As one reads the opening chapters of the Holy Bible, one principle stands out above all the rest: man purposes to perpetuate sin forever while demanding salvation according to his method, not according to GOD’S.  “The Creator of heaven and earth” could not allow this: “And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.” Gen.3:22,23.  The manner in which man demands to be saved would allow the affliction of life caused by sin to last forever.  Suffering and death would become an everlasting way of life.  Human imagination has taken hold of the notion that evil permeates the universe: that it is some how nutritious to the perpetuation of life as a whole.   We have already scrutinized the Bible on this and have shown that this is not the case; but have easily determined that evil works to the antithesis of life’s blessing.  Sin benefits nothing!  And without GOD’S great redeeming power, stemming the tide of Satan’s destructive rule, the unfallen worlds would fall one by one until the very Throne of GOD itself would be assaulted once more just as it was in the beginning when Satan caused the very first war in heaven—at the very Throne of GOD (Rev.12:7-9).Even the naturalists desire the continuation of a supervision ruling over the carnivorous wildlife of earth in which abominable cruelty is continuously employed for their survival and gain.  It is this same cruel dealing found in the wild kingdom that man employs against his fellow man.  Man’s belief in the theory of evolution has become the most dangerous leverage in the harm of life for this modern age: equating the cruelty of the wild beasts to man’s freedom to be inhumane.  “Survival of the fittest” has been the motto of every tyrant through history, uniting the sinful pride with the lust for power.  Man’s greatest sin is his inhumanity to his fellow man.  This continuing cruelty proves that Man merely seeks the free expression of sin.  But GOD’S Holy Law rebukes that free expression.  This is why men have always demonstrated their hatred of GOD’S Law even within the hierarchy of Christianity today: “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” Rom.8:7-9.

GOD has to remove the cancer of sin for it is the sole cause of all pain and death in this world: “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.” Rom.8:22.  GOD will see to the end of all suffering and fulfill His beautiful prophecies of the redeemed living in a utopian world forever.  In that day “affliction shall not rise up the second time.” Na.1:9.  In that day men will recognize the perfect benefit of GOD’S every Word, for GOD lives to serve the creatures formed by His hands (Matt.20:28) and so His words will always serve our best interest (Jer.6:16). 

It is GOD’S marvelous deliverance from sin’s multitude of afflictions that has led the holy people of GOD to rejoice throughout the generations.  By faith they looked forward to the time when their every hope will be met by the promises of GOD’S Word (Heb.11).  Only then will life be safe and man can once more be entrusted with its care as it was in the beginning: “And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.” Gen.2:15.  In the beginning GOD entrusted Adam with the care of life.  But with the entrance of sin man could no longer be entrusted with its care.  Because of this, GOD has to obliterate the regime ruling this world with its domineering selfishness, fear and pain; and replace it with His intended purpose for the life He created: an inheritance of everlasting peace and joy for every creature, great and small, “and none shall make them afraid.” Isa.17:2.

Imagine a world where fear and death has absolutely no place.  The routine of eternity we can but vaguely imagine, for incorporated into its makeup will be the fulfilling of man’s loftiest aspirations and creativity.  We are children of the Creator, made in His image and likeness (Gen.1:27); therefore, it is GOD’S creative nature that men and women will emulate, and create works of art and science with an intellect that is beyond today’s comprehension (I Cor.2:9).  And none of the creations envisioned of men will threaten the safety of life ever again.  Man will know and follow the boundaries ordained of GOD for the preservation of life forever.

Bible prophecy even gives the clear assurance that in the “new earth” every creature will be a vegetarian just as they were in the beginning (Gen.1:29,30) with none of the animals attacking, slaughtering and eating one another.  Carnivorous behavior is a product of sin and will be done away.  “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.  And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den.  They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” Isa.11:6-9.

Today, it’s a different story.  Everything man does works to the destruction of life (Rev.11:18).  Even the day-to-day lifestyle of western civilization thrives on a value system of covetousness and competition.  In this world of the haves and have-nots, our sinful society places many demands on people that are technically impossible for them to meet such as obtaining the opulent lifestyle of the wealthy class or being sexually desirable through physical attraction.  To be accepted in a sinful society demands a level of selfish vanity that only fosters the insatiable appetites for sexual lust, power, and wealth.  These are the selfish tendencies that lead people into sin.  Our very system of existence demands the transgression of GOD’S Holy Law, for every temptation leading to sin is being embraced simply for one’s temporary gain (I Tim.6:10). 

