Suffering: Who is the one who started the suffering that God allows? Part 2

This is Part 2 of 5 parts answering the question, “Who is the one who started the suffering that God allows?” in the larger question, “Why does a loving God allow suffering?” Parts 3 through 5 will be posted on succeeding days.

The Beginning Began Before Man (cont.)

God asked them if they were around when He created the earth? Were they part of the architects or builders of the foundation? The answers were a resounding, “No!” And then God added verse seven, “When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” The term “morning stars” (plural) is found only once in all of Scripture. The term “morning star” (singular) is only found three times. In two of the passages it refers to Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 1:19; Rev. 22:16) and in one other passage it is used as a reward for the believer in the church age who overcomes and keeps the Lord’s work until the end (Rev. 2:28). The term “morning stars” is set in parallelism with “sons of God.”

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Suffering: Who is the one who started the suffering that God allows? Part 1

This is Part 1 of 5 parts answering the question, “Who is the one who started the suffering that God allows?” in the large question “Why does a loving God allow suffering?” Parts 2 through 5 will be posted in the next four days.

Whenever you deal with a situation, it’s often best to go back to the beginning to understand it. For example, if you want to understand why there are so many references to God carved into public buildings at our Nation’s Capitol, you don’t interview people on the street to find the answer. You go back to documents and paintings that were made at the time of the beginning of the United States of America. Any objective historian will see document after document written by our founding fathers who had the deepest respect for God and the Bible. That is why there are so many pictures in the United States Capital building of patriots who are holding a Bible, involved in prayer and even conducting a baptism. That is why our nation was richly blessed as a beacon of hope to the world in the first two hundred years, because God was at the center of this nation’s history.

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Question: Can a Christian be delivered to Satan?

Can a Christian be delivered to Satan?
Today, a Christian can be delivered over to Satan, but not by another Christian. The principle is derived from two passages that describe a Christian believer who is delivered to Satan for punishment in time. How is it possible, when a Christian believer is indwelt by the Lord (John 14:20; 17:20-23; Rom. 8:9) to be delivered to Satan? Continue reading

Book Review: What On Earth Is God Doing? by Renald E. Showers

What On Earth is God Doing? Satan’s Conflict With God written by Renald Showers is a short, concise big picture overview of the Angelic Conflict and God’s sovereign purposes. There is no question there is a conflict raging around us.  Many Christians and people are unaware, because Satan doesn’t want people to know about it.  Some people think they are in the heat of battle, when it is merely their own fleshly desires controlling their decisions and Satan’s organization is sitting back watching the Chrisitans flounder.  On the other hand, many Christians are actively pursuing godliness in Jesus Christ and are mounting victory after victory, because they are not giving in to the temptations of the evil one.

Showers brilliantly shows the Satanic plots seeking to thwart God’s purposes and will.  He also points out how God in no way allows Satan to have his way.  Showers addresses history from eternity past (pre-human history) to eternity future.  He describes the fall of Satan and the rebellion of other angels.  Then he shows Satan’s activities in the fall of man through biblical history.  Finally he demonstrates a great understanding of the angelic conflict in post-biblical history to the present and into the future as recorded in Scripture.

Showers makes it clear that God is the victor in this conflict.  He writes, “First, as a world and a race, we are headed for the ultimate defeat of Satan and his kingdom and the glorious victory of God and His kingdom.  Secondly, as individuals, we are headed either for eternal blessing or eternal punishment depending upon which kingdom we belong to.” (p. 118)   However, it would be helpful to address why this conflict is going on in the first place.  Why is God allowing the conflict to continue in history causing so much pain and grief?  God is not sadistic. The reader and Christendom have yet to resolve this fully.  I heartily recommend you read this book.