Steve
I very much enjoyed your article regarding the earth being older than 6,000 years old. I strongly agree with your article on this matter.
However, I would like to offer another possibility regarding Satan receiving of powers by God. I too agree that somehow, Satan was given some level of creative powers from God. But what if rather than Satan approaching God to request these powers, he was created with these powers. He as well as the other Cherubim was created with a much higher power than the lower level of angels, who also were created with some type of creative powers.
From here, the story picks up in much the same way that you describe in your article.
The reason I am thinking that He was created with these powers, is that He was placed on the earth for the specific purpose to continue with the creation of the earth and very possibly the rest of the universe. So to be created for this purpose, it would be reasonable to conclude that God would create them with these powers. Being spirits, how else would they be able to complete a task that required physical results. Satan being the Ruler and administrator of God s government over the earth would naturally be blessed with the most powerful level of these powers under God and the Word.
The reason I am leaning more toward this possibility is that when God saw Satan turn to the dark side, God realized that He could not create the kind of character that He could have trust and depend on. When we learn of the plan that God has design for mankind, it mimics the pattern that He had designed for the angels, except for the fact that we are created mortal and must develop the character God desires by living faithfully by Gods word and living the way of life that God has designed. When mankind repents, is baptized and converted and shows God through his actions that he can indeed be trusted to stand by God s way of life, then when that person is raised from the dead, he will be just as Jesus is. With the same types of creative and other powers which Jesus possess. So, if this is our future, wouldn t it stand that this was the same process used with Satan and the angels?
Craig
MYREPLY
Craig,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the creation of Lucifer and the Creator’s plan for mankind. I generally agree with your comments that God’s plan involves creating character in repentant humans so the saved can be “like Jesus” as his resurrected sons and daughters. However, I don’t think Lucifer was created with innate “creator” powers for two reasons. The first is that Ezekiel 28:13-17, an account of Lucifer’s creation, indicates that Lucifer was a “created” being. It describes him as an “anointed cherub that covereth,” which indicates he was in the highest rank of angels at God’s throne, but the text doesn’t ascribe to him creative powers. I don’t see any indication in the scriptures that he was created with God-like “creative” powers at the beginning. Also, Hebrews 1 relates that God did nor regard any of the angels as “sons” or worthy of “sitting at his right hand” (verses 5 and 13). Hebrews 1:14 describes “all” of the angels as “ministering spirits” so I’m inclined to doubt that any were created at the outset with any delegated Divine creative powers. I do agree with you that Lucifer’s rebellion revealed to God that no angel could “handle” Divinely-delegated powers.
Thanks for your comments. I’ll share them with the website’s readers to consider.
Steve
