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ApplicationPaper
THEO 104
Liberty University
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Introduction
Weallhaveabasicunderstandingof“goodandevil”andparentsteachthisunderstandingto
theirchildren,but thisunderstanding hasadifferent meaningina spiritual sense.“The term
‘knowledge of good and evil’should not be understood as cognitive knowledge, but
as knowledge that seeks understanding in experience” [Tow02].God created angels when the
heavenswerecreatedandhefavoredoneparticularly.Thisoneangelbecamejealousbecausehe wanted
to be like God and it caused the great fall of Satan.Then humankind was created in the image of
God, and Satan hated that God did this.He made it his mission to prevent man from entering
heaven and having a relationship with God.God had an indescribable love for his people, and he
sent a savior to be sacrificed for their sins. Jesus lived a sinless life and was sacrificed on a cross
for all of mankind’s sins.He did this to break the chain of sins in our lives and to conquer Satan
and his plan.
Satan
Theological Definition: Satan is an alive angel that has fallen from grace and has made it is
missiontoattempttooverthrowGod’soriginalplanforhispeople.Heusesatacticcalled“sin”
asatoolfordirectdisobedienceagainstGod.Satanattemptstomakeasmanypeopleturnfrom God and
believe indifference to pull them down from salvation.Satan uses sin to keep a void between God
and his people.Sin also prohibits the saved souls from reaping in blessings.
Biblical Foundation: Satan was introduced early in the Bible and in Genesis 3 the author
describes his influence on Eve.He convinced Eve to eat from the tree, then Eve convinced
Adamtoeatthesamefruitshedid.Thiscreatedthefirstactofdisobedienceofhumansagainst
God.Thisactwascalled“sin”andSatanlovestoseehumansfail.OnceJesuswasborn,Satan realized
that he had to work endlessly to stop Jesus from fulfilling prophecy.“The fact that
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SatanhaslongsoughtthedestructionandoverthrowofChristisverifiedthroughScripture(Isa. 14:12-
15; Rev. 12:7-9; Col. 2:15; Eph. 6:12)”[Tow02].
PracticalApplication: To know Satan lets Christians know that every day there is a spiritualwar
in the world.Christians have to be aware of sin and also be aware of their surroundings.
Theyhavetoknowthattheiractionscouldplacetheminasituationthatcoulddestroytheirlives.
Additionally,SatanistherootofpureevilandSatanisamanipulatorofthetruth.Wehavetobe on guard
and stay vigilant in the fight against evil.
Savior
Theological Definition: Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and grew up into adulthood.
Once of age, he began evangelizing to his people to show them that they could have a deep
relationshipwiththeirGod.JesusshowedtheeverlastinglovethatGodhasforhispeople.Once he was
sacrificed he became the everlasting sacrifice to God for our sins.He conquered sin and broke the
barrier between us and God.After this he rose to heaven and became the third of the Trinity.
Biblical Foundation: Jesus is the physical form of God and he shows the loving attributes of
God.He shows that God has an indescribable love for us and that he is willing to make a great
sacrifice to rebuild our relationship with him.“1 Cor. 15:3: ‘Christ died for our sins’(cf. Rom.
5:8; 2 Cor. 5:21)” [Tow02]. Jesus bore all our sins on him when they nailed him onto that cross
and he gladly did this to make us all pure again.Additionally, Jesus prevented Satan from ever
winningandhedestroyedSatan’sonlytactic.Jesusisthesonofmanandthelightofourworld.
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PracticalApplication: Jesus accomplished what only God could do and that was become a
humanwiththepurestsoul.Oncehewassacrificed,hebrokethechainsofsin.WeasChristians know that
even if we fail God’s expectations, which we do daily, that we are still one of God’s people.This
sacrifice gave us the eternal security of salvation and secured us a spot in heaven.
Conclusion
After the fall of the angels, Satan’s pride transformed him into an ugly figure that resembled a
dragon.When he realized that he couldn’t be God, his disobedience led to his motivation to
overthrow God’s plan.He tried to tempt Jesus, stop Jesus’plan, overthrow Jesus, and kill Jesus.
All he failed in and he actually fulfilled the prophecy.He allowed Jesus to become a lamb for our
sacrifice and broke the barrier of our relationship with God and Christians.Jesus allowed us to
become extremely personable with God, and showed us that no matter what we have eternal
salvation.Jesusultimatesacrificebecamethedestructionofthepowerofsin,andconqueredany chance
of our eternal death.
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References
Towns,E.(2002).TheologyforToday.Belmont:WadsworthGroup.
Towns,E.(2007).CoreChristianity.Chattanooga,TN:AMGPublishers.
