Living with Mystery

5) Your father the devil

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Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.  (John 8:42-44) 

It was a hard saying when Jesus told his hearers that the devil was their father! However, we have to understand what this implies so that we don’t continue in the darkness of misunderstanding. His words can lead us to ask seven questions:

1) Who is the devil? 

The bible does not give specific information about him or his origins. We have to draw fair conclusions from combining the information in various passages. A general consensus would be that the devil was a hierarchical spiritual power, in the spiritual universe inhabited by God and his angels. For some reason he turned against God’s rule and was banished with the angels who gave him their allegiance. In his banishment, with his evil followers, he came to earth in a campaign to make humans captive to his will and to resist God’s will.

sin

A question which is not easily answered but which I think important is: “Did the devil sin before or after God created the heavens and the earth?” After much reflection, I have come to the conclusion that the answer is ‘before’. This being the case, we can view the creation of the heavens and the earth and mankind to live on it, as being part of God’s eternal plan for redemption. Before the world’s foundation, Jesus was destined to be born; and effectively was already a sacrifice for sin:

the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (Revelation 13:8)

As I often explain, I do not worry about the mystery involved in this. God’s dimensions and views of time are not ours, and the limitations of our minds mean we are unable to comprehend them. I prefer to believe the bible’s revelation, rather than puzzle over what I could never hope to understand!

This view of the devil sinning before creation does explain some of its paradoxes: why is creation not perfect; why is there death; why will it not last forever in its present form? This view also explains why there was the ‘tree of the knowledge of good and evil’ in the garden: it was an acknowledgement that sin and evil were already present in the universe.

The universe and our very brief lives in it are part of a long-term plan to bring about redemption. When the time is right, those redeemed by the precious blood of Christ will take their place in a New Earth; one in which all the faults of the present one will have gone. Everything that does not accept the Lordship of Jesus through his redeeming love will be eliminated along with the devil and his angels.

2) Is the devil the father of every person on earth? 

through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners (Romans 5:19)

The first man, Adam, sinned and we are born into this sin. This sin was due to Eve listening to the devil’s lies and sinning along with Adam (you can read how this happened in Genesis 3). It is generally accepted that Adam and Eve were living in ‘innocence’ in the garden: they had no knowledge of sin or evil but, after the devil's lies, were then beguiled into a sinful act.

The fact that we are born in sin means we are in the same ‘condition’ as the devil: ‘sold as a slave to sin’ (Romans 7:14). Effectively we are the devil’s slaves until we are redeemed from his grip through repentance from sin, and cleansing by the blood of Christ. We might object that our ‘sins’ are mild compared to the devil’s. However, all sin is sin before God; sin places us in the family of the devil.

3) What does ‘unable to hear what I say’ mean exactly?

Sin had not only a dulling effect upon us, but effectively meant we were spiritually dead:

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. (Ephesians 2:1-2)

When we are dead, we can no longer hear anything! Being spiritually dead means being unable to hear the truth of the gospel in an understanding way. This was evident when the Jews listening to Jesus argued with him rather than recognised his divine credentials. Of all the people on earth, the Jews should have seen him as God’s servant. The scriptures they read spoke of him and his mission. It was generally true that there was much spiritual ‘deafness’ amongst those who heard Jesus speak. Their physical ears were working, but the ears of their hearts were not open to understand:

Whoever has ears, let them hear … Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. (Matthew 13: 9 & 13)

This is why not everyone believes and accepts the truth of the gospel. It is also a great concern when Christians can no longer hear.

Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. (Revelation 3:2-3)

The word of the gospel which we heard and believed must be held continuously close. This also applies to the written word in the bible. It is a tragedy when ears become blocked and the understanding dulled, because faith is choked by the cares and riches of this life.

4) What does Jesus mean by ‘from the beginning’? 

he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44)

Before him there was no pride or arrogance. There was no hatred of anyone. Evil began with the devil. He did not murder in God’s spiritual Kingdom as spirits are eternal and so not subject to physical death; but he had hatred in his heart for God’s Kingdom, and hatred is the root of murder. There were no lies in that sin-free Kingdom; everyone was honest and no one tried to take advantage of anyone else. Lying was fathered by the devil and he employed it on earth in order to destroy love and trust. So, ‘from the beginning’ could mean both the beginning of sin and the beginning of human life on earth.

5) How did the devil murder? 

Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.’ 
Now Cain said to his brother Abel, ‘Let’s go out to the field.’ While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. (Genesis 4:6-8)

Hatred is the root of murder. The devil suggests that the only way for someone to get what they desire is to get rid of anyone who gets in their way:

Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. (1 John 3:15)

The Jews to whom Jesus was speaking hated what he was saying. They were planning to have him killed: hatred leads to murder:

 I know you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word.  (John 8:37)

We may never had murdered anyone but if we hate someone, God views it as equivalent to murder.

6) How does the devil lie? 

Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down – that ancient snake called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. (Revelation 12:7-9)

The devil lied to Eve in the garden. God explained that the garden was theirs to use except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The devil used subtlety to twist this prohibition and suggest that God had something to hide:

He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, “You must not eat from any tree in the garden”?’ 
The woman said to the snake, ‘We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, “You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.”’ 
‘You will not certainly die,’ the snake said to the woman. ‘For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ (Genesis 3:1-5)

There are two forms of lie here: firstly, questioning the truth of what God has said – ‘Did God really say’; and, twisting the truth of what God has said – ‘You will not certainly die!’

deceit

This continues to be a two-fold strategy to deceive and destroy people’s lives. By questioning the orthodox teachings of the bible which have informed people over centuries, people are fed a lie instead. But even orthodox teaching can be twisted to take on a different meaning. The bible is a gift for mankind to point to the narrow gate and road in which we should walk. It is not a gift for peddlers of their own ideas who lead people astray and offer instead a route on the broad road to destruction:

Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God. (2 Corinthians 2:17)

Realistically, we have to face the fact that lies do happen in church life. Sadly, they can have destructive consequences which come from the devil’s influence. This is not a situation which God ignores even if it is not always uncovered. This was shown by an early incident in the church after Pentecost:

Then Peter said, ‘Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? (Acts 5:3)

All lies will have to be accounted for in the judgment. In this case the judgment was exacted immediately. The fact that this happened so publicly is a result of the power of God’s presence in that community. We do not enjoy such powerful presence, regrettably; and lying now will be judged when the books are opened at the end of time.

7) Can we escape this connection to the devil? 

This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister. (1 John 3:10)

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