Written and compiled by Gary Kukis
These studies are designed for believers in Jesus Christ only. If you have exercised faith in Christ, then you are in the right place. If you have not, then you need to heed the words of our Lord, Who said, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten [or, uniquely-born] Son, so that every [one] believing [or, trusting] in Him shall not perish, but shall be have eternal life! For God did not send His Son into the world so that He should judge the world, but so that the world shall be saved through Him. The one believing [or, trusting] in Him is not judged, but the one not believing has already been judged, because he has not believed in the Name of the only-begotten [or, uniquely-born] Son of God.” (John 3:16–18). “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life! No one comes to the Father except through [or, by means of] Me!” (John 14:6).
Every study of the Word of God ought to be preceded by a naming of your sins to God. This restores you to fellowship with God (1John 1:8–10). If we acknowledge our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1John 1:9). If there are people around, you would name these sins silently. If there is no one around, then it does not matter if you name them silently or whether you speak aloud.
Preface: For many years, Satan’s foreknowledge of the cross has either been assumed or ignored in theology. However, despite the fact that Satan is brilliant beyond that which we could imagine, and despite the fact that he knew the Old Testament more than any person, that does not mean that he knew all about the cross and how it is the key factor in the Church Age. This doctrine gives su the reason why the doctrine of intercalation; and, therefore, why the Church Age was kept secret. Furthermore, this doctrine explains why Satan worked so hard to get Jesus to the cross.
1. The key element of God’s plan was for Jesus to go to the cross and to die for our sins. This meant that, He had to be put on the cross by mankind, as no one is able to crucify himself.
2. Furthermore, God had to provide salvation for mankind prior to the cross without fully completely revealing the cross. Otherwise, the thrust of Satan’s function during the 1st Advent of Jesus would have been to keep Jesus from the cross. So, how does God the Holy Spirit reveal enough information in the Old Testament in order for people to be saved, and yet, at the same time, hide what He is doing from Satan?
3. One of Satan’s temptations of our Lord was to get Jesus to accept rulership over the earth on Satan’s terms. Satan wanted Jesus to accept this rulership from his hand and not from the hand of God. Matt. 4:9–10 Luke 4:5–8
1) This does not mean that Satan necessarily understood the cross and the advents of the Messiah.
2) He was offering Jesus authority over all the kingdoms of the earth on Satan’s terms, rather than on God’s terms.
3) In essence, this temptation is to Jesus to bypass the cross; however, that does not mean that Satan understood fully his own temptation. In Satan’s mind, he is simply offering Jesus what the Bible promises the Messiah, but this is offered on Satan’s terms (“If you fall down and worship me.”).
4. Getting Jesus to the cross was no easy feat. Jesus did not sin and He broke no laws (Matt. 27:23–24 Luke 23:14, 47 John 19:4 2Cor. 5:21). He did not inspire His followers to sedition and He never spoke against the Roman government (Matt. 22:17–21 26:51–53). His harshest words were against the unsaved religious types of His day (Matt. 23:13–33), and they did not have the power to execute Him (John 18:31). The charges eventually brought against Jesus were manifestly false (Luke 23:2, 5). So, the question is, how does Jesus Christ end up on the cross, hanging between heaven and hell, taking upon Himself the sins of us all?
1) See Was Jesus a Liberal? (HTML) (PDF)
5. It is clear that Satan played an integral part in all of this. He was the father of the Jewish perversion of God’s relationship to the Jews; he was the inspiration for Judaism and, in particular, for the religious rulers of His time. John 8:44
6. Satan entered into Judas so that Judas could point Jesus out to the high priests who seized Him. Apart from Judas, we do not know if Jesus goes to the cross at that point in time. Judas is integral to the betrayal of Jesus Christ. It is because of Judas that Jesus is identified and taken into custody. Luke 22:3 John 6:70 13:2, 27
7. If Satan understood the cross and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, why did he enter into Judas, which set off a series of events which took Jesus to the cross the next day?
