Labels

Bible Problems (19) Bible (17) Jesus (11) Jesus Christ (10) Sex (9) Marriage (7) Prophecy (7) Grace (6) Homosexuality (6) Creation (5) God (5) Moses (5) Paul (5) Salvation (5) Ceremonial Law (4) Creation Evolution (4) Evolution (4) Heterosexuality (4) Moral Law (4) Morality (4) Abraham (3) Angels (3) CS Lewis (3) Calvinism (3) Children (3) Church (3) Free Will (3) Love (3) Orientation (3) Prayer (3) Predestination (3) Premarital Sex (3) Temple (3) Temple Destruction (3) Transgender (3) Transgenderism (3) Works (3) Abortion (2) Abstinence (2) Angel (2) Bible Prophecy (2) Catholic (2) Character of God (2) Christianity (2) Church History (2) Determinism (2) Ezekiel 28:12-17 (2) Faith (2) Faith & Science (2) Fetus (2) Flood (2) Forgiveness (2) Genesis 6 (2) Gentile (2) Homosexual Sin (2) Israel (2) Jehovah's Witnesses (2) Job (2) Jonah (2) Mosaic Law (2) Myth (2) Old Testament (2) Peter (2) Romans 8:28-39 (2) Salvation by Grace (2) Satan (2) Saul (2) Science (2) Sexual Orientation (2) Sexuality (2) Sin (2) Theistic Evolution (2) Translation (2) Trinity (2) Trust (2) 1 Cor 6:9 (1) 1 Cor 7:36 (1) 1 Cor 7:39 (1) 1 Cor 9:10-11 (1) 1 John 1:8 (1) 1 John 4:16 (1) 1 Sam 19:9 (1) 1 Tim 2:11-15 (1) 1 Tim 5:17-18 (1) 10 Commandments (1) 2 Cor: 6:14 (1) 2 Peter 3:9 (1) 2nd Coming (1) 2nd Temple (1) 3rd Temple (1) 4 Beasts (1) 4th Commandment (1) 501c3 (1) 5th Commandment (1) 9/11 (1) A.I. (1) AI (1) Abram (1) Acts 17 (1) Adam (1) Affluence (1) Age of Accountability (1) Age of Disciples (1) Aliens (1) Allah (1) America (1) American Christians (1) American Slave Trade (1) Analogy (1) Animals (1) Anne Rice (1) Antediluvian (1) Apostasy (1) Arrogant (1) Artificial Intelligence (1) Assyria (1) Atonement (1) Augustine (1) Baby (1) Beatitudes (1) Beginning (1) Behemoth (1) Believer (1) Big Bang (1) BioLogos (1) Birth Control (1) Body (1) Book of Mormon (1) Boundaries (1) Bridegroom Of Blood (1) Calvin (1) Canaanite Conquest (1) Canaanite Woman (1) Carl Sagan (1) Celibacy (1) Chalcedon (1) Child Sacrifice (1) Children of Israel (1) Choice (1) Christ The Lord Out of Egypt (1) Christian Dating nonChristian (1) Christianity Borrowed from Mystery Cults (1) Christianity is a Crutch (1) Christmas (1) Church Fathers (1) Church Problems (1) Church and Slavery (1) Church and State (1) Circumcision (1) Clean and Unclean foods (1) Cloud over Tabernacle (1) Co-dependence (1) Cohabitation (1) Col 1:15 (1) Col 2:8 (1) Computers (1) Conviction (1) Cosmological Argument (1) Count the Cost (1) Creation Mandate (1) Creed (1) Crocodile (1) Cross dressing (1) Crucifixion (1) Crutch (1) Cults (1) Cynthia Nixon (1) Damnation (1) Daniel (1) Daniel 7:15-18 (1) Darwin (1) Dating (1) Dead Sea (1) Death (1) Deception (1) Defile (1) Demonic Possession (1) Demons (1) Deut 22:28-29 (1) Deut 22:5 (1) Deut 7:3-4 (1) Deuteronomy 28:63 (1) Devil (1) Dietary Laws (1) Dinosaur (1) Dinosaurs and the Bible (1) Disciple (1) Disciples (1) Discipleship (1) Disobedience (1) Divine (1) Divinity (1) Divinity of Christ (1) Divorce (1) Doctrine (1) Dog (1) Doxology (1) Dress (1) Egypt (1) Elisha (1) Emergent (1) Emerging (1) End Times Timetable (1) Eph 3:9-10 (1) Eternity (1) Eve (1) Evidence for God (1) Evil Spirit (1) Existence of God (1) Existence of Jesus (1) Exodus 21:15 (1) Exodus 4:24-26 (1) Exorcism (1) Ezekiel 1 (1) Faith vs Works (1) Fall (1) Fallen Angels (1) Food laws (1) Freedom Tower (1) Gabriel (1) Galatians 6:1-5 (1) Galileo (1) Gay (1) Gen 1:12 (1) Gender Confusion (1) Genesis (1) Genesis 1 (1) Genesis 17:5 (1) Genesis 32:28 (1) Genetic Engineering (1) Giving (1) Glenn Beck (1) Global Warming (1) Glory (1) Gnostic (1) God Tempts (1) God of Love God of Wrath (1) God's Love (1) God's laws (1) Gomorah (1) Greed (1) Guilt (1) Harbinger (1) Hate Parents (1) Health