GOD VERSES SATAN
Do we really know God? Do we really know who Satan is? Most people picture Satan with a red suit on, with a pitchfork. Most people picture God as a teetering old man with white hair, stooped over a cane, just about dead. Both pictures are way wrong.
True that God the Father has lived forever, but He more likely looks like a 30 year old guy. Christ at 33 said, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. God is a spirit being not human, so He is not 'old', He is forever young~
On the other hand, Satan doesn't appear in a red body suit. Wouldn't that be easy to spot him, if he did. Satan is probably handsome, probably has a mesmerizing, charismatic personality that would draw you immediately to him. A third of the angels were duped by him. Hitler had that kind of personality that people were drawn to.
Think about it, Adam and Eve really liked Satan a lot. Most really good sales people are likeable, that's why we buy from them. Adam and Eve bought what Satan was selling them because they liked him personally, not because he spoke the truth to them. To put it bluntly, most people prefer lies to the truth any day.
The truth makes people more angry than any other thing. Because of that, most people actually prefer Satan over God. They just don't recognize that fact. It was no different in Christ's time. God's supposed "representatives" in Jerusalem were actually working for Satan. Christ told them so to their faces. Remember, these were religious people claiming to speak for God.
Christ said, "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.
46 Which of you convinces me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?
47 He that is of God hears God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.
48 Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil? John 8:44-48Even to this day, God is still accused of devil-ish motives.
For example, "He is just waiting for me to mess up so he can crash down on me."
Read the following examples of how devil-ish people claim God is.
1. Pilgrims ("Christians") climbed the mountain on their bloody knees in order to save their souls. (God doesn't torture people.)
2. "God burns unbaptized babies in hell forever."
3. "Those who have never heard the name of Jesus will burn in hell."
4. "All who lived before Christ go to Hell."
5. Religious devotees flagellate their backs and bring the blood to placate God.
6. Nuns live a life of poverty and deprivation to show their love for God.
People say a lot of things about God that are wrong because they don't know the real God and they don't know the truth. God is not like this and He doesn't want these things. He is not evil hearted and cruel.
All these evil things above are really about Satan's personality and what he wants for men. Satan never was a friend of Adam and Eve, he just used them. Satan is not a friend to any man. He truly wants all men to burn alive forever and ever. He truly wants to see bloody backs and knees.
In understanding the "God verses Satan" thing, we have to understand one thing....God is not trying to save the world right now.
Here is God's basic plan of salvation and how it works. Acts 24:15 says, "And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust." People falsely assume that the resurrection of the just and the unjust happen at the same time, but the Bible speaks of two different resurrections that span 1000 years apart in time. And one of them is for the just converted and one of them is for everyone else. (*the unjust)
1. There are two resurrections or "harvests of men." The first one happens when the trump is blown at the return of Christ. This is the resurrection or harvest of the just. It is a smaller resurrection. The people who come up here are called the first fruits. God has a harvest system in place which pictures the salvation of all men. These first fruits of God's harvest will live and reign with Christ for a thousand years, preparing the earth for the great resurrection of all who have ever lived.
2. The second resurrection is where all the "rest of the dead" will come up. It is called the Great White Throne judgment. This is a physical resurrection of the "unjust." Every person, good and bad, that has ever lived on this earth with be resurrected and will be given their chance to understand God's way and either accept it or reject it. After that, the earth will burn up with fervent heat (the Lake of Fire) and all the evil people will be burned up permanently with it. There will be a new heaven and a new earth. And the righteous will live forever and ever in the Kingdom of God.
If God is trying to save the world now like most people teach then He is doing a terrible job---and God doesn't do a terrible job at anything. He knows exactly what He is doing and His plan for the harvest of all mankind is going well. In truth, there never has been a competition with God against Satan. God is just letting Satan think that he is winning for the time being. Pretty smart.
Copyrighted by the Churches of God
2007