Tag: War in heaven

Posted on

How Christ’s death won the victory in the war in heaven

This is an article in the series on Revelation 12. Unless otherwise indicated, all quotes are from the NASB.

SUMMARY

As discussed in the previous article, the victory in heaven was won AFTER Jesus was “caught up to God and to His throne” (Rev 12:5). This implies that Michael won the victory in the war in heaven through the Cross. Talking about His approaching death, Jesus similarly said, “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out” (John 12:27, 31). The question in this article is: How did the Cross defeat Satan?

WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM?

To answer this question, we must first determine what problem had to be solved. What is the nature of the war in heaven?

Evil originated in heaven. In the beginning, Lucifer was blameless in his ways.  He probably was or is the most brilliant mind ever created, but he became proud (Ezek 28:17) and desired to receive an honor equal to like the Son of God. Later, when God created humans, Satan led Adam and Eve into sin, and through sin, obtained control over the human race.

Satan became “the accuser of our brethren” (Rev 12:10). He does not accuse all people; he specifically accused God’s people.  In this way, Satan effectively accused God of arbitrary judgment when He forgives some people their sins but condemns others. Satan is not trying to make sure that God justifies the right people.  His real purpose is to defend himself against God’s judgment, for he has been condemned to the “eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt 25:41).

Due to Satan’s extremely clever and informed arguments, he convinced many of God’s beautiful and mighty angels to side with him (Rev 12:4, 7). And, for the same reasons, the heavenly beings that remained faithful to God were unable to refute Satan’s charges and to show conclusively that God’s judgments are perfect.  That is the problem that Christ’s death had to solve.

HOW DOES GOD SOLVE THIS PROBLEM?

Revelation reveals Satan’s weapons as deception and accusations (Rev 12:9-10). This explains the nature of the war in heaven. God does not solve this problem using force.  He addresses Satan’s charges with two techniques; the death of His Son and the testimony of the brethren (Rev 12:11). According to Romans 3:25-26, God displayed Christ Jesus publicly “to demonstrate His righteousness.” In other words, to refute Satan’s charges, God provides evidence of “His righteousness” by means of demonstrations. Jesus, by remaining faithful to God to the end (His death) provided evidence to show that Satan’s accusations were false.

HOW CHRIST’S DEATH REFUTED SATAN’S ACCUSATIONS

BY CHRIST’S LIFE

The Bible says that people are saved by Christ’s blood. Many people believe that there was some magic in His blood, or that His death saves people by satisfying the wrath of an angry God, or that justice demands that somebody must suffer infinite punishment, and only an infinite person is able to suffer infinite punishment.  There is much that we have to unlearn:

Firstly, His “blood” is merely a symbol of His death. There is no magic in His literal blood.

Secondly, the evidence of God’s righteousness was not provided by Jesus’ death, but by His life. If Jesus sinned, His death would have been without value.

The Bible emphasizes His death because the days and hours before He died were the highest test that He had to pass and because His death was the end of His test.

BY VALIDATING THE BASIS OF GOD’S JUDGMENTS

But the question remains, what evidence did Christ’s death provide that refuted Satan’s accusations? HOW did the “blood of the Lamb” overcome Satan?

      • Over the centuries, many people have overcome Satan’s temptations, but the accuser of our brethren was always able to point out sins in their lives.  Not one ever remained without sin.
        –
      • Jesus became a human being.  He was a sinless man in a corrupted world and had to resist the maximum possible provocation and temptation, but never sinned.  In this way, He demonstrated that human beings are able to remain faithful to God under the most severe circumstances.
        –
      • This implies that Satan claimed that it is not possible to remain faithful to God under all circumstances and that the fault, therefore, lies with God’s law, and therefore with God.
        –
      • But Christ showed that there is nothing wrong with God’s requirements and laws and that God, therefore, is just when He condemns hardened sinners and justifies sinners selectively.

(For a further discussion, see, The book which not even God can open).

ANGELS DROVE SATAN OUT OF HEAVEN.

Revelation 12:7-10 describes the war in heaven as a war between two groups of angels and indicates that archangel Michael and his angels defeated Satan and drove him out of heaven.  Previously, they were unable to refute Satan’s clever arguments, but Christ’s death provided the evidence they needed. Now they were convinced that God is just in His judgments and that Satan is the father of lies.  With this evidence, they drove Satan and his angels out of the courtrooms of heaven:

“There was no longer a place found for them (Satan and his angels) in heaven” (Rev 12:8).

CONCLUSIONS

      • The fact that evidence was required implies that the war in heaven is similar to a courtroom, where evidence is brought, and the jury decides. This is a war of deception and accusations, and evidence is required to refute the accusations.
        –
      • God condemned Satan and his angels, but because the angels did not completely understand what Satan did wrong, the angels would not have understood if God executed His judgment on Satan and his angels before the allegations against God were clarified.  Doubt would have remained, providing the seed for a future rebellion.  Because God wants His intelligent beings to understand, He allowed Satan to continue until the nature and consequences of Satan’s ways are understood by all.
        –
      • All of this implies that God’s creatures have freedom.

