Chapter 4b

The Common Christian

Understanding of

Satan

Let us begin by explaining the common theory that most all Christians accept without question, relative to Satan and the events that took place in the garden of Eden.

Approximately "6000 years ago," according to religious/Biblical tradition, in a place called Mesopotamia or the Fertile Crescent (the general vicinity of central Iraq), God created the first human beings and placed them into an earthly garden. It was a spiritual test to see if they would obey God or rebel against his command. Most people know very well the creation story from Genesis.

Present in this "earthly" garden were many wonderful things, all provided by the Creator's hand for man's sustenance, enjoyment, and personal well being.

In the middle of the garden, and placed together, were two very special trees—the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God told Adam that he was welcomed to eat of any of the trees of the garden. But the one tree, the tree of knowledge, was strictly off limits. Eating the forbidden fruit would bring about the sentence of death.

Sometime prior to this creation account, way up in heaven (according to Christian tradition), another COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT event was taking place. A famous "Archangel" by the name of "Lucifer" had the desire to be equal to God. He rebelled and took with him a third of the angels (who most people believe are now the demons), and they were cast out of heaven to earth. Lucifer, who was a beautiful and perfect angel in the beginning, had now become the devil and Satan.

Furious and upset about all this, Lucifer decided to mess up God's brand new creation of human beings upon planet earth. So he came down, and while walking through the garden of Eden he found an animal of the field (a serpent). He was somehow able to crawl inside the beast, hiding his true identity, and thus spoke to the woman in the garden. The snake spoke into Eve's ear and heart, telling her she could become just like God if she would just take a bite out of the "apple," and eat from the tree that God had forbidden her and Adam to touch.

We all know what happened after that. Sin came into the world and all the beauty collapsed. The man and woman were now naked and ashamed. Because they had disobeyed the word of God, they were subsequently tossed out of the garden and driven from paradise. And that is why billions of people born after them on planet earth are now condemned sinners, and will be sent to an everlasting hell after they die.

All this being true, Lucifer, who is now the devil and Satan, roams about commanding a host of demons and making war against mankind in general, and Christians in particular. Jesus, God's only begotten son, had to come down from heaven and die on the cross to save all of us from Satan's power caused by Adam's 6000 year old mistake. All of us born today are caught in the middle of this great controversy, and our eternal destiny hinges on whom we will now choose to obey.

Please Take a Deep Breath

If we stop and think logically about this creation story in Genesis, it contains only two possibilities.

• As taken literally, the garden of Eden story is absurd. Absolutely ludicrous! There could not possibly be a more ridiculous fairy tale. Most historians would question whether these events even happened. No secular or academic individual of any note would even begin to believe such a tall tale. Even many religious and "Christian" leaders have serious doubts about it.

• If it did happen, and if it is divinely orchestrated, then it must certainly contain a deeper or different/parallel meaning of some sort. But few people have a clue as to what that could possibly be.

Understanding the Story

The above scenario of events, as we have described it in simple fashion, is accepted without question by millions of Christians throughout the world. We must understand that there is nothing spiritually wrong with this picture, because much of our understanding of the story is correct in principle. In fact, it has been God's sovereign will that all of us understand the story in the traditional way.

It is important to realize, however, is that God has allowed us to see the picture this traditional way, so as to divert our attention away from the much BIGGER picture (the actual and true meaning) that has been deliberately hidden from the human race—hidden out of God's own good grace and wisdom. Yet the above account as described and depicted, is a far cry from what the story truly means and represents.

From the believer's standpoint, the heavenly Father wants only the best for His children and that is why it is not always a good thing if we knew all the facts behind our human existence, at least not on this side of heaven. Or at least not until it was God's time to reveal more information as He deems necessary.

Right now this world is a testing ground, and there is a salvation/redemption process taking place. God is trying to find out who is going to follow Him in love, and who is not. Both predestination and free will are at work. So that is why the deeper esoteric meaning behind the garden of Eden story has been hidden and people are oblivious as to the actual facts and true meaning.

The Rest of the Story

As Christians, if we accept and believe this account to be the very Word of God (which it positively is), then most people who stop for five seconds and think seriously about it—they will realize that there is MUCH MORE than just the surface or simplistic/literal meaning. There has GOT to be more! The passage must be full of symbolic representations of some sort.

If the literal meaning is the only meaning present—then the story contains nothing of relevance. All it would be talking about is some disobedient act two people committed, inflicted by a rebellious Archangel. The big question then would be, How does all of this apply to me living today? How does man living on earth RIGHT NOW plug into all of this? How can God condemn people today for what someone else did 6000 years ago? What, for goodness sake, is the comprehensive meaning?

As Christians belive that this Genesis account is the precise Word of God and the very basis for all sin and evil that presently exists in the world. Even as that fact is true, it demands an enlarged and more explicable view.

As we are about to find out, there is indeed more. Much more. There is a heavenly connection to everything happening in Genesis. Although there is no positive proof, the events probably did take place historically as the Bible describes. But the degree to which the events took place literally, is not the major issue—it is still the Word of God irregardless—it is the spiritualized meaning to all of it that really matters.

A Deeper Involvement and Connection?

At this juncture the big question we must ask ourselves is this. Why would God the Creator allow an angelic being (Lucifer or Satan) from a completely different creation or angelic order, to even get involved or interfere with God's brand new creation of human beings upon earth? What gave "him" that right in the first place?

WHY DIDN'T GOD STOP THE PROCESS AND ALL THE HARM SIN WOULD INFLICT BEFORE IT EVEN OCCURRED? WHY DID GOD CONTINUE TO ALLOW BILLIONS OF PEOPLE TO BE BORN THEREAFTER—CONDEMNED TO EVERLASING JUDGMENT—ALL BECAUSE OF SOME FALLEN "ARCHANGEL" THAT (apparently) HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH MAN'S CREATION IN THE FIRST PLACE?

