God loves us so much He gives us a choice. We can follow Him and obey His will, or we can choose a life apart from Him. Satan knows this by the choice God had given Adam and Eve. Satan and the fallen angels main objective is to get mankind, who was created in the image of God, to disobey God and to follow the ways of the world without God. Satan also knows God is a just God, and His law demands punishment for the sinner. After death, this punishment is to be in eternity with the devil and his angels forever. (Matthew 25:33, 41)
Satan and the angels that followed him were once in Heaven. Satan was like the other angels. They were created beings to serve God. Satan didn't want to serve. He wanted to exalt himself above God. He wanted to be as God. God then cast him and the angels that followed him out of heaven.(Isaiah 14:12-14)
I believe this is why Satan wants all of us to be lost. He got Adam and Eve removed from the garden by deceiving them to disobey God and now, to get back at God, he wants us to be lost in Hell for eternity.
God gives the first glimpse of the plan of redemption in Genesis 3:15, I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise His heal.
My enemy didn't stop with Adam and Eve. From the time Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden, until the present, we see Satan's deceptions and temptations of mankind, and he knows they work. Let's look at the first recorded murder, and why it happened.
After Adam and Eve had sinned, then the Lord God said, Behold the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever...(Genesis 3:22, NKJV) Man now has a choice between good and evil. He knows what is evil and what is good.
In chapter 4 of Genesis we read about Cain and Able being born. As time past, Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord and Abel brought the firstborn of his flock and of their fat . The Lord respected Abel's offering. (Read why in Heb.11:4) Notice in verse 5, the Lord did not respect Cain and his offering. He did not respect Cain because of what was in his heart toward his brother, and his offering was not done in faith. Cain had jealousy in his heart toward his brother, leading to hatred and that hatred manifested itself in the murdering of his brother.
God not respecting Cain's offering made Cain angry, and his countenance fell. The Lord asked Cain why he was so angry and why his countenance had fallen. Then the Lord gave him an opportunity to be accepted. The Lord said in verse 7, If you do well will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.
Cain talked with his brother Abel and it came to pass that Cain rose up and killed him. God gave Cain an opportunity to do well and Cain refused God's word. Rather, he let sin rule over him. He let himself be influenced by the sin of pride, envy, and jealously that Satan had placed at the door. He chose self interest above God and his brother Abel. God told him to rule over the sin, and we see what happen. He chose to let it rule over him.
Cain did not want to do well. Being accepted by God was not in his interest. Could the same apply today? How many are choosing to do well before God? How many today do not care if they are accepted of God? Instead they want God to accept the way they choose to live, by letting the sin at the door come in and ruin their lives.
What were the consequences of Cain's actions? His brother was dead. The seed of woman would not come from Abel's line. Cain was cursed by God, but the most devastating consequence was the family of Cain. Apparently it appears that Cain's family did not follow God because later generations were destroyed in the flood. We read in Genesis 4:23 that Lamech, the descendent of Cain, took for himself 2 wives (Polygamy started?) and also in verse 23 says he killed a man. (Followed after Cain?)
We can disobey God today and not rule over the sins at our doors causing generations of our own families to be lost. We see Satan doing all he can do to destroy man, who God, (' Elohiym) plural form, had created in Their image. Look what Satan did to the family of Adam and Eve so far. He deceived them in to disobeying God, resulting in God removing them from the Garden. He used jealousy to incite Cain to hate and kill his brother. They lost a good son, and their remaining son was the first man to be cursed by God. (Genesis 4:11) They also lost Cain. He left the presence of God and went to the land of Nod.(Genesis 4:16)
Cain chose evil over good and his descendants were influenced by him to also choose evil. I know of generations of people today not following God because one of their ancestors chose not to follow God and obey His commandments.
The work of Satan? Yes. He wants to disguise evil as good and to make you feel better in choosing evil. Each choice we make has consequences. Remember Cain's.
Always remember, Satan is real, and he wants to destroy your relationship with God. We will also see his attempts to destroy the Redeemer of mankind in later post. Satan doesn't love you and does not want you to be happy. Don't forget Satan's main goal is for you to die lost.
" Satan wants us to eat slop with the hogs, but God wants us to eat of the fatted calf with Him". Should this be an easy choice? (Read Luke 15:13-24)
Is God waiting for you to come home? Many have been deceived in our country today by 3 of Satan's greatest deceptions. The consequences have been devastating. We can't attack these with laws. We must change the hearts of the people. Look at the nightly news. Is evil or good being chosen? Are these 3 causing God to not respect us and our offering as He did Cain? I think you know the answer. Remember, God is still in control and we will be judged one day. I do not want to be deceived, and I know you don't either. Let's together be more vigilant in how Satan operates.
We must have a strong faith to overcome Satan. The shepherd boy David developed a faith and trust in God to defeat Goliath. We can do the same by studying God's word. Go to www.amazon.com to preview and purchase my book The Heart Behind the Stone: Develop a Giant Slaying Heart for a deeper discussion of these 3 deceptions and see how David developed his faith in God. Also, my recent book, 123 Tips for My Grandchildren and Yours, gives tips to our children and grandchildren on living in a fallen world.
Please send comments to rhepler52@gmail.com
Remember what God said to Cain. If you do well, will you not be accepted? Let us all strive to do well.
Thanks so much for reading.
Rick Hepler