CHRIST’S DEATH WON THE VICTORY. 

As indicated by the following, Michael won the victory in the war in heaven through the Cross:

      • Main Concepts – Two of the main concepts in Revelation 12 are Christ’s ascension (verse 5) and the victory in the war in heaven (verses 8-12). The emphasis that Revelation 12 places on these two events imply a causal relationship.
        –
      • The Chronological sequence of events, as discussed in the previous article, shows that the victory in heaven was won AFTER Jesus was “caught up to God and to His throne” (Rev 12:5).
        –
      • Blood of the Lamb – In the context, the loud voice from heaven announces that “our brethren … overcame him (Satan) because of the blood of the Lamb” (Rev 12:10-11).

The Bible also elsewhere teaches that God overcame Satan through Christ’s death and resurrection:

      • Talking about His approaching death, Jesus said, “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out” (John 12:27, 31).
        –
      • “Since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Heb 2:14).
        –
      • God “disarmed the rulers and authorities” when He “canceled out the certificate of debt” by nailing it to the Cross (Col 2:14-15).  Rulers and Authorities are supernatural beings that oppose God.

Michael, therefore, won the victory in the war in heaven through Christ’s death. The vertical movements in Revelation 12 are an indication there-of: After Christ was caught up from earth to God’s throne (Rev 12:5), Satan went down from heaven to earth.

HOW DID THE CROSS DEFEAT SATAN?

Then the question is: How did the Cross defeat Satan?  To answer this question, we must first determine what problem had to be solved. What was or is the nature of the war in heaven?

EVIL ORIGINATED IN HEAVEN.

In the beginning, Lucifer was blameless in his ways.  As discussed in the article on the Origin of Evil, Lucifer probably was or is the most brilliant mind ever created. He was a covering cherub (Ezek 28:14), which means he served in God’s immediate presence.  The angels trusted, loved, and admired him.

But Lucifer became God’s enemy.  God said to him, “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor” (Ezek 28:17).  Lucifer became the selfish and proud Satan, who desired to receive an honor equal to like the Son of God (Isa 14:14, compared to John 17:5).

Later, God made the humans in His likeness (Gen 1:26), and “the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy” (Job 38:7).  Although Satan already was God’s adversary, God allowed him access to Adam and Eve.  Satan appeared to Eve in the form of a talking serpent.  Through deception, he led Adam into sin, and through sin, he obtained power over the human race: “The whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19; cf. Genesis 3).

SATAN ACCUSED GOD OF ARBITRARY JUDGMENT.

Satan became “the accuser of our brethren” (Rev 12:10). He does not accuse all people; he specifically accused God’s people (cf. Zech 3:1; Job 1:11).  In this way, Satan effectively accused God of arbitrary judgment when He forgives some people their sins but condemns others, such as Satan himself and his angels (See Book of Life). This is confirmed by Romans 3:25-26:

“Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly … in His blood … to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed … so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Rom 3:25-26).

Many theologians explain this passage as that God’s righteousness demanded that sins cannot be forgiven; that someone had to pay.  However, the text explicitly tells us why God had to demonstrate His righteousness, namely “because … He passed over the sins.” In other words, He had to demonstrate His righteousness because He selectively forgave some sinners their sins. This supports the conclusion that Satan questioned God’s righteousness He forgave some people their sins.

Satan is not trying to make sure that God justifies the right people.  His real purpose is to defend himself against God’s judgment, for he has been condemned to the “eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt 25:41).

He probably argues that all people have sinned (Rom 3:23) and that sin cannot be forgiven; if he is to be condemned, then the entire human race must also be condemned. And if God’s people are “justified as a gift by His grace” (Rom 3:24), then he and his angels must also be justified. In other words, Satan uses the sins of human beings to convince the universe that God judged him and his angels unfairly.

THE ANGELS DO NOT UNDERSTAND.

As stated, Satan was possibly the most brilliant being ever created.  As discussed in the article series on the seven seals, due to Satan’s extremely clever and informed arguments, he convinced many of God’s beautiful and mighty angels to side with him (Rev 12:4, 7). And, for the same reasons, the heavenly beings that remained faithful to God were unable to refute Satan’s charges and to show conclusively that God’s judgments are perfect.  Revelation symbolizes this lack of understanding of God’s judgments as a book that is sealed with seven seals (Rev 5:1; see Book of Life).

That is the problem that Christ’s death had to solve.

GOD PROVIDES EVIDENCE.

Many people understand the war in heaven as physical in nature; not fought with earthly weapons, but by supernatural physical means; using powerful physic-spiritual energies of which we have only vague intimations; energies that can move mountains and change planetary orbits. If this war is to determine who has the most physical power, Satan would never have started this war. See, Why Satan thought he could win.

Rather, Revelation reveals Satan’s weapons as deception and accusations (Rev 12:9-10). This explains the nature of the war in heaven. God, also, does not solve this problem by means of force.  He does not use His infinite power to stamp out resistance.

