Why God Allowed Sin to Enter His Creation

by Bruce Mills

Yesterday I taught on Romans 9:14-24, a passage which clearly deals with God’s sovereignty in election. In verse 22, Paul states, “What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?” Now, I have dealt with that verse in a previous post on the doctrine of reprobation (2/18/08) so I will not rehash that issue.

However, one issue which we discussed yesterday dealt with God’s sovereignty in relationship to sin. This is a very serious issue in theology, because after all, if we have no answer for the horrendous things which take place around us, we might conclude either that God is impotent and incapable of dealing with such matters, or that He is a mean and vindictive tyrant who enjoys inflicting pain on His subjects.

So why does God permit evil in His creation? Why does He allow such events as a deranged gunman killing 32 students and faculty members on a college campus in Virginia in April 2007? What about mass genocide as has taken place in Bosnia and Rwanda within the past few years? What about radical Islamic terrorists flying commandeered airplanes into towers, killing thousands?

And why didn’t God simply wipe out Lucifer (Satan) at the very beginning when he rebelled? After all, He has the right and power to do that. In fact, Revelation 20:10 says he is will do just that someday. So why didn’t God cast him into the Lake of Fire the day after he rebelled? Why let him rampage through humanity for centuries?

What possible answer does Christianity have for such questions? Using material that I gleaned from both John Piper and John MacArthur, let me see if I can answer that.

The ultimate answer is that “all things have been created through [Christ] and for [Christ]” (Col. 1:16). Clearly God knew all that Satan would do if He created him and permitted him to rebel. So in choosing to create him, God was choosing to fold all of that evil into His purpose for creation. His purpose for creation was the glory of his Son. All things, including Satan and all his followers, were created with this in view. God created them knowing what they would do, and that knowledge was taken into account in God’s decision to create them. Therefore, the evil that Satan and his demonic forces do is simply one aspect of how God’s greatest and perfect purpose will be accomplished.

And in Romans 9:22, we learn that the entrance of sin into the world was necessary so that God could display His wrath, judgment, holy anger, vengeance, and justice. That’s why it says God was “willing to demonstrate His wrath.” His wrath is just as much an attribute of God’s nature as any other of His attributes. And so God allowed sin to enter into His perfect creation in order that He could display His holy wrath, because if there was no sin, He would have had no reason to display His wrath, and without His wrath, the fullness of the glory of God would not have been revealed.

Satan’s fall and ongoing existence are for the glory of Christ. Ultimately, Jesus Christ will be more highly honored, more deeply appreciated, and more deeply loved because He defeats Satan—not the moment Satan fell, but through millennia of enduring him and those who follow him “with much patience”--and decisively through His own death. A single, sudden, and infinitely holy display of power to destroy Satan immediately after his fall would have been a glorious display of power and righteousness. But it would not have been the fullest possible display of the full glory of the Son and the Father. God chose an infinitely wise way of displaying the full magnificence of divine glory by letting Satan fall and do his work for thousands of years.

The glory of Christ reaches its highest point in Christ’s obedient sacrifice on the cross where Jesus triumphed over the devil (Col. 2:15). Jesus said in that final hour of his own sacrifice, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him” (John 13:31). Paul said that the crucifixion of Christ is the point where we see his wisdom and power most gloriously displayed: “But we preach Christ crucified…the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:23–24).

Satan, with all the evil and misery he brings to this planet, serves to magnify the power and wisdom and love and grace and mercy and patience and wrath of Jesus Christ. We would not know Christ in the fullness of His glory if He had not defeated Satan in the way He did.

Now, I understand that that’s not an easy answer to accept for many. But that’s the answer God gives us in Romans 9:22. Had there been no Satan and no sin, God couldn’t have displayed His wrath against sin and we wouldn’t have known that aspect of His nature. And because that aspect of His nature wouldn’t have been put on display, the full revelation of God’s glory would have been lost. So God created Satan and allowed and endured sin for the purpose of revealing His holy wrath in its judgment and its punishment. And it had to be so in order for God’s character to be fully revealed.

The text also says, “and to make His power known.” Here is another reason why God created Satan and permitted sin to enter His creation. First of all, He did it so that He could show His wrath. Secondly, He did it so that He could show His power.

How does God show His power in relationship to sin? First of all, in His judgment of sin. The closing chapters of the book of Revelation reveal the power of God in judging sin. If you read them, you will see the devastating plagues that He will one day send on the earth. You will see the great fiery judgments that He will bring upon men. And you will see Jesus Christ return as the conquering Lord, riding on a white horse, carrying a sword, wearing blood splattered garments as He comes to defeat Satan, his demonic forces, and the armies of the world and take the earth for His own possession so He can establish the millennial Kingdom. And after the final rebellion, you will see all of unredeemed humanity collected before the Great White Throne because God has the power to bring them out of the graves so that He can bring them before His judgment bar and then send them into the Lake of Fire forever. That is truly a demonstration of His unlimited power to judge sin.

