THE INCREDIBLE HUMAN POTENTIAL
Chapter 11
by Herbert W. Armstrong
1978 edition
This is the eye-opening story of the real gospel message of Jesus
Christ -- of how this missing dimension was withheld, and the whole
world deceived.
It's positively astounding! It has remained undiscovered by
science! No religion has revealed it! Higher education has never
taught it! Is it possible the whole world has been
deceived -- regarding the awesome purpose of human life -- about the
WAY to world peace and how it will come? And could it be true
that the real gospel message Christ brought from heaven revealed
this missing dimension -- but was suppressed? This is the
eye -- opening story of the real gospel message of Jesus Christ -- of
how this missing dimension was withheld, and the whole world
deceived.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 ..... CHRIST'S GOSPEL WAS
SUPPRESSED -- NOT HEARD FROM THE FIRST CENTURY UNTIL NOW
Chapter 2 ..... THE STARTLING
REVELATION OF WHAT WAS CHRIST'S GOSPEL
Chapter 3 ..... THE INCREDIBLE HUMAN
POTENTIAL AT LAST REVEALED
Chapter 4 ..... PRE-EXISTENCE BEFORE
THE MATERIAL UNIVERSE
Chapter 5 ..... WHAT LED TO THE
CREATION OF
Chapter 6 ..... HOW GOD PLANNED TO
REPRODUCE HIMSELF
Chapter 7 ..... BRIDGING THE GAP
BETWEEN HUMAN MAN AND THE ULTIMATE SPIRIT -- COMPOSED SONS OF GOD
Chapter 8 ..... WHY TODAY'S WORLD
EVILS?
Chapter 9 ..... WHY THE CHURCH?
Chapter 10 ..... JUST WHAT DO YOU MEAN
-- CONVERSION?
Chapter 11 ..... HUMAN NATURE -- AND
HOW A WHOLE WORLD IS DECEIVED ABOUT ITS ORIGIN
Chapter 12 ..... IS THERE LIFE AFTER
DEATH?
Chapter 13 ..... WORLD PEACE -- HOW IT
WILL COME
Chapter XI
Human Nature -- and How a Whole World Is Deceived About its Origin
I once overheard someone say: "Just look at that beautiful, sweet
little baby-and to think it's filled with all that evil,
despicable human nature!"
But was it?
Think of this paradox! How can it be explained? The human
mind can produce wonders. We have sent successive teams of men to
walk on the moon. We have returned them safely through the
earth's atmosphere. Yet these marvelous human minds cannot solve
our problems here on earth -- cannot bring the world PEACE! WHY?
All the violence, war, crime, corruption, dishonesty, and
immorality is blamed on HUMAN NATURE.
But where did HUMAN NATURE come from? Did the Creator
instill it within us from creation? Were we born with it? And
please understand that I am speaking of human nature in its evil
spiritual phase -- of vanity, lust, greed, envy, jealousy,
competition, strife, rebellion against authority, resentment, and
hate.
The answer requires a knowledge of the composition and
nature of the human mind -- accessible only by revelation. The
composition of the human mind, as compared to animal brain, has
been explained. BUT WHY does such wonderful MIND power work so
much evil?
Did an all-loving, all-merciful, almighty GOD deliberately
plague the human race He created with an inborn nature of vanity,
lust, and greed -- with a heart of hostility against God, of
deceit, envy, jealousy, and hatred?
How Was Adam, at His Creation?
First, let's see what is revealed about the first man, Adam, and
his nature at the time of his creation.
The Bible reveals only the most brief high points of human
history for the first two thousand-plus years -- a third of all the
time from the creation of man to now! Only eleven chapters are
devoted to the history of all that span of time. The account of
the first created couple is merely the briefest possible summary.
The first humans were the last act of creation on the sixth
day of what is commonly called "creation week," recorded in the
first chapter of Genesis.
God had created plant life -- the flora -- on the third day of
that week, animal life -- the fauna -- on the fifth and sixth, each
reproducing "after its own kind." Cattle reproduced after the
cattle kind (verse 25), lions after the lion kind, horses after
the horse kind, etc.
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness." In other words, "Let us make MAN after the GOD kind!"
God was actually reproducing Himself !
And notice, the name God -- the Hebrew name as originally
written throughout Genesis 1, is Elohim. It is a uniplural noun,
like family, group, church. It is ONE family composed of more
than one person. It is like one team, one church, but each
composed of multiple persons. The God to whom Jesus prayed is the
FATHER of the FAMILY that is GOD. God IS a FAMILY -- but ONE
family, ONE GOD.
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God
created he him, male and female created he them." WHY? Because
human reproduction is the type of God's reproducing Himself. And
physical reproduction requires both male and female.
