The End of Satan
This is a controversial topic but without it we would have an incomplete picture about our God. We are who we really are by the way we treat our enemies.
We serve a perfect God who demonstrated the excellent way of love:
He told us to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44) and to overcome evil by good (Romans 12:21) and we can rest assured that this is what He will do as well.
Note that the way of love (Agape) that is described in 1 Corinthians 13 is what moved the heart of God who loved (Agape) the whole world (kosmon – including all His creatures; John 3:16) to send His Son (Jesus) in order to save it (One purpose of God revealed – John 3:17). This does not exclude His enemies for His Son (Jesus) is the One who reveals that He loves (Agape) His enemies too by the command given in Matthew 5:44.
Yes, the love in Matthew 5:44 is also from the root word (Agape) in Greek. Because His love (Agape) never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8), we can be sure that even His enemies will be overcome by His goodness based on His principle revealed in (Romans 12:21) and thus we can be sure that He will not fail to save the world. Indeed, this is the Christ, He (Lord Jesus) is truly the Saviour of the world (1 John 4:14).
That is why, ‘He saves all!’
Satan means ‘adversary’. This enemy of God has turned what power (dominion) that God had given him prior into doing evil. Satan and his hosts are like gods (not because that they are really gods but rather because of some temporal dominion given to them). They have been given a fair chance to change their ways as well.
Asaph contemplates these gods (which I believe to be satan and his hosts of devils and demons) on how they have manipulated the power (dominion) given to them to do evil instead of good as Scripture testifies:
”God stands in the congregation of the mighty;
He judges among the gods (elohim).
How long will you judge unjustly,
And show partiality to the wicked?
Defend the poor and the fatherless;
Do justice to the afflicted and needy.
Deliver the poor and needy;
Free them from the hand of the wicked.
They do not know, nor do they understand;
They walk about in darkness;
All the foundation of the earth are unstable.
I said, ‘You are gods (elohim) and all of you
Are children of the Most High.
But you shall die like men,
And fall like one of the princes’.
Arise O God, judge the earth;
For You shall inherit all nations.”
(Psalm 82:1 – 8)
Satan, who is most likely the god of this age (2 Corinthians 4:4) has blinded the minds of those who do not believe. Don’t worry, they are nothing compared to our living God who created them all. Our God is the ‘God of gods’ (Deuteronomy 10:17, Daniel 2:47) who does the things that these gods were supposed to do (wondered why there is evil in this world – e.g., who is responsible for the child in Africa suffering without food? Those gods). Our true and living God does the acts such as administering justice for the fatherless and widow and also giving food and clothing to the stranger (Deuteronomy 10:18).
Can you see which ‘God’ is actually solvingthe problem of evil? Our God through Lord Jesus Christ. He is doing it with the excellent way of love (Agape) which is the reason it is not immediately carried out. The way of love implies that He will not force against the will or power (dominion) that He gave them. Nevertheless, even they (rulers and principalities of darkness of this age – Ephesians 6:12) didn’t see it coming as Scripture below records:
“which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” (1 Corinthians 2:8)
That is with love, He (Jesus) died on the cross unjustly and thus Christ defeated completely all enemies by paying in full the penalty of sin (1 John 2:2) and thereby removing the sin of the whole world (kosmou – John 1:29). This takes times to be testified (come to pass at different times – kairois {plural} – 1 Timothy 2:6) because the way of love does not force but by His longsuffering (patience – 1 Corinthians 13:4) till salvation is produced. In other words, Peter himself declares that Paul’s writings are about how by longsuffering (a product of the way of love {agape}), God will be saving all – Salvation (2 Peter 3:15).
Peter declared these things (regarding longsuffering to salvation – of all) are hard to understand (2 Peter 3:16); And by the writings of apostle Paul, we can rest assured that these times also includes salvation for the whole world (or all things) because other verses support this as the mystery of Christ as it is revealed in the gathering of all things done at the fullness of the times (kairon {plural} – Ephesians 1:10) in order to reconcile them all (Colossians 1:20) so that finally and eternally, God will be all in all (1 Corinthians 15:28) after filling all things (Ephesians 4:10 , Ephesians 1:23) with His love (Agape) as well as (Light, Goodness and all) till darkness (evil) which has no place in Him (1 John 1:5) will cease to exist for it is not part of His love (1 Corinthians 13:5).
By saving the church (ekklesia) first, God is showing that He is faithful and that even those in the heavenly places know that God is indeed saving the world by His hidden wisdom (Ephesians 3:9) in stages: Jewish believers – Gentiles etc. (Ephesians 3:10).
Thus it is easy to see that the Bible does teach mysteriously the salvation and restoration of all (including satan and his hosts as well). This I believe is the Mystery of Christ – Salvation of all the world.
The church is thus set as an example for the salvation of the world indicating its beginning since we (the church) are the firstfruit of His (Jesus) work of salvation and not the only fruits as fallaciously often interpreted (1 Corinthians 15:23, James 1:18).
For an example of this analogy, consider:
“For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” (Romans 11:15)
“For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.” (Romans 11:16)
In (Romans 11:15–16) – notice that the salvation of the firstfruit is compared between the salvation of the Gentiles versus the Jews. After the operation (of justice) in casting them (jewish non-believers) away, the reconciling of the world takes place (justice).
But it doesn’t end there since after they (those non-believing Jews) are accepted again (for all Israel will be saved – Romans 11:26) but only after all gentiles (fullness of the Gentiles) have come in (saved too – Romans 11:25 – Note that this is mentioned to be a mystery – in this case highlighted for the salvation of all men). Indeed all men being saved is declared as something that Jesus prophesied that He will do (John 12:32) will take place at different times (kairois {plural} – 1 Timothy 2:6) and is a fact (Titus 2:11) as well as a Universal Truth or saying (1 Timothy 4:10).
