A Surprising Thing About The devil!
Shared By Mark Flippo
Written By Gregory Brown
Though Scripture teaches that Satan is an enemy of God and God’s people, it also paradoxically teaches that Satan is God’s servant—serving God’s purposes in the world. In God’s sovereignty, he uses satan to demonstrate his glory and purify his people. This is true of evil people and sin in general. Romans 9:17-18 and 22 says this about Pharaoh and rebellious people in general:
For the scripture says to Pharaoh: “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may demonstrate my power in you, and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then, God has mercy on whom he chooses to have mercy, and he hardens whom he chooses to harden. … But what if God, willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects of wrath prepared for destruction?
God was extremely patient with Pharaoh as he continued to enslave Israel and rebel against God, and yet, through Pharaoh’s continued rebellion, God made his power and wrath known by eventually destroying Pharaoh and the Egyptian army. Likewise, God will also destroy Satan, but in the meantime, Satan serves a special purpose in God’s plan. God is demonstrating aspects of his character through his response to Satan, demons, and evil people. Like a diamond against a black cloth, God’s character is brilliantly displayed against the “objects of wrath prepared for destruction” (Rom 9:22). God tells the devil what to do. It makes no plans. It must do what Jesus tells it too. When you are having a bad do not blame the devil. God told it what to do and how to do! GOD IS REALLY IN CONTROL!
In what ways do we see Satan serving God’s purposes throughout Scripture? In 1 Corinthians 5:5, a man was having an incestuous relationship with his father’s wife, and Paul counseled the church to hand the man over to Satan. He says, “turn this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.” Apparently, by kicking this man out of the church, it allowed Satan to tempt and attack him physically (the destruction of the flesh), and through him being attacked, the hope was that the man would turn back to God so his “spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.” Likewise, Hymenaeus and Alexander were both handed over to Satan (1 Tim 1:20). With each of these believers, God used Satan to play a role in church discipline—to help bring these men to repentance. No doubt, God uses Satan in the same way today when church discipline is implemented or simply when believers are walking in rebellion towards God (whether the church disciplines it or not).
http://moderndayparablesrcf.com
Shared By Mark Flippo
Written By Gregory Brown
Though Scripture teaches that Satan is an enemy of God and God’s people, it also paradoxically teaches that Satan is God’s servant—serving God’s purposes in the world. In God’s sovereignty, he uses satan to demonstrate his glory and purify his people. This is true of evil people and sin in general. Romans 9:17-18 and 22 says this about Pharaoh and rebellious people in general:
For the scripture says to Pharaoh: “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may demonstrate my power in you, and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then, God has mercy on whom he chooses to have mercy, and he hardens whom he chooses to harden. … But what if God, willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects of wrath prepared for destruction?
God was extremely patient with Pharaoh as he continued to enslave Israel and rebel against God, and yet, through Pharaoh’s continued rebellion, God made his power and wrath known by eventually destroying Pharaoh and the Egyptian army. Likewise, God will also destroy Satan, but in the meantime, Satan serves a special purpose in God’s plan. God is demonstrating aspects of his character through his response to Satan, demons, and evil people. Like a diamond against a black cloth, God’s character is brilliantly displayed against the “objects of wrath prepared for destruction” (Rom 9:22). God tells the devil what to do. It makes no plans. It must do what Jesus tells it too. When you are having a bad do not blame the devil. God told it what to do and how to do! GOD IS REALLY IN CONTROL!
In what ways do we see Satan serving God’s purposes throughout Scripture? In 1 Corinthians 5:5, a man was having an incestuous relationship with his father’s wife, and Paul counseled the church to hand the man over to Satan. He says, “turn this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.” Apparently, by kicking this man out of the church, it allowed Satan to tempt and attack him physically (the destruction of the flesh), and through him being attacked, the hope was that the man would turn back to God so his “spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.” Likewise, Hymenaeus and Alexander were both handed over to Satan (1 Tim 1:20). With each of these believers, God used Satan to play a role in church discipline—to help bring these men to repentance. No doubt, God uses Satan in the same way today when church discipline is implemented or simply when believers are walking in rebellion towards God (whether the church disciplines it or not).
http://moderndayparablesrcf.com