A Journey Through The Old Testament - Elmer Towns

Be like the Most High
The title “Most High” describes God as possessor of heaven and earth (Gen. 14:19). Lucifer wanted
God’s possessions. “The Most High” (El Elyon) is a title of God not only emphasizing His possession of
heaven and earth, but His sovereign right to exercise the divine authority of God for himself. By becoming like
the Most High, he would be the possessor of heaven and earth. By ascending into heaven, he would rule
angels and ultimately enjoy his own perverted form of messianic rule.
To be God means nothing is equal to you. There cannot be two Gods for that is a contradiction of
terms, an impossible confrontation of authority. For two equally unlimited forces will inevitably collide.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” To create the earth means the Creator is allpowerful
or omnipotent. To create matter out of nothing means the Creator is life-giving. Life is energy, and
God activated His life into the energy of the atom that holds the molecules in their microscopic orbit, thus
making matter.
But the Creator is also a Person. As personality includes intelligence, God intelligently created by a
plan so that His Creation reflected His pattern, a harmonious system. But personality is also reflected in will or
determination. The Creator decided what to create and spoke the world into existence. If the Creator were only
force, the creative process might have continued uncontrolled and undirected. But His will controlled His
power. And God the Person also etched His emotions into the blue mountain ridge, the golden grain, and
matchless colors of the birds’ feathers. God the Person chose to love, and therefore gave life to all His
Creation.
But God the Person is sovereign and omniscient. He cannot allow anything in His Creation to go contrary to
His nature. God the all-knowing Person knew Lucifer’s rebellious desires as he thought them. He knew
Lucifer’s disobedient actions as he did them. God the holy and just One had to punish that which was contrary
to His plan. God cast Lucifer out of heaven. Those angels that followed Lucifer were judged with him. Those
angels that obeyed God and repudiated Lucifer were rewarded. They would never again face the temptation to
disobey God.
The Bible teaches that God “seeketh such to worship Him” (John 4:23, KJV). But God wanted more
than worship from beings who are frozen into righteousness. He does not want men to worship Him as a
machine performing a function. God wants communication with those who choose to relate to Him. God
wanted worship to spring from a free choice.
The motives of God that created Lucifer would also allow Him to create another person. This person
would be lower than the angels. The next created person would be different than angels. Instead of living in the
presence of God in heaven as angels, this next person would be placed on earth. Angels are incorporeal beings
without physical properties, but this next person would be limited to a body. Angels have access to God and
are the messengers of God, but this next person would be limited to a body. The next created person would be
less than an angel, yet could do more than the angels. He would be made in the image of God and from his
freedom could communicate with God. All that God desired from His creature could be realized in this person
called man.
First, God created a new environment for man; it was called earth. As the angels lived in the limitless
environs of the nonphysical heavens, man would live in a physical world. He would need physical food to
sustain his physical body. He would need to depend on himself to stay alive, while at the same time depend on
God who gave him life. Man would need a delicate balance.
The angels existed by the choice of God, and needed nothing. They did nothing to sustain themselves.
Man was lower than the angels in many ways. Man had to care for himself, cultivate the garden, name the
animals, and take care of himself. But man was above angels in the exercise of his independent-dependency.
Man was given vast responsibility; he was allowed to do that which was originally controlled by God.
He was told to “subdue the earth” which meant man could merge elements to make metal, or cut timber to