Some people (even universalists) feel that it is unfair for God to even offer reconciliation (Colossians 1:20) and restoration (Acts 3:21) to Satan, demons and the devils which are included in the all things.
Yeah, I have problem with it too. But I don’t let my feeling get in the way of what God Will is as declared that He is going to do as stated in His Holy Scriptures. I let God be God literally and just accept that He desires to do it and will accomplish all His pleasures.
A Christian social worker with years of experience both in ministry and other works actually remarked to me that this doesn’t feel right:
He says,
“How can God even show mercy to such evil creatures? I’ve worked with mental patients, drug addicts and even hard-core criminals all my life and even I wouldn’t feel such an action is right. It sounds demonic. Just for you to know, young man, I have seen what these demons can do – I once saw a demon-possessed person inserting a stick into his wound and tearing it. Oh! How can such evil things be even given a chance to be saved by Christ?”
My response is:
“Firstly, God feels differently than us. Our feelings are irrelevant. I go by facts and logic of Scripture rather than my feelings. Please allow me to explain. It is commonly accepted not just in Christianity but also in all other religions that Satan (devils, demons) are incapable of good being 100% evil. Any Christian wish to say that I am wrong and that Satan is capable of any little good, say even 1%? I think not. All religious persons will agree on this point unless they are in some perverted form of Satanism.”
“Secondly, man has been given a conscience. This indicates that all men are capable of some good. There is no such thing that a man is 100% evil without the influence of Satan (devils,demons) just by himself. Agree? I think so you would.”
“Now we come to the crux of the argument. That Christian social worker who didn’t feel right in his spirit has personally converted some pretty rough hard-core criminals to Christianity during the course of his ministry.Some of these ex-gangsters and ex-drug addicts have even visited our local churches telling their life testimonies of how God’s love has changed them. Good, all is well for them now.”
“Consider now my point: Do you know that some of these ex- criminals have raped children, tortured women, slashed men which could have been your daughter, mother, father or even any family member. I’m bringing it close to home so that you may able to feel something else in your spirit shortly.”
“Imagine now that your favourite loved one be it your wife, husband, mother, father, boyfriend, girlfriend, sister, brother, son, daughter or anyone else has been robbed (steal), murdered (kill) and his/her life together with yours never be the same again since the hopes, dreams as well as peace is gone and unchangeable (destroy).”
“It gets better. Imagine that the criminal that has done this evil to your loved one and you, call him Joe, has repented and became a Christian. Imagine now (for argument’s sake) that you are actually the king/queen of a country. The law demands that Joe be punished in prison. Just because Joe is a Christian, would you grant a royal pardon (so that he may walk free) knowing that he has robbed, murdered caused this unchangeable evil event in your life? Are you feeling better?”
“Now do you understand why punishment is still necessary? That is why God knows who to save by royal pardon (believers only – in dignity and honour) while others after they pay their due punishment to the last mite (the rest of non-believers and evil creatures through shame and chastisements). Remember, you cannot trick God.”
“Endless punishments and eternal torture with no end nor aim for the improvement of the one being punished is not just, it’s sadistic!.
And to claim that Lord Jesus does it, is blasphemy!. Lord Jesus punishes with righteous judgment with the presence of His Holy angels which will result in salvation in the end.”
“If Joe comes to your church, you will be certainly happy that Christ saved him. Wouldn’t you? Unless of course if it was your loved one whom he has butchered. Then, you may not like Joe hanging around even though you may have forgiven him out of a creedal response of your belief taken by oath as a member in your local church. Don’t worry, I would feel the same way too.”
“So you could accept Joe’s entrance to heaven one day (personal salvation) even though he did that evil in the past to your loved one.
Now here’s a point: You could accept that Joe being forgiven and becoming a Christian and attaining to salvation even though you know that Joe did the evil willingly.”
“In other words, Joe (being capable of at least some little good – not born completely evil) did steal, kill and destroya life of out his free-will choice and you could accept his salvation as fair and just when he repented and became a Christian like you.”
“Consider now Satan (devils and demons). Being bound completely by their lust (evil things), they (not capable of any good – 100% evil)
do the same: steal, kill and destroy.”
“The only reason Joe’s damage doesn’t seem as bad as Satan’s is probably because Joe is not endowed with such power. Some men in history had more power and you saw what they did, right? Remember Hitler?.”
“Also, others walk the earth right now who have a manifesto to kill people based on race, creed or colour. Imagine if they were given power like what Satan has but being applied to the earth. What do you think they would do? Would they be any better than Satan? Maybe just a little, right? Would you be any better? God knows.”
“So if Joe was granted the grace of repentance (with more freewill choice needed to do evil – since he’s not 100% evil by nature), don’t you think that Satan (almost needs no freewill choice to do evil – since he’s 100% evil by nature given up to lust – a choice he made in the past), may well be granted a grace of repentance by our true God? Who actually made both Joe and Satan?”
“Who is worse, Joe or Satan? Equal?”
“Do you still feelin your spirit that it is unfair if God solves the problem of evil by healing the inventor of evil – as Gregory of Nyssa puts it?” (A Cappodician father who was an orthodox player behind the Nicene creed)
Probably why many Christians in the early church itself thought the same as Jerome (342 – 420)AD writes:
“I know that most persons understand by the story of Nineveh and its King, the ultimate forgiveness of the devil and all rational creatures.”
Note that these people (Christians – for a non-believer wouldn’t know about the story of Nineveh – even some of you Christians may be clueless) were not heretics. Jerome mixed with them.
So let it be clear that the salvation of all is a Bible based deduction found at the dawn of Christianity and not from a new-age cult or Satanist movement. I’m not a Satanist nor demon-possessed.