But GOD has provided something of the beautiful nature of the future world where none will feel inferior to another in any way.  An equality of youthful beauty, strength and talent will be seen in all people.  None will say, “She’s prettier than I am” or “His physique is nicer than mine.”  The mental torments of envy and jealousy will have absolutely no existence for they are the fruit of sin, and all sin will be done away.  And on the most important issue of all, the simple joys of life, there are precious insights “the LORD” has seen fit to share with us as to the future of life; for in the new earth the redeemed “shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree [immovable] are the days of My people, and Mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.”  Isa.65:22.  And with each new revelation, every discovered insight, all will direct men to an ever-increasing appreciation of the words, “GOD is love.” I Jn.4:8.  GOD has given to men aspirations that only eternity can fulfill.  A mere seventy years of life cannot accomplish the desires of the human heart.  The fact that man uses so little of his brain this alone shows the nature of its eternal design.  It is designed to store an eternity of joyful experiences.

“We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.” Rev.11:17,18.

Man assaults the security of life in every compass heading he sets through his transgression of GOD’S Holy Law: socially, scientifically, medically, legally, environmentally, economically, morally and spiritually.  The Gospel clearly teaches that sin works to the destruction of life not its promotion, and that it is the obvious path of suicide.  And so for men in and out of the church to demand to be saved in sin is a technical impossibility.  But GOD gave a set of guidelines that if men would hear and obey, GOD would then have the legal right to not only redeem them from both the living and the dead when Christ returns (I Th.4:17), but to protect His children here and now (Deut.7:11-15) from the many threats of “the prince of this world,” Satan (Jn.14:30), the definitive double-agent (II Cor.11:14), the one who hides behind religion, the drug, alcohol, and gambling industries, the television and movie industry with their advertisers, as well as psychics, hypnotists, fortunetellers, mediums and witches (Deut.18:9-13).   Satan’s deceptive magic is also found in evangelical Christian circles where multitudes give their allegiance to such Bible-rebellious doctrines as “slain in the spirit,” “the word of knowledge,” and the Unbiblical use of “tongues.”  Every major religion of earth: Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Voodoo advocates these same “gifts” when there is no difference between them and today’s Christianity.  Everyone whom GOD has delivered from the occult recognizes that professed Christians are deceived by these very same spirits (I Tim.4:1).  Even the crying, bleeding statues of Mary, under the umbrella of Roman Catholicism: all of this is an exhibition of power designed to deceive multitudes of men, women and children, leading them to believe a lie: giving them a false sense of security, hardening them in their sinful ways ushering them by the tens of millions to Satan’s slaughter house, thus, affecting their eternal death. 

The existence of miracles is no evidence of GOD being the source of the miracle (Deut.13:1-4; Isa.8:20).  The Apostle Paul sums up the issue of Satan’s use of miracles to deceive the world when he affirmed that these counterfeits are “after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion [allow Satan to work his deceptive magic], that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”  In constant crescendo “evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” “For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.” II Th.2:9-12; II Tim.3:13; Rev.16:14.

Then there are those who don’t even believe in Satan’s existence.  The agnostic generally refuses to believe in anything outside of the limitations of the human senses of sight, sound, smell and touch.  While studying at the Juilliard School in New York City, I went to see a fortuneteller at the recommendation of a friend.  This woman used Tarot cards to read my fortune.  She laid them down on the table in front of me and told me according to the meaning of the cards what was in my past, present, and future.  Everything she stated was perfectly precise in what was transpiring in my life at that time: everything from recent events in my life to the decisions I had just made for my future.  So my question is, “Who shuffled the deck?”  This clearly was no coincidence—no random stroke of luck.  This experience taught me a very important lesson even though I was not a Christian at this time: there are controlling forces outside of our ability to control our own destiny.  It proved to me that beyond the three dimensional experience of human beings there is a dimension where powers of supernatural intervention exist.  Physicists today have calculated ten dimensions proving there is much beyond our very limited spectrum of sense and understanding.

Everything from the variety of natural disasters (Job 1:18,19) and wars (Job 1:12,15) to all disease (Jn.5:1-4; Deut.28:15-68) GOD said that no nation would suffer from the afflictions of Satan’s mechanisms of destruction as long as full allegiance to GOD is held steadfast (Jn.5:14). Only then can GOD have the legal right to hold Satan at bay (Mal.3:11).  This was one of the prime reasons GOD raised up the nation of Israel: to be a beacon to the world, that all the world could see GOD’S protection for those who live under His watch-care.  Israel disobeyed.  This led to their ruin.  And so does today’s America.—And our ruin is pending. 

