the six states of the non-believer

[poptart]

California, Idaho ...


errr ... anyway ... haha



As described in Genesis, man is a creation.

Man was blessed by God above all else which was created.
And man is a being who must live with God.
Apart from God, he surely dies spiritually ... and for all eternity.

Genesis 3 describes the event which separated man from the Creator.


1. Man apart from God has been captured by the evil one, and he is under the authority of satan
Man is, in effect, a child of the devil.
Satan came to earth and deceives the whole earth - Revelation 12:9.
He drags man around, and in the end, sends him to complete and eternal ruin.

2. He worships idols
Because man was created in God's image -- a spiritual being -- he has a spiritual hunger that he seeks to fill.
But without the proper object of worship, man INEVITABLY gravitates to idol worship -- which takes many forms.
This is serving demons, and as such, it leads man to the next state.

3. He has mental problems
He is confused, oppressed, anxious, angry ... and of course MANY more "serious" mental issues are manifest in people.
There is no real rest and people become very badly afflicted here.

4. He has physical problems arise
Every physical problem has it's root in the truth that man left God, as described in Genesis 3.
Physical problems begin in the mind, and what has begun in the mind is a result of a spiritual problem.
Acts 10:38

5. He dies and goes to hell
The body gives out and it ceases to live.
Because man has not taken the promised Christ, the truth, he instead follows the evil one all the way to the final destination -- hell.

6. His spiritual problems are passed on to his children
And the children will end up being oppressed and harmed in the same spiritual way the parent was.


Immediately when man came into this problem, it is recorded that God promised the solution.

You know it well.

[Tom In VA]

Man is, in effect, a child of the devil.

Confusing. When Christ prayed the "Our Father" in Matthew 6:9-6:13, the implication there is that He embraces us all as His brothers and sisters. Further the supplication contained therein is made to "God", or "The Father".

What's happening here ?

[Dinsdale]

Go do a webseach for "cities with lowest church attendance."


Now, do a search for "cities with highest percentage of people with advanced degrees."


WHOA!... same list.

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

An Imaginary Being who will consign you with a Cheney-esqe snarl to the hottest reaches of Imaginary Hot Place for not eating your peas or other equally serious violations of His Imaginary Will.

God-tanamo.

[poptart]

Confusing. When Christ prayed the "Our Father" in Matthew 6:9-6:13, the implication there is that He embraces us all as His brothers and sisters. Further the supplication contained therein is made to "God", or "The Father".

What's happening here ?

Good question, Tom.

In teaching prayer there, Jesus was showing believers how to pray.

Belivers are God's children, because God's very spirit has entered them and will never leave them.
Non-believers belong to satan and are, in effect, his children -- John 8:44.

One absolutely must change his identity.

[Tom In VA]

I'm still confused though pop.

See, as I understand it, all that is - is of God. Man, in God's image and likeness, was relegated to strife due to disobedience. While man is prone to temptation from - the devil - is man his child ?

I understand the concept of "original sin", the stain that kept us from God until Christ's sacrifice, but isn't that just the fact we're lost and prone to sin without God ? Or are we, truly begotten of the evil one ?

[poptart]

The Bible surely shows us that God knew and predestined believers before the creation of the world -- Ephesians 1:3-6, and others.

Did he also know and predestine non-believers before the creation, too?
The Bible doesn't speak to that.
So it's left for us to speculate.

What you are touching on could be a very deep theological topic.


But I'll answer your question by saying this.

God is the Creator of everything and everyone.
Genesis shows us this.
So in that light, yes, non-believers are also his creation.
Nobody is "begotten" of the evil one.

I would describe it as non-believers having been kidnapped children.

Jesus spoke of how we must be BORN AGAIN to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
The non-believer has had the spirit of satan enter them and they do not belong to God.
They are no longer God's children, or they would not need to be ... BORN AGAIN.

They are, in effect, satan's children until such time as God's very spirit enters them and they become born again.

If they don't change their identity they remain in curses and a fate of certain failure for all eternity.


Read Genesis 1-3, especially chapter 3.
If you read it slowly and thoughtfully you can see what it is that has happened to mankind.

[Smackie Chan]

a Cheney-esqe snarl

Like Ray Allen's? Is he the devil's spawn?

[Smackie Chan]

Nobody is "begotten" of the evil one.

My daddy won't be happy to hear that.

[poptart]

That's a good point, Smackie.

I stand corrected ... sort of.

Corrected with the understanding that God created even satan.

So of course, whatever would be "begotten" of satan would ultimately have had it's origination from God.

Blows the mind just a wee bit.

[Smackie Chan]

That's a good point, Smackie.

I stand corrected ... sort of.

Corrected with the understanding that God created even satan.

So of course, whatever would be "begotten" of satan would ultimately have had it's origination from God.

Blows the mind just a wee bit.

Not really. It just means that the fictional character Damien has a fictional dad (Satan) and a fictional grandpa (God). Nothing terribly mind-blowing about that. You and I could write stories with similar plot lines, and possibly even get paid big bucks to have them adapted for the big screen. Wanna give it a shot? It worked out well for George Lucas; why not us?