Finally, we have an answer to the age old question:
“How come God doesn’t just completely destroy the devil till he ceases to exist and the problem is solved; right?”
Simple answer:
God is not a destroyer of life. He only destroys non-living evil things.
That is why since there is no partiality with God (one principle without duality or hypocrisy), He (God) either saves all creation (including Satan and his hosts eventually) or none. That is called being Just. In other words, being just requires God to do equally to all; That is, rendering punishments according to the act but eventually redeeming (His one purpose) all in times appropriately.
Is there such a verse that declares all or whole of creation will be delivered (saved) and become children of God again? Yes. Consider the scripture below:
“For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope;
because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
For we know that the whole creation groans and labours with birth pangs together until now.” (Romans 8:20 – 22)
Remember at the beginning of this chapter, I mentioned Psalm 82 (a psalm of Asaph)? Did you notice that the gods that are contrary to the Most High (our true one God) were also called children of the Most High? Here it is again:
“I said, ‘You are gods (elohim) and all of you
Are children of the Most High” (Psalm 82:6)
Shouldn’t the Lord God pity His children and solve the problem of evil in those wayward ones? Yes, He will; Remember, the whole of creation will be delivered (saved) and become children of God again.
The secret of His way of love (1 Corinthians 12:31) explains out why He (God) decides to save the world this one way through Jesus and not by any other way. His one essence is love (Agape); this is the best one way to describe Him: God is love (Agape – 1 John 4:8). This how we know Him and not just know about Him.
Remember at the start of the chapter on the end of Satan, I made the statement: We are who we really are by the way we treat our enemies.
Christ Jesus is revealed in the one way He treated His enemies: He loved them back. We find this one truth about Him revealed in all the four Gospels. The one event that changed everything we thought about God: His crucifixion.
This was the one purpose of God (to save the world – John 3:17).
He (Jesus) came to earth moved only by the one reason (His love (Agape) – John 3:16) and that God became manifested in the flesh (John 1:14) as this is called the great controversial Mystery of Godliness (1 Timothy 3:16).
He chose the one way of love (1 Corinthians 12:31) as described in detail in (1 Corinthians 13) willingly laying down His life (John 10:17) to die (Matthew 16:21) on the cross.
This event (predicted – Matthew 20:18, fulfilled – Matthew 27:50) in order to pay the price for the sin of the whole world (John 6:33) and rise again after three days (predicted – Matthew 20:19, fulfilled – Luke 24:6).
He did this to defeat the duality called death (1 Corinthians 15:26) so that only life (His oneness – John 1:4, John 14:6) remains in the end (yielding immortality alone to the world – 1 Corinthians 15:54, 2 Timothy 1:10).
This is the result of His work on the cross (John 10:10, John 11:25, 1 John 2:2, Colossians 1:20, 1 Corinthians 15:28) will be manifested in His times (kairois {plural} – 1 Timothy 2:6; kairon {plural} – Ephesians 1:10).
Why our all – powerful one God chose this one way (death on the cross) to accomplish His one purpose (save the world)?
“He could have just said it and we would have been saved what?” Simply because He doesn’t force us against our will – because His one way of love declares that His love (Agape) does not seek its own way (1 Corinthians 13:5) implying that He doesn’t force us against our freewill.
Again, Why our all – powerful one God chose this one way (death on the cross) to accomplish His one purpose (save the world)?
Lord Jesus Himself gave the one answer for the one reason behind His one righteous act (Romans 5:18) of laying down His life once and for all for sin to bring forth salvation (Hebrews 9:28).
The one answer for this act is that it is the greatest demonstration of His love (Agape):
“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for His friends.” (John 15:13)
Too hard to believe this one beautiful truth?
Lord Jesus is the one Truth.
Now you know who He really is.
He is the One that has all the answers.
Now you don’t have any one excuse to reject Him. (Romans 1:20)
Do you still want to reject The One who truly loves you like no other?
He left us with only one command towards God and one command towards men. All other religious rules are man-made.
Here it is as Scripture records:
One command towards our One God:
“Jesus said to him,’ You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’”
(Matthew 22:37)
The one command towards one another is this:
“And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’”
(Matthew 22:39)
Both the commands are built upon love (Agape). This is the highest form of love.
To the atheist: Your argument against God does not hold water anymore since it was built upon false premises of Christianity which were not true to His word. The one reason why there’s evil and looks
like God is doing nothing about it is because the god/ruler of this age/world is blocking His will to be done here on earth. Remember that they (gods) have been given some dominion and power which they have abused and are abusing till today. It is true that Christ has triumphed (defeated) them all, but since God is love, He still doesn’t force any creature (including you {atheist} and the devils {gods}) to follow Him. His power is available but only applies if you turn to Him (repent), believe and all of us align our freewill to the living God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In time, He will act justly and punish when the winepress of the wrath of God is full (Revelation 14:10).
If you think God is a Trickster (that he can allow you to be tricked), then what I’m writing may be a lie for you and vice versa. How can something as beautiful as this when revealed be a lie?
Notice that His anger is not infinite since then the winepress would never be full. The very fact His wrath is stated in way that implies that it can be measured means that it can’t be infinite implying that it has an end (fully satisfied) and thus lake of fire (hell, hades) can’t be everlasting since God’s wrath (anger) being limited must come to an end.
In other words, since God chose (His will is to not be angry ‘forever’) to limit His wrath (anger – not that He cannot choose to be angry ‘forever’ but rather because He is better than us (creation) and not a man) implies that Lake of fire (Hell, Hades) itself is/must have an end in time.
Is the argument above based on premises that are Scriptural?
