Satan Is No Longer "The Prince [ruler] Of This World."

[Jack Hectorman]

Jason

But this is too easy an answer. Allow me to complicate it for you. No doubt the Gospel is the power of salvation and Christ's enemies would fight the Gospel. But his enemies eventually become his friends even as he loves his enemies. Saul was an enemy of the Gospel, yet he became Paul, a preacher of the Gospel. This is puzzling. Are the enemies that will be his footstool, those who fight against the Gospel to the bitter end? Or are they his enemies defeated by the Gospel and now are his friends? If they are his enemies that fight the Gospel to the bitter end, what reasoning could possibly convince someone to persevere in the ignorance of God? I would dare call it insanity. However, if his footstool are his enemies made friends, then I am his footstool. And when he puts his feet up on my back, I will shake ever so gently so that he gets a little massage.

"Allow me to complicate it for you."__childeye

I always keep it simple and uncomplicated if I can, and in this case I think I can.

God's word says that the Lord Christ's enemies will be made His footstool.

"Footstool" is a figure of speech to teach the truth that the Lord Jesus will be victorious,
that He will be the Winner-Victor with regard to what He came to accomplish,which was
to "build My church" and to prevent the gates of hell from "prevailing against it."

That's what Christianity is designed to accomplish in this world and this is what the Lord
Christ specifically said that He was going to do. " I will build my church, and the gates of
Hell will not overcome it." Matthew 16:18



_________________________




In the same gospel, Matthew, the Lord Christ added another great truth about Him building
His Christian Church and we call this truth His Great Commission to His Church, namely for
them to go forth and Christianize the entire world as explained in Matthew 28:16-20

There is another New Testament passage that sheds light on the "footstool" figure
of speech, and its in 1 Cor. 15: 24-25

"Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after
he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has
put all his enemies under his feet."

The two figures of speech are very similar and present the same mental picture . . .

• "footstool"
• "under His feet"

. . . and the mental picture is that the Lord Christ is victorious over His enemies,
that it is He that will be the Winner and the Victor, that He will achieve His goals
and will be successful in what He came to do.




______________________




So what did the Lord Christ come to accomplish? Answer: He came to build His
church and to prevent the gates of Hell from overcoming His church, and He came
to give His Church His Great Commission and to then empower His church to actually
carry out His Great Commission, as He explained [and I quote word for word], "All
authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make
disciples of all nations ... teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."

Notice that word "Therefore" up there. It has been rightly said, "Anytime we see
the word "therefore" in Holy Scripture, we need to find out what it is "there for."

We see that the word "Therefore" is connected to the fact that the Lord Christ
right now has ALL authority in Heaven and on Earth, and because He right now
has ALL authority in both Heaven and in earth, His Great Commission will be
successful.



________________________




Not only does the Lord Christ right now have ALL authority in Heaven and
on Earth, but right now He is also seated at the right hand of God which is
the position of power and authority. These two factual realities . . .

• All authority in Heaven and on Earth right now
• Seated at the right hand of God right now

. . . means that His Christian Church will be successful in carrying out His
Great Commission, and the final results of this slow gradual incremental
carrying out of His Great Commission will be look like this this:

9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count,
from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the
Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.
10 And they cried out in a loud voice:
“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.
Rev. 7:9-10

Rev. 7:9-10 [an enormous multitude so large that "no one could count" them] is what the
Great-Commission-actually-carried-out will look like at the end of human time.


My conclusion:

The figures of speech: His enemies made His "footstool" and His enemies put "under
His feet" teach that it is the Lord Jesus and His Christian Church that will be victorious
through the actual carrying out of His Great Commission. Imo, no other interpretation
makes sense because we know that all His enemies will end up either converted to
Christianity or in Hell. Therefore, if we do not interpret "made His footstool" and put
"under His feet"as the successful carrying out of His Great Commission, then we have
to interpret these two figures of speech to mean that He must reign until all His enemies
are in Hell, and imo that does not make sense.

♫ ♪ ♫ ♪

 

[Genesis Owl]

Those two verses do not mention man being created a level above the Angels.

I've not found any scripture that says that mere humans were created above the angels.
What may set up the idea that we were created that way is the scripture in Hebrews that refers to Jesus, the son of man. But he, though alive in flesh, was not a mere human and so when that scripture says he was set higher than the angels, it is not referring to that status being innate in the human race as a whole.
Hebrews 1:1-14


https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+1:1-14&version=NIV

 

[Jack Hectorman]

gentry is a preterist.

Jason,

I was thumbing through my copy of Kenneth L. Gentry's "He Shall Have Dominion"
last night because I remembered that Gentry had included a chapter AGAINST
what he called "hyper-preterism" in his book, and I found it. Its in an appendix at
the end of his book titled "The Hyper-Preterist Error" and it starts on page 522 and
runs to page 545.