God addresses Satan’s charges with two techniques; the death of His Son and the testimony of the brethren (Rev 12:11). According to Romans 3:25-26, God displayed Christ Jesus publicly “to demonstrate His righteousness.” In other words, to refute Satan’s charges, God provides evidence of His righteousness by means of demonstrations. Jesus, by remaining faithful to God to the end (His death) provided evidence to show that Satan’s accusations were false.

The same applies to the testimony of our brethren.  God was accused of unfair judgment, and through Jesus, and through the testimony of our brethren, God provided evidence to show that His judgments were fair.

SEALED SCROLL

This conclusion is supported by the sealed scroll of Revelation 5.  Before Jesus’ death “no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it” (Rev 5:3).  It was a time of extreme sorrow in heaven (Rev 5:4). But then Jesus appears as “a Lamb … as if slain” (Rev 5:6), and the heavenly beings sang a new song, saying to Jesus:

“Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation” (Rev 5:9).

A closed book symbolizes concealed information. The sealed scroll of Revelation 5 is the Book of Life.  In other words, before Jesus died, nobody was sure who will be saved.  But through His death, Jesus provided the evidence required to open the book.

SAVED BY CHRIST’S BLOOD

The Bible says that people are saved by Christ’s blood, for example:

      • “Justified … through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24). The next verse explains this redemption by saying that Jesus was “displayed publicly … in His blood.”
      • Similarly, in Revelation 12:11, the accuser of our brethren was overcome “because of the blood of the Lamb.”

Many people believe that there was some magic in His blood, or that His death saves people by satisfying the wrath of an angry God, or that justice demands that somebody must suffer infinite punishment, and only an infinite person is able to suffer infinite punishment.  There is much that we have to unlearn:

Firstly, His “blood” is merely a symbol of His death. There is no magic in His literal blood.

Secondly, the evidence of God’s righteousness was not provided by Jesus’ death, but by His life. If Jesus sinned, His death would have been without value.  His entire life was a test.  At the beginning of His ministry, “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matt 4:1).

The Bible emphasizes His death because the days and hours before He died were the highest test that He had to pass and because His death was the end of His test. “He said, ‘It is finished!’ And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit” (John 19:30).

But the question remains, what evidence did Christ’s death provide that refuted Satan’s accusations? HOW did the “blood of the Lamb” overcome Satan? Three categories of evidence are proposed:

      • God’s laws are just.
      • God is trustworthy, and
      • God is love.

GOD’S LAWS ARE JUST.

Over the centuries, many people have overcome Satan’s temptations, but the accuser of our brethren was always able to point out sins in their lives.  Not one of them remained without sin.

Jesus became a human being.  He was a sinless man in a corrupted world and had to resist the maximum possible provocation and temptation, but never sinned.  “He humbled Himself by becoming obedient (without sin – Heb 4:25) to the point of death” (Phil 2:8); “even when faced with death” (Rev 12:11).

In this way, He demonstrated that human beings are able to remain faithful to God under the most severe circumstances.  This implies that Satan claimed that it is not possible to remain faithful to God under all circumstances and that the fault, therefore, lies with God’s law, and therefore with God. But Christ showed that there is nothing wrong with God’s requirements and laws and that God, therefore, is just when He condemns hardened sinners and justifies sinners selectively (For a further discussion, see, The book which not even God can open).

GOD IS TRUSTWORTHY.

The serpent said to the woman:

“You surely will not die!  For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Gen 3:4-5).

In other words, Satan said that God did not tell the truth.  If Satan did this with Eve, then we can assume that one of Satan’s basic strategies is to tell lies; including lies about God.  Jesus, in contrast, revealed the truth about God (John 1:18). Jesus is the exact representation of God’s nature (Heb 1:3). He is “the image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15) and His life on earth confirmed Him, and therefore God, as the “true Witness” (Rev 3:14). In other words, Jesus showed that God is trustworthy.

GOD IS LOVE.

The cruelty of the accuser, as displayed in his malicious persecution of the only begotten Son of God who became a vulnerable human being, demonstrated Satan’s nature and the consequences of his principles. This is in contrast to Jesus Christ, who did not use His power to protect Himself.  As “the image of the invisible God,” by becoming a slain lamb (Rev 5:5, 6), He revealed God’s nature.  Jesus showed that God is love.

ANGELS DROVE SATAN OUT OF HEAVEN.

The importance of evidence explains why Satan was overcome by Jesus, but driven out of heaven by Michael and his angels.

Revelation 12:7-10 describes the war in heaven as a war between two groups of angels and indicates that archangel Michael and his angels defeated Satan and expelled him from heaven.  Why would God’s loyal angels drive Satan out of heaven if he was defeated by Jesus’ death?

The answer is that they, previously, were unable to refute Satan’s clever arguments, but Christ’s death provided the evidence they needed. Now they were convinced that God is just in His judgments and that Satan is the father of lies.  With this evidence, they drove Satan and his angels out of the courtrooms of heaven.

