Why Are We Here?: The Appeal Trail Of Satan

 

Before the creation of mankind, God created a vast angelic host, unseen today but still very real. (Col. 1:16)

The preeminent angel was “Lucifer, Son Of The Morning” (Isa. 14:12). He was the most dazzling creature of Light ever to be created by God. His radiant beauty was breathtaking in its perfection. His voice was resonant and melodious. His wisdom was way beyond mortal comprehension. His clothing was made of iridescent light studded with priceless jewels. God appointed him to the exalted position of honor guard to His throne (Ezek. 28:13-14)

Lucifer should have responded to his supreme honor and privilege with utter devotion to his creator, but instead he became narcissistic, enamored with his own importance.

Lucifer felt that such brilliance and beauty shouldn’t be subservient to anyone. This spark of arrogance was the first sin, and it ignited the flames of power lust as Lucifer grew increasingly dissatisfied with the position God had sovereignly assigned him. He craved God’s power and glory, and sought to usurp the throne of God.

Lucifer issued his five assertions to the rest of the angelic population (Isa. 14:13-14).

1) I will ascend to Heaven.

2) I will raise my throne above the stars of God.

3) I will sit on the Mount of Assembly in the recesses of the North.

4) I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.

5) I will make myself like the most high.

Lucifer rebelled against God and persuaded one-third of all the angels to join his revolution (Rev. 12:4). This heavenly mutiny divided the angelic creation into two hostile sides, the elect angels who maintain their estate and serve God, and the fallen angels, demons who serve Satan.

This revolt between the angels of Light and the angels of Darkness inaugurated a prehistoric conflict that continues into the present day and will not conclude until the end of human history.

In eternity past, God convened a trial to judge the defiant angels. God was the judge and Satan (Lucifer’s title from the Hebrew “Satanas” which means “defense attorney, adversary, accuser”) was the defendant.

After evaluating the evidence against Satan and the fallen angels, God found then guilty and sentenced them to the lake of fire. (Matt. 25:41; Rev. 20:10)

Except for periodic angelic convocations (Job 1:6; 2:1) Satan was forbidden to enter the presence of God (Ezek. 28:16). Since his condemnation Satan has sought to outmaneuver God to foil the execution of his sentence.

Since Satan and his angels have already been condemned and sentenced, why has this sentence not been executed? (Job 1:7) God graciously postponed the judgment in response to an appeal lodged by Satan at the conclusion of the trial. Satan’s argument impugned the character of God:

“How could a loving God cast His creatures into eternal fire?”

To resolve Satan’s appeal, God created the human race. Through mankind, God will display His perfect justice. Like the angels, mankind has been endowed with volition, the freedom to choose for or against God. Satan must now contend with the choices of the human race. Through the decisions of mankind, God will vindicate His judgment and refute Satan’s accusations against God’s character.

Confirmation of this appeal trial is revealed in Lucifer’s new title, Satan (Zech. 3:1-2).

Satan was the adversary of God at his pre-historic trial and he remains the “accuser of our brethren” (Rev. 12:10) and the irreconcilable enemy of God.

The Trial

The main sin Satan was accused of was arrogance. Arrogance is the worst of all sins, it is the distorter and obscurer of reality and it is the enemy of every rational creature. Arrogance was the self-deception that caused Lucifer to compete with God rather than to love and worship Him.

Comparison of scripture with scripture leads to the logical conclusion that God held the trial in eternity past. The words “devil” and “Satan” both mean “accuser” and “adversary” as an attorney accuses someone in court. He is called the devil and Satan because he was the defense attorney who represented himself and the fallen angels at the prehistoric trial and because he continues to act as an attorney now that the trial has entered its appeal phase during human history. (Job 1:6-12,2:1-5; Zech. 3:1-2)

Because the sentence of the Lake of Fire was not immediately executed and, in fact, will not be carried out until the end of human history (Rev. 20:10), we can infer that Satan appealed the verdict.

The elapse of time indicates that human history is a part of this trial. Satan’s appeal was probably the same line heard commonly in the devil’s world: “How could a just God cast His creatures into Hell?”

