God is an all powerful all knowing God. What else in the universe would such a being want? Nothing else but true love and worship as explained in John 4:23. I believe true love cannot exist unless it is of one's own free will. Free will cannot exist unless there is something else to choose besides God. Imagine a universe without Satan or evil. We would all be as pure as God. We would be like perhaps the beings described in Revelation 4: 7-11, who worship Him continuously, night and day. In order for there to be free will, there must be an option. That option is Satan; God's complete opposite. If God is everything that is good and pure and holy, Satan is everything that God is not. Jesus said, He who is not with me, is against me. So did God create an angel for this purpose? Perhaps. Did that angel become Satan? Perhaps.
I have heard your 'line of reasoning' for most of my believing life.
Reason tells me that your God is IN NEED of something you might have. Your supposed love. I do not believe in a God of NEED. God Is, Was and Will Forever Remain Perfect. There is 'no flaws, no needs' in and with Him.
Reason also tells me that you believe that God will then REWARD you for your 'optional produce that He needs.' This too is a very questionable approach.
And reason also tells me that you use your basis above to justify your choices and selections while openly condemning others for their lack of same, and I'm sorry, that just AIN'T LOVE. One does not 'use choice LOVE' to CONDEMN other people. That's NOT what life and love is about whatsoever. And in fact it's a sickness of self justification and the condemnation of others that doesn't really resemble LOVE one WHIT, nor would I expect such a concoction to be patted on the back anytime soon by God or anyone else except by those who agree with your format, who WILL turn and devour you as soon as you make 'a bad choice.' They MAY toss you to the FLAMES just as you MAY do to others in your own heart.
In Genesis it says there were two trees in the Garden of Eden. The Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This second tree had the serpent in it. How did it get there? Where did the it come from? If we believe that God sees the infinite future and infinite past in one instance, why would God knowingly create anything that he knew would betray him? Surely God must have known that this serpent would cause the downfall of mankind? Unless the serpent and the downfall together were to serve a purpose. Perhaps that purpose was because God wanted us to understand good and evil and have eternal life with Him. Perhaps God understood that we could never understand evil without being separated from Him; and thus could never gain eternal life by accepting Jesus. After all, how can we understand eternity without understanding death? How can we understand the awe and Glory of God without ever understanding His absence? To understand good and evil and still choose good is perhaps God's greatest gift.
That entire account has about ZERO to do with 'choices.'
There are far better and more 'credible' explanations about what happened to Adam and Eve in the Garden.
For example, if you can bear to allow this in your choice psyche scenario:
God BLESSED Adam (with Eve still within) and COMMANDED them to BE FRUITFUL and MULTIPLY.
Now following the line of open reasoning, SATAN then came IMMEDIATELY into their hearts to STEAL THE WORD from them, because THAT is what SATAN does.
AFTER THAT the LAW was given to Adam...that LAW was 'do not eat.'
We know that the LAW is for THE LAWLESS.
Well, again reason might openly see that there was A THEFT that had already transpired in the mind and in the heart of them both, and THAT by Satan who went THEREIN and STOLE from them, more than likely without them EVER knowing it, just like YOU may never know it.
The next account we get from Eve is a NON-UNDERSTANDING of the Words of God in that prior command when she said they could not EVEN TOUCH THE TREE. God never said that.
So we have two progressions of SIN already in place LONG BEFORE the fruit of the infamous tree was ever ate. The entrance of SATAN to STEAL the Word from within...resulting in the DELIVERY OF THE LAW, which then exacerbated the working of SATAN to BLIND or STEAL the command of LAW from Eve, because she obviously DIDN'T GET IT RIGHT...
This progression of sin is called sin in THOUGHT and the next stage which is SIN IN WORD...
By the time we get to the actual PHYSICAL VIOLATION of the command, the eating, that is the LAST STAGE of sins presence within them, SIN IN PHYSICAL DEED...but the real action had already taken place before it showed up ON THE OUTSIDE.
Now, your axiom is to BLAME THEM. I say WHY? Who made them SUBJECT TO DECEPTION in the first place? Who gave AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT ENTITY access to their supposedly FREEWILL MIND and BODY? It would not appear to be SO FREE when another entity can WALTZ IN and STEAL and DESTROY. Yet that IS what happened.
To separate SIN from the workings of SATAN is impossible, scripturally speaking. Every sin of mankind is directly connected to SATAN in 1 John 3:8.
So if you really wanted to LOVE your fellow man you might look to THAT WORKING OF SATAN in them if you want to find FAULT...maybe even 'in yourself' and understand that Adam was Gods son (Luke 3:38) God never had any intentions of BURNING ADAM ALIVE FOREVER IN FIRE for making 'bad choices.' That's just SICK imho. God will however eventually and utterly DESTROY that working of SIN, which was taken away from attribution to MANKIND at the CROSS.
Does this mean God created evil?
In my opinion, yes. God is all powerful and uncreated. Therefore all things must have started with Him and are under his control.
Agreed there. So, do we believe MAN is sufficient for the destruction and overcoming of THE EVIL OF SATAN...
OR do we believe that GODS LOVE is therein sufficient to SAVE US...and in the process DESTROY that same EVIL? These are not meant to aggravate you, but to lift you up IN LOVE as it was meant to to FOR YOU, not 'you lifting yourself up AS IT.'
So how can God be a loving god if He allows evil?
If we understand the broader scope of evil we understand that ultimately God brings about greater good through evil; the kind of good that God desires.
You do see that even you have slipped into God BRINGING it about. And I too believe that. God can overcome ANY AND ALL the entirety of the works of EVIL as if NONE of it EVER existed. And in the end that IS what is going to transpire, ALL OF HIM.
Divine MERCY is something that we are being shown in the process, because we HAVE NEED OF HIM in our present situations.
If Satan fulfills God's purpose, doesn't that in fact make Satan good?
In my opinion, Satan is by no means good. I believe Satan is exactly as God planned him or it to be. Satan's ultimate purpose may be to bring about greater good but he is still evil.
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Why then is Satan regarded in such a negative way in the Bible?
I believe God influences mankind to a certain degree. It makes sense that if God wants us to seek Him yet still wants it to be of our own freewill; of course God would tell us Satan is a thief and a murderer or the father of lies.
To say that God cannot enter into the mind and heart is pure speculation, and in fact is NOT presented in the text. The Spirit DOES DWELL THEREIN, in the hearts and minds of HIS CHILDREN. That is what HIS SPIRIT does.
And to say that SATAN has no entrance or influence therein is also false. Satan entered into the hearts of ALL when sin entered the world.
When all the players in the drama of our current life are on the table of judgments, it becomes progressively difficult to blame ONLY MAN.
But as you so measure...so it will be measured back to you, by either of the other parties...
enjoy!
squint