8. This approach helps to explain why the Doctrine of Intercalation. The doctrine of intercalation is the fact that the Church Age is sandwiched in between the Age of the Hypostatic Union and the final 7 years of the Age of Israel. Why did God need to keep this a secret? What was the purpose of keeping the Church Age a secret from all mankind until Paul came along and was caused to understand the doctrine of the mysteries of the Church Age?
1) See the Doctrine of Intercalation (HTML) (PDF)
2) If the Church Age is removed from history, then we see Jesus Christ fulfilling the 1st and 2nd Advent promises, almost as one event.
9. The Church Age was a mystery which God kept hidden from man (and probably angels), which was revealed by Paul (primarily) in the epistles. See the Doctrine of Dispensations (HTML) (PDF)
10. Let me suggest that, God hid the cross and the Church Age from Satan. Like the religious and saved Jews, Satan did not differentiate between the 1st and 2nd Advents of Jesus Christ. They are presented seamlessly in Old Testament prophecy. It is the Church Age which separates the 1st and 2nd Advents. Because God hid the Church Age from being known by anyone (which would include Satan), no one fully understood that the 1st and 2nd Advents of our Lord are separate events, separated in time by about 2000 years (or more).
11. We know that even believers like John the Baptizer were confused by Jesus in the 1st Advent. He did not fully understand the ministry of Jesus Christ, even though he was the herald of our Lord’s ministry. John probably expected Jesus to overthrow Rome and to rule over the Jews as their King. Jesus’ ministry confused John. Matt. 11:2–6 Luke 7:18–23
12. Even though Satan is far more intelligent than John the Baptizer, this does not mean that he knew that the cross would be God’s tactical victory in human history; and that this would be followed by the Church Age, which would be followed by the Tribulation and our Lord’s 2nd Advent. Like John, the most intelligent creature from the hand of God did not completely get our Lord’s 1st advent, nor did Satan differentiate between the 2 advents, despite having the Old Testament Bible.
13. We understand this today because we have learned about the Church Age. The 2 advents of our Lord are quite obvious, because all that was prophesied about Him has not yet come to pass. Therefore, after the fact, Christian theology has come to understand dispensations and the order of events in human history.
14. However, despite our Lord’s teaching during His ministry—and even though He taught information about the age to come—there is no indication that Satan understood how it would all play out. Recall that Satan has great pride, so he would never admit to a deficiency of knowledge.
15. Satan, after studying the many passages where the 1st and 2nd Advents of Jesus Christ are presented as one event, most likely determined that, he needed to stop Jesus before He would be made King over all the Jews. His plan: see to it that the religious heads would be against Jesus and bring Jesus to the cross to be rid of Him.
1) See the Doctrine of Intercalation (HTML) (PDF) for a list of these passages which appear to list the 1st and 2nd Advents as one event. .
16. It is unclear when Satan understood the importance of the cross. His entry into Judas facilitated the events which took Jesus to the cross (Luke 22:3 John 6:70 13:2, 27). Whether Satan realized this at some point and tried to physically abuse Jesus to the point that He could not reach the cross alive is unknown. The vicious attacks of Jesus prior to the cross could simply represent man’s absolute depravity before his God, rather than some last minute attempt by Satan to stop our Lord from going to the cross.
17. Once there was thick darkness over the land and God the Father began to pour out our sins upon God the Son, Satan was neutralized and not able to interfere.
18. Let me suggest several reasons for the thick darkness over the earth when Jesus gave Himself in payment for our sins:
1) God the Father gave privacy to God the Son as He poured out the sins of all mankind upon Him.
2) Even those people at the cross, like Mary and John, still had to take by faith that Jesus took the penalty of our sins upon Him. God did not even allow them to see this.
3) There may be a neutralizing factor of thick darkness upon Satan and his demons. If not that, then this represented that God held them at bay while He poured out all of our sins upon Jesus. Nahum 1:8 Matt. 27:45–46 Mark 15:33–34 Luke 23:44–46 2Peter 2:4 Jude 1:6, 13
19. To sum up: Satan, the most intelligent creature to come from the hand of God, did not fully understand the separate advents of our Lord, and therefore facilitated our Lord going to the cross. Satan set the events of human history in motion which mark his tactical defeat and insure his ultimate destruction.