Why does God allow evil and suffering – part two

Many questions like this can be debated, even if they are more rhetorical they are justified. In this article, we will discuss a biblical perspective that may be considered questionable by many, yet feasible by others.

Why is this topic so debatable?

Because, precisely the angle related to the topic of good and evil, opens up the possibility of other discussions which lead back to the Bible. In other words, in a world where God is taken out of the equation of life, schools, family values and the heart, there will never be a good source of justice for all. In such a precarious world without God love falters. There is no constant peace, relationships of trust, and true happiness falters. Without God, the meaning of our entire existence is forfeit. There is no reason and no motivation to get up in the morning. We have no other solution to the world’s problems than God’s way. As the Creator restores man in His image, he restores us in holiness and goodness.

Therefore, there is no happiness apart from holiness and goodness. This is important to recognise because modern ideas of happiness often separate it from goodness. We must remember the light shines brighter in the dark. It must be specified from the outset that good and evil have to do primarily with knowledge. There are two major ways of knowing the truth, by sight and by duty or faith. From this perspective, there is good through the experiences of faith, that is, you believe what you are told is either good or bad. But at the same time, good can come out of experiencing evil.

We can experience good from our own life lessons, but the (cost) of this is paid by others in suffering. There has to be a balance or payment for sin by others. Through sin, we learn what is right and wrong, and can be an eye-opener in life lessons for all. Then there is (wisdom) as the wise learn from the mistakes of others. In both cases, knowledge is at stake. Knowledge can then be traced back to the Bible, wisdom, and the image of the (tree of the knowledge of good and evil).

In this respect, the Bible is the only one that offers a pertinent answer that is confirmed by reality. It just needs to be believed and seen as the Word of God, and not through the lenses of man and ambiguous knowledge. In the Bible, we find two perspectives on this subject. One is found in the pages of the book of Genesis, where Adam and Eve the first humans are directly involved. The answer found is well known, was taught in schools, and is common among most people especially Christians. But, there is another answer, the second, we could call (panoramic) or all (encompassing) as it runs through the entire Bible to the book of Revelation. This is supposed to answer people’s questions so as not to lead to a misunderstanding or wrongdoings.

With the current state of affairs of the world, our pain and suffering have a direct connection with God. However, the Bible also has a position for those who doubt or deny its credibility, authenticity, and notably, its power. Humanity directly accuses God. This attitude is nothing new, we are accusers just like Satan is an accuser. Mankind loves to point the finger and blame others apart from himself. Both Adam and Eve passed their knowledge from one to the other respectively, Adam blamed Eve and then God. Eve then like clockwork blamed the serpent for her actions. God’s attitude towards disobedience we were put under the record of the curse of disobedience and His wrath. Mankind requires everything in a hurry. If God is omnipotent, why does He not solve the problem of evil?

The (panoramic) answer presupposes another aspect not to be neglected, that is the importance of being patient. Why is patience so important?
The Bible teaches:

1 Corinthians 13:9-12
“For we know in (part) and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now, we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”

Revelation 21:4
“But the day will come when every tear will be wiped away, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away”

Patience is a virtue, but with impatience comes temptation from the devil. So what do you choose?

The existence of offers certifies and explains the freedom and possibility of man to choose, which exists and becomes functional only in the conditions of the reality of at least two offers. At the same time, man’s free will is directly related to the principle of love, which God created as something good and which he respects. Our ability to love is enabled through God’s love and the choices we make.

Unfortunately, we all make poor choices, the big one is not believing in a book, written two thousand years ago. With this in mind, Satan has another offer. Satan always desired to be above God and is now (the god of this age.

If Lucifer chose to be evil why are most of humanity happy to follow suit?

These types of questions and answers involve a slightly more explicit answer. We live in a world that is in a permanent balance between good and evil, truth and falsehood, and justice and injustice. We lie all the time. We lie to our children, to our parents, to our partners. We lie to bosses and colleagues and complete strangers. Mankind is really more interested in the bad news which creates an environment for gossip snd scandal. Even the key element of a story that captures the attention more is conflict.

In fiction writing, conflict builds when something prevents your character from getting what they want. If you always give your characters what they want, your story will lack tension. Only conflict moves a good story forward. This is what your characters need in order to grow and the media now this for TV propaganda. Conflict is a contradiction between good snd evil. Conflict arises whenever individuals have different values, opinions, needs, interests and are unable to find the middle ground. Hollywood portrays films about the struggle between good and evil and we like it when the goody defeats the baddy.

