Learn what will happen during the tribulation period from beginning to end
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Updated August 21st, 2000
Assumption
god should suffer as he has made us suffer. I hope the anti-christ takes things over. He could'nt do any worse than god has done.
The Truth
Dear Tom:
Unfortunately, you have got it all mixed up. God the Father who created everything in this world is not the God of this world. He hasn't been since the day Adam and Eve chose to disobey Him back in the Garden. And yes, you and I would have done the same thing. From that day forward we have all been born into sin and must die.
Due to our disobedience we have chosen to make satan the god of this world. How do I know that. Let me explain. When Jesus came to this world to die for our sins, He spent forty days and nights in the desert without food. During that time satan came and tempted Jesus with various requests and questions. One of his requests was very plain and thus disproves what many today believe to be fact...that God is the god of this world, and therefore, responsible for the misery and pain that has been its legacy. Yes, the fact of the matter is, what we reap we will sow. Meaning, if you sow evil and corruption you're going reap evil and corruption. satan of course, is only to eager to help you and I along in sowing evil and corruption, because he wants to destroy this world and every man, woman and child that lives in it.
But back to my point. When satan was tempting Jesus, he boldly came out and proclaimed his position and power on this earth. Matthew 4:8-10 tells the story:
[8] Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; [9] And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. [10] Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
If you didn't catch what had been said in these verses let me explain. satan, who is the god and ruler of this world, took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world. Thinking that he would be able to bribe the King of kings, and Lord of lords into turning from God the Father, he proposed to Jesus what he had power to give Him...that being ALL the kingdoms of the world. satan literally offered Jesus the keys to all the wealth and power of the world only if He would fall down and worship him. Of course, that did not happen. Jesus, the Son of God, went on to die for the sin's of the world and to give hope to the hopeless and life everlasting to those who would follow Him.
satan, on the other hand, has been roaming his kingdoms seeking to destroy anyone and everyone that might proclaim or accept the Gospel. If you have hatred toward God for the ills of this world, satan has blinded you as he did Adam and Eve back in the garden. Man chose satan to be the god of this world, and any mess this world is in is due to him, not God. Those who have accepted Jesus as Lord are the only possession that God has on this earth. All others belong to satan including the kingdoms of this world. You should also look at Isaiah 14:12-18:
[12] How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! [13] For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: [14] I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. [15] Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. [16] They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; [17] That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners? [18] All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house.
Pay close attention to verses 16 & 17. Does this sound like God the Father is the god of this world and responsible for the problems we have encountered? Many in that day will look upon satan, and marvel that he was the one that destroyed kingdoms and caused the earth to tremble. No my friend, God the Father is not the god of this world due to our daily election to follow satan and our rejection to accept Jesus as Lord. That's why Jesus commanded us as Christian's to love not the world, neither the things in it. Why, because this is not our world but satan's! Jesus also said in John 18:36, "My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
But one day very soon, Jesus will return to this world and finally rule the earth as was intended by God. satan will be bound and cast from the earth. Then you will finally see this world as God had originally planned.
Pastor Malone