millennium3000
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Since all of Jehovahs creations are perfect, however, who made this Devil, this Satan? Put simply, one of the powerful spirit sons of God turned himself into the Devil. How was this possible? Well, today a person who was once decent and honest may become a thief. How does that happen? The person may allow a wrong desire to develop in his heart. If he keeps thinking about it, that wrong desire may become very strong. Then if the opportunity presents itself, he may act upon the bad desire that he has been thinking about.James 1:13-15.
6 This happened in the case of Satan the Devil. He apparently heard God tell Adam and Eve to have children and to fill the earth with their offspring. (Genesis 1:27, 28) Why, all these humans could worship me rather than God! Satan evidently thought. So a wrong desire built up in his heart. Eventually, he took action to deceive Eve by telling her lies about God. (Genesis 3:1-5) He thus became a Devil, which means Slanderer. At the same time, he became Satan, which means Opposer.
7 By using lies and trickery, Satan the Devil caused Adam and Eve to disobey God. (Genesis 2:17; 3:6) As a result, they eventually died, as God had said they would if they disobeyed. (Genesis 3:17-19) Since Adam became imperfect when he sinned, all his offspring inherited sin from him. (Romans 5:12) The situation might be illustrated with a pan used for baking bread. If the pan has a dent in it, what happens to each loaf of bread made in the pan? Each loaf has a dent, or an imperfection, in it. Similarly, each human has inherited a dent of imperfection from Adam. That is why all humans grow old and die.Romans 3:23.
8 When Satan led Adam and Eve into sinning against God, he was really leading a rebellion. He was challenging Jehovahs way of ruling. In effect, Satan was saying: God is a bad ruler. He tells lies and holds back good things from his subjects. Humans do not need to have God ruling over them. They can decide for themselves what is good and what is bad. And they will be better off under my rulership. How would God handle such an insulting challenge? Some think that God should simply have put the rebels to death. But would that have answered Satans challenge? Would it have proved that Gods way of ruling is right?
9 Jehovahs perfect sense of justice would not allow him to put the rebels to death right away. He decided that time was needed to answer Satans challenge in a satisfying way and to prove that the Devil is a liar. So God determined that he would permit humans to rule themselves for some time under Satans influence. Why Jehovah did that and why he has allowed so much time to pass before settling these issues will be discussed in Chapter 11 of this book. Now, though, it is good to think about this: Were Adam and Eve right to believe Satan, who had never done anything good for them? Was it right for them to believe that Jehovah, who had given them everything they had, is a cruel liar? What would you have done?
10 It is good to think about these questions because each of us faces similar issues today. Yes, you have the opportunity to support Jehovahs side in answer to Satans challenge. You can accept Jehovah as your Ruler and help to show that Satan is a liar. (Psalm 73:28; Proverbs 27:11) Sadly, only a few among the billions of people in this world make such a choice. This raises an important question, Does the Bible really teach that Satan rules this world?
6 This happened in the case of Satan the Devil. He apparently heard God tell Adam and Eve to have children and to fill the earth with their offspring. (Genesis 1:27, 28) Why, all these humans could worship me rather than God! Satan evidently thought. So a wrong desire built up in his heart. Eventually, he took action to deceive Eve by telling her lies about God. (Genesis 3:1-5) He thus became a Devil, which means Slanderer. At the same time, he became Satan, which means Opposer.
7 By using lies and trickery, Satan the Devil caused Adam and Eve to disobey God. (Genesis 2:17; 3:6) As a result, they eventually died, as God had said they would if they disobeyed. (Genesis 3:17-19) Since Adam became imperfect when he sinned, all his offspring inherited sin from him. (Romans 5:12) The situation might be illustrated with a pan used for baking bread. If the pan has a dent in it, what happens to each loaf of bread made in the pan? Each loaf has a dent, or an imperfection, in it. Similarly, each human has inherited a dent of imperfection from Adam. That is why all humans grow old and die.Romans 3:23.
8 When Satan led Adam and Eve into sinning against God, he was really leading a rebellion. He was challenging Jehovahs way of ruling. In effect, Satan was saying: God is a bad ruler. He tells lies and holds back good things from his subjects. Humans do not need to have God ruling over them. They can decide for themselves what is good and what is bad. And they will be better off under my rulership. How would God handle such an insulting challenge? Some think that God should simply have put the rebels to death. But would that have answered Satans challenge? Would it have proved that Gods way of ruling is right?
9 Jehovahs perfect sense of justice would not allow him to put the rebels to death right away. He decided that time was needed to answer Satans challenge in a satisfying way and to prove that the Devil is a liar. So God determined that he would permit humans to rule themselves for some time under Satans influence. Why Jehovah did that and why he has allowed so much time to pass before settling these issues will be discussed in Chapter 11 of this book. Now, though, it is good to think about this: Were Adam and Eve right to believe Satan, who had never done anything good for them? Was it right for them to believe that Jehovah, who had given them everything they had, is a cruel liar? What would you have done?
10 It is good to think about these questions because each of us faces similar issues today. Yes, you have the opportunity to support Jehovahs side in answer to Satans challenge. You can accept Jehovah as your Ruler and help to show that Satan is a liar. (Psalm 73:28; Proverbs 27:11) Sadly, only a few among the billions of people in this world make such a choice. This raises an important question, Does the Bible really teach that Satan rules this world?