Study – Grow – Know

I Will Be Like the Most High, Part 5

October 16, 2015 at 10:57 AM Leave a comment

We have been discussing the reason Satan originally fell in this short series. We’ve noted that Satan sinned through pride in thinking too highly of himself. We also indicated the Bible reveals to us his promises – what he endeavored to attain and accomplish – which are listed in Isaiah 14:12-15.

12“How you have fallen from heaven,
O star of the morning, son of the dawn!
You have been cut down to the earth,
You who have weakened the nations!

13“But you said in your heart,
‘I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne above the stars of God,
And I will sit on the mount of assembly
In the recesses of the north.

14‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’

15“Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol,
To the recesses of the pit.

Satan’s goal since he sinned has been to replace God, to shove God aside and place himself (Satan) ahead of God. This hubris was the very thing that corrupted his thinking and placed him on an opposing path with God. Since then, his one purpose for existing has been to make himself “like the Most High.” That is Satan’s highest purpose. God is allowing and even using Satan’s highest purpose to prove God’s highest purpose. God cannot be replaced. God cannot lose. God’s purposes will prevail and all things will bring Him glory, regardless of Satan or fallen humanity.

While Satan’s highest purpose has been attempting to prove that he can beat God, God’s purpose involves allowing Satan opportunities to prove that he (Satan) cannot. Since Satan held the highest position in all of God’s Creation (as a created being), as far as we know, this would automatically prove to the entire Creation that no other being is capable of upending or equaling God either. Essentially, it would silence all arguments and preempt any further attempts to unseat or equal God. Sin will have come to a full end. It will have run its course as unfulfilled hope on the part of the sinner.

Unlike his original sin he whispered to himself in his heart (which only God saw; see Isaiah 14:13), Satan’s final and upcoming defeat will be broadcast to all of Creation (2 Thessalonians 2:8)! That final defeat will remove all doubt about the finite, created creature vs. God, the “uncreated,” Infinite One. It is actually no contest at all, but for human beings, it seems as though there really is a struggle or even a battle, when in point of fact, no battle exists. It is all going according to God’s highest purposes. The sooner we realize this, the better off we’ll be in our Christians walk because we will fully understand out true purpose as we continue to exist and live behind enemy lines.

Too many Christians look at society and because of the abundance of evil that appears to be in charge, come to believe that evil (Satan) is winning the war. Because of this belief, these same Christians get carried away into thinking one or more of the following:

1. Christians aren’t active enough
2. Christians aren’t praying enough
3. Christians aren’t working hard enough

This is why – way too often – people like Jonathan Cahn (or even the recent movie, “War Room”), gain such a following within Christendom because Christians do not understand what God is actually doing since there appears to be so much evil in society. They come to believe that “if only” Christians worked to gain a footing in society, the following would occur:

1. America will “repent”
2. Global society will “repent”
3. Christians can gain the upper hand through political elections
4. Christians can affect change through the legal system
5. Jesus will return sooner

In essence, this is Dominionism that ultimately teaches that Christianity should overtake and “conquer” society on God’s behalf. Author Chip Berlet explains this ideology.

“Dominionism is…a tendency among Protestant Christian evangelicals and fundamentalists that encourages them to not only be active political participants in civic society, but also seek to dominate the political process as part of a mandate from God.”

The problem is that this is not part of God’s revealed will for Christians. Whether it’s Jonathan Cahn, the recent movie “War Room,” or something else, the belief that Christians need to dominate society actually dates back to Constantine and his alleged dream where he saw a cross in the sky and understood that to mean, by this sign conquer. At that point, the Roman Empire changed forever with the church “marrying” the state. Sadly, the atrocities that took place by Constantine under the authority of the church, following that move are written in the annals of church history.

Dominionism within Christendom has its roots in Christian Reconstructionism. Sara Diamond explains.

“Largely through the impact of [Rousas John (R.J.)] Rushdoony’s and [Gary] North’s writings, the concept that Christians are Biblically mandated to ‘occupy’ all secular institutions has become the central unifying ideology for the Christian Right.”

