Two Thrones at War (continued)
The First Sin in God's Universe (continued)
The Apostate Became the Liar
John 8:44: He ... abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Being a deserter from "the truth" he became destitute of "truth." Departing from the truth he degenerated into a liar. When he became the sworn enemy of truth he became the patron of lying. Every liar and every lie are his progeny. The idiom of his language is a lie; he can speak no other language. There is no possibility of there ever again being any truth in him for he has become the archliar in God's universe. In fact, he is the exact opposite of truth.
The devil still has luficer's mastermind. Apart from God Himself, no one person in all God's universe thinks so intelligently and so masterfully as the devil. He is as "full of wisdom" today as he was when "in the mountain of God," but it is a wholly corrupt and perverted wisdom, given over primarily to the task of blinding the minds of men to the truth of God.
God's Attitude toward Pride
God hates pride. It is an utter abomination to Him (Proverbs 6:16, 17); Proverbs 8:13).
God's Pronouncement about Pride
2 Chronicles 26:16: But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the Lord his God.
2 Chronicles 32:25: His heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him.
Sin had now entered into heaven. Sin never remains single. It always propagates itself - "the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind" (Genesis 1:11). "A corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit" (Matthew 7:17). Pride of person leads on into pride of position, of place, of power, until lucifer is consumed with ambition to acquire what was not inherently his and never could be his legitimately. His pride precipitated his fall, and precipitated his destruction (Proverbs 16:18).
lucifer's Fall
Self-esteem begets self-exaltation. He would deify himself. He would be on an equality with God. Self-exaltation begets self-will. He must act for himself and by himself. Self would displace and dispossess God. To deify himself he must dethrone God (Isaiah 14:12-14).
The pride of his heart is laid bare: it is naked and open for all to see. His exaltation and self-glorification have gone to the nth degree and he comes out in the plainest statement of self-will. "I will" - five times he repeats these ominous words of self-assertion. The creature here throws down the gauntlet to his Creator and strikes a deliberate blow at the sovereignty of God. This is an out-and-out clash of wills.
Note carefully his words: "I will ascend ... above ... exalt." lucifer would go up, up, UP, way beyond the position and the place in which God had set him - to a position and place of his own choosing. But how far up would he go in self-exaltation and self-will? It is crystal clear. He would go up until he could go no further, for he would reach the equality with God.
"I will be like the Most High." Oh! the incredible, insufferable pride! For a creature to seek equality with God is the very highest form and degree of robbery (Psalm 89:6). But one attitude to God, and only one, becomes any creature of God, whether in heaven or upon earth - that of a godly fear that begets a deep humility. But what is the goal of lucifer's self-will? Again he declares it in unmistakable words - "I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.
~Ruth Paxson~
(continued with # 49)
No comments:
Post a Comment