Does God Love Satan? (1 of 2)

Q. Does God love Satan? Some say He does because God is Love and loves everyone. Others say God is just so He cannot love Satan who is evil? What does the Bible say?

A. A slogan is good in capturing the essence of one’s beliefs, but can’t contain all the nuances. To know what the Bible said on this subject we need to examine the relevant passages on “Satan” and “the devil”. My position is that God loved “Lucifer” before he fell, but does not love Satan after the “star of the morning” sinned and became the devil. Here’s why:

Before:
• Ezk 28:11 You had the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
• Ezk 28:15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until unrighteousness was found in you.
God loved this anointed cherub and made him beautiful and wise (Ezk 28:17).

However, after Satan’s fall all description of him are negative. There is not a single assessment of him in positive terms:

1. His nature or character:
• Enemy Mt 13:39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, …
• Murderer and liar Jn 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
• Deceitful and fraudulent Acts 13:10 and said, “You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord?
• Adversary 1 Pet 5:8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, …
• Sin 1 Jn 3:8 the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. …
• Does not practice righteousness 1 Jn 3:10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.

Satan is God’s enemy and adversary, always sinning and never practicing righteousness, a deceitful and fraudulent murderer and liar. There is not a single redeeming virtue in him.

2. His work
• Stumble people Mt 16:23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; … (Also Mk 8:33)
• Incite lies Acts 5:3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit …
• Tempt people 1 Co 7:5 … so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. (Also Mt 4:1, Lk 4:2)
• Torment people 2 Co 12:7 there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—…
• Hinder people 1 Thes 2:18 For we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, more than once—and yet Satan hindered us.
• Oppress people Acts 10:38 … and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, …
• Cast Christians to prison Rev 2:10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days.
• Deceive the world Rev 12:9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; …

The devil is always trying to stumble and tempt people by deceiving them and filling their hearts to lie. Those he can’t trip by the soft approach, he uses the hard approach to hinder, oppress, imprison and torment. All his works are vile.

(To be continued)

Who Can Serve?

Some Christians think that to be effective in ministry, you need to be a “somebody”, someone who is known, an expert in their specialty. Otherwise they will be just wasting time, putting in the effort but not having much results to show for it. The world works that way, but not with God’s Kingdom, which is upside-down compared to the world. Let’s take a look at the women at the cross:

* Mt 27:55-56 Many women were there looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee while ministering to Him. Among them was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
* Mk 15:40 There were also some women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the Less and Joses, and Salome. When He was in Galilee, they used to follow Him and minister to Him; and there were many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.
* Jn 19:25 But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

Six are named, including:
1. Mary Magdalene,
2. Mary the mother of James and Joseph,
3. Mary the mother of James the Less (James Alphaeus) and Joses,
4. Salome,
5. Mary the Lord’s mother,
6. Mary the wife of Clopas,
Two are identified but not named:
7. Mother of the sons of Zebedee (# 3?),
8. The Lord’s mother’s sister.

Since Matthew, Mark and John may call the same person by different names, some of the above may in fact be the same person. However, all of them were women, who did not enjoy equal status to men in Jesus’ days. Except for John, none of the apostles were at the Lord’s crucifixion. They were hiding for fear of the Jews and the Roman soldiers. There were no VIPs at the cross.

And besides Mary the Lord’s mother, what we know about some of them are unflattering. For example, Jesus cast out seven demons from Mary Magdalene (Mk 16:9, Lk 8:2). She had a checkered past. The wife of Zebedee requested Jesus to let her two sons sit on His right and left (Mt 20:20-21). She had selfish ambition. The others are unknowns, nobodies in this world. None is perfect or a big shot.

For that matter, there were many women who weren’t even identified, except that they all followed Jesus and ministered to Him. As a matter of fact, the qualification for ministering to Him was that they followed Him. Nothing more, nothing less. You do not need to be a “somebody”, just a humble heart willing to learn, and to serve in whatever way you can.

