Earth Is A Battlefield Full Documentary

EARTH IS A BATTLEFIELD
with Scott Christiansen

SCOTT CHRISTIANSEN
Author, Planet In Distress

I have here, a handful of dirt--

a handful of soil actually.
It's alive, it smells alive.

I've taken it from this park-- hopefully I'm
not going to get in trouble for doing so--

and the thing is, there's a
lot going on in this handful of soil,

including pitched war.

That's right. War.

There's a battle going on in here.

There's hundreds of millions,
maybe billions, of micro-organisms.

There's predator and prey.
Some of them, amazingly, are forming teams,

and they're engaging in
chemical and biological warfare,

one type of organism against another.

Or they're engaging in fierce one-on-one
battles, where the winner eats the loser.

In these fights, you can see
specialized and sophisticated weapons.

You can see defenses, measures,
counter-measures, tactics, responses.

What's going on in this handful of
dirt, frankly, is a hellish nightmare

of conflict, struggle, and death.

But the thing is, what goes on in this
handful of soil is no different, really,

than what goes on throughout
all of the natural world.

This is representative of the relationships
of the creatures of the earth,

from the smallest right
on up to the largest.

All the earth, in fact,
is a battleground.

Everywhere,
we're seeing predator and prey,

we see conflict and fear, we see disease
and parasites, we see suffering and death,

and for Christians, that's a problem.

In fact, it's a profound problem.

You see, the Bible tells us
in Genesis chapter one

how God created the earth.

It also tells us in Job 38:7,
that when He created it, the angels sang.

And from this, we conclude
that it was so beautiful, so special,

that it dazzled the angels.
It was so good in fact,

that God called it "very good"
at the conclusion of His creation work.

Now, the Bible tells us that God is love.

In other words, the essence
of His character is love.

He is also generous, He is supportive,
He is nurturing, He is protective of us,

but more than anything else,
He is the very definition of love.

In fact, in John 3:16, the most
memorized verse in the Bible,

the Bible says that God
profoundly loves the world,

which includes humans,
and everything else He created--

we're talking the world
that He loved, not just mankind.

So taking all this into account,

let's ask a critical
and fundamental question:

What kind of world would God create?

If God's character
is the definition of love,

then really, He could create nothing
but a loving, harmonious, elegant,

supportive, nurturing,
amazing world, right?

A character of perfect love
cannot create something

that is contrary to its character.

So what God created would
necessarily reflect His character, right?

Further, we can understand that love,

or more broadly,
let's call it "loving-kindness",

would be God's organizing principle
for the operation of His earth.

In other words, love,
or loving-kindness,

would define how the world
fundamentally operates.

It would define the
relationships between creatures,

and even define the
operation of the natural systems

that support life on earth,

such as our atmosphere, our hydrosphere,
our oceanic systems, our climate systems.

If God created a world that operated
on a system that's contrary to love,

then logically, God would not be
who the Bible says He is.

And if God created something
that was contrary to His character,

then the angels would not be dazzled by it
nor would they respond by singing.

They would in fact,
respond in shock and confusion instead.

But the world doesn't operate
on a system of loving-kindness,

we know that just
by looking all around us.

Because when we look around us, we see
struggle, we see fear, we see fighting,

we see disease,

we see parasites and death.

The world calls this system,
"the survival of the fittest".

But when I look at everything going on,
I see more than just individual struggle.

The system that I see is,
in fact, an intentional system.

And if we examine it carefully,

we see that the ultimate
organizing principle of this system,

is selfishness.

Which is the exact opposite
of what the Bible says God's character is.

So, here's our dilemma:

If God created the world as we observe it,

then the Bible is false,

and God is a monster
who is unworthy of our worship.

Full-stop.

It's either that,
or He is who He says He is,

and the Bible is true,

but something happened to change
the organizing principle of the earth

from loving-kindness, to selfishness.

If this second choice is true,

then it raises
a whole slew of questions--

important questions.

Including, "Why would an all powerful
God, allow His earth to be twisted

and perverted like that?

