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August 12, 2017
The next thing that is important for us to identify is the Character traits of God vs. the character traits of Satan.
God is faithful.
Accounts of covenants between God and His people can be found 277 times in the Bible.
Deuteronomy 7:9 says "Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments."
He is so faithful!
2 Thessalonians 3:3 "The Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one."
To Noah (God will save Noah and his family) - Genesis 6:17-18; 9:9-17
To Ishmael (God will bless Ishmael and his descendants) - Genesis 17:18-20
To Moses (God will spare the Israelites if they obey) - Exodus 19:5
To Jacob (God reaffirms His everlasting covenant to Israel) - Psalm 105:10
Another attribute of God is He never lies.
"It is impossible for God to lie." Hebrews 6:13
"God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it?" Numbers 23:19-20
"Also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind."
1 Samuel 15:29
"Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David." Psalm 89:35
Another attribute of God is that He is Love.
1 John 3:10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil can be distinguished: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:16
And we have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love; whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God's love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might have life through Him.... And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. I John 4:7-10
Another attribute of God is that He is Light.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:5
We write these things so that our joy may be complete. And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you: God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth....I John 1:4-6
And we always refer to Satan as the darkness, as being the dark side, the hour of shadows, "the time of darkness", the time of Satan.
Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life." John 8:12
John 12:36 "While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of light."
John 12:46 "I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should remain in darkness."
And Jesus is Humble.
Philippians 2:5-11 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, Jesus.
2 Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.
He left the riches of Heaven to come down and demonstrate the Father's love to us.
John 13:3-7 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, do you wash my feet?" Jesus answered him, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand."
So, He humbled Himself like a slave, to bend down and wash the feet of His disciples.
Matthew 11:29 "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."
Matthew 21:1-12 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord needs them,' and he will send them at once." This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, "Say to the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden."'
And more things about His nature, about Jesus' nature. He is compassionate and merciful.
Psalm 86:15 For you, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy.
Mark 6:34 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.
Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Matthew 11:28-30 "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
John 3:16-17 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."
Now let's take a look at Satan and what his character traits are.
"When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies." John 8:44
And remember, the very first time that Satan appears in the Bible, in Genesis 3 the first words on his lips are suspicious of the truth ("Did God say, You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?"). And the second words on his lips were a subtle falsehood ("You will not die"). John says that Satan "has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him." (John 8:44).
So here we are dealing with the essence of falsehood and deception.
He was a liar.
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44
He is a schemer.
Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:11-12
And he also states in 2 Corinthians 2:11 "that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs."
"the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world . . . the accuser" (Revelation 12:9-10), "the ruler of this world" (John 12:31), and "the god of this age" (2 Corinthians 4:4).
He is our "adversary [who] prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). The whole world "follows the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience." (Ephesians 2:2).
Paul talks about him in 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 as disguising himself as an angel of light. So it is not strange if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness."
And I had that experience when I was in the New Age. I was studying to be a trans-medium, and I thought 'wow, this is great! Angels are gonna help me!' Well, they turned out to be familiar spirits, lying spirits. They disguised themselves in different things to deceive me. And finally the Lord broke through ALL of that and I renounced them and came to know the Truth.
SINFUL. Satan is one who practices unrighteousness, just as Christ is righteous.
"The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil. Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God's seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God." John 3:8-9
Satan tempts people to sin.
He tested Jesus in the wilderness -- he wanted him to abandon his mission. (Matthew 4:1-11). This is what he did successfully to Judas in the last hours of Jesus's life (Luke 22:3-6). And Paul warns against this for all the believers: "I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ." 2 Corinthians 11:3
The acts of the flesh, which are involved in satanic cults, sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; idolatry and sorcery; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions, and envy; drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Galatians 5:19-21
And the last one: he is proud.
We are warned in I Timothy 3:6 not to pick a novice for a position of leadership, lest being puffed up he fall into the condemnation of the Devil.
There are other references to Satan and Eternal damnation, but I will leave that for the scholarly teachers on the internet. I am simply wanting you to know the difference between Satan and his personality and origins and Jesus and His personality and His Eternal Being which is without a beginning or an end, but is eternal.
And Jesus, who is the image of the Father became flesh that we might know the true nature of God, which is LOVE.
He came into the world to be crucified and offer Himself as a sacrifice once and for all to redeem fallen mankind. And to destroy the works of the devil.
Revelation 20:10 says one day the warfare will be over: "The devil . . . [will be] thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone . . . and will be tormented day and night forever and ever." Matthew 8 and Matthew 25