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~ A place to find answers to gnawing spiritual questions ~


Question: I was riding down the road today and my 5 year old asked me, "Mommy, did God make the Devil?" I was stunned that she could even comprehend a question like that. I told her that God made everything in this world and that I thought that would include the devil, but that God did not make Sin which is what the devil causes. Am I correct in what I told her? Is there anything that I can add to this to help her understand?

Answer: First, let me congratulate you on your "Deuteronomy 6:7 moment" with your daughter. We are admonished to love the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind, keep His words in our heart, and diligently teach them to our children. We are to do this while we sit in our house or walk in the way (that would include car rides, don't you think?) and when we go to sleep and arise.

Next, let me assure you that your daughter is not necessarily spiritually precocious. According to Child Evangelism Fellowship statistics, 85% of people who become Christians, do so between the ages of 4 and 14 years. Jesus himself used a child small enough to hold as an example of the faith needed to receive the kingdom of God. (Matthew 18:1-14)

The following verses wonderfully highlight His divine attitude toward children. Matthew 18 with parallel passages in Mark 9:33-37 and Luke 9:46-48; and Mark 10:13-16 with parallels in Matthew. 19:13-15 and Luke18:15-17. Reading them yourself will impress upon you why three of the four gospel writers found it noteworthy to include in their telling of the life of Christ. In Matthew 18:5, Jesus said that to receive a child is to receive Him! In verse 10 He tells us that they are appointed angels as protectors that have constant access to the Father in heaven! Verses 11-14 make it very clear that Christ came to save children too. In Mark 10:14-16, Jesus received and blessed the children and was "much" displeased with those who desired to turn them away.

Psalm 8:2 says, "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength." Isn't it wonderful how God can use a child's inquisitiveness to stir up our hearts to search out more of the truths of His Word?

As to your response, I think you did an able job of honestly and forthrightly addressing your child's inquiry on a level she could grasp. Perhaps the following information can be of help in further discussions.

Scripture verifies Christ as the creator of all things. (John1:3; I Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:1-2) And, yes, that includes Satan. Originally created as Lucifer, which means "the light bearer," he is referred to throughout scripture by various names, all describing his evil character. The interesting account of how this perfect, created angel came to his downfall is related in Isaiah. 14:12-15; and Ezekiel 28:12-19.

Ezekiel. 28:15 says, "Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee." He lived in heaven with God but became proud and desired to be equal to God. His punishment was to be cast out of heaven along with the other angels (demons, now) who chose to follow him. Jesus mentions this in Luke 10:18, "I saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven." Earth is now his domain until the appointed time he receives his eternal reward in hell, which was "prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41). As "the god of this world" (I Corinthians 4:4), he is motivated by his disappointed pride and ambition and reveals his fingerprint of evil so visible to us today.


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