You may think you have no skills to offer, but in our Lord’s hands nothing is wasted. He will take our spiritual gifts, our heart desires, abilities, personality and experiences and custom fit a ministry where we can serve Him, provided we are willing and make ourselves available. So put yourself in His hands, and see what God has in wait for you. You’ll be glad you did.

Sharing Rewards

When we share our mission trips with brothers and sisters, sometimes the seniors would tell us, “We love to go too, but we are old and can’t do anything now.” Others say “We like to join you, but we have a full-time job and just can’t get away.” Besides asking them to pray, which is a most vital part of short-term missions, often our response is “If you can’t go yourself, send someone who can. Support them as your representatives. The LORD rewards GOERS and SENDERS alike.”

There is a principle in the OT. While David and his men were away, the Amalekites attacked Ziglag and took their families captive. David pursued until some of his men were too exhausted and remained behind. The others pressed on, rescued their wives and children, and recovered everything, in addition to taking spoils from the enemy. When they distributed the loot, those who fought did not want to share with those who stayed with the baggage. But David said:
• 1 Sam 30:24 For as his share is who goes down to the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage; they shall share alike.

This principle is repeated in the NT. The Lord Himself taught:
• Mt 10:41-42 He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.

Usually we focus only on the ones who go, but not the Lord. He rewards GOERS and RECEIVERS alike. By extension we believe He rewards SENDERS as well as GOERS. So if you can’t go this time, support others who can. Next time they may support you. All will share in the joy and the reward in serving Kingdom ministry.

Wanted: Team Players

We are always on the lookout for good coworkers, whether full-time, part-time, or volunteers. Besides loving God and people, both fellow Christians and non-believers, one of the criteria we use is that they be team-players. What does that mean? While people have different definitions, to us it means at least 5 things:

1. He must be honest and trustworthy. Of course being able or smart is good, but what good is his ability if you can’t trust him. In fact, the smarter an untrustworthy person is, the more cautious you need to become.

2. He must appreciate others work styles, and not insists his way is the only way. Some people consider his way is the best and all others are not good. That may be true sometimes, but it puts down all his colleagues and won’t enhance relationships.

3. He avoids politics. Some promote only themselves, self-aggrandizement at others’ expense. Others put their own interest ahead of the well-being of the community. That’s a no-no. They need to put others ahead of themselves.

4. He adapts quickly. Some are stubborn but label themselves as having strong convictions. But names don’t fool those who are discerning. We need people strong on principles but flexible in methods. Rigidity does not help anyone.

5. He meets deadline. Team members depend on each other doing their part on time. We don’t want people who are always the bottleneck and hold everybody up. Good team players do that.

Others believe a team player must be a Teachable, Energetic, Achiever and Mission-focused. These are good leadership qualities but the above should be minimum requirements.

Mission Trips

One of the things we encourage Christians to do to widen their horizon and learn about God’s work worldwide is to take a mission trip and experience it for themselves. For some, it’s an eye-opening and heart-opening experience that they will not learn even if they have been Christians for years, had they stayed within the confines of their own church. For others, it changed the direction of their life mission such that they become outward instead of inward focused. At the very least, many become more supportive of missions, both in terms of prayer and finances.

Yet some remain hesitant, feeling that they are not gifted evangelistically, nor are they bible teachers, so what could they offer? This is a common misunderstanding about the nature of mission trips, about what they can give as opposed to what they can learn from such an experience. True, if you know how to share the gospel and can nurture young believers, that would be a great contribution toward a mission team. However, what the participant receive from the trip is just as important. We expect team members to be learners, not experts who are there to solve all the problems their hosts are facing. Expertise is good, but not essential to the success of the endeavor.

In the Parable of the seed:
* Mk 4:26-29 And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

All the man did was to cast seeds and put in the sickle, presumably watering in between. But how the crop grows, he did not know. It grew by itself. Similarly our job is to sow and harvest, we don’t need to know everything. God grows the harvest naturally.