But continue: "And God blessed them ..." Did He bless them
by creating in them an evil sinful nature, utterly unable to be
subject to God's right way of life? But continue this passage: ".
replenish the earth" (Gen. 1:28).
"And God saw every thing that he had made, and behold, it
was very good" (verse 31). If the first humans -- as God had
created them -- were VERY GOOD, could it include a hostile and evil
nature that was very EVIL?
That ought to give every reader something to think about!
Now what does this record of the creation of the first
humans reveal as to Adam's nature at the time of his creation? I
repeat: Only the very most brief high spots are recorded here.
The little that is revealed gives us, however, all we really need
to know.
Here it is: "And out of the ground the [Eternal] God formed
every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought
them unto Adam to see what he would call them ..." (Gen. 2:19).
Here, in the briefest of summaries, we may see clearly
whether this short account reveals a rebellious and disobedient
nature in Adam, or one of compliance and obedience.
Absolutely NO REBELLION is indicated here. We find, instead,
the response that Adam gave names to all cattle, to the fowl of
the air, and to every beast of the field.
This incident reveals Adam's attitude and nature as he was
created, PRIOR TO his temptation by Satan (which is recorded in
chapter 3). Notice carefully. Absolutely NOTHING in the account
of this pre-temptation incident indicates in Adam the presence of
an evil, hostile, rebellious attitude or nature. It does not
reflect a heart that is deceitful above all things and
desperately wicked, as human nature is described (Jeremiah 17:9),
nor a carnal mind that is enmity (hostile) against God and which
"is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be" (Romans
8:7).
Nor, on the other hand, does it reveal a nature filled with
the Spirit of God. Adam had not yet been confronted by Satan, had
not disobeyed, nor had he taken of the "tree of life" to receive
the indwelling LOVE and POWER of God's Holy Spirit, which would
have imparted the DIVINE NATURE (II Peter 1:4).
So prior to the temptation by Satan, we have only the
revelation that Adam's NATURE, as God created him, was not evil,
hostile and diabolical. There may have been the physical and
mental nature of self-preservation and such things. But NOT the
evil nature of SELF-centeredness.
We need to realize that God created Adam and the human race
for a PURPOSE. We need to have clearly in mind, at this point,
WHAT that purpose is.
Angels had inhabited this planet before the creation of man
(II Peter 2:4-6). These angels had sinned. God had set over them
a king -- Lucifer, a super archangel -- to govern them with the
GOVERNMENT OF GOD (Isaiah 14:12-15, Ezekiel 28:11-17). All this
has been covered in detail in previous chapters.
This super king, Lucifer, was, of all created beings,
supreme in created perfection (Ezek. 28:12, 15). But, remember,
holy and righteous CHARACTER is something that cannot be created
in a person instantaneously by fiat. It must be developed in an
independent entity through a process in which one comes to
recognize the right way from the wrong, to choose the right and
reject the wrong even against self-desire.
The great Lucifer and the angels who followed him
(apparently a third of all angels) were originally created as
Spirit-composed beings, immortal. But in order that they have
personality and individuality as independent beings, it was
necessary that they be provided with faculties for knowing,
thinking, reasoning, and making their own decisions and choices.
These angels followed their king Lucifer in the decision to
turn from and rebel against the GOVERNMENT OF God -- God's WAY OF
LIFE. That is THE WAY of LOVE -- outgoing concern for the good of
others -- the way of humility, obedience to and love for their
MAKER, of giving, serving, cooperating, and sharing. They turned
to THE WAY of vanity, lust and greed, of rebellion, jealousy, and
envy, of competition, strife, and violence, of resentment,
bitterness, and destruction. Obviously the other two thirds of
the angels and archangels have remained holy, loyal, and obedient
to GOD'S government.
But now, to carry out God's PURPOSE for the inhabitants of
this earth, to accomplish the grand and awesome PURPOSE
throughout the entire universe that could have been Lucifer's and
his angels, GOD IS REPRODUCING HIMSELF THROUGH HUMAN BEINGS!
The super archangel Lucifer was the supreme pinnacle of
God's creative power in a created being. When he turned to
rebellion, it left ONLY GOD Himself who could be utterly relied
on NEVER to deviate from God's WAY -- God's GOVERNMENT. It is
impossible for God to sin -- because He WILL NOT! It now became
God's purpose to reproduce Himself through human beings.
That required the development in human beings of God's own
holy, righteous CHARACTER. It was necessary, for this purpose,
that man be composed of physical matter, that he CHOOSE God's
government, reject Lucifer's (now Satan's) self-centered
rebellious way, and strive to overcome it. God's PURPOSE in
having put humans on earth can be achieved only by man coming to
choose God's GOVERNMENT as God's way of life -- to reject with
utter finality Satan's way, completely overcoming it.
