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Question 65

Q: If Adam was created good and perfect, then what led him to sin?

What about Satan? He was created a good angel. He had no outside influences to cause him to sin. Even if he had free will, why would he want to rebel if his nature was pure and holy? I can only think that God caused Satan to rebel and sin against Him, which seems to make evil God’s fault.

Asked by: Martin


A: Martin, I just want you to know that you’ve asked an excellent question, and it is a question for which I do not have an answer.

I’ve often pondered your question. “Why would Satan when he was in those beautiful realms of Heaven, when he was called Lucifer, Son of the Morning, in light of the fact that he was perfect, why would he desire to sin?”

You’re right, even if he had a free will, where does the desire for sin come from in a perfect world among perfect beings? The best answer I can give you is that we don’t have an answer. All that we know is from the books of Isaiah and Ezekiel, it says that, “Iniquity was found in you.” And what I believe happened was this: all the glory was to go to God. Lucifer, as I understand it, had the responsibility like a choirmaster. All of the angels would sing praise to God and he was supposed to pass on the glory to God and he kept some of it for himself. Why he did, what motivated him, is a mystery to us. But of course the rest is history, because he did, we all know the devastating effects of sin.

So Martin, the bottom line is this: We just need to live with this mystery and we need to recognize the presence of evil, but we also need to recognize that God is triumphing over that evil—in us, as His people, and through the spreading of the Gospel.

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