Perhaps Satan was not physically thrown out of heaven, but he was driven out in a figurative sense in that nobody believes him any longer.  Michael and his angels now understood and were fully convinced of God’s justness.  Satan was no longer able to accuse God’s people before God.

“There was no longer a place found for them (Satan and his angels) in heaven” (Rev 12:8).

IMPLICATIONS

DECISIONS ARE MADE IN HEAVENLY COUNCILS.

The fact that evidence was required implies that the war in heaven is similar to a courtroom, where evidence is brought, and the jury decides. This is a war of deception and accusations, and evidence is required to refute the accusations. For example:

      • In Revelation 5, it was not God, but the council’s decision that Jesus is “worthy … to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain” (Rev 5:8-9).
      • In Daniel 7, “the court sat, and the books were opened” (Dan 7:10).
      • Satan brought his charges against the humans in the meetings of the “sons of God“ (Job 1:6).

GOD ALLOWS TIME FOR HIS INTELLIGENT BEINGS TO UNDERSTAND.

In consequence of his rebellion, God cast Satan “as profane from the mountain of God. And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire” (Ezek 28:16).  God condemned Satan and his angels to “the eternal fire” (Matt 25:41).  But because the angels did not completely understand what Satan did wrong, the angels would not have understood if God executed His judgment on Satan and his angels before the allegations against God were clarified.  Doubt would have remained, providing the seed for a future rebellion.  Because God wants His intelligent beings to understand, He allowed Satan to continue until the nature and consequences of Satan’s ways are understood by all.

GOD’S INTELLIGENT BEINGS HAVE FREE WILL.

The requirement for evidence means that physical power is not decisive.  God did not set Satan’s criticism and questions aside by physical force.  Satan deceives, accuses, and slanders. “Our brethren” respond, not by physical force, but with a testimony that is so strong that they are willing to die for what they believe (Rev 12:11).  God has all power, but the outcome of the war in heaven is not determined by who has the most physical power.

Since physical power will not settle this dispute, but evidence, it implies that God’s creatures have freedom.  Based on this principle, God grants Satan time and allows His judgments to be tested.  God even became the accused and the universe became the judge.

FINAL CONCLUSIONS

      • Michael won the victory in the war in heaven through the Cross.
      • Satan accused God of arbitrary judgment when He forgives some people but condemns others.
      • Due to Satan’s extremely clever arguments, God’s loyal angels were unable to refute Satan’s charges.
      • God does not solve this problem by means of force. He provides evidence of “His righteousness” by means of demonstrations.
      • Satan claimed that it is not possible to remain faithful to God under all circumstances and that the fault, therefore, lies with God’s law, and therefore with God. Jesus, by remaining faithful to God to the end, showed that Satan’s accusations were false.

ARTICLES IN THE SERIES ON REVELATION 12

OTHER RELEVANT ARTICLES

Posted on

Why Jesus had to die to save people: What problem did His death solve?

This is an article in the series on the atonement.

Why Jesus had to die to save people – What problem was solved by His death? Did He die to pacify an angry God? HOW did His death reconcile all things to God?

Summary

The Qur’an teaches that some Israelites conspired to kill Jesus, but Allah rescued Jesus. In other words, Jesus never died. The Bible, on the other hand, teaches that people are saved to eternal life only through the death of the Son of God. If Jesus was not killed, then the entire Christian faith is in vain. The purpose of this article is to explain why Jesus had to die.

God is One.

The Qur’an and the Bible agree that God is one. The Bible clearly distinguishes between God and Jesus and depicts Jesus as completely dependent on God.  But the Bible also teaches that God created all things through Jesus and still upholds all things through Jesus. Jesus has all the fullness of Deity in bodily form, is the Judge, has life in Himself, and gives life to whom He wishes.  This apparent contradiction is discussed in a series of articles on this website. See Who is Jesus?

Would God allow people to kill His Son?

A Muslim would disagree with the notion that God would allow His Son to be killed.  However, one of the fundamental principles of the Christian religion is self-sacrifice for the benefit of others. This is a Christian principle because that is how God is.  When we see Jesus, we see God, and Jesus humiliated Himself to become a human being, and even humiliate Himself to die in the hands of evil man (Phil 2). 

What problem did Jesus solve?

Christians agree that Jesus had to die, but disagree on how His death saves us.  His death was the solution to a problem. To understand why Jesus had to die, we need to know what the problem was. The typical Christian understanding of the problem is that our sins made God angry and that Jesus died to placate His anger.  But the Bible is clear that it was God who sent Jesus, and that God did this because of His love for the world.  This article, therefore, explains the problem as follows:

1 Sin originated in heaven as a rebellion against God. This rebellion later spilled over to earth.

2 God allowed sin to develop because He created His intelligent beings with the ability to choose against Him, for the only worship which He accepts is the worship of love. He, therefore, grants His creatures full freedom, which is freedom without fear of retribution.

