-minded and alert. Your opponent, the devil, is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
Peter sent these words to believers of his time. Let us look at Paul now. He urged his fellow believers to be cautious, as written in this famous chapter 6 of Ephesians;
Ephesians
6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord, relying on his mighty strength.
6:11 Put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the devil’s strategies.
6:12 For our struggle is not against human opponents, but against rulers, authorities, cosmic powers in the darkness around us, and evil spiritual forces in the heavenly realm.
Our life is not like a picnic or a walk in the park; rather, it is the battle as James, Peter and Paul have written. The Bible clearly states that, as I just mentioned, the devil is present among us. The devil is a personal, concrete character. It is not an abstraction of bad influence or evil strength. Jesus was once tempted by the devil. Let us read these famous verses from chapter 4 of the Gospel according to Matthew.
Matthew
4:1 After this, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
4:2 After fasting for 40 days and 40 nights, he finally became hungry.
4:3 Then the tempter came. “Since you are the Son of God,” he said, “tell these stones to become loaves of bread.”
4:4 But he answered, “It is written, ‘One must not live on bread alone, but on every word coming out of the mouth of God.’”
4:5 Then the devil took him to the Holy City and had him stand on the highest point of the Temple.
4:6 He told Jesus, “Since you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, because it is written, ‘God will put his angels in charge of you,’ and, ‘With their hands they will hold you up, so that you will never hit your foot against a rock.’”
4:7 Jesus responded to him, “It is also written, ‘You must not tempt the Lord your God.’”
4:8 Once more the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, along with their splendor.
4:9 He told Jesus, “I will give you all these things if you will bow down and worship me!”
4:10 Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! Because it is written, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’”
4:11 So the devil left him, and angels came and began ministering to him.
According to the First Epistle of John, chapter 3, verse 8, “The reason that the Son of God, Jesus, was revealed was to destroy what the devil has been doing.” The Bible tells us that the devil morphs himself through six stages from his birth till the moment he perishes. The length of each stage is totally different. I would like to look into each of these six stages.
Firstly, the devil as the anointed cherub who resided at the highest place of heaven. Secondly, the devil at the lower stage of heaven. Thirdly, the devil who came down to earth. Fourthly, the devil who was thrown into the bottomless pit. Fifthly, the devil who shall come back to this world. Sixthly, the devil who will be thrown alive into the lake of fire. The Bible abundantly writes about the devil.
In our last meeting, we talked about the angels, the ones who are sent from heaven. The Bible clearly defines that the angels are messengers of the Lord God, who are sent to oversee our growth and accomplish their mission.
Angels are also our helpers in times of trouble, warriors who fight for our victory in our last battle, the guardians of the world order of the Lord God, the executors of the judgment of the Lord God, the worshippers of redemption and all works of the Lord. The Bible clearly explains these seven aspects of the angels.
We have no idea when angels were created as it is not definitely mentioned in the Bible. We can see from Job, chapter 38, verses 4 to 7, that the angels were already there before the foundation of the world. We have no clue as to how long before the Creation of Heaven and Earth did the angels come into existence.
Then, what is the nature of the angels? Angels are created by the Lord. Although angels are depicted as if they have a physical body in the Bible, they do not have flesh in a real sense. Plants are made of cells. Animals have flesh and souls.
Humans consist of flesh, soul and spirit. Contrarily, angels only have soul and spirit. Angels are the messengers of God. They are made to serve their Creator. They are not allowed to choose the work they do. They only serve for the mission given by the Lord.
For example, one angel told Elijah to eat some bread when he was in despair, while another messenger of the Lord came to proclaim the birth of the savior. We can see from the Bible that angels are not all the same but are different from each other. There is Cherubim. There is Seraphim. There is a chief of all angels and there are Holy Spirits. All angels have their own missions.
They are assigned specific roles, such as controlling humans, sovereignty, authority, restraining as well as vindication. The angel of the (second) highest order of the celestial hierarchy is called Cherubim and this Cherubim has the most critical mission. Let us examine this in several verses from the Bible. The God commanded Cherubim to protect the tree of life.
Genesis
3:24 After he had expelled the man, the Lord God placed winged angels (Cherubim) at the eastern end of the garden of Eden, along with a fiery whirling sword, to prevent access to the tree of life.
Secondly, Cherubim protected the place for the Atonement.
Exodus
25:18 You are to make two cherubim of gold; you are to make them of hammered work at the two ends of the Mercy Seat.
