Victorious Proclamation

THE ANGELIC CONFLICT

Undoubtedly the most startling event ever to be observed in the angelic realm was the creation of man. Here was an inferior form of creation who, unlike angels, could not travel through space, who was limited in power and vision and who was confined to one small planet, yet this creature was made in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:27)! The angels saw immediately that mankind possessed one characteristic in common with them volition the power to choose for or against God.

The entire angelic creation had previously made their choice, as revealed by the two opposing categories of these supercreatures: elect and fallen (Mark 5; 8:38; 1 Tim. 5:2). When Satan exercised his volition and decided against God (Isa. 14:12-15; Ezek. 28:15), he drew one-third of the angels with him (Rev. 12:4). For perhaps millions of years before the advent of man, the conflict raged between those angels who followed Satan and those who chose for God.

From the fact that the sentencing of Satan and his angels to the Lake of Fire (Matt. 25:41) is not to be carried out until the end of time (Rev. 20), we can arrive at two conclusions. First, Satan must have appealed his sentence, and second, man was created by God to resolve this dispute which occurred at the termination of the trial. The titles “Satan” and “devil,” which mean “adversary, accuser, attorney” (someone who goes to court and appeals), would also indicate an objection and appeal. Based on the above passages, his argument can be quite easily deduced: “How can a loving God cast His creatures into the Lake of Fire?” This objection was, in effect, an appeal that demanded a new trial.

The answer to Satan’s protest is given in man’s free will as it relates to God’s graced Fallen angels had been given an opportunity under grace to be saved but had rejected it. Now, while they were crying “Not fair!” God created man in order to demonstrate to them that His position in grace was just and that, in fact, love can express itself only through justice. God cannot change His character to accommodate any creature, whether angel or man. God loved the angels, but God cannot love in a way that is inconsistent with the other attributes of His character. Therefore, when Satan went negative, God had to make a decision which was compatible with His righteousness and justice, as well as with His love. So God created man to show Satan how a loving God can save a creature and still maintain His righteousness. As soon as man was created, God displayed His infinite grace by providing everything that man would ever need and, surprisingly, by setting up a test to make it possible for man to exercise his volition (Gen. 2:17). People often ask why God prohibited the eating of one tree. Why did He set up any prohibition at all? It was to give man the opportunity of choosing for or against God. Since God does not desire to coerce love or obedience from His creatures, man’s volition must come into play.

THE DIVINE PROMISE

As we know from the third chapter of Genesis, man chose against God in spite of everything that God had given him. At that very moment Satan became the victor in the first battle of the conflict here on earth, for he immediately seized control of this world and of man (2 Cor. 4:4). In Genesis 3:15, we see man’s only hope God’s solution to the angelic conflict. God made a gracious promise as He sentenced the serpent:

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel (Gen. 3:15).

Here is perhaps the greatest example of the justice and grace of God. Mart had just sinned. Man had fallen. Man had turned this little planet over to Satan. Because man deliberately went against God’s command, Satan had won a major round. It appeared as though the situation had reached a stalemate — not only for man but for the entire conflict — when God established a beachhead by this fantastic promise! “I will put enmity between thee [Satan] and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed....” Satan has a line of descent made up of Adam’s race, unregenerate Homo sapiens (John 8:44). “Her seed,” a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ at the point of His Incarnation, is the first messianic title and the first promise of the Savior. The “Seed of the woman” stresses the virgin birth as the means of bringing the Savior into the world without a sin nature, which is passed down in procreation through the male, and therefore without inherent sin and without personal sin.

It shall bruise thy head. . . .” “It” is the Seed of the woman, the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ would bruise or, literally, crush the head of Satan. This predicts the ultimate defeat of Satan, which will take place at the Second Advent of Christ (Matt. 25:41; Rev. 12:9:20:10). Since the serpent now crawls in the dust his head is vulnerable, and crushing this vital part is fatal to him. Even before salvation was declared, the final victory over Satan was announced.

“Thou [Satan] shalt bruise his [Christ’s] heel.” The debased serpent reaches no higher than the man’s heel, yet when the venomous snake strikes this lower extremity, the poison spreads throughout the man’s entire body. Hence, the bruising of the Lord’s heel is a reference to the Cross where Christ bore in His own body the judgment for every sin in the human race (2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Pet. 2:24).

We must bear in mind that because man exercised his free will in negative volition, the victory of the initial round belonged to Satan. Man had forfeited his relationship with God and was in no position to reverse his decision unless God should mercifully intervene. Therefore, Genesis 3:15 is one of the key passages in the entire Bible, for God’s grace provision was the God-Man-Savior who would come to earth and provide the solution to the problem of man’s sin. Satan understood

that, even though many people today do not!

When God committed Himself to this promise, the whole destiny of the human race, the ultimate result of the battle between fallen and elect angels, and the perfect character of God, were put on the line. Would God keep His promise? If God cannot keep a promise, then He is not God, His character is impugned, and there is no hope for mankind

or for any other creature!

Down through the ages, men believed this promise, right up to the coming of Christ at His First Advent. They demonstrated their faith by offering animal sacrifices to God. The blood of bulls and goats could not save man from even one sin (Heb. 10:4), but every time a man offered an animal sacrifice, even if it was only a pigeon, he was saying, “I have believed Genesis 3:15.” Today, when you accept Christ, you are saying, “I believe John 3:16.” As a result, anyone who puts his faith

in Christ is eternally saved.

Now there was a period in the history of mankind when it looked as though God could not and would not keep His Word. You see, Satan reasoned that if man went negative and sinned, as he had, then God would be forced to withdraw the devil’s sentence to the Lake of Fire. Certainly, thought Satan, God would not simply wipe out mankind, which He had created expressly to demonstrate His perfect character! And if man would be spared, so too Satan and his followers. But when God set up another tree, the Cross, the issue was still alive, and Satan began his attempt to negate the cross. The devil commands a tremendous host of angels. Certain members of his organization were delegated to frustrate the possibility of Christ’s coming in the flesh, for if Jesus Christ did not become true humanity, there could be no salvation for man.

When it became apparent that the “Seed of the woman” was to come through the line of Abel, who was the younger of Adam’s first two sons, Satan inspired Cain to murder his brother. This first attempt to prevent the fulfillment of Genesis 3:15 was thwarted when the line of Christ was transferred to Seth, but there were numerous other attacks aimed at obstructing the First Advent.

Although God made the promise to come and pay the penalty for sin, which is spiritual death, deity is subject neither to spiritual nor to physical death. As eternal God, He cannot die; as immutability. He cannot change. How, then, can this conflict ever be resolved? How can man be brought back to God? The answer: God must reduce Himself to true flesh and blood, and indeed God the Son agreed to fulfill the Father’s plan by clothing Himself with a human body (Phil. 2:58; Heb. 2:9-14).

