God did not create evil...then where did Lucifer comes from?
Here's the way I see it (I make assumptions here so be forewarned - this is mostly conjecture and you are free to disagree)
Clearly, Lucifer and all the angelic beings were created by God, they have a beginning. Since the purpose of angels we are told is to minister to the elect on behalf of God, it is probable that there was no need for angels until the creation event. It is also probable that God intended to have a witness to His glory in creation, and that was via the angels. So, sometime earlier (not recorded) God created the angels, prior to the beginning of Day One.
Heb 1:13-14 But which of the angels has he told at any time, "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet?" (14) Aren't they all serving spirits, sent out to do service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?The timing of the creation of the host of heaven would be one of the first creative acts ... not mentioned in Genesis (or the Bible) since Genesis 1 describes the creation of all the host of earth, not the host of heaven. Yes it is conjecture, but it is not unlike God to maintain a witness in heaven to the unfolding of His salvation plan (which began with Gen1:1).
Gen 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.Prior to the "beginning" of God's creative act there was only the Trinity - no time existed. One of the first events that coincided with God's creation plan is the bringing forth of time. The Sun, moon, and stars were not created until Day 4 as markers, but time still existed as creative acts occurred in sequence. Time was divided into two parts on Day 1, but it already existed prior to its division. It seems illogical that the angels had existence prior to the creation of time - their existence doesn't extend into that vast otherness when there was only God.
Heb 1 describes the superiority of Christ to the angels, where the angels are but temporal created beings "
who makes His angels spirits" but to God (Christ) the emphasis includes His superior elevation to equality with God, "
Your throne, O God, is forever an ever" - defining the infinite nature of Christ and His eternality over-against the subservience and limitations of angelic beings, which are inferior.
So, since angels serve God in the cause of the elect, their creation preceded the creation of those they would serve (lest they have no purpose in existence) and further, their creation would be prior to the cosmos' creation so that they can act as witnesses to all that God did.
That means Lucifer witnessed creation - including the creation of Adam and Eve.
Clearly all that God created was perfect, without sin, both Lucifer, the angels, to include Adam and Eve. Since both Eve and Adam rebelled (being perfect) we know that perfection does not exclude the ability to break God's Law. But what Law existed prior to the first being given in the garden? I think the answer is that there was none.
This is the first moral Law:
Gen 2:16-17 And Jehovah God commanded the man, saying, Eating you may eat of every tree in the garden; (17) but of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil you may not eat, for in the day of the eating of it, dying you shall die.Certainly all of sentient creation had knowledge of Good - all that God made and did up to that point was good. But Adam and Eve did not know evil - unless and until they ate what was forbidden, which was to do evil. The very act was self-fulfilling and transforming within them, in that they gained this knowledge not through study and observation but via their own doing. They "knew" evil because now they were evil.
Lucifer was spirit and the commandment did not apply directly to him not to eat. Spirits do not eat. His sin was in deceiving God's elect. Rather than serving righteously on behalf of God, Lucifer misrepresented God to the man and woman. Lucifer violated the very purpose of his creation. For this he was cast out of heaven - meaning his permanent dwelling was no longer tolerated in God's presence (though he could visit to challenge and insult God on a regular basis). The rebelling angelic spirits were to be on the earth with rebel man, whom they now rule over, but no place was left for them in heaven.
So, what caused Adam and Eve to sin? Their sin was the desire to obtain more than God's provision allowed for them - same as you and me when we sin. God illuminates a path for us to walk - but we run ahead (and run quickly into trouble). We think we are missing out if we only have the blessings that God provides. Our pride wants more than God alone - which is idolatry.
Note that, Lucifer and the angels were not created in God's image - they are a lower order of creation (but above the animals). They have a will and to some degree understand God and give glory to Him -- but lack that similitude with God in their nature. They do not correspond spiritually to having a relationship with God, as familiar, with the ability to commune with God. Granted the Fall broke that Family-relationship in man but it is restored in Christ such that we become sons and daughters of God, and inherit all the rights of such. So, Lucifer did not walk with God in the cool breeze of the afternoon - he was a servant to man and God, nothing more (as important as that job is).
Given that Lucifer did deceived Eve, it is possible that apart from Lucifer's clever deception Eve might have continued in obedience to Adam and God, and neither would have sinned. In other words, it was in God's economy to create the perfect angelic being called Lucifer for the purpose of testing Adam. The test did not have to be indefinitely long or severe, simply sufficient to reveal that a perfect man, or woman, rapidly and easily departs from perfect obedience at the mere suggestion to do so. That doesn't make the man or woman less than perfect, as perfection in creation does not demand an impeccable nature.
Lest you think you could do better in the garden, consider that your moral state prior to the fall must be equal to Adam's, no better and no worse - and he fell. So what would prevent you from succumbing? You do not imagine yourself to be more perfect than Adam, do you? Thus, when Adam fell we all fell in Adam, our Federal Head.
Some people demand that Adam and Eve were incapable of sinning because they were perfect. But this is to pour more into the meaning of perfection than God permits. We see in Eve's response to Lucifer her immediate adulterating of God's Law by adding "
and you shall not touch it", which God did not say. At the very first challenge she began equivocating. Obviously a perfect being was the one adding to God's word, which is a moral imperfection. Yes, they were perfect in obedience, up to the point they were tested.
Some will say it is unfair of God to make a perfect being that is so easily toppled from its perfect perch? Why? Who are we to reply back to God on how He will order His creation. As a clay pot, currently cracked and damaged, I don't find it my place to criticize the Potter for not making an indestructible pot. His plan is superior to mine - as I know nothing compared to Him. So it is not "unfair" and God has not sinned in doing so.