And how is that consistent with a God that
the Bible says has a character of love?"

Well, these are really,
truly important questions,

and we'll begin to take them up,
in this series.

In the course of doing so,

we'll eventually come back
to this handful of soil.

Because there's more that it can
teach us about the character of God,

and the organizing principle of the earth.

It can in fact, teach us
something about ourselves.

SCOTT CHRISTIANSEN
Author, Planet In Distress

Here I am in Fort Knox,
off of Bucksport, Maine.

This is not the Fort Knox
with all the gold in it.

What this fort has a lot of is big, huge
granite blocks. It's a civil war era fort.

It's got gun-ports all around
it, and the walls are so thick

that if I reach through those gun-ports,

I can't possibly touch
the outside of the wall.

It's massive.

Well, this fort is a fitting place to take
up our discussion, in this video series,

because one of the central points in this
series is that Earth is a battlefield.

In fact, all the life forms on Earth--
from the micro-organisms in our soil,

all the way up to the massive blue whale--

function within a framework,
a paradigm if you will,

of predator and prey, struggle and fear,

while also dealing
with disease, and parasites,

and the constant threat of death.

There is a pitched war going on,
and what we're asking is,

"Where is God in all of this?"

Well, let's go back
to what I said a minute ago--

the earth is a battle field;
a battlefield between opposing forces.

And on this battlefield is playing
out a war that we can barely see,

a war between God and Satan.

To understand the earth, to
understand God, to understand our lives,

we first have to understand
this war, and our role in it,

because everything, everything,
everything, that happens on Earth

happens in the context of this great war.

This war, oddly enough, started in heaven,

where Satan was an angel,
the highest ranking angel actually,

and he was then named Lucifer.

We find that he had everything,
and functioned in a perfect universe.

We also find that he wasn't satisfied.

He wanted more.

The Bible tells us that Lucifer
was perfect in all his ways.

This means his thoughts,
his feelings, his behavior.

So perfect in all his ways was he, that
right up until iniquity was found in him,

was he perfect.

When iniquity was found in him,
he began to be called Satan,

which means "adversary."

What iniquity was found in Satan?

Selfishness.

Lucifer decided he wanted to be like God;
he wanted to be "like the Most High"

is the way it's phrased in Isaiah 14:14.

We can understand that Lucifer went
to work undermining God's character,

making accusations that God
was not what He said He was.

By denying the essential
goodness of God's character,

Satan attempted to erode trust toward God,

and incite rebellion against Him.

How else do you rise above God,
but to bring Him down?

Satan's undermining was successful.
We understand from Revelation 12:4,

that a third of the angels were
deceived by this cunning plot.

Well, here's a thing
which fixates me a bit:

logically, Satan could not have
recruited angels to his side

simply by making a charge against God.

He couldn't just say, "God is bad",
and have angels follow him.

So logically, Satan had to also
offer a better way (his words)

of organizing the universe
than what God had put in place.

So what was this competing system?

We can find out
by following what Satan did.

What Satan did was press his attacks,
and as we're told in Revelation 12:7,

war broke out in heaven.

Ty Gibson has an excellent study on this
subject, and he points out in this text,

that the word translated
as "war", is "polemos" in Greek,

which is related to the words
like "polemic" and "politics".

And so the conflict wasn't primarily a war
of physical engagement or force of arms,

it was mostly a political war,
a propaganda campaign,

a character assassination scheme.

Satan waged his war by telling lies
about the fundamental character of God,

and by offering a different way.

Looking at Satan's rebellion,
in Ezekiel 28:16,

we find that Lucifer was cast out
of heaven because he sinned.

In 1 John 3:4, we find that
John defines sin as "lawlessness."

In other words,
Satan rebelled against God's law.

In Romans 13:10,
Paul defines God's law as love.

So Satan made war on God's character.

But my studies have lead me to understand
that this war was not only on God,

he also made war on God's paradigm,
His organizing principle for the universe--

His organizing principle of love,
or more broadly, loving-kindness.

