Hebrews 2:14
"Him who holds the power of death." God?
Funny, no. "Him who holds the power of death" in this passage is Satan.
Satan is the father of death, no? It was he that tempted the woman in the garden; it was on his account that man fell. So as God is the father of life, Satan is the father of death.
So it is in all things: God fathers life, Satan fathers death from life. God fathers love, Satan fathers lust from love. God fathers need and desire, Satan fathers envy, jealousy, and all manner of evil ambition. Satan does not create evil from nothing; he is not a Creator. He merely twists the things God has made.
As we are made by God, so was Satan. We are free to make our own choices; so was he. We are free to use God's creation to our own creative ends; so is he.
Satan is not the one with the power of death because it is something he created or innovated. He has the power of death because he is the cause of death; he drove men to death at the beginning, and he does so now. He wants death for you, and he wants death for me, because he chose the evil instead of the good.
God gives us that choice. Through Jesus Christ, Who took on our humanity for us, we have the choice to become righteous. It's a hard road, and it's not a quick one; but it is a journey He will make with us.
God made us to need: we need food to survive. We need water for our bodies to function. We need companionship to stimulate our minds and to keep us grounded in reality. But we need more than this. We need purpose, we need meaning. We need for there to be a reason we're here. Scientists find that reason in science, but we find our reason in God.
How do we fulfill that need? Can we find that fulfillment in oaken pews or in golden crosses? Is it in wooden statues built by men?
God has given us the means to experience closeness with Him, and it's not in cults or in rituals or in icons or in the world around and the sky above. Our means to learn of God, to be with God, is in the Word of God--He has given us no better means by which we can determine His innate attributes or His glory, and He has given us no other way to realize His wishes for us.
It is by the Word that we know Jesus Christ, by the Spirit and from the Word that we learn of God, by our knowledge and faith in the Word that we discern and follow what is good.
How can a young man keep his way pure?
By living according to Your word.
I seek You with all my heart;
Do not let me stray from Your commands.
I have hidden Your word in my heart
That I might not sin against You.
Praise be to You, O LORD;
Teach me Your decrees.
With my lips I recount
All the laws that come from Your mouth.
I rejoice in following Your statutes
As one rejoices in great riches.
I meditate on Your precepts
And consider Your ways.
I delight in Your decrees;
I will not neglect Your word.
-Psalm 119:9-16
May this be my prayer and yours all the days of our (young) lives!
Funny, no. "Him who holds the power of death" in this passage is Satan.
Satan is the father of death, no? It was he that tempted the woman in the garden; it was on his account that man fell. So as God is the father of life, Satan is the father of death.
So it is in all things: God fathers life, Satan fathers death from life. God fathers love, Satan fathers lust from love. God fathers need and desire, Satan fathers envy, jealousy, and all manner of evil ambition. Satan does not create evil from nothing; he is not a Creator. He merely twists the things God has made.
As we are made by God, so was Satan. We are free to make our own choices; so was he. We are free to use God's creation to our own creative ends; so is he.
Satan is not the one with the power of death because it is something he created or innovated. He has the power of death because he is the cause of death; he drove men to death at the beginning, and he does so now. He wants death for you, and he wants death for me, because he chose the evil instead of the good.
God gives us that choice. Through Jesus Christ, Who took on our humanity for us, we have the choice to become righteous. It's a hard road, and it's not a quick one; but it is a journey He will make with us.
God made us to need: we need food to survive. We need water for our bodies to function. We need companionship to stimulate our minds and to keep us grounded in reality. But we need more than this. We need purpose, we need meaning. We need for there to be a reason we're here. Scientists find that reason in science, but we find our reason in God.
How do we fulfill that need? Can we find that fulfillment in oaken pews or in golden crosses? Is it in wooden statues built by men?
God has given us the means to experience closeness with Him, and it's not in cults or in rituals or in icons or in the world around and the sky above. Our means to learn of God, to be with God, is in the Word of God--He has given us no better means by which we can determine His innate attributes or His glory, and He has given us no other way to realize His wishes for us.
It is by the Word that we know Jesus Christ, by the Spirit and from the Word that we learn of God, by our knowledge and faith in the Word that we discern and follow what is good.
How can a young man keep his way pure?
By living according to Your word.
I seek You with all my heart;
Do not let me stray from Your commands.
I have hidden Your word in my heart
That I might not sin against You.
Praise be to You, O LORD;
Teach me Your decrees.
With my lips I recount
All the laws that come from Your mouth.
I rejoice in following Your statutes
As one rejoices in great riches.
I meditate on Your precepts
And consider Your ways.
I delight in Your decrees;
I will not neglect Your word.
-Psalm 119:9-16
May this be my prayer and yours all the days of our (young) lives!
posted by ionathas78 at 5:47 AM
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