As an aside, we will never know if the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was sufficient in itself to topple Eve and Adam into rebellion. Eve had already considered the tree desirable to the eyes and had fruit that could be eaten (see Gen 3:6), so she was half-way there, all Satan did was add the selling point of how it could benefit their wisdom - that is, appeal to ego. I think the Tree had a dual purpose - to bring out Lucifer's sinful desire as well as Adam and Eve's.
I can concede that Adam and Eve's sin may have required a push from Lucifer, but as stated it is likely the push was not for the purpose of toppling Adam only but for also toppling Lucifer himself. We can say absolutely that God intended from the creation of this forbidden Tree and the command not to eat of it, to bring about the Fall of all three: Man, Woman, and Lucifer, because that was the outcome. God didn't positively act to overrule their individual nature - He simply passively had to effectively dug a pit, severely warn them to stay away, and in short order they each wantonly jumped headlong into it.
So what caused Adam and Eve to sin? In short: The establishment of a verbal Law. That was all that was required to bring out rebellion. Something so simple. God did not ask them to carry a weight - only to abstain from carrying it. Keeping the Law required no effort. They had blessing galore in other trees with edible fruit. They lacked nothing. Yet they perceived themselves diminished and lacking, for they didn't have it all. Eve's questioning imagination was turning before Lucifer arrived, why did God not give us this Tree too? She was set to be exploited by Lucifer.
What then caused Lucifer to sin? I say it was primarily the creation of two beings, beings who challenged his preeminence before God. Perfect beings, as the angels were, does not mean they were immune to rebellion. God's pinnacle of creation was perhaps the only thing that could manifest rebellion in these angels. The one charge they had was to minister as servants to God's creation - the one area of contention was with the created order. What has been Satan's goal? Isn't it to be worshiped? It seems to me that the test that toppled Lucifer was the mere existence of Adam and Eve. A symbiotic failure existed between them, each brought the other down to ruin.
Once we permit the idea that perfect beings are peccable, that is capable of sin, we can see that God's testing program was clearly aimed at all parties. It was established exactly to bring forth the intended result. Most angels desired to follow God, some desired to be worshiped by man and rule with Lucifer. What was the difference between the two groups? Those that rebelled likely lacked a full understanding about the character of God so as to know the futility of their quest in rebelling. Being of a lower created nature the angels were never redeemable beings (their sin is never paid) nor are they partakers of God's blessings in the likeness of Adam's lineage. But as God chose to give insight so the angels made their choice. Once the angels sinned (or didn't) the test was complete - those that remained loyal will always remain loyal.
People will always rejoin "
how could the first sin have arisen?” meaning, how sin could occur when there was not a thought of it in anyone's mind. My response is that if God had not made a superior created beings in Adam and Eve, angelic rebellion would never have occurred. And likewise, if God had not given a verbal command to Adam and Eve, then they both would have remained sinless. But God didn't do that, did He? His creative work was on full display before the angelic host - and not every one of them appreciated the new situation that was given them. Lucifer considered a path that seemed to provide victory for himself - and with the forbidden Tree came the means to obtaining his goal. So sin was found in Lucifer because the situation changed. Though created perfect, once God altered the created order sin was made manifest in those who God did not provide the wisdom to see the folly of their actions. This is in God's control - to illuminate some angels so as to avoid folly and to hide wisdom from others. God does not have to give equality of wisdom equally to all - and we know from observation that He does not.
To continue with that thought: Notice how easily God defeated Satan at the cross. Satan should have realized that Christ (the Anointed) was to be the Redeemer and had to die as the perfect sacrifice. The goal of Satan should have been to prevent anything bad from happening so that the Romans and Jews let Jesus continue to live out His life unmolested. Satan lacked knowledge. I think those angels that fell are just as unaware and ignorant of God's Power then as they were at the Fall. The difference between those that fell and those that remain probably rests in God's desire to reveal Himself to some and not to others. Again, this is God's prerogative, to reveal His attributes or hide Himself - to bring about the desired result.
Certainly Lucifer and his clan did not seek out fully the knowledge of God; their eyes were on the creation. And God did not desire to reveal Himself either to the angels who had already begun to devise mischief against God. Again, God is not mandated or required to stop Lucifer from rebelling, or to even warn him of the consequences. Why didn't Lucifer simply carry out the same level of obedience toward God as the rest of the angels that did not rebel? My conjecture (and that is all it is) holds that God's glory and character were on display - Lucifer was in the highest position to see it and be in awe - but like Adam and Eve, he did not want the path that God provided for him to walk. He saw an opportunity to be more than he was created to be. Just like Eve's ego was inflated with having what she believed was being withheld from her by God. We can ask, "why would a perfect being desire a sinful thing?" but the answer is always the same. Moral perfection is temporary - it last only so long as obedience is maintained. Change the circumstances that affect you, introduce some new players into the mix, and out of perfection comes imperfection - meaning sin.
In conclusion, the sin of each entity involved was their own. God did not force Lucifer into sin. God did not overrule the perfection of any of them. In their perfect moral state they could not sin ... until the situation they found themselves in changed, then rebellion was revealed. Slightly different for man vs. angel but the test for each was both an appeal to ego, to be something beyond God's intended purpose.
Yes, God knew exactly the outcome, and He intended that outcome for His own Glory. Nothing occurring in the Fall can we blame God for - each party Eve, Adam, Lucifer, the angels ... they all stand guilty and condemned for their evil thoughts and actions. We must be careful not to insist that God is somehow wrong for setting up the events that led to the Fall. God is perfectly within His rights to do as He has - and as stated elsewhere this outcome was the most perfect means to obtain the most perfect goal that a most perfect God could perfectly devise.
john
Topic: Why Does God Allow Suffering (Read 13724 times)