There are actually four reasons why Jesus Christ must become true humanity. First, to be the Savior and go to the Cross. Second, to be the Mediator. Before man can have fellowship with God, there must be a go-between who is equal both with the Godhead and with man. The Mediator, then, must be God and Man in one Person (1 Tim. 2:5,6). Third, to become our High Priest. Since man became a sinner, he must have an acceptable Priest to represent him before God, and that Priest must Himself be a man. Therefore, in order for Jesus Christ to fulfill this function, He must be a true human being. Fourth, in order to reign as the Son of David (Luke 1:3133). Farther down the road of human history, God would make some unusual promises to David. He would say, “You are going to have a Son who will reign forever. A righteous King will be descended from your own loins” (2 Sam. 7:8-16; Acts 2:29-32).

It was of the utmost importance, then, that Jesus Christ be vested with a human body. But it would be impossible for Christ to become a man unless an unbroken lineage of true humanity existed on the earth! That may seem like a strange statement, but it is apparent from the sixth chapter of Genesis that Satan conceived an ingenious scheme to corrupt true humanity. His strategy was to change the nature of mankind into half human-half angelic being through an angelic infiltration into the human race.

The invasion recorded in the first ten verses of Genesis 6 is the most formidable attack ever made upon our salvation. It was so successful that the line by which Jesus Christ could enter the world was narrowed down to eight souls the family of Noah. Had it not been for the Flood, this satanic attack would have turned into a decisive victory, for true humanity would have become extinct on the earth and Christ could never have come.

THE ANGELIC INFILTRATION

Genesis, chapter 6, opens with a capsulized account of the antediluvian population. It is interesting to note that as a result of the population explosion after the Fall there were more women than men.

And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them (Gen. 6:1).

The word “men” is the generic term referring to the entire human race. While “daughters” describe literal females, the expression means more than that: it is an idiom indicating that there was an excess of beautiful women.

That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose (Gen. 6:2).

The Hebrew word beni-ha-Elohim, translated “sons of God,” appears only four times in the Old Testament: Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7-; and in this verse. Another Hebrew word has also been translated “sons of God,” but beni-ha-Elohim is always and invariably used for angels, never men! In the New Testament, “Son of God” is a designation for Jesus Christ, while “sons of God” refers to believers; but we must not confuse the Greek of the New Testament with the Hebrew of the Old Testament. Now since “sons of God” in the Old Testament is used for all kinds of angels, both elect and fallen, the question here is, which kind?

Today there are two types of fallen angels: those called “demons” and those who are imprisoned. All fallen angels in both categories are under the control of Satan, but from passages like 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 6 (which we shall examine), we learn that the angels in Genesis 6:2 later became the bound angels. These were the angels who became women-watchers and observed the beauty of the daughters of men, and these intruders would become the recipients of Jesus Christ’s victorious proclamation. The Word of God has not been written merely to satisfy our curiosity but rather to reveal God’s plan and purpose for man. From what is given, we can often deduce what happened. However, we can only speculate as to what took place prior to the attack on the women. Perhaps the idea of the infiltration occurred to Satan when he began to notice that some of his angels were peeking over the clouds and whistling at this woman and that one. So he called together a planning session and briefed his selected agents as to the method of launching the attack all designed to prevent the Savior from coming into the world. “They took them wives of all which they chose” means that they literally cohabited with women on the earth.

Now immediately certain questions arise as to the physical possibilities and capabilities of such a plan. First, are not angels invisible to the human race? The answer to this is yes, they are, since their bodies are composed of light. However, they can also “short circuit” the light and not only appear to human beings but also look like them. As a high order of creation, they are extremely beautiful and therefore appear as strikingly attractive, masculine human beings!

This brings us to a second question. In view of Matthew 22:30, which says that the angels “neither marry nor are given in marriage,” how is procreation possible between angels and humanity? Before the Flood, cohabitation between all species was possible, though prohibited (Jude 6; 1 Pet. 3:19,20). We understand from these passages that the angels who were “beforetime disobedient” and “kept not their first estate” were these same satanic emissaries who were involved in the assault on the “daughters of men.” Their disobedience pertained to the laws of divine establishment, which were given to the angelic realm as well as to the human race. Both angels and mankind were commanded to stay within the framework of their own creation in sexual relationship, a command which also included animals (Lev. 18:23). After the Flood, even the possibility of intermarriage and procreation between the species was cut off, and those who had been so involved were either destroyed or incarcerated to make doubly sure that it would never be repeated!

At this point in Genesis 6, God the Holy Spirit interjects a comment and issues a warning:

And the LORD said. My spirit shall not always strive with [convict inside] man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years (Gen. 6:3).

This verse orients us as to the time — 120 years before the Flood. The Holy Spirit would continue right up to the last day to entreat man to be saved. And notice it says man, not angels. Angelic salvation had already been settled. Every angel had made up his mind long before man was created, and their eternal status would never be changed. Those who are fallen angels will always be fallen, and those who are holy or elect angels will always be elect. The Holy Spirit is striving with

man in time, “for that he also is flesh.” This means that there still existed some true humanity on the earth. But there would be only 120 years in this case for people to make up their minds about God. After that, the judgment of the Flood would wipe out the race who were part angel-part man.

The Holy Spirit would specifically communicate with mankind through the message of a man called Noah (2 Pet. 2:5). Before the Flood, the Holy Spirit had a threefold ministry to the human race. First, He restrained sin so that the human race could survive. Had there been no restraint during that time, Noah and his family would have been slain. Second, the Holy Spirit’s ministry of conviction provided information in the unbeliever’s soulish mind so that he might make a decision necessary for salvation.

According to the Doctrine of Common Grace, the Holy Spirit has been convicting unbelievers since the beginning of time in regard to the Gospel: “of sin . . . of righteousness . . . of judgment” (John 16:8-11). The sin is rejection of Christ, “because they believe not on me”; “righteousness” is the imputation of divine righteousness to those who believe in Him (Rom. 4:5); and judgment will be meted out to those who reject Him. Those who refuse to accept Christ’s work on their behalf stand on their own merit, and their works — not their sins — will condemn them to the eternal Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:11-15). Why? Jesus Christ has paid for every sin; therefore, sin is no longer an issue. The only issue in salvation is, “What think ye of Christ?” Without the Holy Spirit’s convicting ministry, mankind could not be saved; without His restraining ministry, the human race would perish!

The third ministry of the Holy Spirit was His regenerating work by which every believer was born again. Both before and after the Flood, the Holy Spirit ever seeks to convince the unbeliever — up to the point of death, which terminates his opportunity — to believe in Jesus Christ and be saved.

THE SUPER-RACE

There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown (Gen. 6:4).

