Confessions Clawsiv

I believe in one, triune, and eternal God who exists outside of space and time. God has weaved his great story into the history of the universe. The introduction of his great story begins with God. Except for himself and his radiant glory, God existed in perfect nothingness. He was self sufficient, with no outside needs. But He chose to create a perfect heaven with angelic beings to fellowship with and worship him. However, for there to be a perfect heaven, there must be free will. The most beautiful angel, Lucifer, desired the worship that was only due to God. Coherently, he rebelled against his creator, persuading one third of the angels to join him. Satan and his horde of perverted angels were cast out of heaven, eternally damned, causing the ultimate conflict of the universe and God’s story. But I believe that God chose to start anew. The angels and demons watched as God spoke. With a signal word, God produced a flash of light that penetrated the darkest corners of the new universe. Time and space were set to rule the new cosmos and a perfect garden was created for Man. God formed Man in his own likeness-- to fellowship with him and reflect his glory. Everything was created good. Satan, seeing that he could not conquer heaven, devoted his attention to earth and deceived man into sinning. The perfect world was compromised. Man was cursed; he fell from his previous position and no longer could communicate with God as before. However, man was not the only thing corrupted. Sin penetrated the entire realm of creation, perverting all good things that God had created. I believe that man had sinned against God; he was eternally doomed unless someone intervened. Satan seeing an opportunity, began his work of deceiving the woman’s seed. With every generation, Satan tried to get them farther from God. But once again God’s plan was not over. He selected a people to be his people. He gave them the law and set up the sacrificial system to pay for their sin. I believe that this system was not enough. Man’s sin had created an unbridgeable chasm between himself and God. Man’s dept could only be paid by something untainted from sin. Because God loved us, He sent his son to be our perfect sacrifice. And so, Jesus came to earth historically and physically as the God-Man. He revealed to us Gods plan of redemption. But once again, Satan wanted to spoil God’s perfect plan. He deceived the Jews into rejecting Jesus, the perfect sacrifice, which led to his death on the cross. The climax of God’s story was at hand. For Lucifer, it seamed as though he had destroyed Gods plan once and for all. Jesus was dead, the world was still fallen. But God had a larger purpose that transcended Lucifer’s knowledge. On the third day, Jesus rose from the grave! He had defeated sin’s ultimate penalty. In his death, Jesus had literally taken upon himself every past, present, and future sin the world would ever commit. In his resurrection he showed us our new lives without the power of sin. The link between man and God was completed. Man, if he chose so, could have a personal relationship with God. Christ, returned to heaven where he is presently seated at the right hand of the father, awaiting his second coming to earth. The resolution of God’s story has in part taken place, but is far from over. Christ will return in the same manner in which he left. He will come and claim his people. We

must be ready for his return. God wills that we freely join him in his work and bring glory to him. He has provided us with the Holy Spirit to guide us and keep us from sin. It is our duty to reflect the glory of God and look forward to the full resolution of God’s story, when heaven and earth pass away and we obtain eternal life. The plot is clear. God has won the battle. Satan has failed, and is awaiting his eternal doom. There is no need to fear him. But satans power is still at work, and we must work against him for time is of the essence.