If Adam (and all of us inclusively in Adam) are brand new spirits and souls created in innocence, such an idea is reprehensible. Of course most Christians believed that God let Satan come into the garden in order to test man. But if that is the only reason, then God would in a certain sense, be the instigator Himself of the original sin. How could He then send billions of lost souls to hell and eternal damnation for something that He could have EASILY STOPPED and prevented from even happening?

Carrying this argument further, what about demons or unclean spirits that are supposedly from another dimension, that according to the Bible, are allowed to dwell in the minds and thoughts of humans, persuading mankind towards evil—even controlling our actions and ultimately destroying the human soul. Why are the human and demonic realms all intertwined in the first place?

An Incorrect Picture

Theomatics is going to reveal that the standard Christian "fundamentalist" interpretation of this story is by no means correct. It is far, far from complete. In fact, it is almost a complete fallacy. Even juvenile. Pathetic!

You may be surprised to discover that the idea of a fallen Archangel (Lucifer) speaking through a serpent, is barely even hinted at in the Bible. It is something that Christians have come up with and "invented," n order to make sense of the story.

Theomatics thoroughly debunks that concept entirely What Genesis is talking about is something totally different.

The common idea among Christians, especially evangelical Christians, is that the angelic realm and demonic realms (and the casting out of the devil's angels from heaven) is a completely different event from man's creation upon earth—that there is NO ORIGINAL or ESSENTIAL connection between the two realms. This presumption is completely false as well. Instead, as Angelfall will prove, the whole thing is integrated and actually connected and tied together from the get go. It is all inextricably intertwined.

This account and story in Genesis is actually talking about the very original creation of the angelic realm up in heaven (not just on earth), and how ALL OF US fit into that bigger picture of events. THE REAL EVENTS OF GENESIS ACTUALLY TOOK PLACE UP IN HEAVEN (the earthly events are just a scaled down model). What happens on earth in the geographic garden, is a reflection or choreography of the much bigger heavenly picture (Later in this section in chapter 4e on the foundational premise of Angelfall this will be discussed—the heaven/earth connection will be explained later).

Another question and issue we will be looking at, is finding the correct definition of Satan and the devil. Was there ever an actual being named Satan or Lucifer who was cast out of heaven? Was the devil ever an angel that existed in heaven? The answer may surprise you. That will be talked about in the next chapter of this section.

A Personal Note

Here are some personal comments that are relevant.

One of the great difficulties and challenges of Angelfall, is the fact that religious tradition does not die easily. Once people have formulated certain ideas and convictions in their mind, or they have a mental picture of how things occurred in the Bible (or how they think they should have occurred)—it is very unsettling and disturbing for some individuals to have to "re-invent" their understanding of Scripture. This is understandable.

That is why the people who will have the greatest difficulty with Angelfall, are those who have already spent a great deal of time studying the Bible and formulating their own personal viewpoints and convictions, or they have heard these things for years as they sat in church. They were taught these things as children in Sunday School. They would rather stay committed to the mental picture they feel comfortable with, the one that is already locked into their mind.

It is only the people who have the heart of a child—softened and made tender by God's Holy Spirit—that will be able to shift gears and see the new light of truth. It is a general rule of human nature that people with old ideas will eventually die off (tradition does not necessarily equal truth). The uncommitted, mostly the young, are the ones that will grasp new concepts and carry them forward. All of this will require both patience and humility.

Also, we have to be willing to change our viewpoint and interpretation of certain "Biblical" doctrines, if and when more light shines on a particular subject? This too requires humility. It should be pointed out that this author's only desire is to discover the truth, i.e. what the actual reality and true facts are. The Bible states that "no prophecy of scripture is of any private interpretation" (2 Peter 5:20). This author has no desire to promote His own feelings, emotions, or convictions. I must always be willing to back off of anything that does not fit the truer picture and evaluate the data accordingly and objectively and honestly. In other words, I have learned over the years to be skeptical of myself. We must be willing to change our minds on a whole lot of things, if newly discovered facts point in a different direction.

My journey with theomatics, and all that it is presently revealing, has been a slow and meticulous process. It's like following country road signs. You come to a Y in the road, and think it leads to the right or to the left. But a little arrow points you in a different direction (maybe down a gravel road instead of the wide paved road). If you follow the bumpy gravel road, it will eventually put you on the super highway. The truth will invariably become self evident.

The theomatic arrows will always lead a person to the genuine interpretation, the one that God HIMSELF has in mind. It is a highly inductive process. And the beauty of it is the fact that when it is all said and done—if the foundational premises are correct—everything will start snapping into place. Things will fit that never seemed to fit before. Truth will automatically reveal itself and become self-evident. Your heart will jump for joy because the facts and truth will simply be obvious.

Later in this section we will start looking at some new concepts relative to this Genesis account, that will be a radical departure from the standard interpretation. In fact, it will so radical, that most die hard Bible scholars when confronted with it, will basically dismiss out of hand everything to do with Angelfall. The leap will be just too great for them. God's interpretation of Genesis will almost be from a completely different planet—as compared to the standard and accepted Biblical/traditional understanding.

A Vast System of Symbolism

It was discussed in chapter 3a, A System of Galactic Proportions, how the depths of symbolism saturates the Bible from cover to cover, and how theomatics is incorporated into that symbolism. You may wish to review that section here before proceeding to the next chapter.

Satan the devil: Does he Really Exist? That is the title of the next chapter, which is much longer, but necessarily so. Getting the Satan/devil premise right is critical and of paramount importance. Chapter 4b provides a very interesting and comprehensive presentation.