However, few have looked deeper into the depths of reality, as the root of all strife is (evil) or a lack of good. It is worth the effort to take a brief look inside the Book of the oldest conflict known to man. Even if we are given only fragments of information we are told enough to catch the thread and understand that this conflict existed and exists today. We can see many parallels and aspects mentioned two thousand years ago that are happening now as then. It tells us about a spiritual (revolt) sparked by Lucifer, but which has multiple implications that cross into our material world.

Even if this spiritual war remains in the sphere of the invisible realm, however, it is one of the deepest conflicts that has ever existed with far-reaching ramifications, that affect human potential now and in future events. Then there are the truth wars. We live in a post-truth society that appeals to emotions rather than the facts. Many people today dismiss the devil as a fantasy or myth. But you cannot take the Bible seriously without believing in this personal and powerful spirit, the fallen angel who is the enemy of Christ and his church. Nor can you make real sense of the world as it is without accounting for him. If we look today at all the satanic movies, shows, symbolism, and events that point towards the Bible, could this actually be happening now?

This conflict began in heaven, long before the first people fell into the temptation of knowing good and evil. It is first mentioned as part of the (tree of the knowledge of good and evil). This is captured briefly in the pages of the book of Genesis chapter three. The moment when the first humans reached out to this forbidden knowledge with the thought of (eating) so that they too may be like God (knowing good and evil). This is seen by God as the beginning of the first human experience of evil, the moment when they’re (eyes were opened) to corruption and fear.

God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of sound mind. The spirit of fear can cause us to shy away in the face of opposition, persecution, and struggles. The Spirit of God wants us to move forward into God’s will with total confidence. Fear is therefore associated with what we call the knowledge of evil today. But it is also associated with ignorance and, especially, with unbelief. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love:

Ephesians 6:12)
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

But another verse draws our attention and brings into question something that may go unnoticed and incomprehensible at first sight:

Ephesians 1:9-10
“He made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfilment to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.”

Because God created Heaven, it had a beginning and is, therefore, neither timeless nor changeless. It had a past, and it will have a future. We are in a time frame of separation, but there is a divine plan that one day God will unite the things above with the things below. The Bible does not shy away from the fact that there was evil in heaven in the form of a real revolt. This rebellion expanded and included a significant part of the spiritual beings respectively, a third of the heavenly angels. The Bible grants us the details to help the reader understand where this separation came from, respectively a conflict that affected all of God’s creation including man. This division was caused by Lucifer, a (protective cherub) who enjoyed much passage around God. The Bible tells us:

Ezekiel 28:14-15
“You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you.
You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till (wickedness) was found in you.”

And the Bible also shows us the reason:

Isaiah 12:13-15
“How you have fallen(A) from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.”

Lucifer was not satisfied with his lot in heaven as (God’s favourite angel). Instead, Lucifer desired to become God himself and planned what could essentially be called a military coup to overthrow Him and take over as the heavenly leader. In essence, Satan rebelled against the Creator because he wasn’t happy as an assistant but instead wanted to run the kingdom of God. Then the Bible teaches an interesting thing:

Hebrews 9:23-24

“It was, therefore, necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be (purified) with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:”

The fact that evil in its heavenly form existed in heaven before it spread to the earth is also surprising by God’s warning to the first humans, Adam and Eve, to safeguard the garden of Eden. This clearly refers to a need for protection. A minimum of logic implies that there must have been a threat to begin with, notably evil.

How does a man become part of this universal conflict?
The answer is simple: by choice!
The ability to choose is a defining feature of human freedom, which has made man an argumentative part of this pre-existing conflict.

The Bible captures the moment when the man, through the woman, decided to choose because:

“He saw that the tree was good to eat and pleasant to look at.”

The idea was flaunted by satan, and the choice to act was the man. The man took the blame as He was the head. Adam possessed representative actions on behalf of all of humanity and of Christ’s serving as the head of a new humanity. Christ’s headship was over the man; the husband’s headship over his wife; and God’s headship over Christ, conveying the notion of authority. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was desirable and had the capability to open one’s mind. Eve offered the fruit to her husband, who was beside her, and the man also ate. A choice that begins the long journey of disobedience and human separation from the Creator.