Within the Church:
* 1 Co 3:6-9 I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

Some sow, some nurture, but God causes the growth. What each individual member does is not the most important thing. What’s important is that we are God’s fellow workers, and God will cause the growth. So don’t get too hung up about your particular ministry. As all of us do our part, the work will get done collectively.

Let me conclude by quoting Neil Maxwell, “God does not begin by asking us about our ability, but only about our availability, and if we then prove our dependability, He will increase our capability.” Are you available? If you are, He is able. Prove yourself dependable. He will make you capable.

Testing Faith

Recently we had occasion to evaluate a potential coworker’s beliefs to see whether they are compatible to ours. Since he had not written out his “statement of faith” or “philosophy of ministry“, we had to ask his position on various “fundamentals of the faith” and what his practice would be under different scenarios. Some tools we had found useful in situations like these are the five fundamentals, plus the three main historical creeds:

1. Apostles’ Creed – AD 390, based on the Roman Symbol (Creed) of the first to second century. It was not written by the apostles but contained a summary of their teachings.

2. Nicene Creed – AD 325, which emphasized the divinity of Jesus.

3. Chalcedonian Creed – AD 451, which stressed the two natures (divine and human) of Christ unified in one person.

There are others, such as Athanasian Creed (AD 500) which defended the Trinity, and subsequent confessions of faith during the Reformation, but these were the main one we referred to as a checklist to quickly assess whether a person’s beliefs are orthodox.

Satan’s Schemes

As we visited mission fields in three continents, we noticed that while the missionaries worked very hard to advance God’s kingdom, Satan worked just as hard to tear their work down.

* 2 Co 2:11 so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.
* Eph 6:11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.

One of the schemes he used very effectively is to spread strife, to divide and conquer:
* Prov 6:14 Who with perversity in his heart continually devises evil, Who spreads strife.
* Prov 6:19 A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.
* Prov 16:28 A perverse man spreads strife, And a slanderer separates intimate friends.

There is a Chinese proverb (鹬蚌相争,渔翁得利) which tells a story about a clam sunning himself on the beach. A sandpiper comes along, sees the open clam and a big meal waiting, tries to pick her fleshy dinner. The clam quickly closes his shell to protect himself, with the sandpiper’s beak caught in between. Neither side wants to give in, until a fisherman comes along, sees them engaged in a bitter tussle, and easily captures both of them. The moral of the parable? When two parties fight, a third-party benefits.

The devil utters lies to sow discord among brothers, separating even intimate friends. When brothers and sisters fight among themselves, Satan can just fold his arms and watch the church fall apart. She will waste her time and energy arguing over trivial issues, while important matters like evangelism, making disciples and loving one another get ignored.

The Lord Himself taught:
* Mk 3:25 If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. (Mt 12:25, Lk 11:17)

Yet Christians everywhere fall into Satan’s trap. Be warned. Watch and pray:
* Jn 13:35 By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Man Proposes, God Disposes

I shared our mission trips with brothers and sisters at our church retreat over the long weekend. Here is the first of several bible teaching portions of our sharing. Hope they will be helpful to you.

Scripture
* Acts 16:6-9 They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them; and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”
* Acts 16:13-14 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were supposing that there would be a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled. A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.

Observations
Paul and his companions were on their second missionary journey. They wanted to preach in Phrygia and Galatia (modern Central Turkey), but the Holy spirit forbade them. They then turned north-west to Mysia and Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit that either. So they went west to the coast of the Aegean Sea to Troas, where Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia (modern Greece) calling to help. From a human standpoint it seems that Paul’s mission trip was a failure, as whatever he proposed to do God over-ruled. But Paul was flexible and always followed where the Spirit led.

Paul had his strategy. He knew the best time (Sabbath day) and the place (place of prayer) to meet his prospects. But God has His plan and surprises. In the vision a man of Macedonia appealed for help, but the first convert in Europe was a woman, and the second missionary journey was a great success as the gospel made a breakthrough from Asia into Europe.

