The question has been asked "Why did God only provide redemption for man and not for the devil
and his fallen angels?" This is a very valid question because knowing the nature of God, he is
totally fair toward everyone. God sent Jesus to redeem mankind from his sins, but there is no
redemption for the devil mentioned in the bible. Why not? The devil was at one time God's right
hand man. He was the greatest angel in heaven. He was adorned with precious stones and walked
in the holy places with God. God loved the devil. Why then is there no redemption for him? Instead
the Bible says that "hell was created for the devil and his angels". So the devil's fate is to spend
eternity in the lake of fire, but mankind has a choice. This doesn't seem fair.
I thought about this for many years, and heard many different opinions, and after much study and
prayer came to this conclusion. The reason there is no redemption for the devil but there is for
mankind is because of the nature of the sin and the way each responded to their sin. Lets look at
both sins and compare them. Lucifer, who was God's right hand man in heaven, at one time ruled
the earth which was populated by some type of beings. He conspired against God and led a
rebellion against God with an army consisting of some of the heavenly angels and these beings. He
wanted to de-throne God and take over. As he said "I will establish my throne above the throne of
God". Of course that didn't happen. He was cast out of heaven and God judged the inhabitants of
the earth who all perished, and became disembodied spirits. They are now the demon spirits that
possess people because they don't have a body of their own. The bible is silent on the origin of
demon spirits, but this is where I think they came from. The devil and his crew established their
command post in the"mid heavens" and now enter heaven and earth from there.
God then chose to re-populate the earth through Adam and Eve and gave them dominion over the
earth. This of course made the devil furious and his first task was to win the earth back from them.
He did this by deceiving Eve and getting her and Adam to disobey God. By doing so, they were now
under his influence and control and man has been ever since. Adam and Eve realized that their life
would never be the
same, and God gave them their penalties for their disobedience. God drove them out of the Garden
of Eden and guarded the way to the tree of life "lest they eat of it and live in their sins forever."
Already God had a plan to redeem mankind because he didn't want to leave them in that hopeless
state. God sent Jesus to die for mankind to pay for their sins, and to win the earth back from the
devil. After Jesus' resurrection, he said "all authority in heaven and earth has now been given to
me". The devil realized he lost, and that's why he has been persecuting those who love Jesus and
manipulating the rest of mankind and turning them against God ever since.
If we compare these two stories, we see that man's sin was simply a sin of disobedience, but the
devil's sin was much more serious. Let me try to show an example of this. Suppose there is a family
business in which a father works with his sons. One day one of the sons does what he is not
supposed to do. He disobeys his father. What does the father do? Does he punish him and throw
him out of the business? No, he sits down with him and they have a talk. They discuss the issue
and once they have resolved it, and the son sees that this was wrong, he apologizes, and the father
forgives him and they go on as if it never happened. The other son however has a different idea. He
decides that this is enough of working for dad and wants to"take over". He gathers up some of his
friends and comes into the business one day with the intention of driving out his father and brothers
and taking over the business. Of course all the employees run to the father's aid and overpower the
son and his friends. The father kicks his son out of the business. At that point the father realizes
that he can never trust his son again. How could he. His son had turned against him. He didn't
just disobey, he actually wanted to drive his father out and take over the business. Unbelievable.
How could he do that?
The father is very grieved by this and tries to reach out to his delinquent son but the son wants
nothing to do with his father anymore. Instead, he carries on his evil ways, causing trouble for his
father's employees, spreading rumors against his father, telling lies to their competitors, and so on.
The father is hurt by all this because he still loves his son and wishes that he would come to his
senses. But he cannot repair the damage because the son is not willing to repent and say he is
sorry. And even if the did, could they ever restore their relationship to what it once was? Could he
ever trust him again? Instead, the son keeps doing evil things against his father, his brother, their
business, and everyone else. His father realizes that his son is lost forever unless he changes his
ways which seems very unlikely. So he excludes his wayward son from his inheritance in the family
business. He prays that some day his son will see the error of his ways and repent.
Here is a summary of how this compares to the devil and God story. Lucifer was God's right hand
man in charge of ruling the earth. One day he decided to "take over". So he convinced some of
God's angels to hook up with him and the inhabitants of the earth and he led a rebellion against God
with the intention of driving God out and taking over. But he lost the battle and was thrown out. God
then created Adam and Eve and gave them dominion over the earth. The devil tricked them and won
dominion of the earth back. Jesus won the earth back from him by dying on the cross. Jesus will
one day come back to reign and rule this earth with his saints. The devil will be cast into a
bottomless pit for 1,000 years after which he will be released and lead another rebellion against God.
He will then be cast into the lake of fire.
This is similar to our father and sons business story, but there's more to it than that. The reason I
believe there is no provision for the devil's redemption but just for man's is because the devil has no
intention of repenting. This is obvious because even after being chained in a bottomless pit for 1,000
years he still leads another rebellion against God. And God could not let him into heaven in his
current condition so there is no point in making a way for the devil to be redeemed if he has no
intention of changing his ways. Mankind is just a pawn in this story because the real battle is
between God and the devil. By creating Adam and Eve and giving them authority over the earth, God
knew that the devil would look for a way to turn them against God, that's why God told them not to
eat of one tree in the garden. He knew the devil would use that to his advantage. By doing so, God
set up a scenario that would show the angels of heaven the consequences of sin which would be
experienced by those angels that followed the devil. The angels had never experienced sin before.