25:19 Place one cherub at one end and one cherub at the other end. You are to make the cherubim at the two ends of the Mercy Seat, and of one piece with it.
Thirdly, Cherubim was embroidered on the curtain that separated the Most Holy Place.
Exodus
26:31 You are to make a curtain of blue, purple, and scarlet material, and fine woven linen. You are to make it with cherubim skillfully worked into it.
Fourthly, Cherubim was engraved on the walls of the Holy Temple.
2 Chronicles
3:7 The Temple was overlaid with gold, including the beams, thresholds, walls, and doors. Cherubim were engraved on the walls.
Fifthly, Cherubim is closely related to the throne of God.
Ezekiel
10:20 These were the living beings that I had seen under the God of Israel on the bank of the Chebar River. I knew that they were cherubim.
10:19 They stood at the entrance to the east gate of the Lord’s Temple as the glory of Israel’s God remained above, covering them.
Sixthly, it is written that Cherubim guarded the empty tomb.
John
20:12 She saw two angels in white clothes who were sitting down, one at the head and the other at the foot of the place where Jesus’ body had been lying.
Seventhly, Cherubim revolves around the throne of God.
Revelation
4:6 In front of the throne was something like a sea of glass as clear as crystal. In the center of the throne and on each side of the throne were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back.
4:7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature was like an ox, the third living creature had a face like a human, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle.
4:8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings and were full of eyes inside and out. Without stopping day or night they were saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, who is, and who is coming.”
The devil used to be Cherubim. Moreover, the devil was once the Anointed Guardian, Cherub.
Ezekiel
28:14 You were the anointed cherub; having been set in place on the holy mountain of God, you walked in the midst of fiery stones.
Angels at a very high order were generally assigned extremely important missions. It was for this reason that these angels were anointed. These angels had the most intimate relationship with the Lord since they were created. They were given a variety of privileges. When an angel fell and became the devil, he lost his anointing. He lost all his wisdom; he lost his missions and he lost everything he had. However, according to the Bible, before he fell, he was an angel who was filled with wisdom, who had an awesome beauty and who was blameless in his behavior.
Ezekiel
28:15 You were blameless in your behavior from the day you were created until wickedness was discovered in you.
Before he fell, the devil had an intimate fellowship with the Lord, which was incomparable to any other creation. The devil was even called the prince of this world in the Bible. Paul wrote to brothers and sisters in Corinth;
2 Corinthians
4:3 So if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are dying.
4:4 In their case, the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe to keep them from seeing the light of the glorious gospel of the Messiah, who is the image of God.
Why was the devil called “the god of this world” here? This implies that after the Lord God created heaven and earth, he entrusted the control of this world to the devil before he fell from grace.
Luke
4:6 He told Jesus, “I will give you all this authority, along with their glory, because it has been given to me, and I give it to anyone I please.”
This was what the devil said. It was for the purpose of revealing the glory of God, praising and letting the name the Lord God be known to the whole universe that the devil before the fall was created. When the Lord God created the angels of heaven, he also created tambourines and flutes. From this, I have a vivid recollection of the devil before the fall, conducting the choir and singing a song to praise the Lord throughout the universe. Similarly, we are supposed to bring a sacrifice of praise to the Lord God.
Hebrews
13:15 Therefore, through him let us always bring God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of our lips that confess his name.
It is not surprising that the devil desperately tries to keep us away from praising the Lord and worshiping him like this. Be that as it may, let us simply praise and worship the Lord wholeheartedly. If we never stop to thank the Lord and praise him, the devil will have no choice but to run away.
The devil was perfect indeed until he fell, but after all, he was still something created by God. All created things must obey and serve the Creator. Created things have to rely upon the one who created them. So far, we have looked at the devil, who used to be the Cherubim, the anointed guardian at the highest order in heaven.
Now, as the second part of this sermon, I would like to look into the devil who was expelled from the highest order but still resides in heaven. It was a horrible incident when the angel who had the light of God turned into the enemy of God. This was the origin of sin.
It is totally unknown where and how this sin came about. The devil was first created as the highest prince by God. All things created by the Lord God are perfect. Because God himself is so perfect, he cannot create imperfect things. I still struggle to understand how the evil arose from a perfect creation without any outward temptation at all. This flawless angel committed a sin and turned into the enemy of God. This is the fact that the Bible is telling us. It is not a figment of the imagination, but what really happened.