Lessons
1. Man proposes, God disposes. So be flexible. You may think you have the perfect plan, but we know only so little. Do your due diligence but leave room for God to change your direction anytime. He knows best.
2. In your service to God, there will always be frustrations and setbacks, some from the enemy, some from the Lord Himself because He knew better. But a setback is a set-up for a come-back:
* 1 Pet 4:12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you;
* 1 Jn 3:13 Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you.
3. Always follow the leading of the Spirit:
* Rom 8:14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
* Ga 5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.

Did Jesus descend into Hell?

Q. The Apostles’ Creed said, “He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; He descended to hell.” Did Jesus descend into hell? Or is the creed wrong?

A. No, I don’t think He did, as I think the problem is with the old English usage, not the creed itself. This misunderstanding is reinforced by Acts 2:31 in KJV:

• Acts 2:31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that His soul was not left in hell, neither His flesh did see corruption.

However, if you use the NASB, you will read:

• Acts 2:31 he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID His flesh SUFFER DECAY.

Quoting from Vines Expository Dictionary of NT Words, Hades is “the region of departed spirits of the lost, including the blessed dead in periods preceding the ascension of Christ. It corresponds to “Sheol” in the OT. In the AV of the OT and NT; it has been unhappily rendered “hell”.

Many scholars believe the creed comes from the Roman Symbol (or Creed) written in the first or second century. The phrase “He descended to hell” was not in the Roman Symbol, but added later. The English word “hell” in the creed translates the Greek word κατώτατα, which literally means “lower” i.e. He descended to the “lower parts”, or the “underworld”. As such, the original simply meant He went to the “world of the dead”, with no implications of suffering in “hell” as we understand the word today.

But the positive reason why I believe Jesus did not go to literal hell (Greek Gehenna or Tartarus) is:

• Lk 23:42-43 And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

The criminal crucified beside Jesus repented and was forgiven, so he went to be with Jesus in Paradise. So if Jesus was in Paradise, He was not in hell. Even if you interpret Paradise to be “that part of Hades which was thought by the Jews to be the abode of the souls of pious until the resurrection”, it is still not hell as understood today.

The Offerings in Leviticus (2 of 2)

(Continued)

4. Sin Offering
• Lev 4:2-3 Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If a person sins unintentionally in any of the things which the LORD has commanded not to be done, and commits any of them, if the anointed priest sins so as to bring guilt on the people, then let him offer to the LORD a bull without defect as a sin offering for the sin he has committed.
• Lev 4:20 He shall also do with the bull just as he did with the bull of the sin offering; thus he shall do with it. So the priest shall make atonement for them, and they will be forgiven.

This is to atone for unintentional sins committed unknowingly, where restitution is not possible, not for willful defiance against God. It is also for cleansing from ceremonial uncleanness.

5. Guilt Offering
• Lev 5:6 He shall also bring his guilt offering to the LORD for his sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for his sin.
• Lev 5:15-16 If a person acts unfaithfully and sins unintentionally against the LORD’S holy things, then he shall bring his guilt offering to the LORD: a ram without defect from the flock, according to your valuation in silver by shekels, in terms of the shekel of the sanctuary, for a guilt offering. He shall make restitution for that which he has sinned against the holy thing, and shall add to it a fifth part of it and give it to the priest. The priest shall then make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering, and it will be forgiven him.

This is also for unintentional sins committed unknowingly, but makes restitution by repaying the damage plus a payment for compensation.

Scholars further distinguish which are voluntary (1 to 3) versus mandatory (4 and 5), and which are sweet aroma (1 to 3) versus non-sweet aroma (4 and 5). They also examine what is the Lord’s portion, the priest’s portion, and the offerer’s portion. Furthermore, each offering is a “type” of Christ representing aspects of His character and/or ministry, which we will reserve for another time.