So God created MAN out of physical matter. God created in
man a MIND like God's, though of course inferior, because it was
composed of physical brain, empowered with intellect by a spirit
(essence) in each.
Although the holy and righteous CHARACTER to be developed
within man must actually come from God, each human must make his
own decision. He must make his own choice to reject Satan's WAY,
strive against it, and to obey God's GOVERNMENT
Adam was compelled, therefore, to make the choice. God
purposely allowed Satan opportunity to confront Adam with his way
of rebellion. But He did NOT allow Satan to get to Adam first.
God Himself instructed Adam in GOD'S WAY -- the way of the
GOVERNMENT OF GOD based on the LAW OF GOD, just as Lucifer and
his angels had been first instructed in the ways of THE
GOVERNMENT OF GOD.
Then God allowed Satan to confront Adam. Satan got to Adam
through his wife. Satan subtilely deceived Eve into DISBELIEVING
what God had taught them. Adam followed her in choosing rebellion
and rejecting God's rule and government over them. They took to
themselves the knowledge of what is good and what is
evil -- deciding for themselves right from wrong.
Then, something happened to the minds of Adam and Eve -- the
eyes of both of them were opened (Genesis 3:7). The spirit and
attitude of rebellion had entered their minds. Their minds
(hearts) now had become perverted -- deceitful and desperately
wicked.
And THAT EVIL IN THEM CAME FROM SATAN, NOT FROM GOD! They
were NOT created with this evil nature.
But how did humanity, today, come to have this evil attitude
we call "HUMAN NATURE"? Did the children of Adam and Eve inherit
it from them? Or, was it passed on by heredity?
Let me give you an example of heredity. God put Adam to
sleep and removed one of his ribs, out of which He made Eve. Do
all men today find themselves short one rib by heredity? Of
course not. Acquired characteristics are not passed on by
heredity.
Adam and Eve chose and acquired the "nature" or attitude of
sin from Satan. It was not passed on by heredity. Jesus Christ
called their second son "righteous Abel."
Then how do we humans come to have (universally) this evil
attitude we call human nature today?
It's partly explained in the apostle Paul's second letter to
the Corinthian Church. He said he desired to present that Church
"as a chaste virgin to Christ. BUT I fear, lest by any means, as
the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds
should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ" (II
Corinthians 11:2-3).
Satan was still around when Paul wrote. (The reason is
explained elsewhere.) The people at Corinth had not received this
evil nature by heredity. Rather, the apostle feared lest they (in
this NEW Testament time) should be beguiled into evil attitudes
in the same manner as was the original mother Eve -- directly by
Satan.
Eve did not have a mind that was evil before Satan came
along and confronted her. But Satan, by subtileness, deceived
Eve. Eve's children were not born with this evil nature. Nor were
the people of the Corinthian Church. But Paul feared lest Satan,
still around after some 4,000 years, pervert Corinthian minds
directly, as he had done to Eve.
Satan was still around when Christ was born. He tried to
destroy the Christ child by having Him murdered. Satan was still
around when Jesus was thirty and baptized. And he tried to
destroy Jesus spiritually then, in the temptation. As Satan
destroyed (spiritually) Adam, he tried to destroy the "second
Adam." Satan is still around TODAY!
But the wily Satan has succeeded in deluding many, if not
most, of the best minds into believing he is a nonexistent myth.
The best minds, unsuspecting, are deceived (Rev. 12:9).
Here is a TRUTH you, the reader, NEED TO KNOW!
To the Church at Ephesus, God said through the apostle Paul
(Ephesians 2:1-2): "And you [who] ... in time past ... walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince of
the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience ...."
GRASP IT! Satan is here called "the prince of the power of
the AIR!" I could not have understood that sixty years ago. I did
not then realize how communication by sound and by picture can be
broadcast instantaneously through the air.
In past chapters I have stressed the point that Satan, the
former great archangel cherub Lucifer, was the most perfect and
powerful being that God could create as an individual being. He
was perfect as originally created. But he is composed of spirit,
and thus he is invisible to human eyes.
This great and powerful being, even though evil, has power
literally to surcharge the air around this earth. HE BROADCASTS!
Wherever you are as you read these words, chances are there
are voices and perhaps music in the air around you. A radio or TV
set tuned to the right wavelength would make them audible and
visible to you.