I just wanted to mention this for your information so if you have the book, or
are ever in a library that has it, you might find it interesting to read Gentry's
hard arguments AGAINST what he calls "Hyper-Preterism."

♫ ♪ ♫ ♪

 

[BigSodaExposer]

I've not found any scripture that says that mere humans were created above the angels.
What may set up the idea that we were created that way is the scripture in Hebrews that refers to Jesus, the son of man. But he, though alive in flesh, was not a mere human and so when that scripture says he was set higher than the angels, it is not referring to that status being innate in the human race as a whole.
Hebrews 1:1-14

Hebrews 2:7 "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man." - Made lower than the angels so he humbled himself in order to become flesh in order to die for all of us.

 

[Genesis Owl]

Hebrews 2:7 "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man." - Made lower than the angels so he humbled himself in order to become flesh in order to die for all of us.

So then in the same letter authored by Paul and in the first chapter preceding that we have this, as linked in my prior post: ("he", bring a reference to Jesus) 4.So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.

 

[childeye]

Jason


"Allow me to complicate it for you."__childeye

I always keep it simple and uncomplicated if I can, and in this case I think I can.

God's word says that the Lord Christ's enemies will be made His footstool.

"Footstool" is a figure of speech to teach the truth that the Lord Jesus will be victorious,
that He will be the Winner-Victor with regard to what He came to accomplish,which was
to "build My church" and to prevent the gates of hell from "prevailing against it."

That's what Christianity is designed to accomplish in this world and this is what the Lord
Christ specifically said that He was going to do. " I will build my church, and the gates of
Hell will not overcome it." Matthew 16:18

I agree with what you are saying concerning putting all his enemies under his feet. I also agree that the means is the Gospel.

To elaborate further, I note that the Gospel makes the blind seeing and the seeing blind, along with, I will make the mountains valleys and the valleys mountains. This indicates that things that were high before will be brought low, and the low things will be made high. Or again, many of the first will be last and the last first, or, God exalts those who humble themselves and humbles those who exalt themselves. With this in mind, elsewhere we read where Jesus speaks about the eyes being the lamps of the soul, so that if the eyes are good, then you are filled with Light. Then Jesus says something very interesting, that if your light is darkness then how deep is that darkness. This presents an imagery of a person whose eyes are so bad that they think they see, but in reality they are blind. Or to put it another way, what they consider to be absolutely true and reason upon as such, is in reality a lie.

Having said all that, The Gospel puts Christ's enemies under his feet because there is a type of righteousness that comes through faith or belief in the Gospel. And this righteousness is received upon the revelation of the true Character of God as personified in the son, who displays a love or righteousness, that would die in place of the unrighteous, would return good for evil, and sacrifice one's own self for the sake of others. This True image of God is the Light that fills the soul upon the good eye seeing it. So, the revelation of the True Character of God is what actually puts his enemies under his feet .

There is therefore a darkness that is empowered through a false image of God. A corrupt image conceived by a corrupt mind that corrupts the soul. We see this imagery in Genesis when Satan says, that God does not want mankind to eat from the knowledge of good and evil because He knows you will become like Him. This image of god, is like a tyrant who wishes to keep all others beneath him, and would lie to do so. This imagery of god is like a corrupt power that wants to be the boss of everyone else so as to be served by everyone else and never lift a finger. This Satanic image of God produces a corrupt reasoning. So it is that we see Satan discontent in his station and desiring to be god according to this false imagery. But in Christ we see the opposite. Not a vile god that wishes to be served and be on top, but a perfectly loving God that would put Himself at the bottom where He serves and upholds everyone else. For the mind of Christ is to not count it sin to count one's self equal to God, but submits himself as a servant to all.

Hence the enemies of God who hold to a false image of God judge themselves and others accordingly and condemn themselves in doing so. And that is how his enemies are made his footstool. The Truth is greater than the lie.

_________________________

 

[jasonc]

Jason,

I was thumbing through my copy of Kenneth L. Gentry's "He Shall Have Dominion"
last night because I remembered that Gentry had included a chapter AGAINST
what he called "hyper-preterism" in his book, and I found it. Its in an appendix at
the end of his book titled "The Hyper-Preterist Error" and it starts on page 522 and
runs to page 545.

I just wanted to mention this for your information so if you have the book, or
are ever in a library that has it, you might find it interesting to read Gentry's
hard arguments AGAINST what he calls "Hyper-Preterism."

♫ ♪ ♫ ♪

I know but you assumed that gentry isn't a preterist, he is. im a preterist. I have posted gentry' s stuff from the preterist archive.