As a result of angelic procreation with humanity, a super-race evolved. This progeny, called Nephilim, “fallen ones,” in the Hebrew (the -im is the plural suffix) and translated “giants” in the English, are more than just giants. They had fallen from the human race in that they were no longer true humanity. Half man and half angel, they were creatures of remarkable strength and brilliant intellect. The next phrase repeats the reason: “and also after that [literally, ‘because’] the sons of God came in unto [cohabited with] the daughters of men.” The children which the women bore to these angels “became mighty men which were of old [antiquity] , men of renown,” that is, famous men of hero category.

All ancient literature contains stories of heroes mighty men who performed unusual, extranatural or supernatural feats. They were all described as half human and half god. In Greek tradition, Zeus, the chief god, was said to be the father of most of them, such as Orpheus, Theseus, Cadmus, Perseus, Jason, Hercules, Castor and Pollux, etc. Although this literature is called mythology, it is not entirely mythical. It is based on fact — facts we see right here in Genesis, chapter 6. As time went on, the facts were embellished, of course, with imagination.

The half angelic-half human super-race had completely taken over and corrupted the human race of the antediluvian civilization except for the few who resisted — Noah plus seven! The reason that Noah and his family did not get involved was that they were born-again supergrace believers God protected them physically from the super race, who were exceedingly warlike and brutal, but ultimately there was no other way to preserve true humanity than to destroy the Nephilim. Furthermore, God must keep His Word regarding the promise to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:15, as well as perpetuate the issue of the angelic conflict. Only twice in the history of the human race is every unbeliever destroyed: in the devastation of the Flood, and in the future at the Second Advent when all unbelievers will be wiped out, leaving only believers to enter the Millennium.

THE DIVINE EVALUATION

In Genesis 6:57, God expressed His attitude toward the antediluvian civilization and to the super-race in particular.

And GOD saw that the wickedness [evil] of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart [right lobe] was only evil [malignant] continually (Gen. 6:5).

Man’s evil had reached the saturation point because of his involvement with fallen angels. Apparently the mixture gave man a super old sin nature as well as extranatural stature and power. But evil is primarily what you think, not what you do. Therefore, the mental attitude is brought in: the thinking in his right lobe was totally engulfed in malignant, satanic concepts. Evil enters the right lobe until finally through the progressively degenerate stages of reversionism, the soul is locked in negative volition and strong delusion (2 Thess. 2:11). Then the individual is irrevocably under the influence of

satanic evil (1 Tim. 4:1). Toward this status quo of the Nephilim, God revealed His own mental attitude:

And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart (Gen. 6:6).

“Repent” means to “change the mind.” Now God is immutable, and He does not change! Why then is the Lord said to have changed His mental attitude toward the creation of man? This is an anthropopathism, ascribing to God human thinking in order to explain in terms of human language His policies, thoughts, acts and decisions. Throughout the Scripture, God often reveals Himself in this language of accommodation so that man might have a frame of reference for an otherwise inscrutable or complicated function. Here God expresses what He would do about man’s choice and about man’s losing the first battle with Satan. He was not suddenly changing His plans; in eternity past He had designed the Plan of Grace, which would rescue man from the dilemma he had created for himself in the Garden, and restore what had been lost. But God must demonstrate to man the consequences of

negative volition.

And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them (Gen. 6:7).

There were also some extraordinary animals in those days, and they were included in God’s disciplinary action. But there was one exception!

.. . Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD (Gen. 6:8).

God detected positive volition in one man. “Grace” means that Noah had not only believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, but that he had literally discovered and exploited the grace of God to the maximum. Noah first understood the promise of Genesis 3:15; he further understood that if God did the most for him at salvation, He would do “much more than the most” to protect the believer in the devil’s world (Rom. 8:32). It is God’s responsibility to supply the logistical support and necessary provisions for the advance to supergrace and ultra-supergrace. This temporal security includes the air we breathe, our food, shelter, clothing, environment, transportation, and even guardian angels for sentry duty to keep us alive in spite of the hazards of life on earth. Spiritual provision is the Word of God, the communication of Bible doctrine by the pastor-teacher, and the local church as the classroom for the function of the “grace apparatus for perception."’ Because Noah was adjusted to the justice of God, he was the recipient of everything necessary to withstand 120 years of intense satanic pressure. He leaned completely upon the Lord’s unerring justice and perfect grace!

The next verse is the divine record of Noah’s family history.

These are the generations [family history] of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations [genealogy], and Noah walked with God (Gen. 6:9).

First, Noah and his family were justified before God. Justification is God’s justice being free to give us salvation — not because of any works we have done or any merit of our own, but because Jesus Christ took our place and was judged for our sins on the Cross. Second, Noah’s genealogy was uncontaminated by the demon cohabitation, and he therefore represented true humanity in the human race. Between Adam and Noah there was an unbroken line of pure Homo sapiens. This is one of the major reasons why the genealogies of both the Old and New Testaments are extremely important. They demonstrate that at the point of the virgin birth there was a line of undefiled humanity from Adam to the virgin Mary. At whatever time the angelic infiltration may have begun — in Noah’s father’s or grandfather’s day — his forebears had all resisted. There was not one blot upon the family escutcheon!

In addition, Noah had a spiritual life: he “walked with God.” As a supergrace, or perhaps an ultra-supergrace believer, Noah considered Bible doctrine more real than any circumstance of life. He personally withstood the satanic scheme to corrupt him, and through his dynamic spiritual leadership, his family was also protected from the angelic incursion.

And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence (Gen. 6:10, II).

“Corrupt” indicates that true humanity was nearly extinct in mankind. Noah’s three sons perpetuated the pure line. Even though there was a great deal of culture, art and science prevalent in this era, it was also characterized by bloodshed and warfare. The coexistence of violence and sophisticated, liberal culture is one of the earmarks of mass reversionism in any race or nation. Apart from the Tribulation,’ this is the worst period of unrestrained evil and violence the world will

ever encounter.

And God looked upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh [the super-race] had corrupted his way upon the earth (Gen. 6:12).

The single exception, as we have seen, was the family of Noah.

THE DIVINE JUDGMENT

And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them [the Nephilim]; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth (Gen. 6:13).

God revealed to a supergrace believer His plan for the human race, which calls for periodic judgment and cleansing. “The end of all flesh” is the announcement of the termination of the antediluvian civilization and the destruction of that evil generation. Every maudlin, sentimental liberal rejects the God of the 01d Testament as cruel and bloodthirsty and incompatible with a God of love. This notion, of course, originates from Satan himself. Why did God destroy this first civilization? The predominance of reversionism, the presence of the super-race, the temporary success of the satanic invasion, the lack of restraint on old sin natures in a time of enormous population expansion all add up to maximum evil on the earth. When there is a rampant malignancy of reversionism and evil, it must be cut away in order to preserve the remnant of believers.