The spirit in every human being is automatically tuned in on
Satan's wavelength. You don't hear anything because he does not
broadcast in words -- nor in sounds, whether music or otherwise. He
broadcasts in ATTITUDES. He broadcasts in attitudes of
SELF-centeredness, lust, greed, vanity, jealousy, envy,
resentment, competition, strife, bitterness, and hate.
In a word, the selfishness, hostility, deceitfulness,
wickedness, rebellion, etc. that we call "HUMAN NATURE" is
actually SATAN'S NATURE. It is Satan's ATTITUDE. And broad
casting it, surcharging the air with it, Satan actually NOW WORKS
IN the unsuspecting all over the world today! That is HOW Satan
deceives the whole world today (Rev. 12:9 and 20:3). Being
invisible, people do not see or hear him.
This prince of the power of the air -- this god of this
world -- IS THE REAL SOURCE OF WHAT WE HAVE COME TO CALL "HUMAN
NATURE''!
Here is the real CAUSE of all the world's evils!
But it seems nobody understands it, and therefore the world
does nothing about it -- except to go along with it blaming human
nature and supposing it was GOD who created us with an evil
nature when actually it is Satan's.
Let me give you an illustration of how we can be swayed,
influenced, and driven by Satan's broadcasting through the air.
When God wanted to cause captive Jews in ancient Babylon to
return to Jerusalem to build the second temple, He put it in the
mind of Cyrus, king of Persia. The Persian Empire had taken over
the rule of empire from Babylon. Following is the explanation of
how God moved Cyrus to do what God wanted.
"Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia ... the
[Eternal] stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he
made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom ..." (Ezra 1:1)
that a contingent of Jews return to Jerusalem.
God did not speak to Cyrus in words or direct communication,
as He talked with Moses and God's prophets. God reached Cyrus
through Cyrus's spirit. God stirred up his spirit, causing him to
want to do it. God did cause King Cyrus to know that in issuing
this proclamation he was doing it according to the will of God.
Utilizing this same principle, Satan, prince of THE POWER OF
THE AIR, stirs the spirits of humans, injecting into them
attitudes, moods, and impulses of selfishness, vanity, lust, and
greed, attitudes of resentment against authority, of jealousy and
envy, of competition and strife, of resentment and bitterness, of
violence, murder, and war. People do not recognize the source of
these attitudes, feelings, motives, and impulses. As I said, they
do not SEE the invisible Satan. They hear no audible voice. They
do not know the attitude came from Satan (Rev. 12:9). But they
come to FEEL such attitudes, impulses, and desires. That is how
Satan DECEIVES THE WHOLE WORLD.
People will feel depressed and won't realize why. But those
unaware of this phenomenon, with this self-centered attitude
being broadcast and injected into their unsuspecting minds from
earliest childhood, do, to a greater or lesser degree, absorb it
until it becomes their normal attitude. It becomes habitual. It
does not, of course, exhibit the same degree of effect in all
minds -- one person will become more evil than another. But the
natural tendency is there. They come to have it naturally. It
becomes their very NATURE. And we call it "human nature."
All this is an outstanding example of just how subtile Satan
is! The finest and most brilliant human minds have been deceived
by it. Thus the WHOLE WORLD has been swayed by Satan into what I
often term, simply, the "GET" way of life -- the way that has
become HABITUAL and NATURAL which we term "HUMAN NATURE."
Few realize how many passages in the Bible, especially in
the New Testament, warn us about Satan and his subtileness. But
first, before I take you to more of these, let us follow on
through this second chapter of Ephesians.
In chapter 1 of this letter to the Church at Ephesus, the
apostle Paul gives thanks and praise to God who has blessed "us"
(the converts at Ephesus and Paul -- also all Christians) with
every spiritual blessing within the heavenly sphere. God had
chosen us before we were born -- before the foundation of the
world -- being predestined to be called to spiritual salvation. God
has richly lavished on us His grace. He shows that we being
called in this time -- this New Testament ''church age" -- are the
first to be called to this glorious grace (emphasizing that this
is NOT the time God is trying to save all the world, but only
those predestined to be called NOW). Paul had heard of their
faith and prayed for their eyes to be opened fully to the awesome
human potential -- the supreme greatness of their divine heritage.
I urgently suggest the reader carefully read this first
chapter in the Moffatt translation. As translated by Moffatt I
think it is one of the most beautiful, uplifting, and inspiring
pieces of literature I have ever read.
Now the highlights of chapter 2: You Christians at Ephesus
were spiritually dead, but Christ has given you the impregnation
of eternal life. You are now spiritually alive. In the past you
lived according to the way of this world (the SELF-centered way),
according to the PRINCE OF THE POWER OF THE AIR. In II
Corinthians 4:4 Satan is called the god of this world, who has
blinded the minds of those who do not believe in Christ and His
truth. NOT that they inherited this spiritual blindness -- but that
Satan blinded those living in that generation directly.