They had never even seen it in action. They were obedient to God they had never disobeyed God
and had no idea of the consequences of doing so. By observing the actions and fate of their fallen
comrades, they could see that they made the right decision by sticking with God. They could see
that the devil and his angels and a lot of mankind were going from bad to worse and that their lives
were dramatically altered by sin. This reinforced their decision to never entertain that temptation.
Their fallen comrades who were experiencing the consequences of sin had the opportunity to turn
away from their sinful ways and choose to do good, but they didn't do so.
For as God said when Adam and Eve sinned "man has now become like one of us, knowing good
and evil." Now mankind had to learn to make the same choice. To chose good instead of evil. Man
now had the opportunity to experience both. Up till then, he only knew good. As Christians, we too
know good and evil, but we choose to do good. Adam and Eve did repent immediately after sinning.
They were sorry they sinned so God provided a way for them to be forgiven. The bible says
"without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness". God killed the first animal and made skin
coverings for Adam and Eve when they sinned. The shedding of blood for forgiveness. He didn't do
that for the devil though because he was not yet ready to repent. And the devil had no remorse.
Adam and Eve did. They immediately knew they had done wrong and tried to hide from God. They
already had a repentant heart.
So this was a lesson for all to learn. By observing these events both the angels and man could see
and experience the effects of sin. They could choose which they wanted in their life. God provided a
way for man to be forgiven, but not for the devil and his angels because they had no remorse.
However, there is more to this story. I personally believe that the story does not end here because
God is much smarter and much more compassionate than that. The devil and his angels indeed will
be cast into the lake of fire for ever and ever, but the term "for ever" could also be translated into "for
ages and ages". In other words, it may take the devil and his angels that long to finally repent. They
are very hard core now, but time has a way of softening even the most hardened criminal. And
maybe that is what it will take for the devil to finally realize that God was right and he was wrong. In
heaven, "all truth will be laid bare" so we will all know what is in each other's heart and mind. Not like
here on earth where we still have secret thoughts. That won't happen in heaven. So when the devil
is ready to repent, everyone will know that it is indeed authentic. Then God will forgive him and
restore him, and all of heaven will rejoice for eternity. Just like when one sinner repents now,
regardless of how "bad" he was. Then the story will be finished. At least that chapter will......
and his fallen angels?" This is a very valid question because knowing the nature of God, he is
totally fair toward everyone. God sent Jesus to redeem mankind from his sins, but there is no
redemption for the devil mentioned in the bible. Why not? The devil was at one time God's right
hand man. He was the greatest angel in heaven. He was adorned with precious stones and walked
in the holy places with God. God loved the devil. Why then is there no redemption for him? Instead
the Bible says that "hell was created for the devil and his angels". So the devil's fate is to spend
eternity in the lake of fire, but mankind has a choice. This doesn't seem fair.
I thought about this for many years, and heard many different opinions, and after much study and
prayer came to this conclusion. The reason there is no redemption for the devil but there is for
mankind is because of the nature of the sin and the way each responded to their sin. Lets look at
both sins and compare them. Lucifer, who was God's right hand man in heaven, at one time ruled
the earth which was populated by some type of beings. He conspired against God and led a
rebellion against God with an army consisting of some of the heavenly angels and these beings. He
wanted to de-throne God and take over. As he said "I will establish my throne above the throne of
God". Of course that didn't happen. He was cast out of heaven and God judged the inhabitants of
the earth who all perished, and became disembodied spirits. They are now the demon spirits that
possess people because they don't have a body of their own. The bible is silent on the origin of
demon spirits, but this is where I think they came from. The devil and his crew established their
command post in the"mid heavens" and now enter heaven and earth from there.
God then chose to re-populate the earth through Adam and Eve and gave them dominion over the
earth. This of course made the devil furious and his first task was to win the earth back from them.
He did this by deceiving Eve and getting her and Adam to disobey God. By doing so, they were now
under his influence and control and man has been ever since. Adam and Eve realized that their life
would never be the
same, and God gave them their penalties for their disobedience. God drove them out of the Garden
of Eden and guarded the way to the tree of life "lest they eat of it and live in their sins forever."
Already God had a plan to redeem mankind because he didn't want to leave them in that hopeless
state. God sent Jesus to die for mankind to pay for their sins, and to win the earth back from the
devil. After Jesus' resurrection, he said "all authority in heaven and earth has now been given to
me". The devil realized he lost, and that's why he has been persecuting those who love Jesus and
manipulating the rest of mankind and turning them against God ever since.