God’s decision to destroy the Nephilim was grace! It was the only means by which He could keep His promise of Genesis 3:15. Otherwise, all humanity would be tainted with the fallen angelic strain, and it would be impossible for Christ to come in the flesh and to win the strategic victory of the angelic conflict. Therefore, not only was the Flood divine judgment on a reversionistic civilization but it was also the frustration of the satanic plot through the preservation of true humanity in Noah’s family, as well as the perpetuation of the human race itself!

To demonstrate that these reversionists had no desire whatever for relationship with the Lord, God gave them a grace period of 120 years. Every individual had free will plus 120 years to make up his mind, and frankly, I think anyone ought to be able to make up his, or even her, mind in 120 years! At the end of that period there were only eight people who had made a choice for God, every one of whom was uncontaminated humanity. As far as we can tell from the record of Scripture, there was not another bit of true humanity left on the earth. Everyone else was involved in the super-race.

When the promise of the Flood was finally fulfilled and the super-race annihilated, God also judged those angels who were guilty of the infiltration. For the details, we must examine two passages in the New Testament.

For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment (2 Pet. 2:4).

The context of this chapter is a warning against false teachers. To affirm the certainty of their eternal judgment and the consistency of God’s character, the Holy Spirit cites three examples in the past where God’s judgment fell upon certain groups who were in total degeneracy (2 Pet. 2:46). God the Father is the Author of the divine plan, and therefore He is the Judge. Until judgment is committed to the Son (John 5:22), the Father does the judging. “If he spared not” is a first class conditional clause in the Greek, meaning that He actually did not spare. “Spared not” means to get tough! If He was tough on apostasy in the past. His attitude toward apostasy will always be tough!

All you ever hear today is that God is love. But the essence of God is multifaceted: He is also sovereignty, righteousness, justice, eternal life, omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, immutability and veracity. The question is, will God crack down on offenders? If you understand God’s character, if you know the Old Testament record, you will have to say yes! Capacity to love does not rule out the other characteristics of God’s essence. Certain situations call for certain

characteristics. This is true even in the human realm: only a moron is either all love or all harshness.

Love motivates God’s grace, but all grace function stems from His justice. God’s justice is not free to bless until that blessing is compatible with His essence. The righteousness and justice of God must be satisfied before love can come into play. The absolute righteousness of Christ and His efficacious sacrifice on the Cross satisfied the Court of Heaven. If the unbeliever fails to adjust to the justice of God through faith in Christ, God’s justice will adjust to him in eternal condemnation (John 3:36). Those who believe in Christ have passed the point of propitiation;’ at the point of faith they are therefore instantly adjusted to God’s justice and come under His maximum love. Believers will never experience the justice of God expressed in judgment.

God will not let false teachers get by — nor any rejection or negative volition. Therefore He did not hesitate to get hard-nosed with the fallen angels of Genesis 6. He lowered the boom, first on the angels, then on the Nephilim, and finally He ended the entire antediluvian civilization. The principle is that God not only makes provision for His plan, but He also provides protection for His plan. This Plan of Grace includes three phases: Phase one: salvation; the provision: Christ paid for our sins so that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life (John 3:15). Phase two: the believer in time; the provision: the techniques of the Christian way of life, based on the promises and doctrines of the Word. Phase three: the believer in eternity; the provision: absent from the body, face to face with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8).

These provisions are guaranteed by God. For example, no matter how disastrous or hopeless the situation, there will never be a time when there are no believers on the earth, except of course for a brief period when God removes them all at the Rapture. In Noah’s day He protected His plan in order to safeguard true humanity through whom Christ would come into the world, first by casting into hell the angels that sinned, then by drowning their progeny. However, the Greek word is not “hell” but “Tartarus,” a temporary fire and a place of suffering. Part of divine judgment is burning or pain; part is thick darkness.

The God of love clobbered the whole bunch of angels who had sinned with the daughters of men. God got tough! Both the human race and God’s plan have been protected many times by the severity of God’s judgment. That is something people cannot (or refuse to) comprehend. The do-gooders and liberals are at a loss to understand why, for example, we need a strong military. It has never occurred to them that in order for us to enjoy freedom we must be prepared to protect it with righteous violence. Because we had a soft policy in Viet Nam, we sustained thousands of unnecessary casualties. When you get tough, you save lives — good American lives! But people say, “What about the lives of the enemy? Are they not worth saving? Can we not stop the carnage by loving them?” Unfortunately, this is the unrealistic attitude today of those naive idealists who are living in a fool’s paradise. We have many wonderful blessings in this country, but the hippies and the love-ins did not provide them for us. Someone had to get tough; someone had to fight! Freedom was bought with the blood of American fighting men!

The angels in Tartarus are at present “reserved,” or literally, guarded for judgment. In other words, they are not yet in their final state. God just knocked them down into a temporary prison where they will remain until He is ready to try their case. There is a time coming when God will haul them out of Tartarus to be judged, and then He will throw them permanently into the Lake of Fire (Matt. 25:41; Rev. 20). In the meantime, they are out of circulation; they are no longer able to observe what is taking place in the rest of the universe. God had to exercise force in order that we might be saved and have eternal life, that we might share His happiness in time and eternity! Inside His plan, He provides for His own; outside. He protects it!

In the next verse, God fights people — the Nephilim, or super race:

And spared not the old world [the antediluvian civilization] , but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly (2 Pet. 2:5).

God not only neutralized Satan’s forces that were involved in the corruption of the human race, but He also destroyed the population of reversionistic unbelievers. No apostate generation can exist very long without a population decimation. But grace always precedes judgment! God gave them 120 years. During that time, Noah consistently and continually evangelized the Nephilim who, though half angel and half man, possessed souls and could have been saved. Yet not one of these creatures responded to the faithful proclamation of the Gospel. This judgment is mentioned again in the Book of Jude, where three categories of apostasy are specified: believers, as illustrated by the Exodus generation (Jude 5); fallen angels in Noah’s generation (Jude 6); and unbelievers in the Abrahamic generation (Jude 7). A segment of the population was destroyed in each generation. Pertinent to our subject is the category of fallen angels.

And the angels which kept not their first estate [original status], but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day (Jude 6).

“Kept not their first estate” means that the angels did not stay in their own creative order. They left their -divinely designated sphere of relationships and activity. Literally, they forsook their own kind for female Homo sapiens. Their action violated a divine law: God always keeps creatures within the framework of their own generic groups. For the protection of the human race, God maintains segregation among the various species (Gen. 1 :21, 24, 25).