Is it any coincidence that Adam’s apple is the lump or protrusion in the human neck, formed by the angle of the thyroid cartilage surrounding the larynx seen especially in males, is there as a reminder of our poor decisions?

Or that the biggest tech company Apple uses the bitten forbidden fruit as their logo?

Over time, things began to escalate, while Lucifer was kicked out of the heavenly realm and now dwells on the earth, degrading the whole system of authority and values, most notably God’s love. The Bible speaks of the brightness of Lucifer before he was cast out of Heaven. His brightness was one of the things that caused him to be (lifted up) in his own eyes. Today Lucifer is the prince of this world that the Lord is going to destroy, the power of the air, a degraded seat of authority. He was given the Word and now uses that as a weapon against humanity, by establishing his own seat of power, and system of values, that goes against the rule of God.

God is just; He gave His Son to set mankind free. But those who don’t accept Him will find their freedom destroyed. Disobedience breeds a spirit of dissatisfaction. Lucifer became dissatisfied with God and His love. Through disobedience, you become high-minded, a lover of self. That’s exactly what Lucifer became, a lover of self, which his image he now promotes to humanity to love themselves.

You are a person with free will. After you become saved, you still are free to serve God or to go back to the devil. You have to prove yourself, and how you handle adversity and persecutions is a great proving ground. Satan weaved his wisdom into mankind, who by his nature deceives, mirroring the father of lies. It is important to know God’s truth set forth in Scripture so that we can confidently discern between His truth and Satan’s lies. The Bible informs us that God’s will is good, and renew your mind:

Romans 12:2
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Everything that is not in the perfect will of God is seen as evil, that is why we are counselled. Consequently, God is faced with a problem, which in the end is a conflict between Him and Satan and we are stuck in the middle. There is a battle going on for the control of the people’s minds which is called spiritual warfare. As a consequence of poor choice, the idea of ​​being like God, but without God, appeared as a model on earth. If it couldn’t get any worse there is no position of neutrality. Either you choose one direction or you choose another, that’s it. The scales of life and death balance preciously:

Proverbs 11:1
“A false balance is an abomination to the Lord,
But a just weight is His delight.”

One of the greatest roles mankind has is to witness what is good and evil. A witness with the mind of Christ is able to speak the truth. Disciples are called to be witnesses for Christ who present testimony about the truth that we have experienced and heard. Our lives should testify to the account which is not a myth that we are a part of God’s children and have faith through Grace. We are set apart, redeemed, sanctified, and live in the light of this because of who we are.

Thus, by making choices, either with wisdom or folly man balances the truth of good and evil. A ground-based witness will stand firm with credibility on the day of judgment and give a credible account of truths and injustice. Witnesses are essential in establishing any claim to (fact). When a news reporter wants to report an amazing event it interviews eyewitnesses.

We accept the reports of credible witnesses, especially when there are a number of them in agreement. The same principle guides our legal system with trials. When credible witnesses testify to an event, we are morally bound to accept what they say as the truth.

Gods legal system is no different. Disciples are witnesses to the spiritual war going on all around us. Being a godly witness you are the total qualified package to do an exemplary job. Man, as man, delights in being the devil’s witness. For in more ways than one does men sacrifice to the rebellious angels. We need to come far down indeed, to reach the reality of man’s deep degradation as a fallen vessel.

The book of Job becomes a conclusive illustration of the conflict between God and the Devil, an eloquent demonstration of this bitter conflict. The whole book of Job stretches out the thread of this conflict between God and the devil unfolding different levels of human life. We are presented with a picture:

Job 1:6-8
“One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”
Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”
Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”

We don’t have all the answers. At times humanity, like Job, don’t know why God allows certain situations to happen. Suffering should cause us to search for the answers within the scriptures. True wisdom is honouring God and fearing Him. Job is a faithful spiritual warrior, although he loses everything, his house, children and his animals, he never once accuses God. He was even inflicted with a terrible disease and remained on God’s side, giving him honour. His words are a poignant reminder to be humble:

Job 1:21-22
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.”

