Angelic Conflict
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The Angelic Conflict- The Missing Link Table of Contents: Section I: Getting Started. 1. Introduction and Approach. Section II: Who is Involved? 2. God and His Essence. 3. Satan's Essence. 4. Angels. 5. Man. Section III: What are their Similarities and Differences? 6. Comparison of God, Angels and Man. 7. Summary of Differences between Angels and Man. 8. Significant Similarities between Angels and Men. 9. Comparison of Angels, Adam and Jesus Christ. Section IV: What Happened? 10. The Divine Decree(s). 11. The Fall of Satan. 12. The Fall of Angels. 13. The Trial Of Satan and Appeal: 14. Angelic Salvation. 15. Cut Off Point For The Offer Of Salvation. 16. Mechanics of Angelic Salvation. 17. Sequence of Events to This Point. Section V: Why Man? 18. Ground Rules for the Angelic Conflict. 19. The Length of the Appeal. 20. Man's Role in the Resolution of the Conflict. 21. The Relationship of Major Events and Time Frames to the Conflict. 22. The Resolution of the Conflict on an Individual Basis. 2 The Angelic Conflict Section 1: Getting Started. 1. The Introduction and Approach. A. Since from God proceeds all matter, creatures, time and space, it is necessary to understand His character and how it relates to His creatures. Gen 1:1-31; 2:7; Psa 148. B. The Lord’s character does not change. Mal 3:6 "For I, the Lord, do not change; C. Therefore, any conclusion that contradicts His Divine Attributes must be rejected. D. As we attempt to comprehend why man exists, God invites us to seek to seek to understand the sequence of events of pre-history. E. This sequence must be derived from the written Canon, logically evaluated and analyzed. 1 Cor 14:33 God is not a God of confusion. F. Since God has chosen to reveal Himself and His Plan through the entire Canon, its study cannot be overemphasized. 2 Tim 3:16-17; 2 Tim 2:15 G. The entirety of human history involves resolution of the conflict between God and Satan. Gen 3 through Rev 20 H. The Angelic Conflict is considered a Basic Doctrine, but does not imply that all the answers are easy to find. Heb 6:1-2 Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. Matt 25:41 Then He will also say to those on His left, ' Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; I. Every Doctrine of Scripture relates to the Essence of God and His relationship to His creation, therefore any study of this topic must be constructed from a correct understanding of the Essence of God and the Stated Doctrines of Scripture. J. Man's exact role in the resolution of the Angelic Conflict will not be revealed until we are in His presence, but it does not mean that we are not to seek answers to these questions, all the while growing in love. Prov 28:5 cf 1 Cor 13:2 3 The Angelic Conflict Evil men do not understand justice, But those who seek the Lord understand all things. (Most Bible scholars recognize that the conflict exists, passages like Eph 6:12 are undeniable in referring to spiritual conflict, but few will go much farther) K. It is obviously important for man to know, understand and appreciate his relationship to God, the uniqueness of Jesus Christ, and his purpose in human history. L. Many factors must be analyzed to understand God’s purpose for man, such as: 1. Who is involved? (God, angels, Jesus Christ and man) 2. What happened at the Fall of Satan? (This is the biggest question to answer, concerning the trial of Satan, it is the missing piece of the puzzle) 3. When did it happen as per the sequence of events. 4. How long will the conflict last? 5. Where does the conflict take place? (Heaven and earth) 6. Why is there a conflict? 7. Why is man involved? 8. What are the “ground rules” for the conflict? M. Problems with some conventional views: 1. Some believe the conflict is resolved numerically. a. Since one-third of the angels chose with Satan (Rev 12:4) it should have been over at that point. b. Some evangelicals think that when we get everyone on earth saved at one time, Jesus Christ will return and end it. At the separation of the sheep and goats (Matt 25:31-46), all people left on earth will be saved, but there is still another 1,000 years of history (Rev 20:3,5). 2. Some believe that it is based solely in power that God will finally overcome Satan. This is an outgrowth of Eastern Mysticism (Hinduism, Buddhism, New Age), the Yin/Yang philosophy that places good and evil as equals. There is no comparison with infinite and finite power for God could eliminate Satan at any time with His power, but why does He choose not to? Cf Ps 33:6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host. 3. Some believe it is based solely on volition. (Volition is a key factor). a. If they relate that to superior numbers of believers over unbelievers, then God lost for the majority of mankind will not be saved. (Believers in history are always the minority). b. If they relate it to Adam, God lost. 4. Some believe it is simply a matter of the Sovereignty of God. 5. Some believe that the outcome is based solely on obedience to the Word of God which again refers us to a subjective evaluation 4 The Angelic Conflict system. Individual decisions with overt actions (both positive and negative) will actually solve it. 6. Some believe that the conflict would be over if Adam had eaten from the Tree of Lives. (Why was it not over when he didn’t?) 7. Some actually believe that there is no conflict, but it is only a picture of the difficulties humans face in this world. Cf Rev 12:7 et al 8. Satan says he rebelled when God made the “intelligent monkeys.”1 (Urantia Book) N. Answers and solutions must be sought through comparison of scripture with scripture, relying on the Holy Spirit to “lead us into all truth.” John 16:13 1 Urantia Book. 5 The Angelic Conflict Section II: Who is Involved? 2. God and His Essence: A. There must exist a First Cause of all things, for any Effects to occur. (For purposes of this study we will not go into all the proofs of God’s existence but rather assume that He does exist. Some information is needed though to remind us of Who He is and what he has done.) 1. This is called the “Kalam Cosmological Principle” and expresses that there must be a Creator for there to be a Creation. William Lane Craig has formulated the argument as follows:2 1. Whatever begins to exist has a cause. 2. The universe began to exist. 3. Therefore, the universe has a cause. Craig argues that the first premise is supported most strongly by intuition, but also experience. He asserts that it is "intuitively obvious," based on the "metaphysical intuition that something cannot come into being from nothing," and doubts that anyone could sincerely deny it. Additionally, he claims it is affirmed by interaction with the physical world. If it were false, he states, it would be impossible to explain why things do not pop into existence uncaused. The second premise is often supported by philosophical arguments and scientific verification for the finitude of the past. One philosophical argument is that the number of past events must be finite and cannot be infinite, meaning that the universe must be finite and therefore have begun to exist. This argument is established by the following syllogism: 1. An actually infinite number of things cannot exist. 2. A beginningless series of events in time entails an actually infinite number of things. 3. Therefore, a beginningless series of events in time cannot exist. One way that Craig supports the first premise is by referring to Hilbert's paradox of the Grand Hotel, a thought experiment that shows how paradoxes and absurdities would result from an infinite number of existing things. Next, after taking the second premise to be self-explanatory, he states that the universe is indistinct from a "series of events." Thus, the conclusion can be read as "a beginningless universe in time cannot exist," which is equivalent to, "The universe began to exist." Another philosophical argument for Kalām's second premise is that an infinite collection cannot be formed by subsequent addition. If events occurring one at a time cannot ever reach infinity, the past must be finite and so must the universe. The argument is formulated as such: 2 Wikipedia. 6 The Angelic Conflict 1. The series of events in time is a collection formed by adding one number after another. 2. A collection formed by adding one member after another cannot be actually infinite. 3. Therefore, the series of events in time cannot be actually infinite. Craig argues that premise one is confirmed by the sequential, forward movement of time. Premise two is argued for by the contention that no matter how high one counts, one more number could always be counted.