3 Sin caused terrible conflict in heaven. To defend himself against God’s judgment, Satan argued that God’s laws are deficient; that it is not possible to comply with His laws in all circumstances, and that it is, therefore, unfair of God to forgive some (human) sinners but condemn other sinners.

4 God was not able to prove conclusively to the heavenly beings that Satan’s accusations were false. He, therefore, had to allow Satan to continue until Satan’s character and purpose were fully revealed.

5 To protect creation, God must destroy sin and sinners. God wishes to make an end to rebellion once and for all. However, since God is accused of unfair judgment, rebellion would erupt again in the future if sin and sinners are destroyed before His intelligent creatures fully understand the nature of the rebellion.  

What Christ’s Death Demonstrated

The problem is therefore much larger than simply human sin.  The problem affects the entire universe.  Christ’s death, which is the solution to this problem, similarly has much wider consequences than merely for this earth. The Son of God became a human being to make an end to the war in heaven. Christ’s life demonstrated:

(a) That it is possible to comply with God’s law in all circumstances. In other words, there is nothing wrong with God’s law.
(b) Satan’s cruel nature; and
(c) The self-sacrificing nature of the Son of God, and therefore of God.

– END OF SUMMARY –

Pakmamin wrote:

Picture of the Qu'ranThe Qur’an tells us that some of the Israelites rejected Jesus, and conspired to kill him, but Allah (God) rescued Jesus and raised him to Himself by swapping him.  Allah says in Qur’an that they neither killed Jesus nor crucified him, but it was made to appear so unto them.

Muslims believe that Allah changed the face of the person who betrayed Jesus to a face resembling Jesus.  So, they crucified that betrayer instead of Jesus.

Response

Since this article responds to a comment by a Muslim, it does not provide full Biblical evidence for the concepts discussed, but explains certain very complex Christian concepts as briefly and as clearly as possible.

The Bible teaches that people are saved to eternal life only through the death of the Son of God.  If Jesus was not killed, as claimed by the Qur’an, then the entire Christian faith is futile. 

A Muslim would object to a number of aspects of the Christian perspective.

Is Jesus God?

The Bible teaches that God is One.A Muslim would not agree that Jesus is God. The Bible teaches that God is one (Deut 6:4-5; Mark 12:28-30; James 2:19) and clearly distinguishes between God and Jesus (e.g. John 17:3; 1 Timothy 2:5). The Bible, on the other hand, also refers to Jesus as “God” (e.g. John 1:1).  

The Bible also describes Jesus as completely dependent on God. On the other hand, Jesus existed before He became a human being, has all the fullness of Deity in bodily form, has authority over all flesh, has life in Himself, gives life to whom He wishes, and must be worshiped as we worship God. God created and still upholds all things through Jesus. How do we understand these things?

Unable to understand God

Firstly, we have to say that humans are unable to understand God. He exists outside time, space and matter. He is simultaneously in all places and in all times; past, present, and future. He exists without cause. In fact, He is that which exists. Things exist because God exists. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways higher than our ways, and His thoughts higher than our thoughts. It is our privilege to study about Him, but we must do it with humility, for “the secret things belong to the LORD our God” (Deut 29:29).

The universe, consisting of time, space, and matter, was brought into being by the Father’s will (Rev 4:11). God the Father is, therefore, not limited or defined by time, space, and matter. He is everywhere in the universe, but also everywhere outside the universe. Humans are not able to conceive of something that exists outside the universe, but the Intelligence and Power that created the universe exists outside the universe.

Created and Maintains Through Jesus

God created and still maintains all things THROUGH Jesus. We do not have the faintest idea of what this may mean. Therefore, please forgive me for speculating. Jesus is “the Beginning“ of time, space, and matter. He is the immense explosion of Energy of the “big bang” that brought this universe into being and still maintains it.   

This speculation may be completely wrong. It is simply the best sense I am able to make out of the data in the Bible. During the millions of years ahead of us, we will continually learn more about God. But since He is infinite, we will never be able to understand Him fully.

God allowed people
to kill His Son.

The Cross of ChristA Muslim would also disagree that God would allow His Son to be killed.  However, that is one of the fundamental principles of the Christian religion, for it is consistent with God’s character that He would humiliate Himself to become a human being, and even humiliate Himself to die in the hands of evil man.  Paul wrote to the Philippians that Christ Jesus “existed in the form of God”, but “emptied Himself … being made in the likeness of men” and further “humbled Himself … to … death on a cross” (Phil 2:5-8).

The Bible does not reveal God as an authoritarian. He does set laws and He does execute judgment, but His motive is always love. He so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Jesus was genuinely humble. On one occasion, He washed the feet of His disciples, a service usually performed by a lowly servant.

Why Jesus had to die

Christians generally agree that the Son of God had to die to save people to eternal life, but they do not agree on HOW the death of the Son of God saves people. His death is the solution to a problem. To understand why Jesus had to die, one needs to know what the problem was.