Human history provides the answer. Man was created to solve the angelic conflict. Before He created man, God knew of the fall of Adam, and in His matchless grace designed a plan of salvation (faith alone in Christ alone).

God created fabulous assets, privileges, and opportunities for every believer so that they may enjoy fellowship with God. God’s grace is freely available to every human being. However, for anyone who refuses to believe in Christ, the only alternative is Divine Judgment.

Human history displays God’s magnificent character and gracious policy to Satan, all the angels, and to mankind. History demonstrates that no one goes to the Lake of Fire but by his own negative volition (John 3:18,36)

Restricted to one corner of the universe called earth, man was created lower than the angels, limited in strength, intelligence, and mobility. But, like the angels, man is rational and possesses the same free will angels possess. The resolution of the angelic conflict lies in man’s exercise of volition for or against Jesus Christ and the Plan Of God.

Angels observing human beings will witness proof and hear testimony of Satan’s culpability and of God’s perfect justice and grace. (Job 1:6; 2:1-3; Luke 15:7,10; 1 Cor. 4:9; 11:10; Eph. 3:10; 1 Tim. 3:16; 5:21)

Satan’s two main arguments in the major issue of suffering:

1) Satan argues that man will not be able to handle suffering, especially if they consider the suffering unjust.

2) Satan further argues that no one will remain faithful to God if offered sufficient wealth and power. This argument is a direct defense of Satan’s own fall from his office of anointed cherub. The first argument was refuted successfully by Job, and the second by Jesus Christ during the incarnation (Matt. 4:1-11)

God Presents His Case

 The trial procedure in the United States provides analogies for the appeal trial of Satan. The structure of a trial can be super imposed upon the structure of human history. A trial has three phases:

1)   Formal presentation of the case: First the prosecution presents its opening statements, then the defense.

2)   The rebuttal phase: The rebuttal arguments of the prosecution, then the defense.

3)   The closing arguments and summary: Again, following the pattern, prosecution first, then the defense.

 Before we get to the actual trial, we are going to need to say a few words about dispensational theology.

A dispensation is a period of human history defined in terms of divine revelation. According to the Word of God, history is a sequence of divine administrations. They are God’s way of managing human history and these consecutive eras reflect the unfolding of God’s plan for mankind. The doctrine of dispensations is the vehicle by which believers living at a specific time can orient to God’s will, plan, and purpose for their lives.

In the essence of God there is no variation, but change is an integral part of the administration of His plan for creation. Far from being arbitrary, however, the changes He incorporates into His plan are designed to attain His unchangeable purpose (James 1:17; Heb. 6:17) The believer must study the dispensational aspects of the Word if he is ever going to understand his part in the plan of God as it relates to the time in which he lives.

Failure to use dispensational theology in the study of the word creates apparent contradictions in divine mandates and prevents the believer from understanding current divine guidance.

 There are six dispensations that can be grouped into three categories of two dispensations each:

 Theocentric 1) The Age of the Gentiles 2) The Age of Israel

 Christocentric 1) Hypostatic Union (otherwise known as the incarnation) 2) The Church Age

 Eschatological 1) The Tribulation 2) The Millennium

 Dispensations are not an arbitrary classification superimposed by man on the Bible. Jesus Himself affirmed the existence of distinct “times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority” (Acts 1:7). The apostle Paul became a chief advocate of dispensational theology, ultimately teaching the disciples themselves (Gal. 2). Through his canonical epistles he continues to communicate to believers in every generation of the Church (2 Pet. 3:1-16).

      THE THEOCENTRIC DISPENSATIONS ( from the creation of Adam to the virgin birth of Jesus Christ

    1) The dispensation of the Gentiles (from the creation of Adam to the Exodus, Genesis1-Exodus 11)

A)   The age of positive volition (from the creation of Adam to the fall of man, Genesis 1:26-3:6.

B)   The Age of Negative Volition (from the fall of man to Abraham, Genesis 3:7-11:32)

C) The Age of the Jewish Patriarchs (from Abraham to the Exodus under Moses, Genesis 12-Exodus 11)

 2) THE DISPENSATION OF ISRAEL (from the Exodus until the Birth of Christ: 1441-4 B.D.; Exodus 12- Malachi)

A)   The Theocratic Kingdom (from the Exodus to Samuel; 1441-1020 B.C.)

