ThirtyThree said:
8) If Satan is already defeated at the cross, why is there a second war in Heaven prophesied in (Rev 12:7-9)?
Luke 4:12-14
Colossians 2:13-15
Hebrews 2:14-15
John 14:29-31
John 12:31-32
Luke 10:17-19
John 16:7-11
Philippians 2:8
1 John 2:13-14
1 Corinthians 15:25-27
Romans 16:20
Matthew 28:18-20
Revelation 1:18
Many things are certain. Jesus defeated satan's attempt to influence Him, being obedient to God and His truth all the way to the cross, even though He put himself under all the limitations of a man. And through Him we also are freed from all captvity to satan. All authority and power belongs to Jesus. Satan has no power over Him, and by extension has no power over those who are in Jesus.
We also know for sure from scripture that satan has already set himself up as the enemy of God prior to Jesus dying on the cross, seeking to kill and destroy His people. So we know that's not something new that will happen in the future.
That is also why we look at Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28, seeing they clearly are not just talking about people, but appear to be prophetic parallels of what has happened with satan rebelling against God. The earthly rulers are then compared prophetically to this because they are rebelling against God in the same spirit, and will meet the same fates.
We already know from other verses in the epistles and in Revelation that satan still operates in the world. At a future point he will be bound up and prevented from operating for a thousand years and later thrown for eternity in the lake of fire.
That doesn't mean Jesus hasn't defeated Him. He in a very real sense already did, and holds all the power. He reclaimed on our behalf that which Adam surrendered to satan, and we can re-inherit what was originally ours prior to the fall by adoption into the bloodline of Jesus.
As for why Jesus did not throw satan down into the lake of fire now, but waits for an appointed time? That gets into some of the mysteries of God's purposes that I referred to. I believe God has plans and purposes for why He allows the free will of man to play out to it's conclusion.
9) Is the unforgivable sin something which can be committed in current time or is it something which could only be committed during the time of Yeshua? (Mar 3:29)
a) Is the unforgivable sin blasphemy against The Holy Spirit? Is it something else?
Matthew 12.
Blasphemia
http://biblehub.com/greek/988.htm
Notice how the pharisees accuse Jesus of operating by the power of demons.
In context we can see that "blasphemy against the spirit" is accusing the Holy Spirit of being evil, accusing Him of being satan. It's slander against the Holy Spirit. It's calling that which is good evil.
I believe that is unforgiveable because someone who doesn't believe God is good will never go to Him to recieve forgiveness in humility. They won't choose to obey Him according to His truth. All of which is required to be saved from the lake of fire. They don't have faith in anything He has done or said, or even in who He is. Hebrews 11:6
b) Is (Rev 22:19) also an unforgivable sin?
That would fall under the category of disobedience and rebellion, which willfully separates ourselves from God.
10) What does Eternal Life, The Book of Life and (Jhn 14:6) mean in scripture? To be specific, what is "Life" in the context of: (Strongs G2222): (of the absolute fulness of life, both essential and ethical, which belongs to God, and through him both to the hypostatic "logos" and to Christ in whom the "logos" put on human nature.)? Keep in mind, this is from the perspective of UNCONDITIONAL immortality.
Jesus is life itself and the way for us to have life.
John 6:35
John 6:51
John 14:6
We gain access through Him to the tree of life, which is in the city/paradise of God. That is what we lost through the fall of man.
Genesis 2:9
Genesis 3:22-24
Revelation 2:7
Revelation 22:2
Revelation 22:14
1 Corinthians 1:30
Referring to wisdom: Proverbs 3:18
You could say that Jesus is the embodiment of the tree of life.
Life is eternal existence in the full unveiled presence of God, and all that is entailed in that.
a) Is Eternal Life total unity with God?
It depends on what you mean by that.
The analogy is used throughout scripture of God's people being a bride, and God/Jesus being the bridegroom.
There is the implication of intimate union in that sense, something which like a marriage becomes deeper with time and has a new more intimate dynamic to it after Jesus returns for His bride to take part in the marriage supper of the lamb (we would be compared right now to being in the state of engagement, with the Holy Spirit being a downpayment of God's faithfulness to return and fulfill His promise to marry), but that is not to imply it means a loss of individuality and free will.
That is why Paul referred to marriage as a very deep spiritual mystery.
Ephesians 5:31-32
b) Eternal Death, The Second Death and "death" in general within scripture refers to separation. Is The Second Death eternal separation from God, just as "death" is separation from the body?
The second death does involve separation from God.
An example of that is seen in the parable of John 15.
11) In regard to (Exo 20:5) and in context of the "visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.". What is meant by this?
I don't believe that verse has any application to the issue of the lake of fire or the book of life.
Deuteronomy 24:16
Ezekiel 18:20
Exodus 20:5 suggests that those in the third and fourth generation hate God the same way their fathers did. This is all said in the context of the prohibition against idolatry. This is why many interpret this verse to be saying that the sin of idolatry has effects that go from one generation to the next because the fathers teach their sons to hate God.
Deuteronomy 7:3-4
The NET, a translation of the Seputagint, may highlight some more linguistic nuance to this verse for us:
You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God, responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children to the third and fourth generations of those who reject me, and showing covenant faithfulness to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
The Knox translation of the Latin Vulgate, might show us more nuance:
Thou shalt not carve images, or fashion the likeness of anything in heaven above, or on earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth, to bow down and worship it. I, thy God, the Lord Almighty, am jealous in my love; be my enemy, and thy children, to the third and fourth generation, for thy guilt shall make amends; love me, keep my commandments, and mercy shall be thine a thousandfold.
The Wycliffe Bible, also based on the Latin Vulgate:
thou shalt not bow down to them, neither worship them; for I am thy Lord God, a strong(ly) jealous lover; I visit the wickedness of (the) fathers in (the) children into the third and fourth generation of them that hated me, (thou shalt not bow down to them, nor worship them; for I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God; I punish the children for the wickedness of their fathers, unto the third and fourth generations of those who hate me,)
and I do mercy into thousands, to them that love me, and keep my behests. (but I do mercy unto thousands, to those who love me, and who keep my commandments.)
The AMP translation suggests that although they are not being punished because their fathers sinned, they are accountable for the sinful practices they have inherited and continue, and God will deal with them according to it:
You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous (impassioned) God [[a]demanding what is rightfully and uniquely mine], visiting (avenging) the iniquity (sin, guilt) of the fathers on the children [that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers], to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing graciousness and steadfast lovingkindness to thousands [of generations] of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
The Message, which is a very loose paraphrase:
No carved gods of any size, shape, or form of anything whatever, whether of things that fly or walk or swim. Don’t bow down to them and don’t serve them because I am God, your God, and I’m a most jealous God, punishing the children for any sins their parents pass on to them to the third, and yes, even to the fourth generation of those who hate me. But I’m unswervingly loyal to the thousands who love me and keep my commandments.
Those all support a common interpretation of this passage that is taken by Christians.
