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scquently set themselvcs up for
fcar and depression.
The Bible revea ls how to
reccive the help and power you
need to overcome your human
nature, your worries and fears in
life. Tt reveals how to deal with
every adverse situation with faith
and hope.
But first, you need to compre–
hend why humanity has jumped
thc track. Why has mankind
failed to learn s uch cr iti ca!
knowledge? Why do most of us
respond with damaging negative
fears- even hopelessness- to
many of our problems and sct–
backs in life? The Bible explains
it!
Cut Off from the Source
God created the heavens and thc
earth that we can see with our
cycs (Genesis l :1). Bu t before
this physical creation, the great
God had created powerful spiri t
beings, angels, differing in rank.
These spi rit beings at the first
obeyed the laws and Government
of God. But during a peri od
before the creation of man , a new
way of doing things- thc "get"
and competitive way- was intro–
duced to many of the angels by a
g reat a rchangel whose name
meant Lightbringer. We know
him by the Latin name
Lucifer.
He was one of God's most
powerful a nd beautiful spirit
beings. He was set by God to
administer God's Jaws and ways
ovcr the earth.
Lucifer's name-Lightbring–
er- meant he was to be the
bringer of God's truth and laws to
the earth. But he chose to exalt
himself. He wanted to kick God
off his throne. Througb subtle
slander he swayed many angels to
believe that God's laws were
unfair, that God's way of "give"
was foolish, that his--Lucifer's–
"get" and competitive way was
more liberating, a better way of
existence.
One third of the angels chose
to rebel against God and his ways
(Revelation 12:4). Their minds
were perverted by wrong ways of
thinking- by altitudes of strife,
32
resentment of authority and self–
ishness. They rebelled against
God's Jaws. As a result they Jost
understanding and power to do
true good. Their assault on God's
throne was overwhe lmed by
God's superior powcr and they
were flung back to earth.
The Jeader of this rebellion ,
Lucifer , became the devil, or
Satan, meaning the Adversary.
His fallen angels became demons.
You can read of this rebellion in
l saiah 14:12-17 and Ezekiel
28:12-19 . Jesus referred to
Satan's fall in Luke 10:18.
Ever since man was created, it
has been the major objective of
these fallen spirit beings to keep
humans, created in the image of
God, from understanding the
awesome purpose of their human
existence and from fulfilling their
incredible human potentia l
(11 Corinthians 4:4). You may
not want to believe it, but Scrip–
ture reveals there is a devil who
has deceived the whole world
(Revelation 12:9) . Part of that
deception involves causing edu–
cated people not to believe that
there are sp irit beings who
rebelled. And to reject God's
spi ritual laws that would bring us
peace and barmony.
Of course, Satan h as n 't
thwarted God's Plan or ultimate
purpose for mankind . Here is
why.
When God created the first
man and woman , he revealed to
them his purposes and immutable
laws. He gave them the opportu–
nity to qualify to replace Satan as
ruler over the ear th. He taught
them that violation of his laws
and commands would end up in
death- the cessation of life (Gen–
esis2:17).
But they chose to believe tbe
deceptive lies introduced by a
clever Satan. They chose to disbe–
lieve God, and that they could not
die. Tbey carne to believe they had
"immortal souls." They thought
they could become like God and be
able to determine good and evil for
themselves by taking something
(forbidden fruit) that was not
theirs (Genesis 3).
The first human pair disobcyed
thci r Creator and rebellcd. So
God drove them from his pres–
ence on earth. He cut them off
and all humanity to be born of
them from contact with God,
except as God chose to intervene
and deal with humans from time
to time. For what great pur–
pose?
God chose to allow mankind
the experience of six thousand
years of man 's way-Satan ' s
way-of disobedience, rebellion,
of doing their own ways-that is,
to experience their own ways of
thinking and reasoning und er
Satan's sway.
Mankind was left to human
devices and power,
apart from
God.
Mankind lost the spiritual
understanding of bow he should
live, of how to constructively deal
with hi s problems, fea rs and
needs. When man lost contact
with God , he lost the way to
peace and happiness-for the
Creator was the ultimate resource
of true wisdom, hope, power and
blessing.
Man kind has been , instead ,
under Satan's influence without
realizing it. The Bible reveals
Satan as "the prince of the power
of the air" (Ephesians 2:2). He
works to influence wrong values,
wrong attitudes and ignorance in
human c ultur es a nd among
people. The result is hate, strife,
lust , fcar and hopelessness. Satan
broadcasts wrong attitudes and
moods into unwary minds (see
again Ephesians 2:3 and 6: 12).
No wonder so many do not
understand sorne of their negative
feelings and moods!
From the beginning of human
life to now, most all humanity has
attempted to gain security, pros–
perity and needs through thc
"get" way of life-through com–
peting governments, warring ar–
mies, ideologies a nd religions .
They have trusted in huma n
strength and competition at the
expense or hurt of others.
Most humans have not chosen
tbe way of true love-tbe
way
of
peace and cooperation, tbe
way
of
giving a nd consideration, encour-
The
PLAIN TRUTH