B)   The United Kingdom (from Saul to Rehoboam; 1020-926 B.C.)

C)   The Northern Kingdom (from Jeroboam to Hoshea; 926-721 B.C.)

D)   The Southern Kingdom (from Rehoboam to Zedekiah; 926-586 B.C.)

E)   The restored Nation of Judah (from Nehemiah to Christ; 56-4 B.C.)

 THE CHRISTOCENTRIC DISPENSATIONS (from the birth of Christ to the yet future resurrection, or Rapture, of the Church)

A)   The dispensation of the Hypostatic Union, which is the Incarnation or first advent of Jesus Christ (the era of the New Testament Gospels; 4 B.C.- A.D. 30)

B)   The Church Age (from A.D. 30 to the resurrection, or Rapture, of the Church). There is two periods associated with the Church Age. The Precanon Period is the era commencing with the Book of Acts and continuing until John wrote Revelation, completing the canon of scripture; A.D. 30-96. Then there is the Postcanon period, which is the current era governed by Christ’s Upper Room Discourse (John 14-17) the New Testament Epistles, and Revelation2-3; from A.D. 96 to the Rapture.

      THE ESCHATOLOGICAL DISPENSATIONS (from the Rapture to the end of human history)

A)   The Tribulation (approximately seven years from the Rapture of the Church to the second advent of Christ prophesied in the Old Testament, Christ’s Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24-25) and Revelation 6-19. This era includes Satan’s Failed Utopia (from the Rapture to the expulsion of Satan from Heaven approximately three-and-one-half years into the Tribulation. This is followed by The Great  Tribulation (from Satan’s expulsion until the second advent of Christ)

B)   The Millennium (the thousand-year reign of Christ on earth from His second    advent to the end of human history, prophesied throughout the Old Testament and in Revelation 20.)

 The Eternal State follows the Millennium (Rev. 21-22)

 So, now that we have a handle on the dispensations, let’s look at the trial in the setting of these historical markers.

The formal trial begins with the argument for the prosecution, which occurs during the dispensation of the Gentiles. There follows the argument for the defense, which takes place during the Church age and the Tribulation dispensations. The closing arguments will take place at the Second Advent and last until Satan’s release to the final judgment.

 Human history provides the same circumstances and options that belonged to angelic history before the creation of man. Satan and Adam were both created in perfect innocence. The angels and mankind have free will. Adam freely chose to follow the pattern of arrogance that characterized Satan’s revolution, and the fall of Adam duplicates the fall of Satan. Finally, the rebellion of Satan in the Garden of God resulted in the fall of angelic creatures (Rev. 12:4a); the disobedience of Adam in the Garden of Eden resulted in the fall of mankind (Rom. 5:12a).

Satan’s Case: At the fall, Satan became the ruler of the world. Satan then presented his case in his many attempts to establish control over his kingdom that he might create a perfect environment on earth. Satan wants to establish that arrogance is not arrogance but a viable alternative to the plan of God. Satan, during this period, desperately tried to stop the line of Christ by trying, for instance, to have his demons mate with human women, thereby creating the half-breed nephalim that overran the world but for Noah and his family. Knowing that the Messiah had to be perfect humanity as will as absolute deity, Satan would have stopped the plan of God in it’s tracks but for the flood.

 God’s Rebuttal: The formal phase of Satan’s appeal trial has been followed by the rebuttal phase in which we live. This most dramatic phase of the appeal trial coincides with the great power experiment and therefore, God’s rebuttal is twofold.

First, the Hypostatic Union resulted in the strategic victory of the humanity of Christ over Satan on the cross.

Second, the Church Age results in the tactical victory for those believers who fulfill the plan of God.

Now, the plan of Satan at this point is to try to delude Church age believers to postpone the tribulation, at the same time trying to wipe out the Jews so that God would not be able to keep the promises made to Abraham, David, and Joshua regarding the Client Nation status of Israel during the Millennium and in the Eternal State.

