Restoration or Reconciliation?

Originally posted on February 10, 2006 – by Andre Piet

A few days ago, I received a response from a visitor. They wrote:

I’ve been following your website regularly lately. For some time, I’ve been trying to figure out why the devil must be tormented in the lake of fire for the eons. Assuming that the fire has a purifying function. What is there in the devil that needs to be refined? If he had once been an angel, I could better understand it—then he would be restored to his original state or something like that. People are refined like gold in the lake of fire, but how does that work with Satan? There’s nothing in him to be restored or purified, because he does exactly what he is appointed to do, and thus hasn’t ‘fallen,’ etc. I’m seriously trying to find an answer to this. What does Satan look like when the torments come to an end? Or am I overlooking something?

Indeed, I believe a few things are being overlooked here.

Scripture does not teach the restoration of all, but the reconciliation of all (Col. 1:20). Not only all enemies on earth, but also all enemies in the heavens will be reconciled to their Creator. That includes the devil, who leads the hostile opposition in the celestial realms and is therefore called “the chief of the jurisdiction of the air” (Eph. 2:2). Enmity will give way to peace. That is what reconciliation (apo-katallasso in Greek) means.

During “the eons of the eons,” the devil (along with his associates) will be tormented in the lake of fire. All that is satanic and devilish in this creature will, through this divine operation, be removed. There he will come to realize that he is utterly dependent on GOD and has nothing to oppose Him with.

The result will be what Jesus once told him in the wilderness (Matt. 4:10): “The Lord your God shall you be worshiping.” That was a prophecy – one that will then become reality! Everything and everyone, in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, will bow at the name Jesus (=YHWH is Savior!) and acknowledge Him, to the glory of GOD the Father (Phil. 2:9–11).

Moreover, human beings are not tormented in “the lake of fire.” For them, this lake will mean “the second death.” They die a second time and are cremated in this lake – until death, as the last enemy, is abolished (1 Cor. 15:22–28). When all mankind has been made alive at the end of Christ’s reign, Satan (=adversary) will no longer be Satan. He will have subjected himself to GOD and acknowledge Him – inescapably.

Of course, the devil is currently an enemy of God. But that does not mean God is an enemy of the devil. After all, he is the work of GOD’s hands. God’s mercy is over all His works, says the psalmist (Ps. 145:9). He is able to cause all His creatures – no matter how hostile – to melt before the glow of His love and thus be reconciled to Him.

That is the scope and the power of the blood of the cross!

Delen: