In the Beginning God created the Heavens and all in them; and the sons of God rejoiced as He ‘laid the foundations of the earth’:
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Gen. 1:1 NKJ)
“…when I laid the foundations of the earth….the sons of God shouted for joy (Job 38:4-7 NKJ)
Sometime later “the anointed cherub” who walked among the fiery stones became the evil serpent the Devil (Gen. 3:1). Lucifer’s pride caused his fall into evil:
12 “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!
13 For you have said in your heart: `I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’
15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit. (Isa. 14:12-15 NKJ)“…not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil.” (1 Tim. 3:6 NKJ)
14 “You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you.
(Ezek. 28:14-15 NKJ) 14 “You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you.
16 “By the abundance of your trading You became filled with violence within, And you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing Out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones. (Ezek. 28:14-16 NKJ)
A Cherub is more powerful than an angel, four cherubs guard the throne of God (Rev. 4:6-9; cf. Ezek. 1:5-14; Ex. 25:18-20; Heb. 9:5; Gen. 3:24) where He localizes a theophany to the inhabitants of heaven (μορφῇ θεοῦ Phil. 2:6); but finite creatures are nothing compared to Infinite and Almighty Yahweh God in whom all things consist and have their being (Col. 1:16-7; Acts 17:28; Rom. 10:6-8; 1 Ki. 8:27), whose infinite Mind and Power generates the Matrix—the metaverse containing the Heavens and earth (Gen. 1:1):
16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. (Col. 1:16-17 NKJ)“…He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said,` For we are also His offspring.’ (Acts 17:27-28 NKJ)
Lucifer believed an error existed in God’s thinking, an imperfection that would compel God disqualify Himself from reigning as God, for then He failed His own criteria that He knows the future perfectly:
9 Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, `My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure…'(Isa. 46:9-10 NKJ)
Satan makes his case to the heavenly court: “God’s pronouncement that Job is blameless and upright can be proven wrong”:
6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.
7 And the LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.”
8 Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?”
9 So Satan answered the LORD and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing?
10 “Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.
11 “But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!”
12 And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD. (Job 1:6-12 NKJ)
As Job did not curse God Satan lost this argument. But its foundational premise “unselfish love does not exist” still stood, an argument that seemed so incontrovertible to many of God’s angels a third of them joined Satan’s rebellion (Rev. 12:3-4). Psychologically, this failure to see the truth results from “confirmation bias”. Just as a thief believes everyone is a thief, so selfish angels believed everyone selfish.
Satan and followers claimed God erred creating intelligent life with truly free will expecting they would unselfishly choose to return His love for them, because of who He is, Wonderful in every way (Jdg. 13:18; Ps. 40:5; 119:29-31; Is. 28:29). So certain of the selfish motives of others, they “bet the farm” believing Satan could not lose the case:
“God must recuse Himself”, they reasoned, “everyone is just like us, they love God only for selfish reasons, which means creating them is God’s biggest mistake, He will never obtain the unselfish fellowship of free will creatures. Therefore, God must recuse Himself from being God and permit we live our selfish evil lives anywhere we want, including earth itself where the women are beautiful (Gen. 6:2, 4).”
Job did not address the fundamental issue: “Does true love exist?” Can people love the Father without selfish motive? How could that be proved to the Heavenly Court beyond any possible doubt?
4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,
7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil. 2:4-11 NKJ)
In an act of unselfish love for the Father and His fellow man, God the eternal Son emptied Himself of His prerogatives as God making Himself of no reputation choosing to live as a man obediently even to the death of the cross. Therefore, neither Satan or his angels can say “Jesus Christ came in the flesh”, they choke on the words:
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,
3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. (1 Jn. 4:2-3 NKJ)
It was the Incarnation that proves true love exists, refuting Satan’s argument for all eternity. Not only is the Father loved by God the Son, but also by Jesus the man, even though it cost him a horrible death on the cross. God’s true love for man was also proved (John 3:15), not only the Father’s love, but also that of the Son (Is. 53:1-12). Thus Satan is proven wrong four ways, and it was Christ’s coming in the flesh that sealed Satan’s doom and every angel and spirit following him. Therefore, none of them can say “Jesus Christ has come in the flesh” (1 John 4:2-3), for the words recall the terror of the LORD that awaits them for losing their case; that terrifies them beyond rational thought.
For that reason, the church especially galls them as it is a clear and present proof true love exits:
10 to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places,
11 according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord (Eph. 3:10-11 NKJ)
QUESTION—What is meant by ἡ πολυποίκιλος σοφία τοῦ θεοῦ ‘the manifold wisdom of God’?
1. This has reference to the whole of God’s plan of redemption in general [Can, Ho, ICC, NIC, NTC, Si, TD, TH, TNTC, WeBC; NAB (note)]: in order that God’s manifold wisdom, shown in all the various parts of his plan for redemption, might be made known. This wisdom is God’s plan of salvation in Christ [NAB (note)]. This wisdom is the content of the soteriological ‘mystery’ and so identical with ‘the riches of Christ’ of 3:8 [TD]. According to Scripture, the aspect of the divine character of which these superhuman intelligent beings have no direct knowledge is God’s grace and mercy, which, to them, might seem inconsistent with his holiness and justice, but when they see how, in the salvation of sinners through Christ, God’s righteousness no less than his love is satisfied, we can understand how wisdom is the attribute specially observed [Can]. -Graham, G. (2008). An Exegetical Summary of Ephesians (2nd ed., p. 226). SIL International.
Confirming the New Heavens and New Earth God creates are glorious places of freedom and liberty for the Redeemed, in mutual true love without variation or shadow—It is written in the Scripture of Truth:
20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope;
21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (Rom. 8:20-21 NKJ)
17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, And her people a joy.
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem, And joy in My people; The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, Nor the voice of crying. (Isa. 65:17-19 NKJ)
That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us.–Jesus (Jn. 17:21 NKJ)
22 But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.
24 And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.
25 Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there).
26 And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it.
27 But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. (Rev. 21:22-22:1 NKJ)
8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.
9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.
10 “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater,
11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
12 “For you shall go out with joy, And be led out with peace; The mountains and the hills Shall break forth into singing before you, And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; And it shall be to the LORD for a name, For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” (Isa. 55:8-13 NKJ
To be continued.
The origin of incorporeal spirits who wander the earth seeking corporeality possessing insects, animals and men; The demons released from the abyss in the end time; the still corporeal fallen angels now in heaven with Satan who Michael has not yet cast to the earth; The Nephilim and their return, will all be revealed.
25 “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring;
26 “men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven will be shaken. (Lk. 21:25-26 NKJ)