26-0118a - Detailed Summary

The preacher, Jim, warmly greets the congregation once again and announces that the lesson will be presented in two parts. The first part, delivered this morning, serves primarily as foundational preparation, while the heart of the message—the “crux of the biscuit”—will be presented during the evening service. Jim strongly encourages everyone to return for the conclusion but assures the audience that this morning’s teaching will still offer substantial spiritual value.

The title of the sermon is “The ‘I’ in Sin and Pride, Part 1.” Jim explains that the lesson explores how he believes the adversary, the devil, originally came into being and how that same pattern of fall continues to repeat itself in the lives of every human being. He notes that the devil has been present from the very beginning of the biblical narrative—witnessing several days of God’s creative work, appearing as the serpent in the Garden of Eden, and continuing to feature prominently even in the final book of Revelation. Throughout Scripture, the Bible offers nothing positive about him, consistently portraying him as a malevolent, murderous, deceptive, and deeply hateful being whose sole aim is the destruction of mankind.

Jim poses several fundamental questions to frame the study: Who exactly is this being? Where did he come from? Was he created evil from the start, or did he become evil through his own choices? In order to answer these questions properly, he first establishes several essential biblical truths about God, emphasizing that the devil is not on the same level as the eternal Creator.

Jim begins by pointing out that God is introduced in Genesis as Elohim—a Hebrew word that combines “El” (meaning God) with a masculine plural ending “-him.” This plural form points to the triune nature of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The name Elohim is used throughout the Old Testament whenever the English word “God” appears, reflecting the eternal Godhead that existed before anything was created.

To underscore God’s timeless existence, Jim quotes Psalm 90:2, where King David declares, “Before the mountains were born or You gave birth to the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.” This affirms that God has always existed in eternity—a realm without beginning or end—and nothing created Him.

God is described as preeminent and superior above all beings. He is perfectly holy, infinitely loving, incapable of lying, unable to be tempted by evil, and never subject to corruption. What truly sets God apart are three exclusive attributes that belong to Him alone:

Because only God possesses eternal existence and these three unique attributes, Jim concludes that Satan must be a created being who originated in the heavenly realm. He then discusses the two distinct realms God created: the spiritual realm and the physical realm.

In the spiritual realm dwell various heavenly beings—seraphim, cherubim, archangels, angels, and other mysterious creatures mentioned in Scripture. All of them were created; none are eternal like God. They were brought into existence early during the creation week described in Genesis 1. Although they possess spiritual bodies that allow them to live forever in eternity, they do have a definite beginning point. Heaven is their home, but they can travel between the spiritual and physical realms. They are aware of time and can operate within the physical world, yet time does not age or degrade them as it does humans.

After their creation, these heavenly hosts witnessed the remainder of God’s creative acts and responded with joy, singing and shouting for joy, as recorded in Job. None of these beings—including Lucifer before his fall—possess God’s exclusive attributes of omnipotence, omniscience, or omnipresence. They are indeed very powerful compared to humans and possess abilities beyond human imagination, but they remain infinitely inferior to God.

In the physical realm, humanity stands as the pinnacle of God’s earthly creation, uniquely made in His own image. However, after the fall in the Garden of Eden—caused by Satan’s deception—humanity became divided into one of two spiritual kingdoms: the kingdom of God or the kingdom of Satan.

Originally, God entrusted dominion over the earth to Adam. When Eve was deceived and ate the forbidden fruit, and Adam willingly followed her lead, humanity surrendered that God-given dominion to Satan. Jim references the wilderness temptation of Jesus in Luke 4:5–6, where Satan claimed authority over all the kingdoms of the world, stating they had been handed over to him and that he could give them to anyone he wished. Jesus did not contradict Satan’s claim to temporary dominion; instead, He rebuked him for misusing that authority by demanding worship.

