Did you know that there was a time when all angels were good? At some point, if we understand the Bible correctly, the devil rebelled against God and fell to the earth. In the book of Revelation, it talks about the angels who followed the Dragon were also thrown to the earth.
The devil came to Eve in the Garden of Eden, and lied to her. He basically led her to believe that she should not trust God. So, she followed the devil's advice and the whole human race was plunged into sin. Read Genesis 3 for more information on this.
God promised to send a Redeemer. Throughout the Old Testament, there were clues about this coming Redeemer. When God sent His Son to earth, around 2,000 years ago, Jesus fulfilled the clues that were given concerning the coming Redeemer.
God was gracious to mankind in sending a Redeemer. But in an interesting way, the angels who sinned do not have a Redeemer. Jesus didn't die for angels, only for people.
Here is what the Bible says about the angels who sinned:
For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.
2 Peter 2: 4-10 ESV
And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
But the fate of human beings will be the same for those who do not repent of their sins and put their faith in Jesus Christ as their Redeemer and Savior.
This is the fate of the devil and false prophet:
The fate of human beings:
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Revelation 20: 9,10, 12-15 ESV
We have the opportunity to be redeemed and saved from our sins. We can receive a new heart that will love instead of hate. We can love what God loves and hate what God hates. God will give us the power to change and to overcome the struggles we have with our sinful natures. But, we must respond to God. We don't get saved by just believing facts about God. We must let go of our desires to live for pleasure and selfishness. God will help us to turn to Him, but we must respond to Him.
For more information on how to be made right with God, please go to http://test4gp.wordpress.com
No comments:
Post a Comment