Yes, very Scriptural. Consider the premises listed together with the appropriate instructive verses below:
1. Existence of gods/rulers of this age/world and their abuse of power and dominion. (Psalm 82:6, 2 Corinthians 4:4, Ephesians 6:12, John 14:30, John 12:31, Matthew 4:9)
2. God doesn’t go against your (creation’s) will (Matthew 23:37).
3. Creation will not remain contrary to His Will ‘forever’. God’s will is supreme and will take over (overpower with love {Agape}) in time.
(Colossians 1:20, Philippians 2:9 –11, 1 Corinthians 15:28)
4. Is salvation testified in different times?
- (kairois {plural} – 1 Timothy 2:6, kairon {plural} – Ephesians 1:10)
5. Why in different times?
His love (Agape) waits (longsuffering) till all other holy attributes fairness (justice) etc… have done their part (for love doesn’t demand its way – 1 Corinthians 13:4 – 8) and salvation is produced in the end. Isn’t the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation? (2 Peter 3:15)
6. God alone has immortality (1 Timothy 1:17, 1 Timothy 6:16) and has eternal power (Romans 1:20) implying that He can change everything for you (creation) but only if you believe in Him.
Since only then your freewill is aligned to Him and He didn’t force you to accept it (you may ask back – did I ask your help?). Also love doesn’t force things on you. Apart from that being just or fair to all others (including devils; Satan will accuse you) – Revelation 12:10. Again I repeat, problem solved (for you) if you believe (Mark 9:23).
7. God’s justice will be served at the end of life. His anger is described in a manner that it implies that it is measurable and thus limited and not forever. Hence punishments can’t be forever in lake of fire (Hell or Hades) since no proof from Scripture that God remains angry endlessly or forever.
(i) God’s wrath or anger described in a measurable manner hence implies it’s limited. (Revelation 14:10, Revelation 14:19, Revelation 15:7, Revelation 16:1, Revelation 16:19, Revelation 19:15).
(ii) God’s wrath or anger meant not endless or kept to remain ‘forever’, even not held to the age (olam) but told to be completed implying an end in time.
(Jeremiah 3:12, Psalm 103:9, Revelation 15:1)
(iii) Only a man (creation) may be angry or retain anger to completely destroy till something ceases to exist. (Hosea 11:9)
(iv) He doesn’t willingly punish nor enjoy it. (Lamentations 3:33, Ezekiel 18:23, Ezekiel 18:32, Ezekiel 33:11)
(v) He won’t cast off any men more than an age (olam) and will end.
(Jeremiah 17:4, Lamentations 3:31, Jeremiah 3:5)
(vi) You will understand it perfectly one day. (Jeremiah 23:20)
8. His anger (even fullness of His fierce anger) is for a good purpose not sadism. Do allow me to quote one of the greatest teachers in the early Greek speaking churches; Origen of Alexandria in the first apologetic (defence of faith not apologizing work in Christianity):
Listen to the words of Origen as he battles with a Greek philosopher named Celsus:
‘”The Stoics, indeed, hold that, when the strongest of the elements prevails, all things shall be turned into fire. But our belief is, that the Word shall prevail over the entire rational creation, and change every soul into his own perfection…for although in the diseases and wounds of the body, there are some which no medical skill can cure, yet we hold that in the mind there is no evil so strong that it may not be overcome by the Supreme Word and God. For stronger than all the evils in the soul is the Word, and the healing power that dwells in Him, and the healing He applies, according to the will of God to every man. The consummation of all things is the destruction of evil…to quote Zephaniah: ‘My determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kings, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger, for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy. For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one consent’…consider carefully the promise, that all shall call upon the name of the Lord, and serve Him with one consent; also that all contemptuous reproach shall be taken away, and there shall be no longer any injustice, or vain speech, or a deceitful tongue”
(Celsus, 6k8, ch. 72, ANF, v.4, p. 667).
The verses quoted above by Origen is from (Zephaniah 3:8 – 9).
Sounds satanic or Godly? Worldly or Godly? Which one?
Now do you understand why His name is Love?
The true God doesn’t have duality and that is why He only acts if you believe in Him. Since most on this earth do not believe, He being just, will not force His will on you – (lest you say I didn’t ask for it).
He will only act when you believe in Him and ask for it. Until then, the Satan, who is most likely the god of this age (2 Corinthians 4:4)
will continue to bully you, whilst on earth and perhaps after this time as well (may God show mercy to you). If you don’t repent and believe in the true God, you might as well meet Satan soon.
Trust me, Satan and his demons won’t be reasoning with you (like how I am doing now). Satan’s actions of torture and his words will all be illogical and against all sane reasoning. So if your doctrine sounds torturous (such as eternal torture in hell) and doesn’t seem to fit in with any sane reasoning – irrationality (such as infinite punishment rendered to finite crimes), then you know from whom such doctrines come from – Satan or men, and definitely not of Lord Jesus Christ.
Satan and his cohorts will torture you (probably that is why visions of hell seem such – note that even in those visions, Satan and demons as well as his devils are doing the torturing not the true God). Why doesn’t God force and save you? It’s unfair (not just).
Why wouldn’t the true God step in? Because the way of Love doesn’t force anyone against their will. God doesn’t change from His principles neither for you nor for Satan.
Even you, based on your freewill chose to deny Him and thus Satan has a dominion over you – because you chose to set yourself against the true God implying that you are in Satan’s camp as well.
Wondered why your pastor or experts couldn’t give you these explanations? I was wondering too. Until, the Lord in His great Mercy, chose to reveal some parts of it. Trust me, He (Lord Jesus) still has the best explanations. Ask Him, and He may reveal it to you.
Why believe Him now?
Good: He (Jesus) becomes the one reason to live.
Bad: Want to try out a temporary stay with Satan in Hell?
What do I get (reward) if I follow Him now?
You will get age-during life in the age to come in our resurrected bodies (Luke 14:14, John 5:28 – 29).
