We have been studying Satan's strategy for controlling mankind and implementing his one world government through propaganda, deception and lies and murder. Today we celebrate God's strategic victory that Jesus Christ accomplished while he was on the earth in unglorified humanity.
We have seen that Satan is the pattern for arrogance and self will Isa 14:12-14; and Jesus Christ is the pattern for humility and obedience. Luke 22:42;
Our celebration of the Lord's Table is an expression of our reciprocal love for our Lord who is the strategic victor of time and eternity. We concentrate on him through the elements of the only ritual for the post-canon period of the Church Age Luke 22:19-20;
Jesus Christ was obedient to the Father's unique plan for His life by enduring the suffering and death on the cross Phil 2:8; that resulted in his humanity being exalted above every created being, such that, every created being will ultimately bow down to him. Phil 2:9-10;
He completely and perfectly fulfilled the directive will of the Father by unilaterally providing a way of salvation for all men. Rom 5:8; as the "lamb slain from the foundation of the world" Rev 13:8; KJV John 1:29;
While we were enemies of God, God demonstrated his love for us by giving his uniquely born Son "monogenes" who entered the world through the virgin birth. John 3:16
As a result, God is free to reconcile mankind from their fallen state of depravity without compromising his perfect righteousness and justice because TLJC willingly laid down his life for us as our substitute. John 15:13; 1John 3:16
This is why believing in TLJC is the only way to a relationship with God John 14:6, salvation Acts 4:12 and eternal life John 3:16;
Anyone can appropriate this Grace gift of salvation which is secured by the Power of God John 10:26-29; simply by believing in TLJC 1Cor 15:3-4 in the same way that Paul and Silas instructed the Philippian Jailer who asked "what Must I do to be saved?"
Their response recorded In Acts 16:31
Anyone, any time, anywhere can become saved in a moment in time simply by believing in TLJC privately in their thoughts only.
TLJC left his friends, the members of The Royal Family of God, this one and only ritual in the church age The Lord's table which we are mandated to observe in remembrance of Him.
The mandate is found in 1Cor 11:24; in the second person plural present active imperative of the Greek word " poieo" that where Paul references TLJC's own instruction found in Luke 22:19-20;
An expanded translation of 1Cor 11:24 taking into consideration the tense mood and voice of "poieo" would be " Keep on doing this in remembrance of me"
Because these verbs are only imperatives regarding ritual in the New Testament the Lord's Table is one and only ritual of the Church Age and it is a test of our capacity to concentrate on our Lord Jesus Christ through the Bible Doctrine that is resident in our soul as we partake of the elements that represent his work on our behalf.
We have these instructions for partaking of the Lord's table from the Apostle Paul starting in verse 26 of 1Cor 11.
1Cor 11:26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.
27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
28 But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly.
30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.
31 But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged.
We understand from this that we are to evaluate ourselves in the light of the word, privately in our thinking, in the privacy of our priesthood, and when we find we are outside of the word, we apply the first problem solving device, and simply acknowledge the sin as described in 1 John 1:9;
If we acknowledge our sins he is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Having examined ourselves, and taken appropriate action, we are then instructed to partake of the elements, the bread and the cup.
The bread which represents his body in which he bore the sins and the judgment for our sins and the sins of the whole world, past present and future.
1Cor 11:23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread;
1Cor 11:24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.
eat the bread
The cup which represents his substitutionary spiritual death on the cross which purchased the freedom from spiritual death and eternal condemnation of everyone who believes in him.
1Cor 11:25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper saying This cup is the new covenant in my Blood do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.
drink cup
End Lord's Table start Bible Class
Last time we saw that of the angelic creation there are only three angels specifically named in God's word. Michael, Gabriel and Halel ben-shaker or in the Latin, Lucifer who became Satan and the devil after his rebellion against God.
We saw that Lucifer was the greatest of all the angels that God created. He was greatest in power, in beauty, and in rank. He was called "the anointed cherub who guards," and his responsibility was to guard to the throne room of God.
The Greek word diabolos, that is translated "devil," and the Hebrew satan both mean "adversary", "accuser", or "slanderer."
The most beautiful creature that God ever created used his free volition to became a murderer a liar, a deceiver, and the source of all evil and sin with the two words: "I will."
Isa 14:12-15; "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!
v13 "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.
v14 `I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.'
v15 "Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit.
We see from this that the angels had free will and that Satan used his free will to lead a rebellion against God. He became enamored with himself and in his pride and arrogance he decided he wanted to be independent from and equal to his Creator.
Under his leadership one third of the angels remain in rebellion against God. Rev 12:4; And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven, and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.
God convicted and passed sentence on Satan and the fallen angels and sentenced them to eternity in a "lake of fire." Matt 25:41;"Then He will also say to those on His left, `Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;
Though the sentence has been determined and he has been cast out of his original position in the throne room of heaven, at the present time he holds power over the earth and it's inhabitants so his sentencing has not been implemented because he and his followers have not yet been consigned to the eternal lake of fire.