and Wealth (1) Heaven (1) Heb 13:4-5 (1) Heb 1:14 (1) Hell (1) Hippo (1) Hippopotamus (1) Holy Place (1) Holy Spirit (1) Holy War (1) Holy of Holies (1) Horus (1) Hosea 4:3 (1) House in Order (1) Hugh Ross (1) Humanity of Jesus (1) IRS (1) Idolatry (1) Idols (1) Images (1) Images of God (1) Immaculate Conception (1) Intelligent Design (1) Iraq (1) Is Allah the same as the Christian God (1) Is God A Moral Monster? (1) Isaac (1) Isaiah (1) Isaiah 11:1 (1) Isaiah 14:12-15 (1) Isaiah 19:21-25 (1) Isaiah 7:16 (1) Isaiah 9:9-10 (1) Islam (1) Jacob (1) James 2:24 (1) Jephthah (1) Jephthah's Daughter (1) Jesus Disciples (1) Jesus Divinity (1) Jesus Prophecy (1) Jesus' Siblings (1) Jew (1) Job 40:17 (1) Job 41-42 (1) Job 41:22:34 (1) John 19:14 (1) John 2:2 (1) John 3:19 (1) John 6:66 (1) John Lennox (1) John Sanford (1) Jonathan Cahn (1) Joseph (1) Joseph Smith (1) Josephus (1) Judaism (1) Judas (1) Judges (1) Judges 11:29-40 (1) Judgment (1) KJV (1) King James (1) LaHaye (1) Last Supper (1) Law of Love (1) Left Behind (1) Leviathan (1) Lincoln (1) Literal (1) Long Life (1) Long Life Spans (1) Lord's Prayer (1) Love for Enemies (1) Love our Enemies (1) Luke 10:7 (1) Luke 12:21 (1) Luke 14:25-33 (1) Luke 1:10-11 (1) Luke 7:47 (1) Luke 8:19-20 (1) Manuscripts (1) Mark 15:25 (1) Mark 2:17 (1) Mark 3:31-32 (1) Mark 7:24 (1) Marx (1) Mary (1) Mary mother of Jesus (1) Matt 12:46-47 (1) Matt 13:22 (1) Matt 18:3 (1) Matt 22:30 (1) Matt 6:9-13 (1) Matthew 15:21-28 (1) Matthew 16:28 (1) Matthew 19:17 (1) Mind (1) Mind and Cosmos (1) Mithras (1) Modern State of Israel (1) Money (1) Moral Issues (1) Moral Relativity (1) Mormon (1) Mormonism (1) Muslim (1) Mythology (1) NT Wright (1) Names Changed By God (1) Names for God (1) Natural Disaster (1) Nature (1) Nature religion (1) Nephilim (1) New Name (1) New Testament (1) New World Translation (1) Non-Profit Status (1) Nostradamus (1) Numbers 9:15-23 (1) Obedience (1) Obey the Gov't (1) Offering (1) Old and New Testament picture of God (1) Once saved always saved (1) Orthodoxy (1) Pagan (1) Pagan holiday (1) Parents (1) Passion Movie (1) Passover (1) Pastors (1) Paul Copan (1) Perpetual Virginity (1) Peter Singer (1) Philemon (1) Pluralism (1) Polygamy (1) Pompeii (1) Predictions (1) Pro-choice (1) Pro-life (1) Progressive Creationism (1) Promised Longevity (1) Prophet (1) Protestant (1) Ps 8:3-5 (1) Psalm 22:16 (1) Purification (1) Rape (1) Rebellious (1) Repentance (1) Respect (1) Rest (1) Resurrection (1) Return of Christ (1) Revelation (1) Revelation 17:9-11 (1) Richard Hess (1) Risen Movie (1) Ritual (1) Robin Hood (1) Roe V Wade (1) Roman Catholic (1) Romans (1) Romans 12:1-2 (1) Romans 9 (1) Romans 9:14-15 (1) Sabbath (1) Sabbath Keeping (1) Sacrifices (1) Salvation by Works (1) Sampson (1) Satan's Fall (1) Satan's origin (1) Saving Faith (1) Sentience (1) Serpent (1) Servanthood (1) Sexual Preference (1) Simon (1) Sin Lists (1) Single (1) Sinless (1) Skeptic (1) Slavery (1) Socialism (1) Sodom (1) Son of God movie (1) Sons of God (1) Soul (1) Soylent Green (1) Spiritual Warfare (1) Suicide (1) Sumerian Kings (1) Symbols (1) Syria (1) TULIP (1) Tabernacle (1) Tacitus (1) Temptation (1) The unforgivable sin (1) Thomas Nagel (1) Transfiguration (1) True Christianity (1) Truth (1) Turing Machine (1) Twin Towers (1) Unequally Yoked (1) Unseen Realm (1) Violence in the Bible (1) Was Christianity a Myth (1) Weak minded (1) Wealth (1) When Helping Hurts (1) Wilberforce (1) William Lane Craig (1) YEC (1) Young Earth Creationism (1) Youth (1) Zechariah (1) burden bearing (1) burdens (1) elders (1) faith versus science (1) food (1) free from the Law (1) ignorant (1) leadership (1) morals (1) oaths (1) occult (1) rash vows (1) vows (1) women (1) women in leadership (1) women in ministry (1)

Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Does God Love Satan?

QUESTION:  You say God wants us to love our enemies.  But does God love his enemies?  Specifically, does God love Satan?

ANSWER: It's unquestionable that God certainly loved Satan (past tense), for Christians have always held the idea that Satan was God's highest creation.

A Scripture that speaks about this intimate relationship (I make the case for why this may still be informative about Satan even if the immediate context is about a Babylonian king here) is this:
Ezek 28:12-14
You were the seal of perfection,
full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
You were in Eden, the garden of God.
Every kind of precious stone covered you:
carnelian, topaz, and diamond,
beryl, onyx, and jasper,
sapphire, turquoise and emerald.
Your mountings and settings were crafted in gold;
they were prepared on the day you were created.
You were an anointed guardian cherub,
for I had appointed you.
You were on the holy mountain of God;
you walked among the fiery stones.

Clearly, deep love is implied in the honor and position given to this anointed Guardian Cherub.  God is love (1 John 4:16), so how would he not love this creature?

But even after he rebelled against God, God must still have loved Satan, simply because God continued to grant his Enemy life and existence. He even allowed him to come into his presence and converse and challenge God. (Job 1:6).  The freedom God has given him up to this day shows God loves even this enemy.

You may counter, that this implies that God is evil, for he loves a being of pure evil.  But Satan is not pure evil.  Satan has a will bent on evil and he is totally, morally corrupt.  But the fact that Satan has a will, is good.  And Satan has personality, and power and intelligence, all of which are good. What God loves in Satan is what still remains of God (which is good), despite the monstrosity of his evil deeds and his complete depravity.

However, since Satan's will is utterly and unalterably set against God - his very name means "Adversary" - he's a different kind of enemy than humans can ever be. We are to love all human enemies because God sees every person as redeemable. God can reclaim any person and He specifically uses love to do it (Romans 2:4); that's why we wants us to love our enemies.  By love we are engaging in God's chosen battle strategy for all his lost human enemies (Matt 5:45) - the ones he died for, while they were still his enemies (Rom 5:10).

However, we get no sense from Scripture that the fallen angels or their Leader are redeemable, so their rebellion must be final. So with demons we would never seek to bless them (that's what love does) because blessing can never turn them.  In fact, blessing them (in whatever way that's possible) may actually help them turn us away from God!

Therefore, neither we nor God are obligated to love Satan by the same principle of blessing by which we love human enemies.

No comments:

Post a Comment