September 16

THE PURPOSE OF EVIL / PART 8

WHERE DID THE DEVIL COME FROM? / #1

According to J. Preston Eby:

-"Man says that Satan IN THE BEGINNING was holy, but later fell from that estate. JESUS said of Satan, "You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a MURDERER (not an angel) from the BEGINNING, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he, speaks of his own: for he is a liar and the father of it. (Jn. 8:44). In these studies on the Garden of Eden we are searching out the BEGINNING, probing into the very midst of the past, the times before this age and past ages, that we might understand the grand and glorious purposes of our omnipotent and omniscient Heavenly Father which He has purposed from the beginning of the world. How authoritatively the Lord Jesus reveals that way back there, in THE BEGINNING, in even HIS beginning, Satan WAS A MURDERER! MAN says that Satan IN THE BEGINNING was perfect and sinless. But the apostle John, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, penned these words in regard to Satan's origin: "He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil SINNED FROM THE BEGINNING" (I Jn. 3:8). This could not be rightly said of Adam. According to Genesis 2 and 3, it was not until after Adam was created in spirit essence, after he was lowered into the realm of flesh, after he was placed in the Garden, after he named all the animals, after the woman was taken from his side, after she listened to the serpent and ate the forbidden fruit - it was AFTER ALL THESE THINGS that Adam sinned. Adam was not a sinner from the beginning. But the Devil, according to I Jn. 3:8 WAS A SINNER FROM THE BEGINNING! Now, if we are to believe the Bible means what it says - and I believe it does - we must believe that from his very beginning SATAN WAS EVIL." ( The Serpent, J. Preston Eby )

-In our next teaching we will look at more scriptures that confirm that Satan was created by God, and that Satan’s origin was that of evil from his very beginning. God did not ( as we have stated ) create Satan as a “good guy” at first and then he became a “bad guy”. He was created evil ON PURPOSE, FOR A PURPOSE, THAT HE MIGHT BE A TOOL in God’s hands, being used to bring about the grand and glorious purpose that God had in store for the entire creation. GOD KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT HE IS DOING! HE IS IN CONTROL OF ALL THINGS, INCLUDING …

-THE DEVIL!-