- [Narrator] Men naturally wonder
why a good and powerful God
would allow Satan and his angels to fall.
It brought sin into the universe,
affecting angels and all mankind.
We must remember that the same Bible
that records the inception and continued existence of evil
also presents God as one who is holy, righteous,
and perfect in all His ways,
one in whose eye sin is exceedingly wicked
and worthy of judgment.
He could not and did not promote or perpetuate the sin.
Deuteronomy 32:3,
"For I proclaim the name and presence of the Lord,
ascribe greatness and honor to our God."
Psalm 145:17,
"The Lord is unwaveringly righteous in all His ways
and gracious and kind in all His works."
Isaiah 45:21,
"Declare and present your defense of idols.
Indeed, let them consult together.
Who announced this rise of Cyrus and his conquests
long before it happened?
Who declared it long ago?
Was it not I, the Lord?
And there is no other God besides me,
a consistently and uncompromisingly
just and righteous God and a savior.
There is none except me."
Simultaneously, the Bible portrays God
as both omnipotent and sovereign.
He has complete control over everything
and He has no competitors.
Isaiah 41:4,
"Who has performed and done this,
calling forth and guiding the destinies
of the generations of the nations from the beginning?
I the Lord, the first,
and with the last existing before history began,
the ever-present unchanging God, I am He."
Isaiah 43:13,
"Even from eternity, I am He,
and there is no one who can rescue from My hand,
I act, and who can revoke or reverse it?"
Isaiah 45:5,
"I am the Lord and there is no one else.
There is no God except me.
I will embrace and arm you, though you have not known me."
Revelation 4:11,
"Worthy are You, our Lord and God,
to receive the glory and the honor and the power,
for You created all things,
and because of Your will, they exist,
and were created and brought into being."
It seems best to say
that God allowed evil to exist for good reasons.
Not all of these reasons are obvious,
but a few are very likely.
In any case,
we must acknowledge that God is the author of a perfect plan
that included allowing His creatures to sin.
Isaiah 45:7,
"The one forming light and creating darkness,
causing peace and creating disaster.
I am the Lord who does all these things."
Acts 15:16,
"After these things, I will return,
and I will rebuild the tent of David, which has fallen.
I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it."
Just as a musical score composer may include some discords
to create an overall pleasing effect,
such a plan best serves God's ultimate purpose.
The choice of angels.
Satan and the angels chose to sin.
They were not put under any duress by God or His decree,
and they were only aware of their desires
and planned their heinous rebellion
in light of everything they knew
about God's greatness and goodness.
They are treated as fully prisoners
with no relief throughout the Bible.
When God did allow sin into His universe,
He did not let it run wild.
He limited the expression of sin
and thus its devastating effects.
It was allowed only for a finite duration
between what might be termed two aspects of eternity.
Further, it was controlled even within that time.
Psalm 11:4-7,
"The Lord is in His holy temple.
The Lord's throne is in heaven.
His eyes see. His eyelids test the children of men.
The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked,
and his soul hates the malevolent one who loves violence.
Upon the wicked, godless, He will reign coals of fire.
Fire and brimstone and a dreadful scorching wind
will be the portion of their cup of doom.
For the Lord is absolutely righteous,
He loves righteousness, virtue, morality, justice.
The upright shall His face."
2 Thessalonians 2:6-9,
"And you know what restrains him now from being revealed,
it is so that he will be revealed at his own appointed time.
For the mystery of lawlessness,
rebellion against divine authority,
and the coming reign of lawlessness is already at work,
but it is restrained only until he who now restrains it
is taken out of the way.
Then the lawless one, the Antichrist, will be revealed,
and the Lord Jesus will slay him
with the breath of His mouth,
and bring him to an end by the appearance of His coming.
The coming of the Antichrist, the lawless one,
is through the activity of Satan
and tended with great power,
all kinds of counterfeit miracles
and deceptive signs and false wonders, all of them lies."
In accordance with His righteousness,
God has fully condemned sin.
Throughout human history, He has judged it in man.
He judged it in excellent dimensions
in the judgment of His Son at Calvary.
Finally, God will forever punish the evil doers
in the lake of fire and banish the presence of sin
from the universe forever when He makes all things new.
Revelation 20:10-15,
"And the devil who had deceived them
was hurled into the lake of fire and burning brimstone,
sulfur, where the beast, Antichrist,
and false prophet are also.
And they will be tormented day and night, forever and ever.
And I saw a great white throne
in Him who was seated upon it,
from whose presence earth and heaven fled away,
and no place was found for them.
For this heaven and earth are passing away,
and I saw the dead,
the great and the small standing before the throne,
and books were opened.
Then another book was opened, which is the Book of Life,
and the dead were judged according to what they had done
as written in the books.
That is everything done while on earth,
and the sea gave up the dead who were in it
and death and Hades, the realm of the dead,
surrendered the dead who were in them
and they were judged and sentenced,
everyone according to their deeds.
The death and Hades, the realm of the dead,
were thrown into the lake of fire.
This is the second death, the lake of fire,
the eternal separation from God,
and if anyone's name was not found written
in the Book of Life, he was hurled into the lake of fire."
Satan was no ordinary angel.
He was a guardian cherub who had been anointed.
Lucifer was right in the middle of God's fire
in eternity past.
As the highest-ranking angel, he stood in God's presence.
He led the entire angelic host
in praise and service to Yahweh.
So how could evil be found in such a high-ranking angel?
Because God gave this perfect being the ability to choose,
that is to serve him voluntarily rather than mandatorily.
God would not compel Lucifer to worship him,
because he prefers willing worship,
and Lucifer chose to rebel against God
and usurp his authority.
As a result of his rebellion,
he was expelled in disgrace from heaven
and thrown down to the earth because of this.
One day, he will be judged
and thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur,
tormented day and night forever.
Hell was created for Satan
and the angels who joined him in rebellion.