Immortality and all that we seek will also be given to us (believers) first (Romans 2:7) for as He (Lord Jesus) promised, we will never die (John 8:51, John 10:28, John 11:26).
Immortality is implied by the second set of verses listed above not the ones that speak about the reward of age-abiding life. This correlates with the one ancient truth that in the path of righteousness, there is no death (immortality – Proverbs 12:28)
but only life.
”In the way of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death.” (Proverbs 12:28)
Here’s is what we seek:
If we seek a way, He is the Way.
If we seek a truth, He is the Truth.
If we seek a life, He is the Life.
If we seek the Father, it’s only through Him.
(John 14:6)
He (Jesus) satisfies every one of our needs.
When we come to Him only,
If we thirst, we will never thirst again. (John 4:14)
If we hunger, we will never hunger again. (John 6:35)
If we walk alone, we will never walk alone again. (Hebrews 13:5)
If we are in darkness, we will never remain in darkness. (John 8:12)
If we come to Him, He will never cast us out. (John 6:37)
If we are faithless, He remains faithful. (2 Timothy 2:13)
Even if we never believe, (John 4:48),
He remains Faithful. (Romans 3:3-4)
If we believe in Him, we will never perish. (John 10:28)
If we live in Him, we will never die. (John 11:26)
Do you believe this? (John 11:26)
Indeed, now you know the one beautiful reason for everything:
Lord Jesus Christ, King of Heavenand Saviour of the World.
Here is the one test of knowing versus knowing about Him:
Know love, know Him.
No love, no Him. (1 John 4:8)
You can now gladly exclaim in your hearts:
“Now I’ve found not only a God worth living for, but also a God worth dying for.”
With all the background work regarding the principles of why it is just and right for God to heal and restore the devils, we are now ready to consider the direct verses which describe the end of Satan.
Personal caution and warning: I do not like to say statements like God loves Satan or God saves Satan simply because Satan is the adversary set against God and that such phrases are not found in the Bible. This may be some of the words that are not lawful for men to utter (hidden things). Make a mistake here with using the wrong phrase here and you may come under serious judgment. Satan himself may accuse you of blasphemy (being the accuser of the brethren – Revelation 12:10) and for intruding into things that you and I either do not know (Colossians 2:18) or that we do not have permission to utter (2 Corinthians 12:4). Don’t be silly in ignoring this particular warning lest you become vainly puffed up (prideful)
in your mind and thus fall into the same condemnation as the devil (1 Timothy 3:6). For an example, Satan may accuse you thus:
“Who are you to talk about me?” or “Who gave you the permission to write about my stuff?” and other such accusations.
I have my reasons as to why I write regarding this topic which I don’t need to tell you. It’s not your business to intrude into things which God, myself and Satan with his hosts only know. Don’t get into fantasies. I didn’t just wake up one day and got all loving towards Satan and start writing about this. A clue I will leave to you as to why I may have a right to write about this (that you would know who Lord Jesus really is):
“Then they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.” (Luke 8:35)
But Jesus sent him away, saying “Return to your own house and tell what great things God has done for you…” (Luke 8:39)
Let me tell you a secret: In His name (Lord Jesus), all the gods of this world fled and became powerless to even speak. I repeat, that you may know who Lord Jesus really is.
Now you know why I’m so confident in the Lord: I’ve had my share of experiences with demons. I’ve avoided writing too much about it because God didn’t send me to preach demons but rather Christ, Lord of all, who defeated them all by just His name. Again I repeat, that you may know who Lord Jesus really is.
Just a little off – topic note:
Remember earlier the Christian social worker with many years of experience said that he had worked with countless drug addicts, mentally ill and demon possessed? Guess what? He has only worked with them whilst I have not only been one of them but also have lived with them for some brief detached periods of time.
I guess I do understand who they are. The answers that psychology can’t provide God did provide. The very fact that psychology rejects the premise of the spirit realm from which these mental influences come as the workings of demons, they (psychologists) will continue to fail to solve these problems. The answer to these problems is with Lord Jesus literally and not in psychology at all.
The Lord Jesus Who saved me is the One that is going to save the world. He (Jesus) didn’t say a word at all but rather did all the actions needed to solve my problem. Lord Jesus continues to heal and restore me even as I write till today. The prolonged healing is a weakness on my part, not His.
As the verse goes,
“Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed”
(John 8:36).
You don’t have to believe me. I wasn’t sent to preach me nor about the voices of demons, but Christ. Finally I repeat, that you may know who Lord Jesus really is.
As I usually say, I hate all God’s enemies (especially His ultimate enemy, Satan, with perfect hatred – as King David echoes in Psalm 139:22). The word ‘Perfect’ means that the hate here is proper and not sadistic. Sadistic hate is from Satan himself.
I prefer saying: God in His Mercy and Love will utterly destroy Satan in order to annihilate all evil in himand thus proceed to heal the inventor of evil and to restore him to his appropriate position. Note that the destruction is for the evil in him and not life itself.
God doesn’t destroy life. For God did not make a mistake in creating Satan. The mistakes and sins Satan does are from his own resources
(John 8:44) based on the abuse of power in choosing to do evil (having a knowledge to do both evil and good – Ezekiel 28:12).
Satan creates problems while God solves them all.
Note that it is commonly held that the origins of Satan stem from two sets of verses in the Bible namely:
(i) Isaiah 14:4 – 21
(ii) Ezekiel 28:11 – 19
I know that some of you will argue that the passages above are obscure since it seems to talk about a man (king of Babylon – Isaiah 14:4 and king of Tyre – Ezekiel 28:12) and other times something else since for example no man ever fell from heaven (Isaiah 14:12) nor was the anointed cherub (Ezekiel 28:14). It may be a double
meaning: literal (the kings fore-mentioned) and allegorical (Satan).