Since these celestial beings did not guard their own place (the second heaven), they are now guarded in their very own place Tartarus, their custom-made prison! Tartarus is described here by an unusual Greek phrase: hupo zophos, “under darkness,” is a darkness in which there is total absence of light. Why is this specifically mentioned? Remember, angels are constructed of light. They cannot be killed, as was the exodus generation in Jude 5, or the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah in Jude 7. How, then, does God judge these reversionistic and evil fallen angels? He simply turns off their switch! They are still alive, but they can never again turn on their bodies. This, of course, renders them completely immobile. They are shut down as far as their body function is concerned. They are “under the authority of darkness,” awaiting their final judgment — “the great day.”

Satan is more clever than any other created being man or angel (Gen. 3:1). When you connect all the verses pertaining to the angelic infiltration, it becomes apparent that the devil was genius enough to understand that if he could subvert genuine humanity, there would be no salvation. Furthermore, God, who had made a promise to Adam’s race, would prove to be a liar, for He would not be able to keep His Word. Of course, God could have created another race, but He had already guaranteed to Adam’s race a Savior who would come in the flesh. Consequently, Satan did all in his power to prevent true humanity from continuing on the earth.

After his audacious scheme was aborted by the Flood, Satan was never again able to come so close to destroying true humanity, though he seized upon every opportunity. Upon the announcement that the Savior would come from the line of Abraham, Satan leveled his guns at this specific target. When it was revealed that the Savior would come through a particular tribe, the tribe of Judah, the archfiend turned his attention in that direction. From that time on, the Jews have been the special object of Satan’s attacks. Yet in spite of his unceasing efforts, Satan could not thwart the coming of Jesus Christ as true humanity the eternal King and Son of David to — provide the solution to the sin problem. God’s grace, as revealed in the sixth chapter of Genesis, made Christ’s advent possible!

THE DIVINE PROMISE FULFILLED

For Christ also once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit (1 Pet. 3:18).

Here is the focal point of history for mankind and the initial stage of the strategic victory of the angelic conflict. Christ, the Seed of the woman, the unique Person of the universe, suffered, or literally, died on the Cross, the once-for-all sacrifice for the sins of the world. The suffering on the Cross was as unique as the Person who was hanging there! The word for “suffered,” apothnesko, is the strongest word for death-to die by utter separation. It is a word for Christ’s spiritual death on the Cross, which is the basis of our salvation. He suffered separation from God the Father and God the Holy Spirit (Matt. 27:46), during which time the Father cast all our sins upon Him and judged them. His spiritual death is explained in two passages.

For he [the Father] hath made him [Christ) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that he might be made the righteousness of God in him (2 Cor. 5:21).

Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes [bruise ye were healed [drawn together] (1 Pet. 2:24).

No one in all of human history has ever suffered or ever will suffer more intense anguish than the Lord Jesus Christ when He became our substitute and bore our sins — “the just [righteous) for the unjust [unrighteous].” In His humanity He was impeccable; in His deity He was absolute righteousness. The meeting of our sins with the God-Man’s righteousness was not only the most excruciating agony ever endured but the supreme example of undeserved suffering. Yet it was the means of our eternal salvation, and it broke the back of Satan as far as the angelic conflict is concerned.

There is absolutely nothing that can be added to what Jesus Christ accomplished on the Cross. One of the great satanic counterattacks in the Church Age is the attempt to add to the Cross. The saving work of Christ on the Cross was unique; it was perfect in every way. It fully achieved its objective; it was efficacious and complete. That is why He cried, “It is finished!” (John 19:20). Yet people are constantly trying to add their own works to that magnificent sacrifice. They want

to be baptized, join a church, feel sorry for or renounce their sins for salvation. But the Bible says it must be faith plus nothing! “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31), period! Anything you add to faith is works and negates the faith. Faith and faith alone in the finished work of Christ on the Cross is the sole access to God the Father!

Translated literally, the next phrase of 1 Peter 3:18, “having received death in the sphere of His body,” emphasizes the two deaths of Christ on the Cross. The spiritual death of Christ occurred when He was judged for our sins; His physical death, when He dismissed His spirit. Without a human body, the Savior could die neither spiritually nor physically. He must be truly a man to take man’s place.

“Quickened [made alive] by the Spirit” refers to His resurrection. Both the Holy Spirit, as the Agent of resurrection, and the Father had a part in raising the humanity of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:24; Rom. 8:11). The ultimate victory of the angelic conflict was predicated on Christ’s resurrection, and this decisive victory also made it possible for Him to go from abject humiliation to maximum glorification, seated at the right hand of the Father (Heb. 1 :3,4).

The Holy Spirit continually sustained the humanity of Christ during His entire Incarnation, as well as in the state of physical death (John 3:34; 1 Pet. 3:19). When His earthly mission was completed, Christ said, “Father, into thy hands I dismiss My spirit” (Luke 23:46).

From this statement, we understand that His human spirit ascended into the presence of the Father in heaven. His assurance to the dying thief, “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43), indicates that His soul descended to Paradise where the Old Testament saints resided until Christ’s resurrection. His body, of course, went into the grave (Luke 23:53). After the resurrection. He made a trip to Tartarus — one of the most unusual trips in all of history — and in this also He was assisted by the Holy Spirit.

THE COMPARTMENTS OF HADES

Before we can apprehend the full import of the Lord’s unique visit, we need to picture the underworld as it existed prior to the resurrection. Unfortunately, the translators of the English Bible have confused the issue by rendering several different Hebrew and Greek words simply as “hell,” when they actually refer to different places. Sheol in the Hebrew is sometimes translated “hell” and sometimes “the grave.” The parallel Greek word, hades, is always translated “hell.” But sheol or

hades is the general designation for the abode of the dead, both believers and unbelievers, before the resurrection and ascension of Christ.

Hades contains three compartments: Paradise (a Persian word, meaning “Garden of the King”) or Abraham’s Bosom (the Jewish designation, Luke 16:19-22); Torments (Luke 16:23-25); and Tartarus (2 Pet. 2:4).

Paradise was the section where the souls of all believers of the Old Testament resided after death. No human being ever went to heaven until Christ entered into the presence of the Father and was accepted as a man. Much depended on this, because along with the Lord Jesus Christ in His ascension, travelled the souls of all believers who had died up to that time and who were being transferred from Paradise to heaven (Eph. 4:8,9). If Jesus was accepted in His humanity, it would mean

that the Father had accepted His sacrifice for sin, and only under these conditions could believers be admitted into the abode of God. Upon the entrance of Christ into heaven, the Father said, “Sit thou at my right hand . . .” (Ps. 110:1; Heb. 1:13). His sacrifice was approved; He had made the way for mankind to enter into the presence of holy God (Heb. 8:1; 10:12-20)! Those who die now go directly into the presence of the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8). Eventually, at His Second Advent, we will return with Him to glorify Him in His kingdom, but we and all believers are eternally exempt from divine judgment (Rom. 8:1).