Ezekiel
28:15 You were blameless in your behavior from the day you were created until wickedness was discovered in you.
28:16 Since your vast business dealings filled you with violent intent from top to bottom, you sinned, so I cast you away as defiled from the mountain of God. I destroyed you, you guardian cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones.
28:17 Your heart grew arrogant because of your beauty; you annihilated your own wisdom because of your splendor. Then I threw you to the ground in the presence of kings, giving them a good look at you!
As we can see from these verses, when this splendid and anointed angel took too much pride in his appearance, in his wisdom and in his brilliance, he foolishly believed that these things inherently belonged to him and he deserved them. When he took pride in these gifts received from the Lord, he ceased to praise the Lord God himself. When we forget the one who gave a gift and instead, look only at what is in our hands, we begin walking the way that leads to corruption. It is the way of destruction. In simple terms, this angel became arrogant.
1 Timothy
3:4 He must manage his own family well and have children who are submissive and respectful in every way.
3:5 For if a man does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?
3:6 He must not be a recent convert, so that he won’t become arrogant and fall into the devil’s condemnation.
3:7 He must be well thought of by outsiders, so he doesn’t fall into disgrace and the trap set for him by the devil.
Arrogance is a consequence of exalting yourself. Arrogance causes you to be separated from the intention of the Lord God and acting on your own will. The fall of the devil is depicted again in the Book of Isaiah.
Isaiah
14:12 “How you have fallen from heaven, Day Star, son of the Dawn! How you have been thrown down to earth, you who laid low the nation!
14:13 You said in your heart, ‘I’ll ascend to heaven, above the stars of God. I’ll erect my throne; I’ll sit on the Mount of Assembly in the far reaches of the north;
14:14 I’ll ascend above the tops of the clouds; I’ll make myself like the Most High.’
The intention of men always conflicts with the Lord. Because of this, the one who used to carry the glorious light of God turned into his enemy. When the devil developed an internal desire to accomplish something on his own while ignoring the will of the Lord, sins began. Arrogance, self-admiration, self-assertion and resistance to God; through these sins, the one who was supposed to carry the light of God became the devil.
Do we have this poison of arrogance within our minds? Are we all tied to our personal desires? We all care about me, me, me, from the beginning to the end of each day, don't we? We have the same innate nature as the devil, which gets us caught up in personal desire; I want to do this and I want to do that!
Do we just act on our own plan? Our desire might be out of good intentions indeed. However, as far as it comes out of our own will, it still is against the Lord to act on such intentions. In essentials, sins come out of arrogance. Exalting yourself is the source of all arrogance.
When you exalt yourself, you are rebelling against the Lord in reality. The consequence is a separation from the Lord. There, inside yourself, two different intentions will be formed—the intention of the Lord and your own intention. Here, we see the true nature of sins. Although many people consider that sin is in our deeds, its root is in our minds.
Before the devil committed the first sin, sin was already in his mind. It was born at the moment when the devil had an inner desire to act on his own. A sin is an intentional and self-motivated act against the Lord. Before the Lord God, what matters is not what humans do, but what humans are. All humans are sinners before the Lord God. A sin is to disrespect the Lord.
The worst kind of sin is, needless to say, arrogance. Because of his arrogance, the one who carried the light turned into the devil. Because of their arrogance, human beings have fallen. It was for this reason that Jesus came down to this world and lived in the lowest place of the universe. He suffered and was slaughtered. The devil desired to be the Most High.
Jesus did not insist on being as lofty as God. The devil insisted on his inner desire in order to rise high. Contrarily, Jesus humbled himself. While the devil attempted to exalt himself above all others, Jesus willingly acted like a slave. I will finish this sermon with the following few verses.
Philippians
2:5 Have the same attitude among yourselves that was also in the Messiah Jesus:
2:6 In God’s own form existed he, and shared with God equality, deemed nothing needed grasping.
2:7 Instead, poured out in emptiness, a servant’s form did he possess, a mortal man becoming. In human form he chose to be,
2:8 and lived in all humility, death on a cross obeying.
2:9 Now lifted up by God to heaven, a name above all others given, this matchless name possessing.
2:10 And so, when Jesus’ name is called, the knees of everyone should fall wherever they’re residing.
11 Then every tongue in one accord, will say that Jesus the Messiah is Lord, while God the Father praising.
0 件のコメント:
コメントを投稿