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venerdì 31 agosto 2012

WHO IS LUCIFER?


WHO IS SATAN?
Who is Satan? What is his purpose? What will be his end?
In this article I will try to explain who this great person is. I call him "great" because I can't minimize his influence in our life and the importance he has in God's divine plan for our salvation.
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He was allowed to do his evil work in the garden of Eden because it was necessary that sin should enter into the world (see Romans 5:12), where sin is, there is also death. Without sin there would be no need for a savior. But through the death of Jesus He was able to bring about the resurrection of the flesh and therefore won the victory over death. Therefore the serpent was allowed to deceive Adam and Eve. Like the serpent, the devil's tongue is like a fork. It pretends to say one thing, but actually means something else. Therefore his tongue is a symbol of the liar.
In Isaiah 14:12-15 we learn that Satan's real name was Lucifer which means "son of the morning star." If we look at Revelation 22:16 we see that Jesus is refereed to as "the bright and morning star." Furthermore, Isaiah tells us that Lucifer fell from heaven. Why? What made him fall? Again, according to Isaiah, Lucifer sought to exalt his throne above all the stars of God and to be like the most High. Thus, he sought to be as great or greater than God. On the other hand, Jesus sought only to do the will of His Father.
But how could he possibly hope to exalt himself above God unless he had some great power or authority? It's interesting to note that the Bible dictionary explains that the word Lucifer means "lightbearer." Since God is filled with light has not darkness in him, therefore Lucifer, at that time, must have been a great spiritual being if his name meant lightbearer. In Revelation 12:4,7-13 we read that he was able to convince a third of the hosts of God to rebel against their Creator. Therefore, he must have had great power,
But was he also in a position of great authority? Think of it this way: Can a soldier hope to overthrow a general? This is not very likely. Likewise, Lucifer could not have led a revolt against God, the greatest being of all, unless he was close in power and authority to God Himself.
But once he fell, there is no more mention of him being called by that glorious, important name. When he was cast out of heaven, he fell from God's grace and he fell from his position of power and authority. Thus, his name was changed to signify his new condition. The word Devil, in Hebrew means deceiver. The word Satan in Hebrew means adversary.
Because of what he did in the beginning and how he continues to oppose everything God stands for, Satan has no hope of receiving any kind of salvation. But because each of us has the opportunity to receive God's grace, Satan hates each one of us. Knowing that we have the opportunity to enjoy true happiness, Satan tries his best to give us pain, and discomfort in his never ending effort to thwart the plan of God. .
However, rather than destroying God's plan, the Lord is actually using him to further His own purposes. Take for example what happened in the garden of Eden. To think that God wasn't aware that Adam and Eve wouldn't have been deceived by the great deceiver is an absurd idea, especially if we believe in the omniscience of God.
Satan thinks he's playing a game with God. The problem is that God knows every move Satan intends to make. Therefore, He anticipates and allows Satan to make whatever move he wants and then turns it into His advantage. It is certain that God has the power to stop Satan at any time. The fact that He allows him to perform his evil on earth shows that God has a beneficial reason for letting Satan rage throughout the earth. I also firmly believe that in the beginning God did everything possible to convert Lucifer from his destructive ways, but He didn't force him to do good. Had Satan listened to God, there's no doubt that his life would have been completely different.
Regarding his end, according to Revelation, he shall be cast into outer darkness where there shall be wailing and weeping and gnashing of teeth. But when we think about the glory he once had and how all of this could have been avoided, it is a very sad thing to contemplate. And when we realize that Jesus taught that we should love our enemies, surely Satan is our greatest enemy. Therefore, rather than rejoice that his end will be so terrible, we should have compassion for him. He had a great opportunity and he wasted it. How can any righteous person find joy in that?
Revelation 3:14
And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
Jesus said here to be :" the beginning of the creation of God;
Who made Lucifer?
In Job, the angels who dwell in the presence of God are referred to as the Sons of God, and the Bible says that Satan was among them Job 1:6. We believe that man and angels are of the same race, and Jesus also, sons of God. He is given the hiughest honor as the "Firstbegotten" in the spirit Hebrew 1:4-6 and the Only Begotten Son of God in the flesh John 1:14  3:16. So latter day saints believe that all mankind are brothers, and there is strong scriptural basis for their belief. But when anti Mormons say lds believe that Jesus and satan are brothers, they are trying to TWIST the perception of that belief in the mind of those to whom they are speaking. They are implying that lds either equate Jesus with evil or  equate Satan with good, and that is deception.

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