Many Christians define the problem as that our sin made God angry, and that He needed a sacrifice to placate His anger. This principle is often softened as that the righteousness of God required death as a penalty for sin, and that Jesus became a human being so that He Himself would die in our stead so that our sins can be forgiven.

This website objects to this teaching. God does not demand a penalty for sin. Rather, the purpose of His laws is to protect His creatures.   God does punish people for their sins, but the purpose of such punishment is to teach them. His punishment is forward-looking; to ensure a better future.

God is Love - His every motive is loveThis website also objects to the idea that God is angry.  That seems to be a horrible distortion of the Bible message. Throughout the Bible, we find evidence that it was the Father who loved the world and sent His Son to die for us, that we may live (John 3:16).

The following is a different explanation for why Jesus had to die for people to be saved to eternal life, based on a different definition of the problem.

1. Sin originated in heaven.

Sin originated in heaven in a large rebellion against God, with Satan as the leader of the rebellion. This rebellion did not originate on earth but later expanded to earth when our first parents were tempted into sin (Gen 3).  The Bible is essentially a history book of events on earth, written by many different authors over thousands of years. The Bible, therefore, gives very little information about events in heaven. But sprinkled throughout the Bible one finds evidence of the heavenly source of evil, for instance:

“Our struggle is not against flesh and blood,
but against … the spiritual forces of wickedness
in the heavenly places“ (Eph 6:12).

“God made peace with things in heaven,
by the blood of his cross” (Col 1:20). 

Please refer to the article Origin of Evil for a discussion of the evidence from the Bible. 

Sin is defined here as anything that harms the well-being of God’s creation. Since God’s laws are designed to ensure the happiness of His creation, one can also define sin as disobedience to God’s law. 

2. Sin results from freedom.

Some think that God decides who will be saved irrespective of what the person is or wantsGod, who has all power and all knowledge, allowed sin to develop in heaven and allowed the rebellion to spread to earth because He grants His intelligent creatures full freedom, which is freedom without the fear that God will punish sinners. He created them with the ability to choose against Him, for the only worship that He accepts is the worship of love.  That is why He did not destroy sinners immediately and why He even allowed Satan access to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

Many Christians would object to this idea.  They believe that God decides who will be saved and who will be lost.  In their view, God controls the minds of people, and that people (and angels) have no real freedom.  But if God controls intelligent beings in that manner, then it also follows that God created evil; that sin was God’s invention. This we cannot accept.

Lucifer understood that full freedom means freedom without fear of punishment.  He had a very high position in God’s kingdom. He was God’s main spokesperson to His creatures, and he knew that God will not punish His creatures for their sin.

Why the Warnings of Punishment?

If that is so, why do we find the warnings of punishment in the Bible?  Why did God say to Adam and Eve that, if they eat of the tree, they would die?  It is proposed here that that was not a threat, limiting their freedom, but a warning intended to protect their freedom.  As already stated, God’s laws are not arbitrary but designed to ensure the happiness of His creatures.  Created beings have the freedom to act contrary to His laws, but there are natural consequences.  The cruelty, sickness, and death that we see around us today are not God’s punishment for disobedience, but the natural consequence of acting contrary to His commands. God, therefore, warned Adam and Eve against the natural consequences of sin.

3. War in Heaven

The rebellion caused war in heaven, represented in Revelation as Michael and his angels at war against Satan and his angels (Rev 12:7 ff.). This was a terrible war, not fought with physical weapons, but with much more terrible weapons than we can imagine.

But what was the war about?  I do not think human beings are fully able to understand what the angels disagreed about.  It was a being of wonderful power and glory that had set himself against God.  The Lord says of Lucifer, “You had the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty” (Ezek 28:12). He was “the anointed cherub who covers” (Ezek 28:14), which means that he stood in the light of God’s immediate presence. He was the highest of all created beings. He was the one who taught the universe about God. How could we hope to understand the arguments which Satan presented to the angels?

God judges unfairly.

However, we have some indications in the Bible of what the war was about.  In Revelation 12, Satan is called the accuser of the brethren.  In Zechariah 3, he stands next to the high priest to accuse him. It is therefore implied that there was disagreement about God’s judgments.  God judged Satan and his angels as guilty but forgave certain sinners, such as Moses. Thus, the once-mighty angel Lucifer, now Satan, accused God of inconsistent and unrighteous judgment. He seems to argue that the sins of God’s people cannot be forgiven; that mercy was inconsistent with justice; and if God should cancel the punishment of sin, He would not be a God of truth and justice. Please see the article Disarmed the rulers and authorities for more information.

Impossible to Comply

There are also indications in the Bible that Satan argued that it is impossible for created beings to always and fully comply with God’s laws:

The oldest book in the Bible tells the story of a man named Job.  He was a “blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil”, but Satan said to God “touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face”.  God then allowed Satan to destroy everything that Job owned, even his children, but Job remained faithful. 