And in Ephesians 2 Satan is referred to as the PRINCE OF THE
POWER OF THE AIR! Notice the word POWER -- the POWER of the air.
Then it calls him the SPIRIT (being) that NOW -- the time when they
were living -- actually was WORKING IN those of the world who were
not obedient -- that is, the world in general. The Phillips
translation in modern English renders this: "You [then] drifted
along in the stream of this world's ideas of living, and obeyed
its unseen ruler [who is still operating in those who do not
respond to the truth of God]."
Emphatically this shows Satan is the UNSEEN one who,
unrealized by the people, is actually swaying their minds,
leading them in what I term the "GET" way.
The Phillips translation continues (verse 3): "We all lived
like that in the past, and followed the impulses and imaginations
of our evil nature ... like everyone else." This "nature" has
been acquired from Satan. It was not inherited from our parents.
It was not created in us by God. That which has become habitual
and therefore natural becomes a NATURE within us.
Such nature IS NOT hereditary, but an acquired
characteristic. This very passage shows the AUTHOR of this
"nature" to be Satan, NOT GOD. The next words in the Phillips
translation are: "being under the wrath of God by nature." It
would make no sense at all for God's wrath to be on us BECAUSE OF
WHAT GOD PUT WITHIN US. Adam was NOT created with this "EVIL
nature." Adam acquired it from Satan. Lucifer (Satan) was created
PERFECT. He acquired it by false reasoning. These Ephesians, in
their generation, had acquired it from Satan. But now, IN CHRIST,
through His grace, Christ had given them LIFE, who were
spiritually dead because of this acquired evil nature.
But how about the converted Christian? His spirit (mind),
like all others, is tuned on Satan's wavelength. The same
tendency, just as if this evil nature were inherent in him from
birth, is present. Satan has been injecting it since early
childhood. But the true Christian has repented of that WAY. He
has REJECTED it. He has turned from it. He has accepted and
turned to GOD'S way -- the way of GOD'S GOVERNMENT!
The passage in Ephesians 2 explains it. People generally, in
the world, are spiritually dead. They have gone along with the
rest of the world in the self-centered way. As the Phillips
translation renders it, they have "drifted along on the stream of
this world's way of living." They have "obeyed its UNSEEN ruler
[who is still operating in those who do not respond to the truth
of God]."
I have quoted from the Phillips translation, not because it
is a more accurate or dependable translation, but because it
brought out the meaning more clearly in this particular passage.
Conversion does not disconnect Satan's wavelength. The
tendency to become resentful over real or fancied wrongs or
injustices from others, the tendency to try to get the best of
others, may still prove a temptation. THESE are the things the
converted Christian must strive to overcome!
When Jesus spoke of OVERCOMING, He referred to overcoming
these WAYS of Satan, which are contrary to GOD'S way. The
Christian must, as Peter was inspired to write, GROW in grace and
in the KNOWLEDGE of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
We read in James 4: "Submit yourselves therefore to God.
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." This is speaking of
resisting these very self-centered thoughts, attitudes,
tendencies, and ways which Satan injected into us from childhood
and is constantly broadcasting and injecting into unsuspecting
minds through the spirit in man.
However, no man is IMPELLED to respond to and obey these
impulses being broadcast by Satan. Satan has no power of duress
to FORCE anyone to think or do wrong. But the unsuspecting
automatically do without fully realizing what is taking place in
their minds. They "drift along."
The passage in II Corinthians 4:4 adds clarity to the entire
thesis that this evil spiritual nature in humans has been
acquired, individually by each person, from Satan.
Before I became familiar with radio, I could not have
understood HOW Satan injects this evil attitude into humans. He
is a SUPER POWERFUL spirit being. He was set on a throne as king
over the earth. He himself, by his own reasoning processes,
acquired this evil nature. God did not create it in him (Ezek.
28:15). Though disqualified now to administer the GOVERNMENT OF
GOD over the earth, he must remain here UNTIL his successor has
qualified AND been inducted into office. There is a REASON why
Christ has not YET come to take over that office, remove Satan,
and restore the government of God.
Before Jesus Christ could qualify to restore the GOVERNMENT
OF GOD and RULE all nations, He had to withstand Satan's most
severe temptation. You'll read of that supreme struggle in the
fourth chapter of Matthew. Jesus had to -- in human flesh -- reject
Satan's way and teach and prove OBEDIENT to the GOVERNMENT OF
GOD -- so He can RESTORE it on earth!
