My Dear Young Friend, Paul:—
It rejoices my heart to know that you have taken Jesus as your Saviour, and that you can now say you are made clean from all your sins through His precious blood. I do thank God for what He has done for you, and also that he has led you thus to confess Him. And we can both thank God, can we not, that He has permitted dear Miss S. to be so faithful toward you? She will have a happy reward by and by.
Oh! how blessed, dear Paul, that you are now happy in the Lord, and that the sting of death, which is sin, is all gone, so that you can be happy in life, or happy in death—as He will! You have gained a wonderful victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. There are many thousands of men and women who would give much to have what you now possess. All the money in the world could not buy the gift that God has given to you. And now may He give you grace, day by day, to live for Him, so that you may shine as a light in the world.
Your dream was quite remarkable and I think it might be helpful to others if it were put in “Message of Love;” indeed, I think your entire letter would be with interest, and I feel sure you would not object to my sending it.
Your question is not a very easy one to answer, but I will try to help you. When God created the angels, He made them spirits; they do not have bodies as men have. When man dies, or is killed, it is the body that is affected; the soul lives on forever. There are angels that have sinned, who are now in everlasting chains, “reserved unto judgment.” See Jude 1:6, and 2 Peter 2:4.
Satan once belonged to the angels of light, or the holy angels, but he got lifted up with pride and so had to be cast down. In Isa. 14:4-14, we have the King of Babylon, and in Ez. 28:1-17, the Prince of Tyre, as illustrating, or picturing to us, the pride that inflated the heart of Satan, and the fall that resulted from it. In the one place he is called “Lucifer,” in the other “The Anointed Cherub.” His heart was lifted up because of his beauty, and he said: “I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.” . .. “I will ascend the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.”
What presumption in a creature to magnify himself thus, and seek to put himself on a level with the Creator! But God said, “Thou shalt be brought down to hell.” And that is where this wicked one will yet be.
And here is a lesson for all of us; God will not have pride, whether in angel or man; He will surely abase the one who exalts himself.
But now I must come more directly to your question. God did not put Satan out of existence, but He cast him down from his place of excellency. Instead of continuing to shine in the perfection of wisdom and beauty, he is now a hideous creature roaming about for a time; and evil though he is, he is sometimes used as an instrument in God’s hand to bring about the blessing of His own people, as in the case of Job. But he will finally spend forever in the lake of fire.
When God made man He made him lower than the angels, but His purpose was to lift him up above the angels, giving him a place in His own beloved Son. But God would put man to the test, and Satan, this fallen angel, whose hatred now was great against God, was permitted to go to the garden of Eden and tempt the man whom God had placed there. As you know, our first parents were tempted and fell, and so sin came into the world. And even if Satan could then have been killed it would not have put evil away, for sin was there, and from that time man was born in sin and with an evil nature.
But God’s wonderful purposes of love are now made known. He would have man taken into heaven to enjoy its blessed delights, and to be in a scene of bliss where sorrow cannot come. However, in order to reach that blessed place, and to be able to enjoy its purity and its holiness, man must be made clean from his sins; and death, the wages due for sin, must be met. But man, being a sinner, and helpless, could do nothing. It was in this condition of things that God manifested His boundless love by giving His only and His well-beloved Son to take the poor sinners place and suffer in in his stead in order to give him a place of endless bliss in the bright glory above.
Jesus did not choose “to kill Satan,” but He did choose to go into death under the weight of our sins, that He might give us life in Himself, and that we may never perish. After a time He will put Satan where he can never hurt or deceive more; and “yet a little while” and He will make us His loved companions for a blissful eternity. This is a bright and blessed prospect for us, is it not, dear Paul?
While here below we still have the old nature, which is evil; also there is evil all about us, as well as Satan’s temptations, and his bold efforts to devour us; but we have “GOD FOR US,” and He is stronger than all our foes. If we seek the face of the Lord, He will deliver us from evil, and will keep us day by day until He calls us home to be with Himself.
There is another point in your letter which I must mention: You think if Satan was out of the way everybody would go to heaven. That is a mistake; as I have said, there is evil in the heart of man, and many will not have Jesus. When he was here upon the earth, in all His grace and goodness, He had to say to His own people, the Jews, “Ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life.” So it is today; there are many who will not come to Jesus; they go their own way, and do their own will, and that is sin against God.
I don’t know whether I have made, these points plain to you, but I hope you will get some help from what I have written.
ML 09/20/1903