Why Doesn't God?...
God was forced to bring upon man the punishment He had decreed for disobedience. Mankind is now possessed of a sinful, fallen nature. "The wages of sin is death." (Rom. 3:23). Heartache, sorrow, disease, disappointment are now the lot of the human race. Apparently Satan has triumphed.
But the question arises: If this is a moral universe, why is a creature like Satan allowed to exist? Why is he not confined to eternal torture? If God is all-powerful ( and we know He is), why does He permit Satan's continuing rebellion against Him and His people? Why doesn't God interfere? To answer, we must view life, and particularly eternal life, from the divine perspective, not the human.
God is concerned with bringing many sons home to glory ( Heb. 2:10 ). But there must be a right basis on which He can do this. He has determined that man must choose whether he will love the good and turn from evil; take His way instead of Satan's. This ability to do good cannot be based upon the inherent righteousness of man, for since the Fall, no man is good. "There is none righteous, no, not one" ( Rom. 3:10). Nevertheless, God can inpute full and complete righteousness to sinful man on one basis. This is the act of faith which man exercises when he accepts the substitutionary sacrifice of the Son of God on his behalf. It is Christ's righteousness which God inputes to man. Herein is the grace of God.
On the other hand, already God has decreed the doom of Satan. His sin is unforgivable. There is no redemption for fallen angels. The devil's place of everlasting incarceration and torment is in readiness ( Matt. 25:41). God's reckoning with Satan will take place in God's good time and will glorify Him.
So God permits Satan to proceed with his nefarious works. There may be in the mind of God another reason: It must be demonstrated, as well as decreed, that sin is a damning, blasting, blighting thing. It is necessary for God to display its horrendous effects; and even in the eons of endless eternity, the background of the horrors of sin will remain as a contrast to God's perfect righteousness.
The earth, too, will furnish an object lesson of the failure of Satan to govern through the Man of Sin, the Antichrist, his tool in the ages to come. While for a season it seems that God has withdrawn His hand, He is showing Satan's incompetence.
Meantime, God holds the reins. Satan would seize more power if possible, but God allows him so much and no more. Let no one, however, underestimate the devil's hatred and contempt for God and His people, Satan's ability to seduce and ruin.
God was forced to bring upon man the punishment He had decreed for disobedience. Mankind is now possessed of a sinful, fallen nature. "The wages of sin is death." (Rom. 3:23). Heartache, sorrow, disease, disappointment are now the lot of the human race. Apparently Satan has triumphed.
But the question arises: If this is a moral universe, why is a creature like Satan allowed to exist? Why is he not confined to eternal torture? If God is all-powerful ( and we know He is), why does He permit Satan's continuing rebellion against Him and His people? Why doesn't God interfere? To answer, we must view life, and particularly eternal life, from the divine perspective, not the human.
God is concerned with bringing many sons home to glory ( Heb. 2:10 ). But there must be a right basis on which He can do this. He has determined that man must choose whether he will love the good and turn from evil; take His way instead of Satan's. This ability to do good cannot be based upon the inherent righteousness of man, for since the Fall, no man is good. "There is none righteous, no, not one" ( Rom. 3:10). Nevertheless, God can inpute full and complete righteousness to sinful man on one basis. This is the act of faith which man exercises when he accepts the substitutionary sacrifice of the Son of God on his behalf. It is Christ's righteousness which God inputes to man. Herein is the grace of God.
On the other hand, already God has decreed the doom of Satan. His sin is unforgivable. There is no redemption for fallen angels. The devil's place of everlasting incarceration and torment is in readiness ( Matt. 25:41). God's reckoning with Satan will take place in God's good time and will glorify Him.
So God permits Satan to proceed with his nefarious works. There may be in the mind of God another reason: It must be demonstrated, as well as decreed, that sin is a damning, blasting, blighting thing. It is necessary for God to display its horrendous effects; and even in the eons of endless eternity, the background of the horrors of sin will remain as a contrast to God's perfect righteousness.
The earth, too, will furnish an object lesson of the failure of Satan to govern through the Man of Sin, the Antichrist, his tool in the ages to come. While for a season it seems that God has withdrawn His hand, He is showing Satan's incompetence.
Meantime, God holds the reins. Satan would seize more power if possible, but God allows him so much and no more. Let no one, however, underestimate the devil's hatred and contempt for God and His people, Satan's ability to seduce and ruin.
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