If we compare these two stories, we see that man's sin was simply a sin of disobedience, but the
devil's sin was much more serious. Let me try to show an example of this. Suppose there is a family
business in which a father works with his sons. One day one of the sons does what he is not
supposed to do. He disobeys his father. What does the father do? Does he punish him and throw
him out of the business? No, he sits down with him and they have a talk. They discuss the issue
and once they have resolved it, and the son sees that this was wrong, he apologizes, and the father
forgives him and they go on as if it never happened. The other son however has a different idea. He
decides that this is enough of working for dad and wants to"take over". He gathers up some of his
friends and comes into the business one day with the intention of driving out his father and brothers
and taking over the business. Of course all the employees run to the father's aid and overpower the
son and his friends. The father kicks his son out of the business. At that point the father realizes
that he can never trust his son again. How could he. His son had turned against him. He didn't
just disobey, he actually wanted to drive his father out and take over the business. Unbelievable.
How could he do that?
The father is very grieved by this and tries to reach out to his delinquent son but the son wants
nothing to do with his father anymore. Instead, he carries on his evil ways, causing trouble for his
father's employees, spreading rumors against his father, telling lies to their competitors, and so on.
The father is hurt by all this because he still loves his son and wishes that he would come to his
senses. But he cannot repair the damage because the son is not willing to repent and say he is
sorry. And even if the did, could they ever restore their relationship to what it once was? Could he
ever trust him again? Instead, the son keeps doing evil things against his father, his brother, their
business, and everyone else. His father realizes that his son is lost forever unless he changes his
ways which seems very unlikely. So he excludes his wayward son from his inheritance in the family
business. He prays that some day his son will see the error of his ways and repent.
Here is a summary of how this compares to the devil and God story. Lucifer was God's right hand
man in charge of ruling the earth. One day he decided to "take over". So he convinced some of
God's angels to hook up with him and the inhabitants of the earth and he led a rebellion against God
with the intention of driving God out and taking over. But he lost the battle and was thrown out. God
then created Adam and Eve and gave them dominion over the earth. The devil tricked them and won
dominion of the earth back. Jesus won the earth back from him by dying on the cross. Jesus will
one day come back to reign and rule this earth with his saints. The devil will be cast into a
bottomless pit for 1,000 years after which he will be released and lead another rebellion against God.
He will then be cast into the lake of fire.
This is similar to our father and sons business story, but there's more to it than that. The reason I
believe there is no provision for the devil's redemption but just for man's is because the devil has no
intention of repenting. This is obvious because even after being chained in a bottomless pit for 1,000
years he still leads another rebellion against God. And God could not let him into heaven in his
current condition so there is no point in making a way for the devil to be redeemed if he has no
intention of changing his ways. Mankind is just a pawn in this story because the real battle is
between God and the devil. By creating Adam and Eve and giving them authority over the earth, God
knew that the devil would look for a way to turn them against God, that's why God told them not to
eat of one tree in the garden. He knew the devil would use that to his advantage. By doing so, God
set up a scenario that would show the angels of heaven the consequences of sin which would be
experienced by those angels that followed the devil. The angels had never experienced sin before.
They had never even seen it in action. They were obedient to God they had never disobeyed God
and had no idea of the consequences of doing so. By observing the actions and fate of their fallen
comrades, they could see that they made the right decision by sticking with God. They could see
that the devil and his angels and a lot of mankind were going from bad to worse and that their lives
were dramatically altered by sin. This reinforced their decision to never entertain that temptation.
Their fallen comrades who were experiencing the consequences of sin had the opportunity to turn
away from their sinful ways and choose to do good, but they didn't do so.
For as God said when Adam and Eve sinned "man has now become like one of us, knowing good
and evil." Now mankind had to learn to make the same choice. To chose good instead of evil. Man
now had the opportunity to experience both. Up till then, he only knew good. As Christians, we too
know good and evil, but we choose to do good. Adam and Eve did repent immediately after sinning.
They were sorry they sinned so God provided a way for them to be forgiven. The bible says
"without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness". God killed the first animal and made skin
coverings for Adam and Eve when they sinned. The shedding of blood for forgiveness. He didn't do
that for the devil though because he was not yet ready to repent. And the devil had no remorse.
Adam and Eve did. They immediately knew they had done wrong and tried to hide from God. They
already had a repentant heart.
So this was a lesson for all to learn. By observing these events both the angels and man could see
and experience the effects of sin. They could choose which they wanted in their life. God provided a
way for man to be forgiven, but not for the devil and his angels because they had no remorse.
However, there is more to this story. I personally believe that the story does not end here because
God is much smarter and much more compassionate than that. The devil and his angels indeed will
be cast into the lake of fire for ever and ever, but the term "for ever" could also be translated into "for
ages and ages". In other words, it may take the devil and his angels that long to finally repent. They
are very hard core now, but time has a way of softening even the most hardened criminal. And
maybe that is what it will take for the devil to finally realize that God was right and he was wrong. In
heaven, "all truth will be laid bare" so we will all know what is in each other's heart and mind. Not like
here on earth where we still have secret thoughts. That won't happen in heaven. So when the devil
is ready to repent, everyone will know that it is indeed authentic. Then God will forgive him and
restore him, and all of heaven will rejoice for eternity. Just like when one sinner repents now,
regardless of how "bad" he was. Then the story will be finished. At least that chapter will......
| The Greatest Story Every Told About The Greatest Man That Ever Lived |