Then Satan went back to God and said: “put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh; he will curse You to Your face.”  Satan obtained permission from God and “smote Job with sore boils.”  Satan also incited Job’s wife to say to Job, “Curse God and die.” This is what Satan hoped Job would do. Satan also sent Job’s friends to him to tell him that God has rejected him (Job).  The purpose of this message was to sever the link of faith and trust that joined Job to his Creator. 

But “in all this Job did not sin with his lips”. Satan’s purpose with this test was to show that, given the right circumstances, everybody will lose his hold on God and sin against God.

That was also the purpose of the test which Adam failed.  When Adam defied the will of God, Satan exulted.  It was proved, he declared, that the law cannot be obeyed, and since man cannot be forgiven, the human race must be forever shut out from God’s favor.

Satan’s Arguments

Satan’s arguments were, therefore:

● That God’s laws are deficient;
● For that reason that it is impossible for created beings to always and fully comply with God’s laws.
● That it is therefore unfair of God to forgive some sinners but condemn others.

In summary, the War in Heaven is about God’s judgments.

4. Satan was allowed to continue.

As already stated, God does not force His beings to accept His judgment.  But neither was He able to conclusively prove to the loyal angels that the accusations of the super-brilliant accuser are false.  Satan claimed that his principles are superior to God’s principles.  Since God’s purpose is to secure the eternal safety of the universe, He had to allow Satan time to continue until the principles of Satan’s system of government have been fully developed, so that they might be seen by all the universe. 

If God destroyed Satan and his host of angels at that point in time, before Satan’s character and purpose were fully revealed, it would not have been apparent to heavenly beings that the destruction of Satan and his host was the inevitable result of sin. Doubt of God’s goodness would have remained as an evil seed, and rebellion would arise again in the future. God wishes to make an end to rebellion once and for all.

This was a terrible time in heaven.  It seemed as if evil would exist forever.  The last book of the Bible symbolizes this inability to understand as a closed book (sealed scroll) that nobody was able to open (Rev. 5). See the discussion of the Introduction to the Seven Seals for more information. 

5. God will destroy sin when all agree.

To protect creation, God must eventually destroy sin and every creature that is permanently corrupted by sin. He will not destroy sin as retribution or as a penalty for sin.  He will destroy sin to prevent further pain.  As stated in Revelation, He will make all things new.

However, even though sin destroys, and even though God can very easily destroy Satan and his followers, God cannot destroy sin and sinners unilaterally because God never forces anybody to agree with Him. To compel opposition is found only under Satan’s government.  The Lord’s authority rests upon principles such as truth, goodness, mercy, and love. These are the means by which the Lord overcomes evil. The Lord can only destroy sin if His intelligent creatures, in full freedom, agree with Him and ask Him to do it.

Why Jesus had to die

The five points above are the proposed definition of the problem which Christ’s death had to solve.  The problem is therefore much bigger than simply human sin.  The problem affects the entire universe; not only this microscopic planet. Christ’s death, which is the solution to the problem, similarly has a much wider impact than only this earth:

The Son of God became a human being to make an end to the war in heaven. Christ’s life demonstrated that it is possible to comply with God’s law in all circumstances. In other words, there is nothing wrong with God’s law.  His death also revealed Satan’s cruel nature and the self-sacrificing nature of the Son of God, which is the nature of God.

Jesus as human babyWith the war of accusations in heaven still raging heavily, God sent His Son as a human being to this planet, which Satan claimed as his own; as a vulnerable baby in a world controlled by Satan. 

At first, Satan did everything in his power to physically destroy the little One, but God protected His Son. 

Satan tempted Christ.

Then Satan changed His tactics; he tried, in every possible way, to lead Jesus into sin, to discourage Him, to get Jesus to act selfishly; to get Jesus to use His power or position to benefit Himself.  The Bible records such an incident: 

After fasting for forty days Jesus was very hungry, and Satan tempted Him to use His power to turn stones into bread, but Jesus refused. 

Then Satan tempted Him to throw Himself off the pinnacle of the temple to prove that He is the Son of God, but Jesus refused. 

Lastly, Satan offered Him all the kingdoms of the world if He would fall down and worship Satan, but again Jesus refused. 

This was simply one example of Satan’s strategy throughout the earthly life of the Son of God.  The cross was the ultimate test.

God allowed Satan full access to Christ.

The story of Job helps us to understand why Jesus had to die to end the war in heaven. (See – A study of the book of Job.)

Perhaps Satan similarly went to God and said that, if you allow me full access to Jesus, including to His life, I will show you that Your Son will “curse You to Your face”. We know from the Bible that God did give Satan full and unlimited access to Christ; including killing Him.  God’s Holy Spirit always remained close to Jesus, but on the Cross, Jesus cried out, My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? During His last days, God withdrew His protection and support from Jesus. The “rulers and authorities” (Col 2:15), elsewhere called the powers of darkness, assembled around the cross, bombarding Christ with thoughts of unbelief, resulting in cruel depression and despair.  Just like God, on the basis of His principle of freedom, allowed Satan access to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden as a test, God allowed Satan full access to the Son of God.