It may be the same for the case of the Story of Nineveh and its King as Jerome (of the Vulgate) mentioned earlier stated the following allegorical interpretation of Scripture as it was held by most (majority) of Christians at that time. Here it is again:
“I know that most persons understand by the story of Nineveh and its King, the ultimate forgiveness of the devil and all rational creatures.”
The end of Satan is this: utterly punished.
There’s no escape. Satan knows that his time is short and he plans to bring as much people as possible with him to hell. Satan and his hosts are the epitome of evil. Don’t be fooled by thinking otherwise.
Now we have come to the end of Satan. On judgment day, our Lord (the King) declares that men who are contrary to Him will be thrown into age-during fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Scripture records this statement by our Lord as follows,
“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the age –during fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’” (Matthew 25:41)
Note that the ‘fire’ was not prepared for men but for the devil and his angels. Nevertheless since men also transgressed, they will be sent into the fire for an age. The future punishment for men who remained contrary to Him lasts for one age and not endless. This is what is meant by a just punishment.
In the book of Revelation, we see that this ‘fire’ is what is called the lake of fire because there (in Revelation), judgment day is described ‘more clearly’ than in the passage above (in Matthew). The verse below focuses on the part of the punishment for the three most evil creatures in all the world; namely, the devil (or Satan – in context of the definition given in Revelation 12:9), the beast, and the false prophet. This is the end of punishment for Satan and his host:
“The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night to the ages of Ages.” (Revelation 20:10)
The translation above is based on the literal one meaning principle.
In case you think that I may have tricked you, we will first look at some of the famous interlinear (Greek-English parallels) and see what they state the literal meaning for the duration of the punishment of Satan is. The respective interlinear’s cover and the particular page where Revelation 20:10 is found is scanned.
TNIV – NLT
ESV
KJV II version
KJV II version
NIV
NRSV
NKJV
There were six interlinears that were shown in the pages prior.
The abbreviations of the translations are as follows:
(i) TNIV – Today’s New International Version
(ii) NLT – New Living Translation
(iii) ESV – English Standard Version
(iv) KJV II – King James Version II
(v) NIV – New International Version
(vi) NRSV – New Revised Standard Version
(vii) NKJV – New King James Version
The Greek for the phrase in consideration looks like this:
αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων
The transliteration (‘romanized’ Greek – using English alphabets) is:
αἰῶνας = aionas
τῶν = ton
αἰώνων = aionon
The phrases with its literal one meaning is:
αἰῶνας = aionas = ages
τῶν = ton = of = of the
αἰώνων = aionon = Ages
Thus αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων transliterated is: aionas ton aionon;
And αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων literally means: ages of ages.
The phrase above is the strongest combination of aion/aionios because it involves two plural words for ages being combined. In other words, only the punishment of the devil has been described using the strongest possible Greek combination of aion/aionios.
Interestingly, even to describe the punishment of the devil, aidios (the only possible true Greek word to mean eternal) is never used.
Men’s punishment as it is discussed elsewhere in this book is only described with a singular age (age –during; one age only).
Let’s dive in deeper. The nature of the Greek words stated above:
(i) aionas = ages =αἰῶνας (Noun – Accusative – Masculine – Plural)
(ii) ton = of (not ‘and’) = τῶν
(iii) aionon = Ages = αἰώνων (Noun – Genitive – Masculine – Plural)
Thus, Satan’s punishment may be described more accurately (to differentiate between: subset = ages and the universal set = Ages):
ages of the Ages
If you noticed, I did not use Greek classics to prove that neither aion, aionas nor aionon means ‘eternal’. This is not that the classics render the meaning as eternal there but rather because I do not want to be accused of using worldly wisdom (Greek literature) above usage in Scripture to prove our claim.
Suprising to most, the Bible’s usage itself will prove that both aionas (ages) and aionon (Ages) denote a limited period of time. Let Scripture interpret Scripture.
The usage in the Bible determines a meaning of a word and not in the fantasies elsewhere in Greek unless you acknowledge literature above the Bible as an authority of how a word is meant in the Bible.
Many universalists will also prove that aion/aionios usage in Greek literature implies that it is not eternal. I don’t want to take that path because it is unnecessary for me since Scripture itself can be used to interpret and prove that aionas and aionon are both not eternal.
We will do the proof in two parts.
Part 1 (Proof that aionas = ages is not eternal)
We will use the context of Scripture to show that aionas cannot mean eternal but it’s uniform in its one literal meaning of ages.
Firstly, the word ages consists of at least two singular-age in it and each one (age) together with the total (ages) has a beginning (start) and an end (finish). However, the limited time period for both the age and ages is unknown and its hidden or you may say more accurately as not revealed – undisclosed by God.
A counter – example itself would suffice to prove that aionas cannot mean eternal based on our premise of one literal meaning for translation of a word in Scripture – unless the word is a homograph or it doesn’t make sense when substituted therein.
Here’s the counter example needed to prove our claim. Consider the Scriptures:
“… and He (Jesus) will reign to the ages of the Ages.”
(Revelation 11:15)
“And He (Jesus) will reign over the House of Jacob to the ages, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1:33)
Both the Scriptures above imply that Lord Jesus’ reign is limited to a time period defined by the word ages (aionas). Does ages (aionas) meant here eternal?
The answer is found in an unexpected passage of Scripture written by our beloved apostle Paul himself (a Jew who was a master of both Hebrew/Greek and understood Old Testament Scriptures very well and who also wrote about 50% of the New Testament Scriptures under the inspiration of God):
“For He (Jesus) must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.”
