Duterte, the Bible and God (2)

By Bienvenido D. Macaraeg Jr.
goodconqueror@websprinter.net .

Second and last part

GOD, ever the all-knowing and all-wise One, had a Plan B ready—the Savior to save His creation! In fact, for all we know, God had already previously planned it so that He could personally do it Himself as the “last Adam” (1Corinthians 15:45), by taking the form of a human to personally save mankind.  These is because of His great love for His creation (John 3:16)!  In Genesis 3:15, the Bible gives the first-ever prophecy for the coming Savior when God told the Serpent that the “Seed of the woman”—referring to Jesus Christ—will ultimately “crush” his (Serpent’s) head!

Believing he could counter that plan of God, Satan then devised a plan to pollute the human race by having his fallen angels copulate with the women of the human race during that time (Gen. 6:2). This he did in the hope of erasing the possibility of the “Seed of the woman”—meaning of the human race—from being realized. That strategy of his produced the demigod superhumans of those times (verse 4).

But God could not be outwitted as He had already prepared Noah and his family “perfect” or unpolluted in lineage (Gen 6:9). Through Noah’s family, God restarted the human race. At the same time God completely obliterated the polluted race of humans-con-fallen angels through the Great Flood thus rendering the devil’s counter-plan all for naught.

However, Satan does not tire trying to oppose God at every stage and turn.  During the time of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel), the Devil continued to make many attempts. When he learned that the “Seed” would come from the tribe of Israel, Satan caused a severe famine to come into Canaan where the family of Israel dwelt. But God made previous arrangements for the them to be able to move to and be protected in Egypt.

But there, Satan again tried to destroy the Israelites through unbearable slavery. And so God arranged for the people of Israel to be delivered out of Egypt and prepared a deliverer in the person of Moses. Here again, early on, Satan hoped to do away with the promised deliverer by causing Pharaoh to kill all the male Israelite babies. But God had the daughter of Pharaoh herself adopt and saved the promised deliverer thus again outwitting the devil.

After seeing that God had finally brought His people out of Egypt, Satan became furious and had the Israelites cornered—with the mountains on one side and the sea blocking their path and the hordes of Pharaoh’s army rushing in from behind to deal them the final blow.  But God opened the Red Sea to make a way of salvation for His people; while using the very same avenue for the destruction by violent drowning of Pharaoh’s marauding hordes thus discomfiting again the efforts of the Devil!

The efforts of the devil continued through the millennia. But let’s jump ahead now and get the highlights in the time of Christ.

After the promised “Seed of the woman,” the Savior Jesus Christ was finally born, Satan became even more furious and did not lose time to try doing away with the baby Jesus by using King Herod to have all the baby boys in Bethlehem massacred. However, God had already arranged earlier for Joseph to bring the baby Jesus with his mother Mary to escape to Egypt for safety until the death of Herod.

When Jesus was about to start His ministry and prepared Himself through a 40-day fast, Satan knew that his time to defeat God was running out. So the Tempter did his best to dissuade and prevent Jesus from proceeding with His crucial mission. But Jesus simply refused to succumb to the Devil. So now, Satan, like a beaten rabid dog, with head bowed and tail tucked between its hindlegs, quietly slunk away.

Towards the end of His ministry, as Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem absolutely determined to offer Himself to pay for the sins of humanity on the cross, this time the Devil knowing he was running out of options, tried to use Peter to hopefully once more try to dissuade Christ from proceeding with His plan. For if only he could make Christ yield to his wishes and suggestions, he could now completely destroy God’s plan which he temporarily stalled in Eden.  But what the Devil got instead was a severe rebuke when Jesus retorted, “Get behind me, Satan!”

And so finally, the greatest event of God’s Plan to save mankind was finally realized!  In spite of all the efforts of the Devil to thwart God’s plan at every turn, the “Seed of the woman” that was prophesied back in Eden who would solved the problem brought about by the devil finally succeeded with God’s plan with flying colors!  Satan was finally and completely vanquished at the Cross!

God’s plan was a success! He maintained man’s freedom to choose.  And in spite of the Devil, God succeeded in creating man “after His image and likeness” all through the “Seed of the woman,” Jesus Christ!  Jesus paved the way and became the Way for the rest of mankind to also be made in the “image and likeness” of God through Him. For as St. John wrote “whoever believes in Him shall not die but have eternal life”!  St. Paul also wrote, “The first man Adam became a human being; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.”

So, as we have seen, the story in the Garden of Eden is not a story of the Devil messing up with God’s perfect creation. Rather it is a story of God being supreme, sovereign, all-wise, all-knowing, loving and almighty that no one, not even Satan, could destroy His masterplan or put one over Him no matter how much he tries. In truth, it is the Devil who is so stupid for thinking that he somehow could defeat or put one over God.

This is the story that the Christian churches should have been teaching.  This is the story that the religious leaders should have explained to the President instead of reacting negatively and feeling alluded to. But if the Christian leaders do not teach the correct story as written in the Bible, then indeed the story would appear stupid! But who then is to blame?