The second compartment. Torments, is a temporary fire for the souls of unbelievers. Between Paradise and Torments was “a great gulf fixed” (Luke 16:26) so that none could pass to the other side. Now that Paradise has been emptied. Hades and Torments are actually synonymous, but the rendering of both as “hell” creates confusion because there is yet a final hell, designated as “Tophet,” “Gehenna,” or “the Lake of Fire.” The Lake of Fire will not be occupied, except by the “beast and the false prophet” (dictators of the revived Roman Empire and Palestine in the Tribulation, Rev. 20:10), until the second resurrection, when all unbelievers will be raised, judged according to their works, and sent to their final punishment (Rev. 20:1115).

The third area, Tartarus, as we have already seen, is the prison of the angels who were involved in the satanic conspiracy of Genesis, chapter 6. They were the only angels who had not been watching the activities of the Son of God on earth and therefore were not aware of the defeat of Satan. They still entertained hopes that their wily leader would emerge victorious in his battle to keep Christ from going to the Cross and so free them! But it was not to be, for sometime after the three days and three nights in the grave, Jesus Christ was transported to Tartarus in His resurrection body to issue a victorious proclamation to the spirits in prison!

THE VICTORIOUS PROCLAMATION

By which [by means of whom, that is, the Holy Spirit] also he went [received transportation] and preached unto the spirits in prison, Which were sometime [once upon a time] disobedient (1 Pet. 3:19,20a).

Jesus Christ did not actually preach, as we think of preaching; He proclaimed a certain doctrine to all the fallen angels incarcerated in Tartarus. The content of Christ’s proclamation has been suggested in 1 Peter 3:18. It was a testimony relating to the Gospel, but He did not declare the Gospel as such. He informed these demons that they had failed in their attempts to destroy true humanity and that God’s plan had moved right on through every satanic attack. He had gone to the Cross on schedule! Christ’s sudden appearance to them in a resurrection body was the visible evidence. The penalty of sin had been paid for mankind, and thus it was possible for Homo sapiens to make a decision for the Son of God and to enter into fellowship with God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit for all eternity!

THE GRACE OF GOD IN SALVATION

The victorious proclamation was a declaration of the grace of God because the 120 years before the Flood was one of the most extraordinary demonstrations of God’s grace in the annals of history.

… when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water (1 Pet. 3:20).

During those 120 years, the super-race had the top evangelist of all time — Noah, a preacher of righteousness (2 Pet. 2:5). While Noah verbalized “imputed righteousness” — salvation through faith in Christ — God waited. Makrothumia is one of the strongest Greek words for patience. God in grace withheld judgment on the antediluvian civilization for 120 years while the ark was being constructed and until all who were going to be saved were saved. What is the source of His patience? It stems from His essence, the perfect character of God. The source of grace is also God’s character; God’s grace always depends on His character, never on ours!

The word for “ark” does not mean a sailing vessel but rather a chest, one which was used to preserve treasures. Until the time of the ark there had never been a boat or a ship in the history of the human race, and while Noah’s ark had the perfect dimensions for a seaworthy ship, the emphasis here is on the grace of God in preserving His own as one would store valuables in a treasure chest.

Vivid analogies of grace abound in the ark. It is to be regretted that we cannot here expatiate on each one but only emphasize the more conspicuous. The ark or treasure chest is a beautiful picture of Jesus Christ, in whom all the abundant riches of God exist (Col. 2:3). Every believer in the Church Age is in union with Him, preserved forever by relationship to Him. And to show you the dimensions of this grace, we were all sinners, pathetically disqualified from fellowship with a holy God and as hopelessly lost as any in that antediluvian civilization. Satan’s coup d’etat in the Garden had cut us off completely and forced our free will to operate toward him rather than toward God!

Yet God did something for lost, sinful, evil, vile humanity that we could in no way earn or deserve: God provided everything for us to be reunited with Himself! That was the supreme manifestation of the grace of God in the history of the human race. It began with the promise of Genesis 3:15; it continued with the destruction of the super-race in the Flood and the protection of the line through whom the Lamb of God would finally enter the world as true humanity. And when the Savior did come. He submitted to the Cross and paid the penalty for your sins and mine, as well as for every sin that everyone has ever committed or ever will commit (John 1:29).

You may ignore God, you may hold the name of Jesus Christ in contempt, but He died for you! He took your place. And as long as you live. He extends to you the gracious invitation: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). That is the matchless grace of God!

There is a priceless nugget tucked away in Isaiah concerning the amazing grace of God. Have you seen it? “Therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you...” (Isa. 30:18). While this relates to Israel by interpretation, its application is for you right now. Think of it! The Lord is waiting to give you fantastic blessing. If you are without Jesus Christ, you are without eternal life and without hope. You are under the penalty of sin, and you possess no relationship with God, no assets by which to gain the approbation of God in any way. Yet God is waiting to extend His grace to you. How can you obtain it?

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten [uniquely born] Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

God can only be gracious to the one who has adjusted to His justice by way of salvation. At the Cross our sins were taken to court and judged; therefore, we are able to adjust to His justice only by faith in Christ. When we believe in Him, the justice of God is free to save us!

THE GRACE OF GOD IN POSITIONAL TRUTH

Those who entered the ark were believers. The water was the instrument of destruction for the unbelievers, but it was the means of physical deliverance for the believers (1 Pet. 3:20). This was the foreshadowing of the baptism of the Spirit.

Which also corresponds to the baptism that now saves us [baptism of the Holy Spirit] — not the removal of human dirt [as in a bath}, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God through resurrection of Jesus Christ (corrected translation, 1 Pet. 3:21).

Every analogy is a comparison of two things or concepts a “type” and an “antitype” (“instead of” the type). The historical ark is the type, while the doctrine of the baptism of the Spirit is the antitype pictured by the ark. In other words, the ark is a representation of union with Christ. This analogy confirms the fact that water baptism does not save! The people who were immersed in the Flood were drowned! They were unbelievers. Those eight people, high and dry in the ark, were safe

(Rom. 8:1). “Now,” today, since the beginning of the Church Age (Acts 1:5), the Holy Spirit places every believer into Christ, and we are secure for all eternity. That is the baptism of the Spirit, and that is the baptism that saves (Acts 11:15-17; 1 Cor. 12:13)! Water baptism merely portrays salvation.

To show that he is not referring to water baptism. Peter adds a negative and a positive explanation. This baptism is not a bath but (positive) the “guarantee of a good conscience.” Even though the soul is saved, the sin nature is still active — a condition that renders a good conscience toward God impossible. But positional truth provides the answer: since we as believers are in union with Christ and share everything He has, a good conscience does not depend on whether we

sin or do not sin after salvation. It hinges on our relationship with Christ. No one is acceptable to God on the basis of his works, his morality or his ability; we are accepted because of who and what Christ is (Eph. 1:6).