The Endgame

Satan’s Rebuttal: This stage of the appeal trial of Satan takes place with the rampant anti-Semitism of the Tribulation. Satan’s plan is to thwart the covenants of Abraham, David, and the land grant Palestinian covenant by wiping out the Jews so there would be none to inherit the promised kingdom. At the same time, He will seek to control his kingdom through political and religious means.

God’s Closing Arguments:

At the Millennium, Christ returns. Satan is incarcerated, and man still isn’t satisfied and can’t enjoy God’s bounty, apart from regeneration.

Proof of Satan’s culpability will be found in man’s negative volition even though Satan is incarcerated. When truth is lucidly and universally taught, negative volition will still exist. The millennium will reveal that the solution to man’s problems resides in his thoughts, his mental attitude, and his decisions rather than his environment.

Both Eden and the Millennium demonstrate that without a permanent relationship with God through faith alone in Christ alone, man will revolt against a perfect environment, as did the angelic creatures. Even in perfect environment, rational creatures cannot exist apart from God.

Satan’s Closing Arguments: After being released after 1000 years, Satan reverts to the violence of the Gog Revolution (Rev. 20: 7-8) utilizing the unbelievers and the negative believers to rally against client nation Israel.

Violence is Satan’s last and only argument, born out of desperate arrogance, and this will be his admission of defeat.

The Final Verdict: Appeal Denied.

The sentence of the original pre historic trial is carried out (Matt. 25:41). Satan and all fallen angels will be cast into the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:10-15).

Jesus Christ will convene the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev. 20:11-14) where all human unbelievers will be resurrected, tried, and judged. Unbelievers will not be judged for their sins, since sin was judged on the cross, rather, Christ, the judge, will condemn them for their negative volition and the rejection of the gift of salvation. In this way, the unbeliever gets what he deserves; his unbelief and his own refusal of the gift of salvation condemn him.

So, after salvation, what?

The believer is to glorify God in time, to realize the peace, happiness, and contentment that comes from learning Bible doctrine and advancing to spiritual maturity (Rom 12:2). Only through learning doctrine, which is the mind of Christ, will the absolute truth of God’s Word become the measure of your conscience, thinking, and the source of your mental attitude.

God commands the believer to think Divine viewpoint so that His gracious purpose can be fulfilled in life. God keeps the believer alive after salvation so that they can fulfill their personal destiny, to become a mature believer as an expression of God’s Glory in both time and eternity. Only as a mature believer can one glorify God by receiving the highest and the best that He has prepared (Eph. 1:3-6).

Advancing spiritually by consistently learning, thinking, and applying doctrine, the persistent spiritual growth from doctrine resident in the believer’s soul expands their capacity for life, love, Christian service, blessings, and happiness (Phil. 4:11-13).

Satan rules the world, but He doesn’t control man’s volition. Satan conspires to prevent human beings from believing in Christ (2 Cor. 4:3-4).

Failing that, He tries to prevent believers from attaining spiritual maturity. Failing that, he does everything he can to discredit the mature believer whom God has presented as evidence for the prosecution in the appeal trial of Satan.

Each mature believer is a witness for the prosecution, as the believer with negative volition is a witness for the defense.

Satan has the right of cross-examination. He uses suffering in an attempt to break down the believer, to force him to abandon God’s resources. God gives resources to all mature believers to help them overcome the obstacles and distractions along the route of spiritual advance.

There are two categories of evidence testing for the mature believer:

1) Testing the believer’s relationship to the plan of God:

The humanity of Christ underwent evidence testing and was tested in His relationship to the Plan of God. He was challenged in His relationship to the Holy Spirit (Matt.; 4:1-4), The Word of God (Matt. 4:5-7), and the Plan of God (Matt. 4:8-10)

2) Job is also the example of a mature believer who received Evidence Testing in relation to circumstances of life.

His testing was also in three parts. There was his loss of prosperity (Job 1), his loss of health (Job 2:1-10), and his loss of friends (Job 2:11-42).

By passing testing, the believer glorifies God in time and eternity, and likewise is richly blessed in both time and eternity.