It was immediately after that -- after Christ QUALIFIED to
restore the GOVERNMENT OF GOD to earth -- that Jesus came into
Galilee, preaching the gospel of the KINGDOM OF GOD, and saying,
"The time is fulfilled" (Mark 1:1, 14-15). It was never fulfilled
until that titanic struggle in which Jesus resisted Satan,
conquered him, and showed His MASTERY over him.
Now notice something you probably never realized before:
I have said repeatedly THIS IS NOT THE TIME GOD IS TRYING TO
CONVERT THE WHOLE WORLD. He is calling only a comparative VERY
FEW, now.
WHY? WHY does not God call everyone on earth NOW?
Are those of us called NOW getting a real SPECIAL deal?
Well, THINK OF THIS: We, now called, must resist Satan, who
will PULL OUT ALL STOPS to attack and DESTROY those of us called
NOW!
All others are drifting along SATAN'S WAY ANYWAY. Sure, he
broadcasts to sway everyone to his SELF-centered way, contrary to
GOD'S WAY. But he has the whole world already going his way. But
those of us who have turned from his way are fighting to OVERCOME
his way, and turning to GOD'S way -- the WAY of God's
GOVERNMENT -- are the ones Satan HATES. He seeks specially to
destroy us! Without God's protection and restraining power over
Satan, we could never make it!
Few, even among professing converted Christians, realize the
vital and SUPREME NEED to be conscious and constantly aware of
Satan's efforts to get to US, who already have turned from
Satan's way and to the WAY of the GOVERNMENT OF GOD. For this
very reason, Satan has gotten to and overthrown many who have
fallen away (II Thes. 2:3).
Few actively heed what God, through Paul, said later to the
Ephesians: "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in
the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye
may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we
wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against POWERS, against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness [wicked SPIRITS] in HIGH PLACES"
(Eph. 6:10-12).
There is a reason WHY God allows those predestinated to be
called NOW to have to withstand Satan and his REBELLION AGAINST
THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD.
It is necessary -- in order for us to QUALIFY to become rulers
(under Christ) in the KINGDOM OF GOD -- that we NOT ONLY reject
Satan's false way but strive against it until we OVERCOME IT,
relying all the while on GOD for the power to do so.
As we, from earliest childhood growing up, acquired Satan's
nature, so, through conversion and the struggle of OVERCOMING, we
rid ourselves of it. We ACQUIRE, instead, the DIVINE NATURE.
Peter wrote that we become "PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE" (II
Pet. 1:4). We most certainly were not born with it.
So, Lucifer ACQUIRED that "satanic" nature by his own
reasoning and choice. Humans have ACQUIRED Satan's nature from
childhood and call it "human nature." But converted Christians,
who reject Satan's way and OVERCOME it, turning to GOD'S WAY,
BECOME PARTAKERS OF -- i.e., ACQUIRE -- the DIVINE NATURE. But for
God's PURPOSE, it was necessary that we first know and totally
REJECT Satan's way and accept GOD'S GOVERNMENT.
When God does set out to CALL EVERY HUMAN ON EARTH to
spiritual salvation, Satan will be BOUND a thousand years, unable
to broadcast his impulses and attitudes. The world will be at
PEACE! Those called then will not have to battle what we do now.
But WHY? There has to be a REASON!
To those of us being called, NOW, Jesus said: "And he that
overcometh [Satan and his own self], and keepeth my works unto
the end, to him will I give power over the nations: and he shall
rule them with a rod of iron ..." (Rev. 2:26-27).
When Christ comes to RULE, as the KING of kings and LORD of
lords, we who are called now will rule with and under Him, as He
restores the GOVERNMENT OF GOD to this earth.
Notice again: "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit
with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down
with my father in his throne" (Rev. 3:21). Those who shall reign
WITH Christ, when He comes to restore the GOVERNMENT OF GOD, MUST
OVERCOME (and that includes overcoming SATAN), EVEN AS JESUS DID!
Now does this apply equally to those who shall be converted
after Christ comes, during the Millennium?
The answer is NO! These two quotations (above) are found in
Jesus' message to the seven CHURCHES that span this CHURCH AGE!
They do NOT apply to those called later! Do they apply only to
the era of Thyatira and Laodicea? No, they apply to ALL the
Church age. These seven messages DO apply to seven successive
Church eras. BUT they also apply to the WHOLE CHURCH through ALL
eras. In other words, the Ephesus characteristics DOMINATED in
the first era, and the Laodicean will dominate in the last, but
SOME of these characteristics are found in EVERY era. The
messages apply to the WHOLE Church (and so I have said and
written for more than fifty years) but certain characteristics
predominate in the various eras.