Job proves that God deserves to be loved and desired by what He is, and not primarily because of the benefits, and the favours that can be obtained from Him. In addition, Job becomes the exponent of the demonstration that God grants goodness and that everything we have that is gratifying is because God is good. This is also recognised by Satan:

Job 1:9-12
“Does Job fear God for nothing Satan replied? “Have you not put a (hedge) around him and his household and everything he has You have blessed the work of his hands so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

In this sense through Job, the idea is transmitted over the generations that loyalty and faithfulness to God is the only way for man to be content. God calls us to holiness, not to happiness. In the case of Job, the greater good is rewarded with the consistency of Job’s faithfulness during the conflicting demonstration of suffering made before heaven. Even though the axis of Job’s entire events revolves around the evil that devastates his life, it points back towards where it all started.

Followers of Christ have a different view of things than everyone else, hence they are persecuted for their beliefs. We know there is more to this life than today. So lusting after what this world offers, and seeking to find total fulfilment and happiness in it is idolatry. And God doesn’t want us to worship idols.

So Christ uses His Priests, and Ambassadors, or living stones, being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. If we mention the people of Israel and Moses, respectively, God required His people to be set apart and holy. Laws were established, special ordinances, blessings, to draw the attention of all the people to them, and, in fact, to draw them to Him, with the desire to do them good.

The Bible teaches:
Deuteronomy 28:10
“Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you.”

Living in the terms of obedience was required by God. Obedience is not how we perceive it today in modern thinking of control. It is an act of worship, it’s rewarded, proves our love to Him, demonstrates faith, and is better than sacrifices. He wanted to bless them as He had not blessed any people since Adam and Eve. This is why He guided them to the land of (milk and honey). The land of milk and honey is generally accepted as a metaphor meaning all good things, God’s blessings; and that the Promised Land must have been a land of extraordinary fertility. Thus, was the destiny of the chosen people, that of being a witness of heaven in a kingdom of evil. A testimony of (good) in a world that lies in (rebellion).

But according to the conflict at the time in Israel, they demanded a king over them like all the nations to judge them. Thus, the Jewish people did not fulfil their mandate to be witnesses and to have a good testimony in the plan that God wanted with them, except for some loyal devotes. But the most formidable witness of God in this conflict is and remains the Lord (Jesus Christ) who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth.

If we keep talking about a spiritual war, it is not difficult to imagine the reaction of the heavenly angels when they saw the Son of God Himself descend to the earth in the midst of evil, a Prince who was also God. Because His divine character was not recognised by the Jews, Jesus Christ came for the people to see the character of God through Him, and to be able to choose His way. Jesus lived the being of God, the life of heaven on earth, among men, just so that God might be known as He is. He was unique in that he alone, of all who ever lived, was both God and man.

Jesus was the perfect example of patience, kindness, and compassion. He proved that God deserves to be respected, followed, loved, from the children to the elderly. He spoke differently, acted alien to the pagans and was sinless. In order to be accused, He had to bargain with false witnesses, because they never found any iniquity in Him.

But with the coming of Jesus to the earth, spiritual warfare intensified. The devil tried to kill Him several times, from the time of His infancy to the period when King Herod was in power. The Son of Man was seen as an invasion of heaven into the kingdom of the devil.

But Jesus Christ, with his hands, nailed to the material wood, raised between heaven and earth disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. And having spoiled the principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

When a person becomes a sinner, that person passes out of God’s ownership. God’s loss is Satan’s gain. The person now belongs to sin. In God’s judgment, having sold ourselves to sin, we must be regarded as belonging to Satan. The mark of ownership is on the right hand or the forehead. God’s chosen are also marked on the forehead. Jesus is the door to salvation and said:

John 14:6
“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me.”

2 Corinthians 5:17-18
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.”

In Christ God fulfils that plan drawn up in Himself:

Colossians 1:26-27
“Even the mystery which has been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

In the last period of human history, this spiritual war is lived in the life of the church, whose head is Christ:

Revelation 1:5-6
“And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father to him be glory and power forever and ever! Amen.”

The purpose of the Church is what He Himself said:

Mark 16:15-16
He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

Jesus also taught:

Acts 1:8
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my (witnesses) in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

In other words, in the plight of the church as in the case of the people of Israel, others were to see God in them. The only difference is that in the state of the church Jesus sends his witnesses to the world, and in the context of the people of Israel the people had to come to see God in their lives. We have no other quick fix to the world’s problems than God’s solution, to bring Christ to the world, to tell the good news of man’s reconciliation with God.

Like the people of Israel, we should be priests through whom the world sees the holiness of God, but also the powers of the world to come. People are called not to be a (denomination) be it Baptist or Pentecostal. We are all called to Jesus Christ in unity as He is the only solution. But while the Jewish people have failed in their mission, even the church is stuttering in fulfilling its vital mandate.

