Everything Satan Does is a Mockery of God - Part 1

 I am staunchly Christian. I hope that this is evident in my life through my words and my deeds. You don't know who I am because I have not revealed that to you; I have intentionally kept this blog anonymous. Maybe someday I will reveal who I am; maybe not. Only God knows that. But I hope that those with whom I have a regular interaction can recognize that I love the God of the Bible and I am trying to live in order to please Him, as short as I may sometimes fall of that goal.

Being staunchly Christian, I have a strong respect for Judaism as it is the faith system that is the very root of my own, worshipping the same God and providing for me the same Messiah; but I hurt for those who are caught in Judaism because they have failed to recognize the revelation of their long awaited Messiah in the person of Jesus the Christ. The incarnation of Jesus changed the nature of how humanity relates to the One and Only God. As we read through the Scriptures, we see that God has revealed Himself in increasing degrees to mankind as history progressed. The coming of the Son of God was the penultimate (next to last) revelation of God to mankind, with the final revelation being when God Himself comes to dwell on earth with His people as we read of in Revelation 21. But I am concerned that those who are still caught in Judaism will miss spending their eternity with God because they have been culturally influenced to miss these last revelations. Scripture tells us in John 3:36 that, "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey [believe] the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” This warning comes from Jesus Himself. Those who reject Jesus as the Son of God will not see God, plain and simple.

There are those, myself included, that believe that God will give the Jews one more chance to recognize Jesus as their Messiah. This is at least partially based on Zechariah 12 which is considered to be a prophetic word about the end of days and God's protection of His people from destruction. From verse 10 to the end of the chapter, we read about how the Jews will recognize Him "whom they have pierced" (v.10) and they will mourn for Him "as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn." This indicates to me that the Jews who are still alive at that time, as few as they may be, will see that Jesus truly is the Son of God and that they have rejected their Messiah for millennia.

I also look at passages like 1 Peter 3:18-19, "For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; 19 in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison,", and Ephesians 4:7-10, "But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it says, “When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, And He gave gifts to men.” 9 (Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.)", which taken together, some believe indicate that Jesus may have intervened with and for those who had died before Him, preaching the gospel to them as they waited in Sheol, according to the Jewish beliefs about the afterlife. If this is the case, is it also possible that Jesus Himself will intervene with and for the souls of the Jews who have pursued God according to the Old Covenant so that they do not lose their reward, even if they are no longer alive at His second coming? I don't have a firm position on this line of thought, but it does make some sense that God would act to give the Chosen People every opportunity to choose Jesus.

But, there does have to be a dividing line somewhere. Over the last number of years, there has been a push to include Islam as a faith under the One God; the same God as is worshipped in Judaism and Christianity. There has even been a shared worship campus, called the Abrahamic Family House,  built in Abu Dhabi where there are a church, a synagogue and a mosque in close proximity, based on the idea that all three are considered Abrahamic faiths. I think that this is an untenable position to hold and promote. Non-ironically, the Bible gives a very specific warning about accepting any gospel message that is contrary to what we read in the New Testament; even if that message comes from an angel. Galatians 1:8-9; "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed." That warning and that curse is stated twice, so take note of it. Muhammad claimed that he received the Quran through a revelation that was given to him by not only an angel, but the angel Gabriel. This is the same angel that announced to Daniel, Zechariah and Mary the things that God wanted them to understand.

This requires just a little bit of critical thinking for those who are trying to understand where Islam fits with Christianity or Judaism. Do you believe Muhammad that God's messenger Gabriel gave Muhammad a gospel contrary to what Jesus Himself delivered and the apostles spread, or do you hold to the warnings that the Bible gives about this exact scenario? The answer seems pretty clear to me.

There is a direct connection between Judaism and Christianity, since it is in the Old Testament that we learn of the coming Jewish Messiah through prophecies that foretell His coming and even aspects of His life. There are actually over 300 prophecies from the Old Testament that Jesus fulfilled. It is the Jewish Messiah that is foretold, but His salvation is available to everybody, and those who come to God the Father through God the Son are referred to as Christians. We worship the same God as the Jews and recognize the same moral laws, but as Christians we are released from the Jewish Laws that rule their lives through rituals that are only designed to point to God, not to bring us to Him. Islam has no part in Judaism or Christianity. It worships a pagan deity and is, therefore, in absolute opposition to God.

The apostle Paul warns those who are in the church in Corinth that those who worship any God other than the God of the Jews or Jesus Christ, are worshipping demons that are masquerading as "gods". 1 Corinthians 10:20; "No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons." Demons' sole purpose is to draw God's created humans away from Him and into eternal destruction. Why would they not present themselves as beings of light in order to pull us into worshipping something other than God? If they can fool us into thinking that we are actually worshipping God when we are worshipping them, then there is little more that they need to do besides keep our eyes where we ourselves have chosen to place them.

2 Corinthians 11:14-15 tells us that this is a tactic of Satan and those who work for him, both humans and demons; "No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds."

I found an interesting graphic that shows the growth of different religions in the world from 1945 to 2026. It shows Roman Catholicism as the largest religion in the world in 1945, followed by Hinduism, Sunni Islam and Protestant Christianity, and on and on, listing the other major world religions in order of their prevalence. The graphic is actually animated, and it shows that in the early 1980's, Sunni Islam began a significant growth pattern. It was gaining on Hinduism and the Roman Catholics and eventually overcame both after experiencing another surge in the 1990's and continuing into the 2000's. It was interesting and depressing to see how much of the world population has been taken in by just that one pagan false religion.

The final numbers for Christianity, Islam and Judaism as wholes including different denominations are as follows: Christianity 1,975,543,195; Islam 1,815,244,382; Judaism 6,955,334. So Christianity has a small lead over Islam, but with the falling birth rates among Christians and the growing birth rates among Muslims, this lead will fall. What this does not show is that Protestant Christianity, that which most closely aligns with my beliefs, has only 625,628,408 participants. The overall term "Christianity" also includes Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholicism. While Eastern Orthodox Christianity, to the best of my limited knowledge, holds to more truth than Roman Catholicism, I think that there are still theological fallacies that endanger those practitioners, though my concerns are far greater for Roman Catholics.

This article has turned out to be very different than what I vaguely had in mind as I started writing it. I think that this has turned into an introduction to a series that I may have to write comparing Protestant Christianity and/or Judaism to Islam and then to Roman Catholicism. I will frame this series to show that Satan cannot create anything himself; all he can do is twist and distort that which God has already created, making a mockery of that which is Holy and presenting his mockery as holy itself. This is a method used to draw people towards something that they believe is good and righteous, but because of the narrow specifications that God has placed in order to enter eternity in His presence, countless souls will be lost when they thought they were saved. They will call out, "Lord, Lord!" (Matthew 7:21) and will hear in response, "I knew you not" (Matthew 7:23)! " "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it." Matthew 7:13-14.

I will not mince words; Islam is a religion from Hell; Roman Catholicism may have started out alright, but it has been hijacked and has become another religion from Hell for those who practice it according to the statutes of the Roman Catholic Church (RCC). That may offend some of my readers, but I hope that you will return here over the course of the next week or so to see what I have to say about that. And if you want to correct any misunderstandings that I may have about Islam or the RCC, I am open to hear what you have to say. You can respond in the comments section below where everybody can see your response, or you can keep it private by contacting me through the email address that you can find in my profile information.

I try to write according to the way that the Spirit leads me. As I have been writing my thoughts in this article, I really didn't know where those thoughts were going to lead me. I guess we'll find that out together over the next several days.