The Berean Workman

The Will of the Devil For You

(2 Timothy 2:24-26 KJV)  And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, {25} In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; {26} And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

Paul wrote to Timothy how to restore saved ones who are opposing themselves, living contrary to who God has made them to be in Christ. The way to recover such a person is to instruct them in meekness the sound doctrine that we learned from the Apostle Paul. Sound doctrine is what God will use to grant them repentance, a changing of the mind, to recover themselves out of the snare of the devil.

Satan has a will for your life: to hold you captive so your life will not reflect the godliness that you have in Christ.

Satan wants to be like the most High, the possessor of heaven and earth. God has a plan for the heaven and earth (Eph 1:10 ; Col 1:16-18). Satan wants to take over what God has planned.

In Isaiah 14:13-14 we learn of Satan’s plan and in Ezekiel 28 what he does with the plan.

(Ezekiel 28:1-6 KJV)  The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, {2} Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:  {3} Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee: {4} With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures: {5} By thy great wisdom and by thy traffic hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches: {6} Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God;
(Ezekiel 28:14-15 KJV)  Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. {15} Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

Satan was the wisest, most beautiful creature God created. God gave him creativity and beauty in order to lead creation into the worship of God. However, instead of appreciation toward God, Satan turned his focus on himself; he becomes lifted up by pride and thinks that creation ought to worship him not God. He devises a plan to take over.

(Ezekiel 28:16-19 KJV)  By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. {17} Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. {18} Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. {19} All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.

Then Satan took his plan and went out to the other angels and began to sell the idea that he can do it better than God. He convinces them to take over and undermine God’s authority. Rev 12 says that a third of the angels joined Satan in his plan.

God created hell to stop the rebellion (Matthew 25:41). He created a judgment of wrath that was so terrifying that it brought the rebellion to a screeching halt. He covered the universe in darkness (Gen 1:2). Then He creates light so they can see what He is going to do. He sets the earth up there and gets it functioning again. Then He puts somebody on the earth, something like the angels never seen before.

(Genesis 1:26-27 KJV)  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. {27} So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Those angels watched what God was doing; they never saw anything like it before

(Genesis 1:28 KJV)  And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

God’s response to what Satan did was to create man on the earth in the midst of the Satanic realm to be used by God in the thwarting and defeating of Satan’s plan. God put man on the planet for the purpose of restoring the earth back under His dominion, to take back the authority that Satan usurped. 

The first thing Satan did was go and enlist man over to his side. (Genesis 3) Satan sold his plan to man and immediately man sided with Satan.

(Genesis 3:4-6 KJV)  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: {5} For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. {6} And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

All of the heavenly host was watching. Satan sold Adam and Eve the same bill of goods that he sold to the angels: you can be as gods.

(Romans 1:21-23 KJV)  Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. {22} Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, {23} And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

Man believed the lie that they can becomes as gods. Satan thought he outsmarted God; when Adam and Eve belived the lie, Satan became the undisputed king and ruler.

(Luke 4:5-7 KJV)  And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. {6} And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. {7} If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.

Satan tempted Christ by saying, ‘If you will make me God then I will give you the planet." Satan understood Christ came to reclaim the earth. Satan said, "I will give it to you, if you will worship me." The Lord Jesus Christ does not dispute that it was given to Satan. Why not? Because the fact that Satan had the crown on his head was true.

(Ephesians 2:2 KJV)  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

Paul calls Satan the prince of the power of the air: chief ruler of the air, the invisible realm. Satan is prince of the heavenly realm just as he is prince of the earthly realm. These two titles describe him in relation of his usurpation of the territory.

In Genesis 3, when Satan took the crown from Adam for the earth God made a promise in response to what Adam did:

(Genesis 3:15 KJV)  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

This promise tells us that God had a plan in response to Satan's usurpation of authority. We see God’s wisdom working here.

Bruising of the head = 1st coming of Christ
Crushing of the head - 2nd coming of Christ

God gives the promise of the seed of woman; it is through this seed that God will set up a kingdom to restore His rule over the earth.This seed line is vested in the nation Israel. The seed of the woman becomes the seed of Abraham, which becomes the seed of David, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is through the Lord Jesus Christ that Israel will reign and establish that kingdom.

In prophecy, the purpose is the restoration of God's authority over this planet earth through the instrumentality of a kingdom given to the nation Israel. This kingdom and God’s use of Israel with Christ as their Messiah is how God will restore his headship over the planet and destroy all other kingdoms and have just His kingdom reign. This is the goal of prophecy.

(Daniel 2:44 KJV)  And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

 God of heaven will set up a kingdom, a.k.a. as the kingdom of heaven. It can also be called the kingdom of God because the God of heaven set it up. Now, this in not talking about a kingdom in heaven but the kingdom of heaven that God sets up down here on the earth and it will stand forever. One day God is going to establish His kingdom and dominion on the earth over this planet and He will use the nation Israel to do that.

(Zechariah 14:9 KJV)  And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.

The issue of the kingdom is man’s purpose to restore the earth and subdue it. However, man failed and joined the satanic rebellion and turned over the planet to Satan. 

Since man failed to do what God intended for him to do God gives a promise the He will do it for man. God will accomplish plan to restore the earth through the nation Israel. This is why Satan opposes Israel so intensely.

Why would Satan have offered the kingdom to Jesus Christ? If Christ came to get the planet, then why would Satan give it to Him? The reason is if the kingdoms were taken away from Satan then Satan would lose his stronghold in the heavens also. The goal of prophecy is to restore the earth.

(Ephesians 1:9 KJV)  Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:

God made known to us the mystery of His will. His revealed will was to restore the earth. However, His will also had a secret. God had a secret purpose from before the foundation of the world.  Not only was God’s purpose in prophecy revealed but now He has made known to us a secret, something that He had always planned to do.

(Ephesians 1:10 KJV)  That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:

God’s plan is to gather all things in heaven and earth in one in Christ. Satan’s plan was to take the heaven and the earth. From Genesis until Paul, it was only God’s revealed will to restore earth through Israel. But now we know that He will restore the heavens also.

We, as members of the body of Christ, are a heavenly people. It is through the members of the body of Christ that God will restore the heavens.

(Colossians 1:16-20 KJV)  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: {17} And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. {18} And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. {19} For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; {20} And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

Here we see what the "all things" are: thrones, dominions, principalities, powers. These are governmental authorities, all created in Christ and for Him. The blood of the cross is the means in which He will restore these things unto Himself.

In verse 18, we read that Christ is the head of the body. Why is this important? The Lord Jesus Christ is head of Israel: King of kings and Lord of lords over all the earth. He is made the head of the body so He might have preeminence in all things. If He were to be just head of things on the earth, He would not be head of all, all positions of rank and authority.

God will use Israel to restore the earth and the church, the body of Christ, to restore the heavenly places. God has a two-fold purpose that is really one purpose: to make the Lord Jesus Christ restore His headship over all things.

(Ephesians 3:9-10 KJV)  And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: {10} To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

Notice this is all being done to the intent those in heaven would know the manifold wisdom of God. You know what Satan wants to do with this?  2 Corinthians 4: 3  "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost." Satan cannot overcome so he will try to hide what God has done.

Satan's will for your life is to keep you from understanding God's purpose is for you to restore God's rule and authority in the heavenly places. He is most successful in doing this by selling you the lie that all of God's promises and blessings to Israel (things pertaining to the earth) belong to you. His goal is to get you to follow the wrong set of instruction so that the manifold wisdom of God will not be known unto the pricipalities and powers in heavenly places.


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