Dipping Deeply Into Freedom: Freedom (Part 9)

Categories: Freedom, Léo’s Insights 2021-2022

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I want to end this series on freedom by digging deeply into a very big question I have grappled with for years.  We all have deep questions which most often cannot be answered, like “Who created God?” or “Where did God come from?”  These are questions referred to as metaphysical questions, or questions that extend beyond the physical realm.

I may be a bit weird in this respect, but I have been entertaining some of these questions since I was a lad.  I think I may have been enlightened on one of these questions as I wrote this series and while going through some deep personal pain, the type of pain that begs these types of questions.  Let me explain.

The question I am attempting to answer today starts with my limited understanding of what may have taken place long before any of us were around.  To the best of my knowledge, satan, or Lucifer was once an angel in God’s realm of heaven.  There is some Biblical support for this story, in particular Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28.  Otherwise, there seems to be a lot of folklore regarding satan, such as he was an archangel, or in charge of music, or very beautiful, and that he had, or shall we say has, quite a following.  These things may indeed be true, but I would not know where to go to find support for these claims.

In any event, my dilemma is not about whether or not satan exists, nor is it about whether or not his job description is to inflict maximum pain and suffering on God’s creations.  My question is more related to what will apparently occur and then why this has not happened sooner?

Revelations (20:20), the last book of the Bible which refers to final events, mentions that satan is eventually thrown into a lake of fire.  I do not know what this place looks like, but I do know two things about it: It is a place of eternal damnation and separation from God, and it is a place I most certainly do not want to visit or entertain in any way or for any reason.

In any case, my question is: If satan will eventually be thrown into an abyss where he can no longer torment humans with his incredibly negative antics, why did God not just throw him there when he rebelled and fell from heaven?  Just look at the carnage he has brought to this world.  Why not have just dumped him and left us free from his influence?

A clue to answering this question may have been given long ago by the Apostle Paul.  In Romans 7, Paul shows us that we would never have known sin if the law had not exposed it as such.

While giving this question some serious thought, and knowing freedom cannot exist without choice, I’ve realized that had satan been disposed of right away, we would not have choice.  How would we discover the goodness of God, unless there was something to compare Him to?

I get it now.  God left satan loose, and yes he has wreaked havoc in everyone’s life. This has happened so God could provide an alternative to the truth He represents.  Satan’s lies show us the truth, and the truth exposes satan’s lies.  We could never freely choose to follow Jesus unless there was an alternate path to choose.

Back to the beginning.  If freedom is having choice and control, we would not have freedom were it not for the alternatives presented by satan.  So, satan is God’s tool for providing us with choice, and when we find the truth and accept it, we are truly set FREE! (John 8:32)

I trust you were ministered to during this series.

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