At Christ’s second coming, Jesus will separate all humanity as a shepherd divides sheep from goats. Those who believed in Him and lived righteously will rise to eternal life, while those who rejected the gospel and practiced evil will face condemnation. At the resurrection, believers and unbelievers alike will receive eternal spiritual bodies. After judgment, humanity will spend eternity in one of two places: in peace and fellowship with God, the church, and the heavenly host in heaven, or in everlasting punishment in the lake of fire originally prepared for the devil and his angels.

Jim concludes the morning portion by explaining that God created humans as three-part beings: body, soul, and spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:23). The body is the temporary, mortal flesh we inhabit on earth—described by Peter as a tent that will eventually return to dust, as God declared in Genesis: “From dust you came, and to dust you shall return.” The average human lifespan is about seventy years.

However, humans are far more than physical bodies. The soul represents the eternal part of our being that continues after physical death. Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes that God has placed eternity in the human heart. The terms “soul” and “spirit” are frequently used interchangeably in Scripture to refer to this immortal, eternal self that will exist forever.

Jim continues explaining the three-part composition of humanity, focusing on the soul as the intelligent, rational, creative, and emotional aspect created in God’s image. He references Psalm 139, which describes God forming a baby in the womb and knitting the flesh around the soul, indicating that the soul is imparted at conception according to David’s words.

After physical death, the soul is carried by angels to Abraham’s bosom—paradise—as Jesus describes in the account of Luke 16. The third component is the spirit, which comes directly from God the Creator. Jim draws a parallel to Jesus breathing on His disciples and saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit,” and connects this to Genesis where God formed Adam from dust but the body remained lifeless until God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life—the spirit. It is this spirit that animates the flesh and gives life.

Animals also receive this breath of life from God, as evidenced in Genesis 7:21–22 after the flood, which states that all flesh on dry land perished—every creature whose nostrils contained the breath of the spirit of life. Jim uses this to counter evolutionary claims of spontaneous life, emphasizing that no creature possesses life apart from God’s spirit. When God withdraws His spirit, death occurs; when He gives it, life begins.

Supporting scriptures include James 2:26, which states plainly that “the body without the spirit is dead,” and Psalm 104:29–30, where God’s hiding His face causes terror, taking away breath results in death and return to dust, but sending His spirit creates and renews the earth. Ecclesiastes 12:5–7 describes the end of life: the body returns to dust, mourners go about, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

At death, the eternal soul departs the body and goes to one of two places in Hades. For faithful children of God, the soul rests peacefully with Abraham in paradise, awaiting Christ’s return and the resurrection when new, incorruptible spiritual bodies will be received. Those who reject God find themselves immediately in torment and flames on the other side of Hades. Jim stresses that the soul does not remain in the grave with the body, citing Genesis 35:18 where Rachel’s soul departed as she died while naming her son.

This separation is illustrated vividly in Luke 16:19–31, particularly verses 22–23, where the poor man Lazarus dies and is carried by angels to Abraham’s bosom, while the rich man dies, is buried, and awakens in Hades in torment, seeing Abraham and Lazarus far away. Thus, upon death the body returns to dust, God’s spirit returns to Him, and the soul goes to one of two destinations in Hades to await the Lord’s return and the granting of immortal spiritual bodies—bodies like the angels, capable of inheriting eternity.

Returning to the primary subject, Jim reminds the congregation that after completing creation, God declared everything “very good.” This includes Lucifer before his fall into Satan—he was created very good. Jim reiterates key established truths: only God exists from eternity before creation; He created the entire heavenly host, including angels, cherubim, seraphim, and archangels who dwell with Him eternally; and only God possesses the unique attributes of omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience.

Satan is not God’s equal and possesses none of these divine qualities. Jim explains that he will present his hypothesis regarding how Lucifer became the adversary—the “bad guy”—in the evening lesson, believing the answer lies directly in the prideful declarations recorded in Isaiah 14:13–14.

Jim concludes the morning lesson by extending the invitation to anyone needing prayers from the church, desiring baptism, or seeking to respond to the gospel call for any form of assistance. He encourages those individuals to come forward as the congregation stands and sings the invitation song.