(1 Corinthians 15:25)
The verse above clearly cements the fact that Christ’s reign lasts as long as (note the word till or until above) all (not some) of His enemies have been put under His feet (defeated). Note that if Christ’s reign is eternal then Scripture above implies in context that there will be no end to His reign (contradicting the word till above) and that His enemies (all) will never be put under His feet. A double contradiction!
Christ’s reign as described in Scripture is meant for the defeat of all enemies of God. The verse above (25) just described what Paul meant in the verse prior (24) to this as the end of the reign.
“Then comes the end, when He (Jesus) delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.” (1 Corinthians 15:24)
Notice that Scripture clearly distinguishes between Christ’s reign and the Kingdom. In the end, the reign has ended but the Kingdom been delivered to God the Father. The verses listed above in (Revelation 11:15), (Luke 1:33) and (1 Corinthians 15:24) all (combined – in the totality of context) clearly imply the following literal one meaning:
Christ Jesus (our Lord) will reign to the ages (aionas) and this reign will come to an end when all enemies have been defeated and reconciled (subjected – 1 Corinthians 15:28) and only then the Kingdom will continue henceforth with no end since God is all in all.
Part 2 (Proof that aionon = Ages is not eternal)
This part is easier to show. We will show that by usage in Scripture, the word aionon (Ages) denotes a time period that has a beginning
(start) and an end (finish). Hence that implies that the time period meant by aionon (Ages) is limited and not eternal. The premise is of course, one literal meaning in Scripture is assumed.
The Keys for the abbreviations used are as follows:
BIB: Original Greek BIBLE
NAS: New American Standard Bible
NKJV: New King James Version
NRSV: New Revised Standard Version
NIV: New International Version
ESV: English Standard Version
YLT: Young’s Literal Translation
ROTH: Rotherham’s Emphasized Bible
INT: Interlinear from the internet.
N-GMP: Noun – Genitive/Masculine/Plural
You will clearly see the confusion sometimes with different translations which often contradict each other with the way they have translated the exact same Greek word. Even their experts don’t seem to agree on one literal meaning for the same word.
The Orange colour will indicate the translation done for the same Greek word αἰώνων = aionon (Ages).
The odd thing is that the real literal one meaning for the word aionon in Greek is ages and that itself is sufficient and causes no contradiction in meaning/language/grammar when translated equally into all its occurrences in Scripture. The only reason this is not done is because the translators do not have a concept of ages in their doctrine. YLT and ROTH are excellent literal translations.
Also take note that the error of duality is obvious amongst them. You can see that translators render a few different meanings to the exact same Greek word, aionon (αἰώνων). Don’t be fooled by their excuses. One word has only one meaning in the context of these Scriptures. The part they don’t tell you when they make up these lame language/grammar excuses is that there are exact words in Greek to mean those translated words. For example, if God wanted to mean world He would have just inspired Paul to write kosmon and not aionon simply because aionon does not mean world at all.
Just for you to know, here are some exact transliterated words in Greek which mean the translated meaning not equal to aionon.
(i) If God wanted to mean world, He would have used kosmon, kosmou or oikoumene (inhabited earth) and not aionon (αἰώνων) in the original Greek Bible.
(ii) If God wanted to mean eternal, everlasting, forever, or ever,
He would have used aidios or aidiois and not aionon (αἰώνων) in the original Greek Bible.
(iii) If God wanted to mean and, He would have used kai and not
ton (τῶν) in the original Greek Bible.
(iv) If God wanted to mean time, He would have used kairos, chronos or even hora.
The real, literal one meaning is this:
(i) Since God used aionon (αἰώνων), He must mean literally, Ages.
(ii) Since God used ton (τῶν), He must mean literally, of.
Remember, God is not the author of confusion. He didn’t invent the Greek language/grammar excuses (which are actually wisdom of this world) in order for the exact same word to mean differently in different places based on those cunning excuses. Translating Ages wherever aionon occurs causes no language problem at all!
If you feel confused by their translations, (which render different meanings to the same word – the best thing is that their experts also sometimes don’t agree on the same word in certain verses), the Bible has an answer. It is certainly not of God (no matter how many hours/days/weeks/months they fasted) simply because as the verse below states God is not the author of confusion:
“For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.” (1 Corinthians 14:33)
Most likely they will not admit their errors. The simple reason is because they have too much at stake in it. They have built their money (Mammon – based; not God – based) empires on it. I’m not interested in changing anyone. Only God can change people. My job is to warn you of these cunning lies which have perverted the True Gospel of our Blessed Lord, Jesus Christ.
May the Lord deal with them according to their folly. As Paul warned,
“I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel.
Which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.
But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you,
let him be accursed (anathema).” (Galatians 1:6 – 8)
It’s up to you to decide which is the truth. I’ve done my part.
Your blood be upon yourselves. Repent or perish! (Luke 13:5). If you feel like asking me, “who are you to tell these things?” Ask yourself first, “who are you to ask me these things?”
Remember, one literal meaning eliminates all confusion and is true to the Scriptures without any adding or removing from the meaning that was intended by God.
We proceed by the following proof by deduction in two steps.
Step 1. [Aionon (Ages) has a beginning (start) – in time.]
Consider the verses below that clearly indicate that aionon (Ages) has a beginning (start) – in time. (By the usage of words such as before, beforehand, beginning, from, from the, past etc.)
1 Corinthians 2:7 N-GMP
BIB: πρὸ τῶν αἰώνων εἰς δόξαν
NAS: before the Ages to our glory;
NKJV: ordained before the Ages for our glory,
NRSV: decreed before the Ages for our glory,
NIV: destined for our glory before time began,
ESV: decreed before the Ages for our glory.
YLT: foreordained before the Ages to our glory.