It is fascinating to me that the people mentioned above and others like them often denigrate what I believe is the biblical theology of a coming Rapture, Tribulation period, and physical, visible return of Jesus after which He will rule for 1,000 years from Jerusalem. It is part of the biblical record that God has revealed to us, yet these folks believe it is – in large part – up to them to change society for God’s benefit. He does not need our help there. He has not asked for it and He has not designed things so that the oneness is on us. He will get things done. Our job is elsewhere.

Dominionism is rooted in terrible theology. Stemming from it is the belief that if Christians will only work hard enough to change society, this will actually bring about the early return physical second coming of Jesus. It is up to us and we must work for it to make it happen, it is argued. This puts the emphasis on human beings and removes the power from God Himself. In other words, this belief says God is limited. He can only do what we help Him accomplish. This is sin and sacrilege. It only appears to be wisdom cloaked very loosely in biblical truth, but in reality, it is the exact same lie that Satan propagates all the time: that God’s path is not set in stone because people have the power to change it. This is nonsense. It is nothing but New Age pabulum regurgitated to appear “Christian.”

This is treacherously problematic for Christians because nowhere in Scripture can we actually come away believing that it is the Church’s job to “reform” society. In fact, attempting to do so creates the false illusion that things may become “okay” after certain laws and rules have become dominant within society. For instance, the belief that the Ten Commandments should be posted in every courthouse and school throughout America might be something believed to be good. Therefore, an all out effort is made to make that happen.

Even if it could be accomplished, Christians would believe the false notion that things are moving in the correct direction. Yet, Romans 1 tells us that in spite of the outward pressures on society toward a more “conservative” or “biblically traditional” approach, the plain truth is that those who are not saved will continue their downward spiral, which will continue to infect and affect society negatively. The apocalypse is still going to occur, sooner or later. Even if we could impose Christianity on global society, it would be temporary at best but that is not required for people to receive salvation from God.

I am convinced that Satan has been using ideologies like Dominionism to cause Christians to shift their focus away from spiritual needs of people to material needs. In the meantime though, Satan continues to redirect society away from God and God allows it because of God’s highest purpose. His highest purposes benefit from Satan’s attempted redirection. While I believe the church needs to “wake up,” it needs to do so with respect to the Great Commission and not any sense of rebuilding what has been lost or “Dominionism” or “Reconstructionism” that is allegedly supposed to direct our steps.

If God is allowing Satan every opportunity to make himself “like” the Most High, it stands to reason then that God will cause His own Word to be fulfilled in the process and that includes a time when Satan – through his spiritual “son” – will rule the earth during the final seven-year period, which ends with the physical return of Jesus. It is coming and there is nothing that Christians can do to stop it. Our focus should be on sharing the gospel with everyone and that includes politicians we do not necessarily like.

The world is being directed to this point and because of it, evil is allowed to appear as though it has the upper hand throughout global society. The point of all this is that God allows Satan to direct earth’s affairs in order to give him the best chance to overcome God. Satan will be allowed to bring this world to a one-world system globally that he will control. It will provide him with everything needed to be final ruler. He will have at his disposal all the armies, technology, and military armaments of this earth in his final attempt to bring his promises of Isaiah 14:12-15 to fruition.

Not only will Satan be granted every opportunity to fulfill his own promises found in Isaiah 14:12-15, but along the way, he will even be allowed to create a pseudo-trinity, a false “tri-unity” where he will be portrayed as the “father,” his spiritual son will be Antichrist, and the false prophet will act as the Holy Spirit.

Christians need to understand what is coming to pass. We need to be aware of what God is allowing Satan to achieve so that we will once for all, stop trying to undo what God is allowing Satan to accomplish. It is not up to us to “change” society. It is up to us to always be involved in the Great Commission, regardless of how society appears to us.

I’ll try to wrap this up with our next installment, but I make no promises…

Entry filed under: christianity, Cultural Marxism, Demonic, devil worship, Emotional virtue, Religious - Christian - End Times, Religious - Christian - Prophecy, Religious - Christian - Theology, salvation, Satanism, second coming. Tags: christian reconstructionism, dominionism, Ezekiel 28, god's highest purpose, isaiah 14:12-15, lucifer, reconstructionism, Satan's highest purpose, will be like the most high.