But GET THIS CRUX POINT! Jesus had to QUALIFY to RULE the
earth. God's WHOLE PURPOSE IS TO RESTORE THE GOVERN MENT of GOD
on earth and set up the KINGDOM OF GOD. Jesus had to resist and
overcome the temptations -- very special ones -- of SATAN. Are WE to
rule without any such qualifications? Of course not! Those who
are to rule with and under Christ when He restores the GOVERNMENT
to the earth MUST QUALIFY -- must turn FROM Satan's WAY TO GOD'S
WAY, that is, to the GOVERNMENT of GOD. We must root out -- root
and branch -- Satan's ATTITUDE and WAY, and so thoroughly that we
shall make it IMPOSSIBLE ever to turn again to Satan's
way -- IMPOSSIBLE TO SIN (I John 3:9).
Those called to spiritual salvation AFTER Christ comes will
not have to battle Satan.
Notice, Matthew 25 and Revelation 20:
First, Matthew 25, beginning verse 31: "When the Son of man
shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then
shall he sit upon the throne of his glory." Christ is coming in
all the supreme POWER and GLORY of the Creator GOD! He is coming
to RESTORE THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD over the WHOLE EARTH -- over ALL
NATIONS! One SUPER WORLD GOVERNMENT! He will restore the throne
of David at Jerusalem. Since 1968 the Ambassador International
Cultural Foundation, through the auspices of the Worldwide Church
of God has been in joint participation with Hebrew University and
the Israel Archaeological Society in excavations in Jerusalem,
and recently in clearing off some fifty feet or more of debris
which has covered the ancient throne of David, which existed some
2,500 years ago.
Continue: "And before him shall be gathered all nations"
(verse 32). He is coming to RULE the WORLD -- to RESTORE the
GOVERNMENT OF GOD!
Every government is founded on a basic LAW. The law of God
is unlike any man-made law of any human government. It is a
SPIRITUAL law (Rom. 7:14). And it is a HOLY law (Rom. 7:12). It
is A WAY OF LIFE -- God's way! When people are governed in that way
of life, there will be PEACE, HAPPINESS, JOY, ABUNDANCE!
But that basic LAW of the GOVERNMENT OF GOD is also the law
of the Christian WAY of life. Sin is the transgression of that
law (I John 3:4). Christ is coming also to call ALL PEOPLE to
spiritual salvation and eternal life. That is when God will seek
to spiritually save THE WHOLE WORLD -- and NOT TILL THEN!
Continue: "And he shall separate them one from another, as a
shepherd divideth the sheep from the goats: and he shall set the
sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall
the king say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world" (Matthew 25:32-34).
The nations before the king on his throne are the nations of
this world. Those called to and qualified for salvation during
that Church age and previously (prophets, etc.), will have been
resurrected to meet Christ in the air, as He descends to earth on
His return (I Thes. 4:16-17). They will be ruling with Christ,
already being immortal, composed of Spirit (Rev. 2:26-27; 3:21).
They, with Christ, will compose the KINGDOM OF GOD.
It is necessary, here, to explain the difference between the
GOVERNMENT OF GOD and the KINGDOM OF GOD. The GOVERNMENT of God
was established on earth IN PRE-HISTORY OVER THE ANGELS.
But the KINGDOM of God is BOTH the GOVERNMENT of God and the
FAMILY of God. Those now being saved spiritually will, in the
resurrection, INHERIT the Kingdom of God. They shall have been
BORN of God -- born into the Divine FAMILY of God. They shall be
married to Christ. Of this divine spiritual marriage, children of
God will be begotten and born spiritually all during the thousand
years commencing with Christ's return to earth as KING.
Now let's notice the twentieth chapter of Revelation:
The apostle John is recording what he saw in vision: "And I
saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key to the
bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on
the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and
bound him a thousand years" (Rev. 20:1-2).
When Christ comes again to earth in supreme POWER and GLORY,
He shall already have been crowned with many crowns. The
coronation ceremony will have taken place in heaven (the throne
of God the Father) before His return. Christ then shall have been
qualified AND inducted into office. I have said before, Satan
must remain on earth swaying the nations his way UNTIL Christ,
the successor, has both qualified AND been inducted into office.
Immediately on Christ's return, Satan shall be BOUND.
Continue: "And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut
him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the
nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and
after that he must be loosed a little season" (verse 3).
Those resurrected then shall reign over all nations with
Christ -- and a thousand years of PEACE on earth will ensue.
Imagine what it shall be like with Christ and resurrected
saints forming the KINGDOM OF GOD, ruling with the GOVERN MENT OF
GOD over all living humans who shall be left alive. Satan will be
restrained from broadcasting. Christ will be ruling with GOD'S
WAY of life.
