There is very little symmetry between God and Satan whichever way you look at it, unless one remains at a superficial level. Satan opposes God, but he is not as wise as God or else he would realise that he is on a hiding to nothing and cannot, ultimately, win his battle against God and goodness.Quote:
Originally Posted by cal823
Satan has nothing to offer humanity except eternal misery and permanent failure. Satan was once an angel of light so it is not unthinkable that he understands the Holy Spirit extremely well and does his best to counter its good and positive influences. Yet there is no equity in the 'power' that Satan when considered in inverse proportion to God's power.
The 'power' of Satan is limited to influencing the choices people make, but God's power includes the control of nature, creation, eternal salvation, the provision of a savior to remove the evil effects on the human soul that is the lot of those who are turned aside from God's way by the gaudy entreaties of Lucifer, whose sole aim is to make everyone as miserable as he is, and to attempt to thwart God's purposes of saving humanity from the effects of sin and disobedience.
Although we should not minimize Satan's influence by too great a degree, neither should we inflate his reputation and capabilities, because he is limited in hios sphere of activities by what God will permit. For example:
1 Corinthians 10:13: There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is trustworthy and he will not permit you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to patiently endure it without being influenced by it.
Thus, although Satan himself is the counterpart as far as the mission and purpose of the Holy Spirit is concerned, Satan cannot be thought of as the mirror image of God, because he is so far removed from God and God's characteristics and attributes that Satan shows up very poorly by any kind of comparison.
There will be no 'incarnation' of an antichrist. An antichrist is any person or institution that opposes God and Christ, not a specific and special individual who will be born into the world to bring about an andgame of Manichean proportions when the forces of God and the forces of satan duke it out to decide who wins the sols of mankind. That outcome has already been decided, and although I don't want to spil the Book for those who have not finished reading it, God and Goodness wins, and Satan and evil are defeated, roundly and permanently. This is better than Harry Potter! :)
M:)RGANITE