“He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53:3)
When Isaiah was commanded, or led if you prefer, to write those words he was not speaking only of the time that our Lord would walk this earth in the flesh, but of the time of all men throughout time. Mankind does not like to be told what to do on a continuous level, we rebel, we have free will, and if it was not for the construct of the moral concepts that the Lord has placed within each of us, chaos would rule.
One of the greatest effects of Adam and Eve eating of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was the realization that not only did they possess the capacity to exercise their free will, but they could do so in such a manner that was not in line with the directives, the commandments of the Most High. Free will offers the opportunity to rebel against authority.
The question of why the Lord created Lucifer in the first place is answerable in part in this regard, our first parents may have never disobeyed the Lord in that one and only commandment that was laid upon them, and so without the influence of our adversary the full effect of the grace of God would never have been known. “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” (Matt. 3:2) would never have needed to be uttered. Some may think that would be a good thing, but without free will, love cannot be relished and accepted, those that have no choice in any matter placed before them are rarely content individuals.
The Lord God has always been rejected by mankind because we want to make up our own minds in the paths of not only this life, but the one to come, where we will spend eternity, “Because I say so” does not go over well with anyone. Satan’s purpose, in the greater sense of the meaning, was fulfilled that day in the garden, to coerce our first parents into exercising that which they did not know they possessed, free will against the Lord God, they may never have fallen without that prompting, without the knowledge of good and evil one cannot fully understand that God is good, without sin we could never realize grace, without that knowledge in ourselves that “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” (Romans 3:23) we would not know or comprehend mercy.
Adam and Eve did not come boldly to the throne of grace (Heb. 4:16) after their rebellious act, they hid themselves when they heard the Lord walking in the garden, and here again we must understand that with that knowledge that the act of rebellion brought with it was the fact that there is punishment from the Lord when we willfully sin against Him. They feared Him whom they had run to when He appeared, they ran away from Him who had only shown them kindness.
He is despised and rejected because free will always, not sometimes, not occasionally, but always rebels against Him whom which all men have to do. (Heb. 4:13) The wisest man to ever have lived wanted to have a heart that could discern between good and evil, (1 Kings 3:9) there was no other viable alternative. He did not ask that that knowledge would be removed from him, to be as Adam was before he harkened to the voice of his wife, (Gen. 3:17) for he knew, as we should know, that without that knowledge we can never comprehend in full the love, grace, mercy and Sovereignty of the Lord God Almighty, we could never realize our own unworthiness.
Satan’s main appointed task has been completed, it occurred in the garden, from there until today it is no more than a continuance of that moment, to show mankind that he has the opportunity to express his free will in a way that is in rebellion to Him who is despised and rejected. Mercy and grace, unmerited favor, allowed Adam and Eve to live, mercy placed Noah and his family in the ark, it brought Lot out of Sodom, and it calls to you today. The times are drawing to a close, He who is the most Lovely is He who is rejected the most, your free will determines who you will accept, and serve.