Through resurrection, Christ made the victorious proclamation; through resurrection, Christ made it possible for us to be in union with Him and thereby to be delivered in the angelic conflict. Moreover, His resurrection, ascension, session and glorification at the Father’s right hand is the means of elevating every believer in the royal family of God to a position of superiority over angels (Heb. 1:13, 14).

THE MECHANICS OF VICTORY

Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and [both] authorities and powers being made subject [having been subordinated] unto him (1 Pet. 3:22).

First, Jesus Christ in resurrection went to Tartarus. Now in resurrection body. He embarks on another trip, from earth to the third heaven where He is seated at the Father’s right hand. At this point, everything was assigned to be under His authority. This is the victory of the angelic conflict. The fallen angels are categorized in this verse as “authorities,” demons under Satan’s command who are equivalent to commissioned officers; and “powers,” Satan himself as the ruler of this world and the head of all fallen angels (Eph. 6:12).

During the Church Age, there continues to be angelic opposition to the plans and purposes of God because He permits the angelic conflict to run its course in human history. However, when Satan has done his last and worst, these enemies will be defeated at the Second Advent of Christ when Operation Footstool is launched from heaven (Heb. 1:13). Then they will be put once and for all under His feet (Heb. 2:8).

In the meantime, what can the believer do today in the devil’s world where rebellion and insubordination are rampant, both against the laws of divine establishment as well as against Bible doctrine? The answer is found in Hebrews 2:916, in which our attention is diverted from the antagonism of the satanic enfilade to the certain victory of the spiritual battle.

But we see Jesus [emphasis on His humanity] , who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man (Heb. 2:9).

Blepo is used technically in this verse for a look which discerns something of paramount importance. In the previous verse, the verb homo, “to take a panoramic look,” envisioned the current status of the angelic conflict: Satan is the present ruler of this world, and, all things are not yet subordinated to the Lord Jesus Christ. By contrast, doctrine projects the mind’s eye beyond this temporary battlefield to the ultimate victory of Christ and to what we as believers have in Him. To see Jesus Christ as the highest value in life is the beginning of the supergrace life!

Since man was created to resolve the angelic conflict, man must be the one to do so. The first man, Adam, fumbled the ball, but the Last Adam, Jesus Christ, will scoop up the fumble and run for a touchdown! This is the reason why Christ became a man and not an angel. In His sense of humor and grace, God chose to resolve the prehistoric contest by raising a lower creature to a position higher than angels through one man who was inferior to no one! Although an angel wears the crown today, a man, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham, will one day remove the usurper and rule the world forever.

During the brief period of His Incarnation, Jesus in mortal frame had become inferior to angels. In that status, He was qualified because of His stainless character to go to the Cross as a substitutionary sacrifice for sinful man. The “suffering of death,” thanatos, is a reference to the spiritual death of Christ. From mortal humanity at the virgin birth to resurrected humanity at the ascension and session, the metamorphosis of the Lord Jesus Christ portrays in panorama His total victory in the angelic warfare and the ultimate triumph of regenerate Homo sapiens who are in union with Him.

God’s purpose in sending Jesus Christ is directly related to our happiness and blessing in time and in eternity. The Cross not only broke the back of Satan, but it also provided the basis for entrance into the Plan of God and living under optimum blessing from God — even in the devil’s world. Therefore, the Cross must come before the Crown! Glory and honor belonged eternally to the deity of Christ, but through resurrection, His humanity became superior to angels and proved it by

the ascension and session.

Neither the concentrated might of Satan nor the arrayed combat power of the vast corps of demons was able to prevent His passage through the first and second heavens. Though all hell opposed Him, the Lord Jesus Christ arrived unscathed in the third heaven, where God the Father welcomed Him as the God-Man. Our Lord’s glory at the Father’s right hand opened for us the avenue of the supergrace life and points onward to the glorious consummation when Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, will be crowned by the Father as the ruler of the world for the Millennium (Rev. 19:6, 16).

While in the Millennium He will be the world Celebrity, He is the believer’s only Celebrity now. If through Bible doctrine we keep our eyes on our all-sufficient Savior, we will avoid becoming entangled in evil by trying to help whitewash the devil’s backyard! Nor will we be led astray by getting our eyes on people and either creating false idols or succumbing to disillusionment.

Since Christ tasted spiritual death for every one (the Doctrine of Unlimited Atonement), He could now bring many sons into heaven.

For it was proper for Him [God the Father) , because of whom the all things and through whom the all things, having led to glory many sons, to bring to the objective through sufferings the Prince-Leader of their salvation (corrected trans., Heb. 2:10).

“For,” the illative use of the Greek particle gar, designates the reason for the humiliation of Jesus Christ. While the Father, as the Author of the divine plan, is the Originator and cause of all things. He assigned the Son to be the One to execute both creation (Col. 1:16) and salvation (Acts 4:12). Therefore, the Father’s purpose was to bring Christ to the objective of the Cross in order that his unique Crown Prince might receive a kingdom. As the Prince-Leader of the Church, Christ is the Advance Guard leading into glory “many sons,” believers of the Church Age, members of the Body of Christ, a kingdom of royal priests, who will in the future become the Bride of Christ (Eph. 1:22, 23; 1 Pet. 2:5, 9; Rev. 19:6-8). When His Body, the Church, is completed, the next step is Operation Footstool, in which the Last Adam, the Groom of the Church, the Prince-Leader of salvation, overthrows Satan and assumes His rightful place as the supreme Ruler!

For both he [Jesus Christ] that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified [Church Age believers] are all of one [Source — God the Father]: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren (Heb. 2:11).

What a shock it must have been to the recalcitrant angels to hear that Christ is not ashamed to acknowledge fallen mankind as His brothers! Furthermore, all believers in the Church Age share all that Christ is and has!

Saying, I will declare thy [the Father’s] name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee [Christ] (Heb. 2:12).

Psalm 22:22, which is quoted here, anticipated the session at the Father’s right hand, at which time Christ is promised a Bride as well as the future rulership of the world through Operation Footstool. The longed-for Bride becomes a reality at the Rapture, but His kingdom must wait until the Second Advent. His Bride is now being formed during the Church Age; throughout the Tribulation, historical events will pave the way for the Second Advent of the King.

In the meantime, He has provided a heritage for His brethren left behind in the devil’s kingdom. This legacy is the content of the Bible: doctrine — the plan of the Father and the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16) — in permanent written form. As far as the angels are concerned. His declaration announces the progress of Operation Footstool and the certain doom of Satan and the fallen angels. Just as David had responded in ancient times to the doctrinal message, so believers in the Church Age respond in praise to Jesus Christ. Even more will the Bride sing praise when she beholds her Groom in the fullness of His glory!