Jesus never sinned.

This was a test.  Could one sin be found in Christ, had He in one particular yielded to Satan to escape the terrible torture, the enemy of God and man would have triumphed. But despite the physical, emotional, and spiritual agony, Jesus did not use His power to relieve His agony.  Satan was allowed to use every means at his disposal, but Jesus did not sin in a word or a deed or a thought. The more mercilessly Satan’s wrath fell upon Him, the more firmly the Son of God clung to the hand of His Father, and press on in His bloodstained path.  All heaven was filled with wonder when Christ prayed in the midst of His terrible suffering,–“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).  Christ revealed God to the universe. 

The whole universe watched.

“We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings” (1 Cor 4:9 NIV). All heaven witnessed the controversy with intense interest. They watched the Son of God enter the garden of Gethsemane, His soul bowed down with great darkness.  They heard His bitter cry, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me” (Matt 26:39). As the Father’s presence withdrew from Him, they saw Him filled with a sorrow that is worse than the last great struggle with death, causing bloody sweat to fell in drops to the ground.  Heaven saw Satan’s frenzied work, and his power over the hearts of men, causing them to deride, torment, condemn, and crucify the Son of God, while the daughters of Jerusalem wept and the mob jeered. 

End of the War in Heaven

Satan was defeated. The evidence which Jesus gave through His life and death brought an end to the war in heaven (See War in Heaven).   Thereafter, the consensus of the loyal angels was that Satan is wrong and God is right, and they requested God to banish Satan from heaven. 

Lessons from Christ’s life

The Cross was the highest test that Jesus had to go through, but it still was only one of a continuum of tests during His life. His life revealed at least three things:

It showed that this human being (Jesus) would remain faithful to God’s principles in all circumstances, showing thereby that it is possible for human beings (and angels) to comply fully with God’s law under the most agonizing circumstances.  In other words, there is nothing wrong with God’s laws. 

Christ’s death revealed the cruel nature of Satan.  Not until the death of Christ was Satan’s character fully revealed to the heavenly beings. The exalted position that he occupied gave him the power to deceive. Satan had so clothed himself with deception that even holy beings could not understand the nature of his rebellion.  The Cross tore away his disguise. His administration was laid open.  He had revealed himself as a murderer. By shedding the blood of the Son of God, he lost any remaining sympathy he still received from the heavenly beings. 

Lastly, His life and death revealed the character of the Son of God. When nothing else was able to end the war in heaven, He was willing to humiliate Himself to become a human being and to run the risk of eternal loss and suffer a torturous death. Throughout His life, His concern always was with the people around Him. These things revealed His true character.

It was for this purpose that He became a human being and this is why Jesus had to die; not only a normal death but a voluntary and torturous death. His death was voluntary, for if He gave the command, legions of angels would have come to His aid.

Christ did not answer all accusations.

But Satan also had another argument, namely that God is unfair when He forgives one sinner but condemns another.  Jesus’ death did not fully answer all of Satan’s accusations.  For that reason, God has not yet made an end to sin.  There is more to be revealed.  For the sake of the future happiness of the universe, Satan was allowed to continue his work, but only on earth (Revelation 12).  Man, as well as angels, must see the contrast between the Prince of light and the prince of darkness.

Conclusion

Sin caused terrible conflict in heaven. Satan, the highest of all created beings, used the sins of people—their inability to keep God’s law—as evidence to prove that God’s intelligent creatures are unable to fully keep God’s law, arguing that God is therefore inconsistent and unfair when some of His sinning creatures, such as Adam and Moses, are forgiven while other people and sinful angels are condemned. Even the loyal heavenly beings could not conclusively answer Satan’s accusations against God. The problem is therefore much bigger than simply human sin. The problem affects the entire universe; not only this microscopic planet. 

Christ came to the earth to validate God’s judgments. Jesus, as fully human, showed that human beings (and angels) are able to comply with the Law of God under all circumstances.  If Jesus did not really die, as the Qur’an maintains, then we have no hope.

God’s Children

So, who are God’s children?  To call yourself a Christian does not make you His child:

The Christian that views God as an authoritarian tyrant, and is pleased with that view of God, will himself be an authoritarian tyrant and is therefore not a child of God. 

God’s people are those that admire God’s willingness to suffer for His creatures. They find joy in the thought that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son to become a human being to suffer for our benefit. God’s people are those that want to be as humble as God, and those that want to serve other people, particularly lesser people. They find joy in the concept of freedom, and they grant other people the freedom to differ from them.  They do not act selfishly but are willing to suffer for the benefit of others. 

God will judge each person according to his circumstances.  To be saved by the blood (death) of Christ does not require one to know His name.  Even a person that rejects Christ, but accepts His principles, is one of His people. God does not belong to Christianity. There is only one true God, and He loves and talks to all peoples, through His written word, through nature, through other people, and through His supernatural communication with each human being.  Each of us will be judged relative to what we have received.  From the one that has received much, much will be expected. 

Proudly powered by WordPress