Why would God not have destroyed the “devil”? Totally within His power, permission and scope to do so. The activity of sin and the “devil” though, is recognised by scripture and theologians as being necessary to provide temptation, trials and tribulations, by which the believer is tested for their fidelity, and more to the point, by which activity the believer is subject to ongoing purification, just as Jesus had “learned obedience by the things He suffered”. By which He was perfected or matured to the degree of perfection necessary to be physically immortalised and resurrected. We are then given His status by faith in which we gain a similar process of conversion of physical bodily desires to spiritual desires by which we create the reality of their substance within us also. To become “new creations” in which we have crossed over from death to life. On belief.
Why does the “Lord’s Prayer” contain “lead us not into temptation?” when “…God tempts no man…” “But every man is tempted when by his own desire he is led and enticed…”?
God cannot be tempted but earthbound Jesus could be. This shows a defining difference between Jesus and God. The resurrected Jesus then became as His Father in perfect spiritual form (new body, new [both first (already ‘in Him’) and second] resurrection) as the “first-born of all creation” and no longer able to be tempted.
Although the “devil” has been destroyed in many ways, the destruction of ‘his’ “works” occurs via the removal of his power to create in man a being who produces evil, and that occurs by the ‘natural’ process of temptation. Evil therefore continues to be ‘created’ where the process or event of spiritual crucifixion of the fleshly body (including ‘spiritual’ heart etc.) has not, by faith, taken place [“Those who are His have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires”].
ALL have been “crucified” with Christ. ALL have, like the flood, been ‘put to death’. “One died for all, therefore ALL DIED…” This is valid regardless of whether we might consider the case to be true of only believers or of the whole of the natural creation.
When Jesus said “It is finished”, it was indeed, ALL finished as far as the plan of creation went, and as far as God is concerned it is already done, ALL of physical nature is accorded as dead and of no account apart from its spiritual value through Christ. Those alive (righteous) in Christ are predestined to the ‘actual’ physical resurrection of life, [the “first resurrection” sorry, this should probably have read the second, the first is the spiritual resurrection] just as those not in Christ are predestined to the ‘actual’ (same) resurrection of death [the “second death”].
So the ‘destruction of the devil himself’ has been preordered be effective in those who believe, and ineffective in those who do not. Don’t forget that “the last enemy to be destroyed is DEATH”, not ‘the devil’.
YES people see things and there exists the “supernatural” in various ways, and depending on the culture which experiences such things (E.G. ghosts), superstitions are born. Some (superstitions) are where all unnatural phenomena are given an identity, usually as an “evil spirit” in primitive forms. One of the modern ones seems to be “UFO’s”. Of note is that the Middle Ages presented the burning of “witches” and so on, which presents perhaps an interesting comparison with the stoning of “sinners” as prescribed by law in Moses time. Contrastingly, the fortune telling woman who followed Paul around for several days and was said to have a “spirit of divination” or similar, was neither stoned NOR considered to be of any great demonic influence because Paul tolerated her for days before becoming annoyed and dealing with her by ‘removing’ the “spirit” from her. IF she had been considered to have been a pawn of the devil and intrinsically evil, would he not have dealt with her immediately? By comparison with this response and attitude, the “Christian church” of the “Middle Ages” would appear to be “over the top” and superstitiously itself evilly cruel and barbaric?
As to “demons” we see the reference in Paul’s writings to sacrifices to idols being made to “demons” and he does not want us to be partners? with demons? This tends to indicate that anything other than God on which or to whom we fix unduly our attention, becomes in our mind a source or identity of spiritual evil? The O.T. mentions the cutting down of trees from which one piece is fashioned into an ‘idol god’ which is then ‘fallen down to’ and worshipped, while the remainder of the same piece of wood is trashed and burned in a fire for warmth. Irrational. Whatever we fix our minds on which is not for a Godly purpose, becomes a certain ‘spirit’ and, in extreme cases of religious fixation and mental aberration, a “demon”.
In the garden, everything was fine UNTIL Eve’s mind started to operate in overdrive from the commandment that was given her. Just as Paul says in Romans 7:9 “Once I was alive apart from the law, but WHEN THE COMMANDMENT CAME, sin became alive, and I died.”
As to the “Lord’s Prayer” reference? More to come.
CROSSROMAN 