And again, I will put my trust in him. And again. Behold I and the children which God hath given me (Heb. 2:13).

The second and third documentations from the Old Testament (Isa. 8:17, 18) present the two sides of the angelic conflict as it relates to the Church Age. First, the human side: “I will put my trust in him.” Each person who exercises positive volition in Jesus Christ enters the angelic conflict and becomes a part of the Bride and of Operation Footstool. The rare future perfect periphrastic form of peitho emphasizes the permanent future results of becoming the Bride. Believers in union with Christ will share in the conquest of His enemies (the fallen angels) as God the Father throws them, as it were, at our Lord’s feet!

Second, the divine side: “I and the children which God hath given me.” So that He should not be alone, God has given believers to Christ as His own possession. Just as Jesus Christ had anticipated the first Adam’s need of a right woman (Gen. 2:18), so God the Father prepared a “right woman” for the Last Adam, the Bride or Church.

Forasmuch then as the children [regenerate members of the human race] are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through [spiritual] death he might destroy [render powerless] him that had the power of [spiritual] death, that is, the devil (Heb. 2:14).

In common with the human race, Jesus Christ possessed flesh and blood, but without an old sin nature or the imputation of Adam’s sin. Through His spiritual death (thanatos) on the Cross, He rendered Satan powerless. In other words, the Cross resolves the angelic conflict and provides the foundation for Operation Footstool. The “power of death” which Satan holds from Eden to the Second Advent of Christ refers to his dominion over those who are spiritually dead. Satan has the power of physical death only when, in individual cases, the sovereignty of God permits him to exercise it. All members of the human race are born physically alive but at the same time dead to God; hence, through physical birth, Homo sapiens unwittingly enters the Kingdom of Satan.

In this second phase of the angelic conflict (after Satan seized rulership from Adam), the evil one holds man in bondage through spiritual death as a kidnapper might retain custody of his brainwashed victim until release is obtained. Jesus Christ provided that release through His saving work on the Cross, where He paid the penalty for sin-cursed mankind. The spiritual death of Christ propitiated the justice of God the Father so that anyone who believes in Christ is reconciled to God and delivered from the ruling power of Satan to become the servant of Christ.

And deliver them [from Satan’s kingdom] who through fear of death were all their lifetime [through all the functions of life] subject to bondage (Heb. 2:15).

Satan’s kingdom is made up of frightened people who have no security. Fear of death continually stalks them until a relationship with God is established, and through doctrine they come to appreciate their new position. In reality, it is spiritual death which shackles the unbeliever and, unbeknownst to him, is the true basis for fear. Fear is not only a mental attitude sin, but it is a pusillanimous state of mind stemming from a lack of absolutes. Only as a person is related to the

Absolute God will he possess the assurance of a sound mind which casts out fear (2 Tim. 1 :7).

The mature believer’s deliverance-is in seven progressive stages: salvation through regeneration; freedom from the power of the sin nature through spirituality in the Christian life; deliverance from the influence of evil through spiritual growth; deliverance through dying grace or through the Rapture, whichever occurs first; deliverance through a resurrection body; deliverance in the Millennium; and deliverance in the eternal state.

In the next verse, we see the basis of Christ’s victory: For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham (Heb. 2:16).

In order to resolve the angelic conflict, Christ had to become a man rather than an angel because man was the issue in determining the outcome. At the Cross, therefore, Jesus provided salvation for Homo sapiens not for angels. As a result, man who is inferior becomes superior by virtue of that salvation. Furthermore, it is God who receives the glory by taking a base creature and lifting him to an exalted position in Christ.

Jesus Christ turned certain defeat into triumph and won back the victory that Satan captured in the Garden. At the same time, by His spiritual death, He made it possible for every person who is of Adam’s race to have a relationship with God by a simple act of faith in the finished work of Calvary. He therefore gained more than man lost in the Garden!

THE VICTORIOUS BELIEVER

Now what does all this mean to you right now? Do you as a believer ever become despondent or discouraged, upset or confused? Do you harbor a guilt complex because of some sin? Do you think you have failed beyond hope? Whatever your problem, it makes no difference God is willing and waiting to pour out grace blessing to you!

The essence of God is the key to all blessing in time. Grace and blessing always function from justice. Omnipotence and justice make it possible for God to provide the ultimate in blessing; but blessing is realized only as the believer is adjusted to the justice of God, first in rebound, and then by the continual, consistent assimilation of Bible doctrine. Instantaneous adjustment to God’s justice, which is free to forgive sins confessed (or named) and restore the believer to fellowship, is basic to the continual adjustment of spiritual growth. When the believer is advancing spiritually through the intake of Bible doctrine in the filling of the Spirit, God’s justice demands of Himself that He fulfill the special blessing paragraphs which He wrote into His plan in eternity past for every believer. His justice is free to bless where there is no compromise to that justice. Otherwise, God’s justice must adjust to the believer in divine discipline.

We cannot adjust to God’s justice on our own merit or our own works, but God always makes provision for us to do so on His merit. In the two instantaneous adjustments. He supplied salvation and rebound; in the gradual adjustment of spiritual growth. He prepared the “grace apparatus for perception” (GAP) whereby the believer is able to understand the whole realm of Bible doctrine. Basically, GAP includes the pastor-teacher for the communication of doctrine, the local church as the classroom for learning doctrine, the Holy Spirit as the Teacher of doctrine, and the human spirit for the transfer of doctrine into the right lobe where it can be assimilated, categorized and applied to experience.

The grace apparatus must function on free will, and it must be exercised daily! As a believer, you cannot operate without Bible doctrine. Your capacity for life, your capacity for happiness and love, your orientation to life and your ability to withstand the onslaughts of the devil depend on Bible doctrine. Without a command post of doctrine in your soul, you will succumb to reversionism and become a casualty in the angelic conflict.

The angels who are still able to observe the struggle in the arena of time between reversionism and supergrace, carnality and spirituality, error and truth, suffering and triumph, are learning of the grace of God by watching you (1 Cor. 4:9; Eph. 3:10)! But you learn of the grace of God from Bible doctrine! When the Apostle Paul came to the place of unbearable pain, frustration and trial, he prayed three times that his “thorn in the flesh” be removed. And what was the answer? The most

sublime exhortation in all the Word of God! The Lord said to him, “My grace is sufficient for thee” (2 Cor. 12:9).

When anyone angel or man sees you totally adjusted to the justice of God, moving right on through adversity without panic or falling apart, without crying, “Why me, Lord?” but letting “patience have her perfect work” (James 1:4), then God is glorified and you are blessed! God is able to shower His grace upon you in a fantastic way, and in effect your whole life will be a “victorious proclamation” to angels as well as to men!