Exodus 8: 16-19 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the ground,' and throughout the land of Egypt the dust will become gnats." They did this, and when Aaron stretched out his hand with the staff and struck the dust of the ground, gnats came upon men and animals. All the dust throughout the land of Egypt became gnats. But when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not. And the gnats were on men and animals.
The magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God."
Let's not lose something in our debates over evolution/creation and all that lies in between: The continual creative power of God is what allows us to defeat Satan on an ever-definitive basis.
Satan cannot produce life. If he could, we would see signs of this all over the place. This is seen clearly in the plagues of Egypt, as the magicians were able to copy the first three signs, but on the fourth one, the creation of life from dust, they were powerless. The creation of gnats from dust - of life - put them into such a place of defeat that they were unable to reproduce another plague after this. This is a classic example of Satan denied. Even the magicians themselves recognized this fact, calling creation from dust "the finger of God." The limitations of Satan were thus exposed and it was the beginning of the end of Israel's bondage in Egypt.
It is imperative in our debates over various beliefs on the beginning that we don't lose sight of this fact: Only God can create life. When we grasp this fully in faith, we are able to remain in Him, being constantly renewed because He can continually create life within us. This denies Satan, he simply cannot keep up with this, and his influence in our lives dies out as we continue to be recreated into the image of Christ.
My greatest victories are when I simply allow God's creative energy to outlast Satan's mimicry. Too many times I don't allow this to happen, and I fall victim to discouragement or semi-abandonment of the faith. It's when I just keep going and trusting God to be renewing me day by day that I find my greatest triumphs. This is "the finger of God" in my life, creating life out of the dust of my heart, soul and mind.
Isaiah 26:3 " You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you."
Be steadfast. Stay in God and outlast Satan.
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