In a way, Satan had to do this
because God's character of love

was reflected
in everything He did in creation.

We're told in Revelation 12:9,
that Satan and his angels,

when they lost the war in heaven,
were cast to the earth.

Here, Satan deceived man into sinning.

When Satan overcame man,
he took our dominion of the earth,

and according to Corinthians 4:4,
he's now the "god" of this world,

that's god with a lowercase 'g'.

As god of this world,
and as the former highest angel,

Satan had sufficient power,
and sufficient freedom,

to twist creation, and put into place
his own operating system,

his operating paradigm.

In other words, Satan had a chance
to pit his claimed system, his paradigm,

against God's paradigm.

And how do we know
what Satan's paradigm is?

Well, we only need to look
at what Satan did to the earth.

Looking around us, we see fierce
competition, we see struggle,

we see fighting,
we see predator, we see prey,

we see disease, and suffering and death.

The world calls it survival of the fittest
but it is more than that.

I conclude that it is
an intentionally designed system,

whose organizing principle is selfishness.

What we see all around us then,

is the continuation
on Earth of the rebellion

that Satan started in heaven.

On the one side,
we have God and His system of love--

the loving-kindness paradigm.

On the other side is Satan,
and his system based on selfishness--

the selfishness paradigm.

What are the implications of a world
run on the selfishness paradigm?

Well, that's what we'll take up
in the next video in this series,

when we'll look at just how
big a deal Satan's paradigm is.

How it pervades everything,
everything, here on Earth,

and what that means for you and me,
at this point in prophetic history.

SCOTT CHRISTIANSEN
Author, Planet In Distress

Here we are, in the Washington,
New Hampshire church,

which is this charming old church
with its beautiful acoustics.

This is a church where
Sabbath-keeping Adventists first met

and eventually it became the first
Seventh-day Adventist Church,

a very historic church.

This church hasn't changed
in many, many years.

It still doesn't have electricity.

It hasn't changed.

But we can't say
the same thing for creation.

You see, when God created the world,
it was a really, really different place

than the one we live in now.

For one thing, it didn't rain.

It's hard for us
to imagine a world like that.

But we're told in Genesis 2:5 and 6

that a mist of sorts
would rise up from the ground,

and it sounds similar
to hydroponic systems

which is pretty much
the most ideal way of growing plants

that's currently known to man.

But that wasn't the only difference.
Animals were created as vegetarians.

Think about that for a moment;
they only ate plants. All of them.

It says so in Genesis 1:29 and 30,
so yeah, according to Genesis 1,

the earth was a really,
really different place.

These texts though,
are really a challenge to some people.

Scientists for instance,
or those with a scientific bent of mind.

Most scientist who read these texts
will respond by saying

that we just don't observe
in the world what the Bible describes.

Well, okay, fair enough.

There's herbivores like
sheep, horses and elephants,

okay, but dogs, birds, fish...

people will be quick to point out
that most of these animals

were designed to eat other animals.

End of discussion.

So, because there is a disparity
between what we see,

and what the Bible says,

scientists are quick, and many
people are quick, to dismiss the Bible.

Far too quick actually,

because there's a very
good explanation for this.

The Bible goes on to recount
how sin entered the world,

and how that changed the world, literally.

Because the consequence of sin
is disease, it's suffering, it's conflict,

ultimately it's death.

So, let's take this and think this through
a little, on our own,

and the place
to start thinking, this disparity,

the place to start thinking,
is with the character of God.

And we know that the character of
God is complex. After all, He is God.

But we also know it's ultimately
simple, because God is love.

So, let's take a look at
what we know of God,

and apply it to the
operation of His world.

Doing that, we can say that
in God's world there's absolutely no fear,

no domination, no predation,
no suffering, no disease, no parasites.

That would mean
that animals eat plants and seeds,

as the Bible says was originally the case.

It would also mean that some plants,
and maybe even some animals,

would produce specialized
food for other animals.

In other words,
they would produce a blessing.

Filter feeders comes to mind:

animals producing food for filter feeders.