And so, Satan and sin exist in order that God may fully glorify Himself and His Son, and demonstrate that part of His nature which is holy and reacts in violent wrath against sin and evil. And God created Satan and allowed sin in order that He could demonstrate His tremendous power as well as His vengeance, and His power is seen in its ability to conquer all that attempts to conquer Him.

Can Satan Know Our Thoughts?

by Bruce Mills

I have had many friends and acquaintances tell me how Satan was attacking them in their minds, causing them to think about things they shouldn't be thinking about; i.e., lustful thoughts, lewd thoughts, hateful thoughts, vengeful thoughts, and so forth. I was thinking about this recently and pondering whether or not such a statement is accurate. I have concluded that it is not. Let me explain.

Scripture is very clear that God is omniscient and understands and knows our thoughts. Psalm 139:1-4 says, "O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, You know it all." 1 Chron. 28:9 tells us, "the Lord searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts." So there is no doubt that God knows what we are thinking at every moment of our lives.

But can we say the same thing about Satan and his demonic forces? The answer is no. There is nothing in Scripture which would tell us that Satan is omniscient, or has the capability of knowing our thoughts or reading our minds. He is extremely adept at predicting our behavior, based on his knowledge of man's sinful nature and desires. So he is quite capable of setting up external temptations for us which, because of our fallen, depraved human nature, we are often lured into.

So how do we explain the terrible thoughts that are filled with lust, filth, anger, malice, revenge, and lewdness that often fill our minds? They are simply the activity of our own fallen flesh. Man is totally depraved; that is to say, every part of man, including his mind and thought processes, have been corrupted and affected by sin. We don't need Satan to attack us to demonstrate that we are completely debased by sin. We need only consider our thoughts, which are outside of Satan's realm of direct attack, to recognize that we are depraved and fatally diseased by sin.

Now, I am not denying that Satan is a master at throwing up some incredibly designed temptations to attract us so that our sinful minds then run wild with wicked thoughts. But he cannot read our minds and thoughts and attack us directly in that area. All of his assaults are external, although many of them lead to internal sinful thoughts.

So what benefit is there in recognizing this? First, it helps us realize that we are far less often the victim of a direct attack by Satan as we are by our own willingness to allow our fallen flesh to control us. We are quite capable of amassing a vast stockpile of sin in our lives without ever being the victim of a direct attack by Satan or one of his demons. The old phrase, "The devil made me do it," just isn't correct. Our sin is far more often the result of our own fallen depraved nature than from an assault by the evil one.

Second, knowing that in contrast to Satan, God is omniscient and knows our every thought should be a strong encouragement and preventive against allowing our minds to dwell on wickedness. God knows every thought we have at every moment, so if we desire to honor Him as we should, we must repent of those evil thoughts and turn our minds to those things which please Him.

Third, this tells us how important it is that we as believers are to be constantly allowing the Holy Spirit to use God's Word as a means of renewing our minds (Rom. 12:1-2, Eph. 4:22-24). When our minds are renewed so that we think about the things that God would desire for us to think about, we are far less susceptible to Satan's temptations when they appear in our lives. We are to put off the old self, put on the new self, and present our body as a living sacrifice to God. That includes our mind.

How do we do that? By constantly pouring God's Word into our minds, so that we begin to think through a biblical grid about every thing we do and every decision we face. Read the Scriptures daily, meditating on each passage, carefully and thoughtfully. Read all of the Word; not just the parts you prefer. Remember, all Scripture is inspired (God-breathed) and profitable for you (2 Tim. 3:16). If you think you are too busy to sit and read, then listen to the Scriptures being read. There are several good translations which are available on CD and mp3 format which you can use. You can even listen on-line here.

My point is that if you wish to gain victory over sin in your life, you must know God's Word. Once your mind is filled with and consumed by Scripture, you will find that whenever you face a temptation, whenever a wicked thought comes into your mind, a particular verse or passage which specifically deals with that issue will come to mind and you can use it to defeat the flesh and gain the victory.

Listening to Christian music which is theologically sound and exalts Christ is another way to fill your mind with thoughts which will protect you from falling victim to Satan's assaults. But be careful in this area; make sure the music is theologically sound. Much of that which is popular today is man-centered rather than Christ exalting. Focus on music that praises God for who He is and what He has done in Christ.

So, don't worry about Satan being able to read your mind--he cannot. Nor does he directly place thoughts in your mind. Those evil thoughts you have are merely the result of your own fallen sinful heart. Just concentrate on renewing your mind with God's Word and walking in obedience to it. When you do that, you will find that when Satan or his demons do place a temptation in front of you, you will be far less susceptible to it than you were before. And you can recall the truths you have placed in your heart from the Bible, and by thinking on those things, you can defeat the enemy and the flesh and bring honor to our Lord Jesus Christ.