Because God is perfect righteousness and justice this delay in sentencing infers that Satan appealed his sentence, contending that God's judgment was unfair. To question God's divine judgment is to slander His character. God will not tolerate this so He created a plan to refute Satan's accusations that centers on mankind.
These events resemble a duel. Satan challenged God by maligning His character. God has determined to show all creation that He alone is just and righteous, that apart from Him there is no good, and He is going to do this by letting Satan attempt to prove otherwise in the spiritual combat of the invisible war.
But is impossible for there to be a fair contest between omnipotent God and a created angel. In the human realm a strong man challenged by a weaker man may make things more fair by fighting with one hand tied behind his back.
This is in essence is what God is doing. He in effect tied His own hands by limiting His power so that it could become operative only through the free will choice of a creature that is even inferior to the angels.
Humanity therefore becomes God's agent for the purpose of winning the invisible war and resolving the angelic conflict. Heb 2:7; "You have made him for a little while lower than the angels; Thou hast crowned him with glory and honor, and hast appointed him over the works of your hands;
Isa 43:7; Everyone who is called by My name, and whom I have created for My glory, whom I have formed, even whom I have made."
The resolution of this conflict centers on the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Long before Adam was even created, God knew that he would fall to temptation, and so He provided a way of salvation for all mankind from the beginning. Rev 13:8;KJV
He thereby simplified the angelic conflict by narrowing man's options in every circumstance to two possible choices.
Man could choose for the plan of God, which is to take the side of grace and truth by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, or he could choose against the plan of God, which is to take the side of evil and sin by relying on himself in independence from God just like Satan.
The angelic conflict therefore plays out invisibly in the souls of men on planet earth during the history of mankind as a play in a theater. God will let it run just long enough to completely prove that He is Holy demonstrating that His justice, righteousness, love and grace are perfect. Phil 2:9-11;
Donald Barnhouse describes this in his book "The Invisible War" (Donald Grey Barnhouse, The Invisible War, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1965, page 51.)
"War has been declared. The great, governing cherub had become the malignant enemy. Our God was neither surprised nor astonished, for, of course, He knew before it happened that it would happen, and He had His perfect plan ready to be put into effect.
Although the Lord had the power to destroy Satan with a breath, He did not do so. It was as though an edict had been proclaimed in heaven: "We shall give this rebellion a thorough trial. We shall permit it to run its full course.
The universe shall see what a creature, though he be the highest creature ever to spring from God's Word, can do apart Him. We shall watch this experiment, and permit the universe of creatures to watch it, during this brief interlude between eternity past and eternity future called time.
In it the spirit of independence shall be allowed to expand to the utmost. And the wreck and ruin which shall result will demonstrate to the universe, and forever, that there is no life, no joy, no peace apart from a complete dependence upon the Most High God, Possessor of heaven and earth."
Satan, of course, was extremely interested in the choices that the first two humans would make. Master strategist that he is, he stayed away from Adam, but encouraged Ishah to do something with her life and to develop her full potential as a human being.
We have seen that the first words out of his mouth were designed to destroy her confidence in God and his Word escaped her notice. She allowed herself to become deceived by Satan's propaganda and chose to eat the forbidden fruit and Adam followed her resulting in Satan becoming the ruler of this world.
At this point Satan probably assumed he had won, but if he did his celebration was short lived because God invaded Satan's domain with the promise of the seed of the woman who would become the Savior for all mankind.
Gen 3:15; And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel."
God established the ritual sacrifices as a demonstration of His substitutionary spiritual death by sacrificing an animal to clothe them. Gen 3:21; And the LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.
From the moment God's promise was given, Satan made every effort to nullify it by preventing the birth of Christ, which would have proved that God could not keep His word.
In Gen 4:8; we see that he started by inciting Cain to murder his brother Abel, the first man born with an old sin nature to believe in the Savior.
In Gen 6:4; we see that he sent fallen angels to infiltrate the human race , knowing that if mankind could be totally corrupted, the Christ could not enter the human race as a man.
Once the channel of the "Seed of the woman" was identified as coming from Israel he repeatedly attacked the nation of Israel, knowing that if Israel could be destroyed, there would be no promised seed of Abraham.
Gal 3:16; Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, "And to seeds," as (referring) to many, but (rather) to one, "And to your seed," that is, Christ.
Satan failed, and Christ was born. Luke 2:7; God had come in the flesh. Satan's attempt to have the Jesus killed while he was a baby by Herod's decree failed just as everything else he had tried up to that point. Matt 2:16;
Rev 12:1-5; And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars;
v2 and she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth.
v3 And another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads {were} seven diadems.
v4 And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven, and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.
v5 And she gave birth to a son, a male (child), who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne.
Now all of Satan's opposition, all of his attacks could be focused on one person, The Lord Jesus Christ. Satan opposed our Lord every step of the way, from the cradle to the cross.
Not only was our Lord tempted in all points as we are, but because of His unique identity and destiny He was also opposed in ways we will never understand. In spite of this Jesus accomplished His task; He fixed His face like flint and went to the cross as our substitute.