2016년 6월 20일 월요일

2. Why did God create man?

Of course, most people have recognized that God created man. But, unfortunately, many people seem to worship him mainly for themselves. They have seen God from not his perspective but their own. But, actually, God created us for not ourselves but himself, his glory (Isaiah 43:7):
7. Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.
If so, how could man be the glory of God? To get the answer, it’s essential to firstly read the bible, Genesis. God created the man in his image and put them on the garden eastward in Eden (Genesis 1:27, 2:8):
1:27. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
2:8. And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
The serpent, more subtle than any beast of the field which God made, tempted the woman into eating the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden. She took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he also ate (Genesis 3:1~6):
1. Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 
2. And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3. But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 

5. For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 
6. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
Aware of this situation, God said, “the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever.”
God, therefore, sent the man forth from the Garden of Eden, to till the ground from where he was taken. And, he placed, at the east of it, Cherubims and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life (Genesis 3:22~24):
22. And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: 
23. Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 
24. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
In here, it should be clearly sensed that the man, created in God’s own image, was not ordinary being. So, God placed, at the east of the Garden of Eden, Cherubims – his own nearest four angels – and a flaming sword, preventing the man from approaching the tree of life (Ezekiel 10:14~18):
14. And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.
15. And the cherubims were lifted up. This is the living creature that I saw by the river of Chebar.
16. And when the cherubims went, the wheels went by them: and when the cherubims lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels also turned not from beside them.
17. When they stood, these stood; and when they were lifted up, these lifted up themselves also: for the spirit of the living creature was in them.
18. Then the glory of the LORD departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubims.
Besides, Paul the Apostle said that the saints shall judge angels. From the beginning, the man was created nobler than the angel (1 Corinthians 6:2~3):
2. Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
3. Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?
Satan, just because of this, could not but feel the threat from the man. Indeed, it was the very crucial threat to Satan that, besides Adam and Eve, there were supposed to be many ones with God’s own image, born from them.
Some Christians insist, “there are no other gods except the Lord God and Satan is just a fallen angel.” But, this assertion is absolutely wrong  From the beginning, Satan has been existing as the enemy of the Lord God. Jesus said. “Satan the devil was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him” (John 8:44):
44. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Should Satan be a fallen angel, Jesus could not define him as a murderer from the beginning, abiding not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Actually, Satan is not a fallen angel, but the one to tempt angels into being fallen.
In the meantime, the existence of other gods can be proved with the first one of the Ten Commandments of Moses (Exodus 20:3):
3. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Should no other gods exist, it is absolutely not needed for God to emphasize, first and foremost, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”Moreover, he said, “I the LORD thy God am a jealous God” (Exodus 20:5):
5. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
It seems enough to reveal the identity of Satan up to this point. Now, returning to the subject, let’s find out how God receives the glory from human beings. It is shown in the Revelation that the prayers of the saints ascended up before God with the smoke of the incense, and the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, casting it into the earth (Revelation 8:3~5):
3. And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
4. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.
5. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.
Meanwhile, John the Apostle saw that an angel comes down from heaven with the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand, ending up laying hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is Satan the Devil, casting him into the bottomless pit, setting a seal upon him a thousand years.
He also saw that there were thrones, and the righteous saints sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years (Revelation 20:1~4):
1. And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
2. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
3. And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
4. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 
They are destined to fight against Satan loosed out of his prison after the thousand years, and defeat him and his followers, the beast and the false prophet, to cast them into the lake of fire and brimstone. Finally, Satan and his followers end up being tormented day and night for ever and ever (Revelation 20:7~10):
7. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
8. And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
9. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
10. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beastand the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
The bottom line is, through the righteous saints, chosen from the man created by God and cleaned by the blood of Jesus, the Lord God finally destroy Satan through them. The man, therefore, could devote the great and honorable glory to God. This is the very why God created the man.

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