But so far, we have only defined
God's world by what is absent--

fear and predation and such,
and not by what is present.

So let's add to our model,

and to do that, we need to
again turn to the character of God.

Based on what we know of God, we can say
that His world would involve generosity,

and mutual care.

Sharing, if you will.

Each life form would provide
a blessing to other life forms.

Essentially, to get to God's
world you have to reverse

part of the world as we know it;
a substantial part of the world.

In our world, which is
fundamentally based on selfishness,

most everything takes, takes--

but in a world without sin, in a world
based on the character of God,

everything would give.

Now taking what we know
of the character of Satan,

we can see that the current earth
functions more or less as a pyramid,

with the bottom
of the pyramid giving the most,

and the benefits flowing
to the top of the pyramid.

The powerful take and the powerless give.

We see this model throughout
the natural world, we see the food chain,

but we also see it throughout
human society, human economy,

where every level of the pyramid
takes from the levels below it.

By applying what we know of God,

we can see that we
take this model, and we invert it,

where the pyramid is upside down.

Where everything blesses
and gives to everything else,

and where goodness flows
from the stronger to the weaker,

which is to say God gives more
than anything or anyone else.

This model, this upside down
pyramid, these blessings flowing,

is consistent with what we
know of the character of God.

For a world like this to work,

all life forms on it would have to
have to be returned from their current

twisted and perverted states,
back to their original created states.

At the same time, plants would have
to be returned to their original state.

In fact, everything would have to
be returned to its original state,

and that is exactly what God
says He'll do in Revelation 21:1,

when the earth is created new
without any trace or stain of sin.

What we'll see, is a complete
elimination of the selfishness paradigm.

There won't be one thing that just takes.

And what we will is a pure expression
of the loving-kindness paradigm.

The result of that is given in Isaiah 11:9,
where it says, referring to the new Earth,

"They will not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain."

An Earth that isn't a battlefield?

You know, to me that just sounds
really, really good. I mean really good.

Next, we'll look
at the selfishness paradigm

as reflected in our lives, our work,
our play, our money, our egos--

we're going to look at all of that.

And we'll briefly explore
some of the truly critical questions

about how Christians relate to a world
that operates on the selfishness paradigm,

including this question: "How can
Christians live out the character of God,

and constantly give,
in a world that only wants to take?"

SCOTT CHRISTIANSEN
Author, Planet In Distress

As we look at the world, and its
selfishness-based systems of operation,

there's one thing that
we need to keep in mind,

and that's this:

Selfishness is the ultimate
expression of unsustainability.

This is because, by its very nature,
selfishness collapses in on itself.

So the things that the world relentlessly
pursues: wealth, power, status,

fame, domination-- those will
all come to nothing in the end,

precisely because they are
the very definition of selfishness.

Now, selfishness is self-defeating.

This probably puts the plainest face on
the folly of man's rebellion though sin.

This world will end,

and judging by the fulfillment of
prophecy that we see all around us,

it's going to end soon.

So, what you see behind me, this
town, the things around me, the trees,

all around us, that's going to end.

And judging by the fulfillment of prophecy
that we see all around us,

it's going to end soon.

Now, about a hundred and fifty years ago,

there were Seventh-day
Adventists that were meeting.

The "Adventist" part comes
from people who believed

that Jesus was returning very soon,
and the Seventh-day part

comes from people who believe
in the fourth commandment:

worshiping God on the seventh day,
the Sabbath, as He commands.

So that was about a
hundred and fifty years ago,

and they understood that there was
work that urgently needed to be done,

at that time.

They understood that we are
all warriors for one side or another,

and that we're also
the stakes in this battle.

The battle they saw building,
is now nearing its culmination.

That being the case,

we live in a time when there are
things that urgently need to be done,

and we live in a time when
we need to see things clearly.

So let's dig a little deeper.

Let's look at the systems of the
world today, through the clarifying lens

of the selfishness paradigm.

And we're going to start with an easy one.

Capitalism.

Now, capitalism is the
financial organizing system

almost universally employed
throughout the world.

And, quite interestingly,
it actually requires selfishness to work.

The system requires that everyone
act in their own self-interest,

and that the actions and reactions be
predictable, and based on this expectation.

Capitalism rewards those who try
hardest to grasp and hold resources.

Now, capitalism itself
isn't really good or bad,

but if we're going to put things
in either a loving-kindness paradigm,

or a selfishness paradigm (in other words,
how the earth operates) then clearly,

capitalism belongs in
the selfishness paradigm.

Now let's try another
one: our political system.

Now, particularly as practiced here
in America, it's been said that politics

is the process that we use
to decide who gets what.

Perhaps you'll agree that
the system as it currently exists

is less about competent
administration of our civil institutions,

and more about a fierce
competition for power and resources.

It's hard to see any loving-
kindness in this system, so clearly,

we can put this in the
selfishness paradigm category.

Ultimately, all of society's
systems can be evaluated

in comparison to the selfishness paradigm.

But interestingly, so can also
most of our individual actions.

How we drive, to pick something at random.

Are we selfish in our driving,
or do we express loving-kindness?

How about our conversations?

Do we engage others in order
to be able talk about ourselves,

or are we actually interested in
the other person, and ask after them?

How about parenting?

If a parent-- an overworked
parent, a tired parent--

but if a parent treats
a child dismissively,

in order to avoid longer interactions,
and tries dominating them

instead of taking time
and energy to engage with them,

what paradigm does that belong in?

What about relationship
dynamics between married people?

It seems every action,
every thought, whether large or small,

can fit into one
or the other of these two systems.

The question then, is whether we
are intentional, steadily intentional,

about recognizing this divide,
and increasingly living our lives

in the loving-kindness paradigm.

If we do that, we'll be trying to be givers
of blessings in a world that only takes.

No one can do that,
at least not for very long.

So how can it be done?

Well, by fixing our eyes on Christ.

By making our relationship with
Him our most important goal,

and our most valuable possession.

Ultimately, we must be so close to Christ,
that He gives blessings through us.

That is how we can give and give
in a world that only wants to take,

because it is Christ working with us
and through us, who does the giving.

That's who He is, that's what He does.

How different from the rest of
the world are we going to be,

if we're truly trying to live within
the loving-kindness paradigm?

We're going to be really, really
different, that's the answer.

We'll truly be a peculiar people in
comparison to the majority of the world.

But then how else can we be an example?

If we are not different as
a result of what we believe,

then what's the use of believing?

After all, Christianity is not some
mere sprinkling of pixie dust

on top of what the world
does and calling it God's way.

Ultimately, we are or will be,
of one paradigm or another.

We're going to be either sheep,
or we're going to be goats.

In the end, we either have Christ's loving-
kindness, or we have Satan's selfishness.

At the conclusion, there's no middle path,
there's no lukewarm response.

In this light, the implications
of a hard look at our lives,

through the selfishness paradigm,
are truly significant, maybe revolutionary.

The message is aimed at us from
all sides that we should be chasing

what the world is chasing.

Some even say that the pursuit of wealth
is a Christian right and duty,

and success is proof of God's blessing.

But no.

Christ was emphatic that His
kingdom was not of this world,

and in fact, that is what
we're going to be looking at

next in this series:

the contest between Christ's paradigm
and Satan's paradigm in the Bible.

How we see both of those
at work in the world today,

and the challenge of being in
the world, but not of the world.

SCOTT CHRISTIANSEN
Author, Planet In Distress

I'm sitting beside the Sabbath
Trail, which is this really cool trail,

that starts and ends at the Washington
Seventh-day Adventist Church,

in Washington, New Hampshire,

which is the first
Seventh-day Adventist church,

the oldest Seventh-day Adventist church.

And this is a trail
that winds through the woods

for about a mile,
it's got twenty-two separate stops on it,

each of which has a part

in tracing the Sabbath through the Bible,
through the ages.

If you ever get a chance to visit,
I highly recommend it.