But NOW NOTICE! Verse 7: "And when the thousand years are
expired, Satan shall be loosed out of this prison, and shall go
out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the
earth ... to gather them together to battle: the number of whom
is as the sand of the sea" (verses 7-8).
Grasp it! These are people at PEACE! They shall not be
inoculated with the satanic NATURE we now call "human nature."
They shall have been living happily in PERFECT PEACE. Now Satan
once more BROADCASTS. Remember these nations are HUMAN. Satan is
INVISIBLE to them. But notice the CHANGE come over them as soon
as Satan is loosed and able again to sway humanity:
Verse 9: "And they [the human nations] went up on the
breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about,
and the beloved city...." Immediately "HUMAN NATURE" shall
have entered into them! Immediately they shall have been filled
with envy and jealousy against the saints of God, filled with
wrath and violence! But God will not allow them to destroy. They
shall have been told -- have been warned about Satan. "... and
fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the
devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and
brimstone ... and shall be tormented day and night for ever and
ever."
After this shall occur the Great White Throne Judgment -- the
resurrection of all humanity from the time of Adam to Christ's
Second Coming who had not been in the first resurrection or
called by God. In this judgment is to be "the book of life,"
meaning many, perhaps most, shall then find spiritual salvation
and eternal life. In the time of their judgment, Satan will be
GONE!
Up to now, God has called VERY FEW to spiritual salvation,
contrary to general tradition and opinion in the "Christian"
world!
From Adam to Noah we have the record of only Abel, Enoch,
and Noah -- some 1,900 years! From Noah to Christ, there was
Abraham, Lot, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, prior to calling the
children of Israel out of Egypt. God NEVER offered spiritual
salvation (eternal life) to the Old Testament nation Israel, but
only to the prophets and those called to SPECIAL DUTY.
From Adam to Christ, NONE were called to spiritual salvation
except those called to perform a SPECIAL MISSION.
From Christ to now, only a VERY MINUTE PORTION of humanity
has been called, and they for the SPECIAL MISSION of THE GREAT
COMMISSION -- "Go ye into all the world and preach the GOSPEL" (of
the KINGDOM OF GOD).
We who have been called in this "church age" have been
called to qualify as rulers with and under Christ in the Kingdom
of God, restoring the GOVERNMENT OF GOD, in other words, to
develop the holy, righteous CHARACTER of God. But OUR PART in the
GREAT COMMISSION is the assignment God has given as THE MEANS of
preparing us for rulership with and under Christ when He
comes -- and THAT IS NOW SOON!
This chapter began with the question of whether this evil
"human nature" is born in a sweet tiny baby. Let me now just
quote three passages from the Bible.
"And they brought unto him [Jesus] also infants, that he
would touch them.... Jesus called them unto him, and said,
Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for
of such is the kingdom of God" (Luke 18:15-16). The evil nature
which some erroneously have supposed was born in babies is the
nature of Satan's kingdom, but "of such" -- these babies -- is the
Kingdom of GOD.
"At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who
is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a
little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and
said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become
as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of
heaven" (Matt. 18:1-3).
"Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to
come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt.
19:14).
We humans start out at birth all right. We begin our human
life with neither the "human nature" from Satan nor the Divine
nature which may be imparted only by the Holy Spirit. But soon we
begin to absorb and ACQUIRE the selfish, self-centered attitude
broadcast by Satan. But Satan's kingdom of angels -- now turned to
demons -- rejected the GOVERNMENT OF GOD, and it was thus removed
from earth.
GOD'S PURPOSE in having created and put HUMANS on earth was
to develop in them GOD'S own holy and righteous character. God
wants a people who will REJECT and overcome Satan's WAY OF LIFE
and turn to THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD -- which is GOD'S WAY of life.
That GOVERNMENT OF GOD exists at this time on earth only
through those that are being led by God's Spirit within the
Church of God. Satan is angry. He hates it! He subtily tries to
inject into minds under that government of LOVE a hostility that
MISrepresents it as a harsh and cruel government of Satan.
But I repeat, LUCIFER was created by God "perfect in all his
ways, until iniquity was found in him." He acquired the nature of
rebellion and evil by false reasoning. Adam acquired it from
Satan. The Ephesians (Eph. 2:1) acquired it from Satan -- as has
all humanity, except Jesus Christ. But now, IN CHRIST, through
His grace, we may ACQUIRE the DIVINE NATURE OF GOD (II Pet. 1:4).
God's GREAT PURPOSE is to RESTORE THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD to
this earth, in and through the KINGDOM OF GOD!
We CAN, by Christ's grace, CHANGE "human nature" and
eradicate it entirely from us, replacing it with the DIVINE
NATURE!