 

[Jack Hectorman]

I know but you assumed that gentry isn't a preterist, he is. im a preterist. I have posted gentry' s stuff from the preterist archive.

Jason,

/Grin .. When the word "preterist" first appeared in this thread it was being used to refer to
an eschatological position that was a "not good" position to hold, so I just assumed they were
talking about what I would call "hyper-preterism" or .. lol .. even better "moronic-preterism"
[the kind of preterism that Gentry rightly argues AGAINST in his work "He Shall Have Dominion."]

So when you later used the word "preterist" I just assumed you were also using the word in the
sense of "hyper-pretrism" and that's why I said I was not a preterist. As you know using "labels"
can be very confusing here in the 21st century because a large number of people have widely
different definitions of what labels mean. For example, if you say you are a "fundamentalist"
many people will incorrectly assume that you are saying that you "handle snakes in church
services, etc. .. lol ..

Also I do not self-identify as a preterist. Preterism is a method of interpreting passages in
literature and I do not self-identify with an interpretative method. I self-identify as a
Postmillennialist.

My main interest is in what we might could call theological Postmillennialism or perhaps we
could call it philosophical Postmillennialism. What does that mean? It means I am hugely
and primarily interested in such as subjects as the success of Christian Churches, the Great
Commission, the simplicity of John 3:16, and the developing Christian Church in China, Africa,
and Latin America.

In other words I am primarily interested in the Big Picture aka the Grand Scheme Of Things
which is Christianity moving forward successfully in the world, and my Opening Post [and
following posts] in this thread presents solid evidence for one aspect of this Big Picture,
namely that the Lord Christ is right now seated at the right hand of God which is the position
of power and authority, and also the Lord Christ right now has all authority in Heaven and here
on Earth [to empower His Christian Church to carry out His Great Commission.]

♫ ♪ ♫ ♪

 

[Jack Hectorman]

I agree with what you are saying concerning putting all his enemies under his feet. I also agree that the means is the Gospel.

To elaborate further, I note that the Gospel makes the blind seeing and the seeing blind, along with, I will make the mountains valleys and the valleys mountains. This indicates that things that were high before will be brought low, and the low things will be made high. Or again, many of the first will be last and the last first, or, God exalts those who humble themselves and humbles those who exalt themselves. With this in mind, elsewhere we read where Jesus speaks about the eyes being the lamps of the soul, so that if the eyes are good, then you are filled with Light. Then Jesus says something very interesting, that if your light is darkness then how deep is that darkness. This presents an imagery of a person whose eyes are so bad that they think they see, but in reality they are blind. Or to put it another way, what they consider to be absolutely true and reason upon as such, is in reality a lie.

Having said all that, The Gospel puts Christ's enemies under his feet because there is a type of righteousness that comes through faith or belief in the Gospel. And this righteousness is received upon the revelation of the true Character of God as personified in the son, who displays a love or righteousness, that would die in place of the unrighteous, would return good for evil, and sacrifice one's own self for the sake of others. This True image of God is the Light that fills the soul upon the good eye seeing it. So, the revelation of the True Character of God is what actually puts his enemies under his feet .

There is therefore a darkness that is empowered through a false image of God. A corrupt image conceived by a corrupt mind that corrupts the soul. We see this imagery in Genesis when Satan says, that God does not want mankind to eat from the knowledge of good and evil because He knows you will become like Him. This image of god, is like a tyrant who wishes to keep all others beneath him, and would lie to do so. This imagery of god is like a corrupt power that wants to be the boss of everyone else so as to be served by everyone else and never lift a finger. This Satanic image of God produces a corrupt reasoning. So it is that we see Satan discontent in his station and desiring to be god according to this false imagery. But in Christ we see the opposite. Not a vile god that wishes to be served and be on top, but a perfectly loving God that would put Himself at the bottom where He serves and upholds everyone else. For the mind of Christ is to not count it sin to count one's self equal to God, but submits himself as a servant to all.

Hence the enemies of God who hold to a false image of God judge themselves and others accordingly and condemn themselves in doing so. And that is how his enemies are made his footstool. The Truth is greater than the lie.

_________________________

childeye,

Beautifully written. Thank you for taking the time to write that for me [and the thread]. I enjoyed reading that
and it made a contribution to my mind and heart, much appreciated. Add'l you write with clarity and interesting
sentences too. I love the English language and beautiful writing. For example, I think "The Inklings" were a cool
group, I like C.S. Lewis anyway, and their group was a very cool group of writersthat loved beautiful English
sentences and writing even more than I do.

Here is a pic of "The Inklings" . . C.S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams
http://www.9th-hour.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/The-Inklings.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inklings

♫