For our purposes,
this trail is an ideal spot to continue

our look at the selfishness paradigm.

We have to wait to see a pure expression
of the loving-kindness paradigm,

God's paradigm--
we won't see that until heaven.

But today, even though Satan
has twisted things around severely,

God, as master designer of
the earth, can still be seen.

The author Ellen White, in
the book Desire of Ages

talks about how there's
both good and evil in the world,

and we can see God in nature still.

Where the only thing that is,
or can completely be evil,

is the hearts of those humans
who decide to be wholly evil.

And here is what she says
on page twenty of her book:

she says, "Now sin
has marred God's perfect work,

yet that handwriting remains.

Even now, all created things
declare the glory of His excellence.

There is nothing, save the selfish
heart of man, that lives unto itself.

No bird that cleaves the air, nor
animal that moves upon the ground,

but ministers to some other life.

There is no leaf of the forest, or lowly
blade of grass but has its ministry.

Every tree and shrub and leaf
pours forth that element of life

without which neither
man nor animal could live.

And man and animal, in turn, minister to
the life of the tree and shrub and leaf.

The flowers breathe fragrance and unfold
their beauty in blessing to the world,

the sun sheds its light
to gladden a thousand worlds.

The ocean, itself the source
of all of our springs and fountains,

receives the streams
from every land, but takes to give.

The mists ascending from its bosom
fall in showers to water the earth,

that it may bring forth and bud."

So, we can even
still see God in His earth.

And we can see Him, even in the soil,
if you'll remember video number one.

The soil is full of micro-organisms, there
are probably literally billions of them

in a handful.

And while there is war
going on in our soil,

and war going on at
every level all around us,

so also is there a little cooperation,

a little sharing,
a little passing of blessings.

We see a little bit of that
paradigm-- God's paradigm.

We can see bacteria capturing nitrogen
from the air to make it available to plants

who then provide the bacteria
with nutrients, and fungus in the soil,

the filaments of fungus
cycle nutrients and enhance plant life.

Plants provide food to the fungus;
symbiotic relationships.

So even though the tapestry
of creation is tattered and faded,

we can still catch a glimpse
of God's paradigm in it.

And in catching this glimpse,
we can better understand

that He wants us to return
to a much, much better world

than the one that we now live in.

But, for now we're here, in the midst
of this war between Christ and Satan,

this pitched battle, which started in
heaven and will soon end, praise the Lord,

here on Earth.

And this war has been
raging without pause.

And we're going to look
at a couple of the skirmishes

between these paradigms we've been
talking about, as recorded in the Bible.

We'll start with the temptation
of Adam and Eve, in the garden of Eden,

in Genesis 3:3 and 4.

Satan cleverly offered to Adam
and Eve an alternate paradigm,

disguised though it was.

To this first couple,
who had everything, he offered more.

He told them that God was a liar.

And he told them that by disobeying Him,
they would receive the amazing thing

He was keeping from them,
and that they would become like gods,

knowing good and evil.

Well, they fell for it.

And they were ashamed,
they were appalled,

and they were incredibly
sorrowful as a result.

God then pronounced a broad-ranging
curse in Genesis 3:14 through 19.

But within that curse
is something very, very interesting.

He put enmity between us and Satan.

I read this to say, in part, that God
gave us the ability to resist Satan,

who had just conquered us.

Our friend in Maine, Arnet Mathers,
who has studied this deeply,

and he concludes that
Satan didn't see that coming.

That our ability to resist him after
he conquered us, was a surprise to him.

That perspective gives us a sense
of just how dynamic this war was,

and is.

Next, going to the book of Job,
we see Satan claiming that Job serves God

only through selfishness,
and asserting that Job follows God

only because God
has blessed him, and protected him.

Note that Satan is accusing God

of employing the selfishness paradigm
to get followers.

Wow!

God responds by saying that He
will remove His protection from Job.

And eventually, Satan takes
everything from Job except his life.

But even though Job regrets his
being born, he does not curse God.

Satan and his paradigm
were defeated, soundly,

and God restored to Job what he had lost.