But by honoring GOD we truly honor one another, for this is the only means of our mutual safety in a sinful world.  But the fact that the world is inundated with both disasters and disease shows the extremes of man’s deviation from the laws of GOD; for Satan will exercise his jurisdiction as far as he is allowed (Job 1:9-12); and GOD must allow Satan’s exercise of authority as long as man holds his course of sin and self-destruction, for GOD can never give His blessing to sin.  In spite of this, GOD has always overruled the extent of Satan’s destructive capabilities, limiting them to a precise dosage of affliction that men may cry for something better, turning to GOD in repentance to meet the heaven-born desires.  This is why GOD Said to Adam in the beginning, “Cursed is the ground for thy sake,” and David wrote in the psalms, “Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word.” “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.  The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.” Gen.3:17; Ps.119:67,71,72.  The church and the world take a different view: “Thousands of gold and silver are better than GOD’S Law” (Rev.17:4). 

Satan cries, “foul” in GOD’S overruling Satan’s destructive manipulations in the affairs of men; and yet, without GOD’S intervention none would be saved and Satan’s victory would have been complete.  Men have no understanding of the strength and intellect of demon angels and how they have successfully conspired to secure the destruction of the vast majority of the human race, including those whose names are on the church books, with less than five percent of them escaping from this world.  Even though the leaders of the church refuse the guidelines of salvation, leading multitudes to follow their sinful example, Christ is still the Victor!  Said the Savior to all who desire Him, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” Jn.16:33.  He alone dammed the flood of sin and repaired the breach. 

Praise be to GOD the Father, for He sent His Son to pay the ransom for His kidnapped children.  And although Satan plans to never release any of his kidnapped victims “of the dead and living,” Christ will overrule and come to set the captives free (Jn.5:28,29).  “All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth.” Matt.28:18.  And when He comes “the mountains shall be molten under Him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire.” “And he that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; he shall dwell on high” “and shall inherit everlasting life”  Mic.1:4; Isa.33:15,16; Matt19:29.

                                                       At the heart of it all

       This entire controversy between Christ and Satan is over one’s free will: a gift GOD can never take away.  It has ever been Satan’s work to corrupt the decisions of men, misleading them to cause their self-destruction.  And the violation of GOD’S Ten Commandment Law guarantees it.  What many people are blind to discern is twofold: 1. GOD cannot encourage the transgression of His Law, whose action would contribute to the destruction of His children; and, 2. “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” Eccl.8:11.  GOD’S patience towards His wayward children is ever viewed as a license to continue in sin rather than seeing the perfect love of GOD in His great forbearance, “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” II Pet.3:9.

Both the church and the world are blind to the temptations of devils that entrap them into sinning before a loving, longsuffering GOD.  Satan’s will has never been nor will ever be for the benefit of man (Lu.13:16) regardless of the resemblance of goodness and virtue found in all of his temptations (II Cor.11:14).  Sin never benefits (Rom.6:23); and yet, the whole world, including today’s Christianity are actually turning to Satan’s methods for both civil authority and even salvation itself.  Even Satan’s publicly declared servants, from world famous musicians, bankers, and CEOs of world-renowned corporations to psychics, astrologers, mediums and witchdoctors: all are given promises by the Great Deceiver that will never come to pass.  Said Christ of Satan, “He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” Jn.8:44. 

Even the police turn to psychics to help solve crime.  Psychics, whose power the Bible decrees is of Satan, not GOD, are employed to help capture another servant of Satan who was led to murder some poor soul.  Men are so deceived: turning to Satan to stop Satan.  You cannot make a deal with the Devil and receive Christ’s palm of victory.  “Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”  Matt.6:24.  There is a massive betrayal taking place against the human race, and few are blessed to discern the depth and meaning of the danger even though the Holy Bible defines them all, giving the remedy for each and every case with much of the warning counsel being given through GOD’S faithful servant, Moses, over 3,400 years ago.  The Creator’s counsel has been available for millennia, but men still refuse to listen.  Here is one of those perfect passages worth memorizing that GOD gave to warn people to shun any association with supernatural powers outside of safe-Bible-guidelines: “When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.  There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire [sacrificing human life to placate an angry god], or that useth divination [psychic], or an observer of times [astrologer], or an enchanter [hypnotist], or a witch [a woman who casts spells for supernatural power],  Or a charmer [one who uses superstitions to gain advantage and manipulate people], or a consulter with familiar spirits [one who turns to demons for wealth and power], or a wizard [a man who demonstrates supernatural power], or a necromancer [turning to dead human beings for guidance and blessings (which includes the Virgin Mary and the dead saints)].  For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD [for they are tools of Satan to deceive people to their eternal ruin]: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.  Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God.” Deut.18:9-13.