ROTH: marked out beforehand before the Ages for our glory,
INT: before the Ages for glory
Ephesians 3:9 N-GMP
BIB: ἀπὸ τῶν αἰώνων ἐν τῷ
NAS: of the mystery which for Ages has been hidden
NKJV: beginning of the Ages has been hidden in God
NRSV: mystery hidden for Ages inGod who created all things;
NIV: this mystery, which for Ages past was kept hidden in God
ESV: mystery hidden for Ages in God who created all things,
YLT: secret that hath been hid from the Ages in God,
ROTH: secret which had been hidden away from the Ages
INT: from the Ages in
Colossians 1:26 N-GMP
BIB: ἀπὸ τῶν αἰώνων καὶ ἀπὸ
NAS: which has been hidden from the [past] Ages and generations,
NKJV: hidden from Ages and from generations,
NRSV: hidden throughout the Ages and generations but has now been revealed to His saints.
NIV: mystery that has been kept hidden from Ages and
ESV: the mystery hidden for Ages and generations
YLT: secret that hath been hid from the Ages and from the generations, but now was manifested to His saints,
ROTH: The sacred secret which had been hidden away from the Ages and from the generations
INT: from the Ages and from
Step 2. [Aionon (Ages) has an end (finish) – in time.]
Consider the verses below that clearly indicate that aionon (Ages) has an end (finish) – in time. (By the usage of words such as end, consummation, fulfilment, conjunction etc.)
1 Corinthians 10:11 N-GMP
BIB: τέλη τῶν αἰώνων κατήντηκεν
NAS: the ends of the Ages have come.
NKJV: upon whom the ends of the Ages have come.
NRSV: on whom the ends of the Ages have come.
NIV: on whom the fulfilment of the Ages has come.
ESV: on whom the end of the Ages has come.
YLT: to whom the end of the Ages did come
ROTH: unto whom the ends of the Ages have reached along.
INT: ends of the Ages are arrived
Hebrews 9:26 N-GMP
BIB: συντελείᾳ τῶν αἰώνων εἰς ἀθέτησιν
NAS: at the consummation of the Ages He has been manifested
NKJV: but now, once at the end of the Ages He has
NRSV: once for all at the end of the Age to remove sin
NIV: once for all at the end of the Ages to do away with sin
ESV: once for all at the end of the Ages to put away sin
YLT: once, at the full end of the Ages for putting away of sin
ROTH: once for all upon a conjunction of the Ages
INT: [the] consummation of the Ages for [the] putting away
Now we are ready to summarize the proof above formally.
Formal – Summary of proof done above.
(Proof that aionas = ages and aionon= Ages are both not eternal).
Premise One:
Our One God, when He gave the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures through His Holy Spirit had only one literal meaning intended for each of the Greek words aionas = αἰῶνας and aionon = αἰώνων respectively, wherever they occur in the original Greek Bible.
Premise 2:
Based on the usage in Scripture (in particular; part 1 – the reign of Christ), we have seen that aionas = αἰῶνας there implies the meaning ages only for if it means eternal there, the contradictions are obvious.
Premise 3:
Based on the usage in Scripture (in particular; part 2 – step 1 and step 2 in the above), we have seen that aionon = αἰώνων there implies the meaning Ages only for by deduction, aionon had been shown to have both a beginning (start – as shown in step 1) and an end (finish – as shown in step 2).
One Conclusion:
Premise one, 2 and 3 above, when combined imply the following inerrant conclusion, namely:
Since the particular usages of both aionas (as stated in premise 2) and aionon (as stated in premise 3) have been shown to mean a limited period of time, together with premise one, this implies that in all occurrences in the Holy Bible they are deduced to mean ages (Ages) respectively.
Also, since if we translate (ages or Ages) for (aionas or aionon) for all occurrences (in the Bible respectively) we do not get any form of
contradictions even in terms of language/literal – meaning/grammar thus its one literal meaning stated above may be assumed unequivocally without any prejudice.
QED (Quod Et Demonstratum – which was to be demonstrated).
END OF PROOF.
Now we have come to the next interesting section. Since both aionas and aionon denote limited time periods, their combination, which is aionas ton aionon (ages of Ages) retains its one literal meaning as also to denote a limited time period. It’s obvious. To assume that aionas ton aionon (ages of Ages) means eternal (forever) would immediately lead to a contradiction based on premise one above. To see this, consider the reign of Christ as described below:
“… and He (Jesus) will reign to the ages of the Ages.”
(Revelation 11:15)
Now, if the phrase ‘ages of the Ages’ (aionas ton aionon – in Greek) above means forever and ever, then we would have a contradiction as described in premise 2 above.
Being that said, we see that the following punishments listed below all denote a limited time period (because all of the punishments below are described using the exact same phrase {aionas ton aionon} – whose one literal meaning in English is ‘ages of the Ages’):
“Again they said,’Alleluia! Her smoke rises up to the ages of the Ages.’” (Revelation 19:3)
“The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night to the ages of the Ages.”
(Revelation 20:10)
Here we find the strongest combination of Aion/Aionon used to describe the punishments of the three most evil creatures namely, the devil (satan, the ancient serpent, dragon – in the context of the definition given in Revelation 12:9), the beast and the false prophet.
Their punishment (satan, beast and the false prophet) is a limited butundisclosed time period of the ages – plural and not forever.
Herein comes an interesting one consequence (implication) of this:
“If Satan’s punishment itself is only for a limited time period, then the punishment of men as described by the weaker phrase found in Matthew 25:46 and elsewhere in the New Testament must therefore also mean a limited time period and certainly not eternal.”
This weaker phrase is ‘aionion kolasin’ where kolasin = punishment while αἰώνιον = aionion = age, literally (adjective – accusative – feminine – singular). This why the punishment of men is only for an age – singular (post judgment day sentencing – and that age for that punishment is called men’s correction age in this book).
Isn’t our God truly the Saviour of the World? Rejoice.