But the Bible's ultimate hand to hand
combat between Christ and Satan,

the ultimate clash of paradigms?

That's what we're going
to look at next in this series.

It's fascinating.

Join me.

SCOTT CHRISTIANSEN
Author, Planet In Distress

Here I am,
sitting in front of the graveyard

of the Washington, New Hampshire
Seventh-day Adventist church.

Now, a graveyard is a burial ground that's
next to a church, attached to a church.

A cemetery is a burial ground
that is not attached to a church.

So I'm definitely sitting in
front of a graveyard here.

And what a place this will be,
what a tumultuous place this will be,

at the resurrection,
where people come out

absolutely joyous when Christ comes.

And for that reason, this is a good
place for us to conclude our discussion.

And I want to talk about
the limits of life, actually.

Emergency room physicians have a saying
to remember the limits of human endurance,

and it goes something like this,
"Three minutes without oxygen,

three days without water,
thirty days without food."

It's a memorable saying,
but it's not quite accurate.

The absolute limit of human endurance
without food is right about forty days.

And if we look at Matthew 4:1 through 11,

we're told that Christ was led
by the Spirit into the wilderness,

where He fasted for forty days.

So we know He was at the absolute, outer
edge of life, he was profoundly weakened.

But at the same time, we also know that
He was closer than ever to His Father,

through prayer.

And it is in this state of weakness and
strength, that Satan joins battle with Him.

At stake is the universe. Literally.

Satan pushes his paradigm:

get or take what we want or need,
pursuing our desires

at the expense of those who
are weaker-- that's his model.

Satan came at Christ three times
in the desert, when He was so weak.

First, he tempted with food.

And it was an overwhelming temptation
since Christ's body was at the very edge

of the eat or die stage.

But it didn't work.

Christ responded with a quote from
Scripture, so Satan tempted Him

with something far more insidious.

He cast doubt on whether God
really loved, and would care for Christ.

He implied the necessity of selfishness,
and in watching out for ourselves.

This temptation, too,
Christ met by quoting Scripture.

Then came the third
and the final temptation.

The fiercest clash of these two paradigms.

Satan showed Christ the results
of his earthly paradigms:

the mighty kingdoms, the striving people,
the struggling that had built great societies,

and accumulated great wealth.

He said Christ could have it all
if only He would worship Satan.

In other words,
if only He would acknowledge

that Satan's paradigm
was superior, and worth having;

if only He would acknowledge
that Satan's way was better.

Well, praise God.

Christ did not succumb.

And Satan and his paradigm
did not prevail.

The war rages on now in its final battle,
with you and I as the warriors,

on one side or the other, and
with us also as the prize in the war.

The Bible's very clear in regard
to what places us on one side or another,

but I want to add one more indication.

And that is whether or not

we fundamentally want to operate
under a loving-kindness paradigm,

or a selfishness paradigm.

Whether or not our hearts pull us to give,
and love, or to take, and control.

This war started out as a charge
against the character of God,

and an assertion that
there was a better way.

It remains a war, over just those things.

And so here's the question for you:

Does your heart naturally pull you
toward a loving-kindness paradigm,

where you give, where you bless,

where you nourish,
and where Christ gives through you?

Or does your heart naturally pull
you toward a selfishness paradigm,

where you take, where you accumulate,
where you control?

Or are you still conflicted-- some mixture
of the two, somewhere in the middle?

In the end, we will
all be one or the other,

and if you are fighting
the pull of the world, the good news is

you don't have to fight alone.

In fact the battle, and the war,
have already been won for you.

Jesus was God made into human flesh,
to overcome the principle of selfishness

in real life experiences.

While on earth,
He battled every temptation we battle,

and He remained sinless.

Then on the cross, He became sin
for us to put to death in our hearts

the root of all sin-- the self.

And through His victory on the cross,
the war with Satan was won.

Even if the final battle of the war
is not yet concluded, the war is won.

I'm Scott Christiansen, and I hope
you have enjoyed this video series.

I hope it gives you
something to think about.