The Bible teaches:

John 1:11-12
“He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”

Also in the Bible, we find that the angels in heaven rejoice whenever a sinner returns to God. Why do they rejoice?
Because a great victory has been won! Someone has been snatched from the clutches of Satan and death, so why wouldn’t all of the heavenly bodies rejoice? Jesus’ words remind us of just how valuable we are to God, and how much He yearns for us to be with Him in heaven for eternity.

But at the same time, it must also be said that heaven bursts into cries of admiration, not only because a sinner has turned to God, but because God was right. In other words, a man who experienced the offer, the values, the principles of the devil that brought him unrighteousness and unhappiness, understood and woke up.

Receiving God’s solution, through Jesus Christ, the sinner, returned to God through repentance. They recognised the hardships that they were experiencing, was part and parcel of ordinary life as training them and maturing their faith. With a mind now functioning correctly, the Holy Spirit indicates that God has not failed them, their experienced hardships are tangible evidence of his love towards them:

John 15:5
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

The devil, however, has no greater joy than to take us all to hell with him. He is not as powerful as God, nor is he eternal like Him, and someday his power will come to an abrupt end. But don’t limit him to the mental image you may have of a pitchfork-carrying person in a red suit. He cannot bear the thought that he was the protective, shining cherub on the mountain of God, yet he lost at Golgotha. The hillock above Jeremiah’s Grotto, to the north of the city, is the true site of Calvary.

The skull-like appearance of the rock in the southern precipice of the hillock is very remarkable. Satan knows he has little time left; he understands that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, will come to establish His Kingdom, raise up Israel, and will reign for a thousand years. But most of all, he recognises that he will be bound and thrown into hell, the (bottomless pit) forever. The last outburst of spiritual warfare will end practically and definitively at the great day of judgment. Afterwards, the Bible teaches:

Philippians 2:10-11
“That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

From the perspective of approaching this theme of good and evil, a very difficult question arises in the salvation of those who form the church of Christ. That is, that of the testimony of many of today’s Christians, who, although they have the Holy Spirit of God, still do not rise to the level of God’s expectation. Do Christians really grasp the situation on how important their role and responsibility is, from the perspective that God requires witnesses to His truth?
Christians are reminded of something very important in the Bible:

1 Corinthians 6:2
“Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases?”

The reality showcases that we do not all know clearly what our true identity is in Christ and, respectively, we do not live up to the dignity and the calling we have. Moreover, Christians are asked more in the scriptures:

1 Corinthians 6:3
“Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!”

And we are also reminded:

Hebrews 2:5
“It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking.”

Such questions should make every disciple with aspirations for salvation stop and think. The (victors) in the real Game of Thrones will judge the fallen angels because they have lived the reality in which they have tasted evil in many of its aspects of suffering, disease, misery, famine, war, pain and death, and are returning back to God.

What would you say whilst judging the fallen angels?
just think of you were judging Lucifer?

The victors might say “How could you doubt God when you saw Him face to face?
“Why did you listen to Lucifer when you know God can’t lie?”
“If we were made a little lower than the angels, now we are made a little higher than you. We repented of our poor choices and turned to God, you don’t have the same luxury granted to you!”

Now it’s logical that the Supreme Magistrate Jesus Christ will judge Lucifer. What a privilege the saved have, if we endure as spiritual warriors we will also reign with him in heaven as Priests. The fullness of the influence and the presence of the Son of Man filling the universe is the presence, the action, and the judgment of his people positioned perfectly in every way for their greatest joy and his greatest glory. The saved Priests will give their own testimony of overcoming evil:

Revelation 12:11
“They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.”

The sufferings of this time are intact minuscule compared to the glory to come:

Romans 8:18
Present Suffering and Future Glory:
“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”

Honour is being prepared for the worthy who understood their role, and the deception within the world.

Hebrews 2:6-7
“But there is a place where someone has testified: “What is mankind that you are mindful of them, a son of man that you care for him? You made them a little lower than the angels yet you crowned them with glory and honour.”

Revelation 3:21
“To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne.”

Revelation 3:5
“The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels.”

Revelation 2:26-28
“To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations that one ‘will rule them with an iron sceptre and will dash them to pieces like pottery just as I have received authority from my Father. I will also give that one the morning star.”