According to the Bible, God's  purpose for creating man (Adam and Eve) and providing man with a choice to exercise his free will or volition (the test of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil - Gen 2:9, 17) was directly related to events that preceded the Genesis account.  At a point in eternity past, the Bible records that a rebellion occurred in the heavenly realms among God's first creatures, i.e. angels.  This rebellion, the Angelic Conflict, was led by none other than the most beautiful creature to be created by God, i.e. Lucifer or Satan.  As a result of Satan's rebellion against God, God sentenced Satan and his followers to the Lake of Fire.

Why wasn't that sentence immediately executed?  What possible purpose could be served by allowing a delay to occur in the execution of that sentence?  We know certain facts from Scripture.  From those facts, we can draw a logical conclusion - a Biblical induction - regarding the reason for the delay in the execution of Satan's sentence.

It is very likely that Satan appealed his sentence with a statement to the effect of - "How can a God of love cast one of his creatures into the Lake of Fire?"  Through a lower creature, man, God is demonstrating the unified function of the attributes of his essence (sovereignty, eternal life, love, justice, righteousness, omniscience, omnipresence, immutability, veracity) in answer to Satan's appeal.  Thus, human history serves as evidence in the appeal trial of Satan.  The perfect environment over which man had dominion prior to the Fall in the Garden will one day be restored to the dominion of man (Jesus Christ, the Messiah) Who will rule from a restored Jerusalem as capital of a restored Israel.  The lower creature, man, will serve as vindicating evidence of God's fairness in the appeal trial of Satan.

Thus, human history is vitally related to the Angelic Conflict that occurred in eternity past.  The following points provide further details of the inductive logic that leads to the conclusion that man (and human history) will serve as evidence for all eternity to all of God's creatures that a God of love is also a God of justice and righteousness, i.e. absolute fairness.

• Satan, the most beautiful creature to come from the hand of God, fell in eternity past (Isa 14:12-15; Ezek 28:13-18) by deciding that he would become the object of worship for all of God's creation
• God pronounced a sentence upon Satan and all of the angels that fell with him (one-third of the angels) to the lake of fire (Isa 14:15)
• There has been a delay in the execution of the sentence for a period of time equal to human history (Re 20:7-10)
• The reason for the delay in the execution of the sentence upon Satan and the fallen angels must be related to some type of appeal voiced by Satan such as "how can a God of love cast one of His creatures into the lake of fire?" In other words, Satan questioned the unified nature of the function of God's attributes.
• Man was created with dominion over a portion of God's creation, i.e. the earth (Ge 1:28-30)
• Man was provided with a test of his volition (Ge 2:16-17)
• Man chose against God's command (Ge 3:6-7)
• As a result of sin, man lost his eternal life and nature was cursed with his fall (Ge 3)
• Man also lost dominion of the earth and Satan gained dominion over the earth and became its ruler (Ge 3 cf. Matt 4:8-9)
• God has demonstrated and is demonstrating the unity of His attributes (e.g. love, justice, righteousness, etc.) in human history
• He provided the promise of a Savior and fulfilled that promise through His Own Son, i.e. Jesus Christ, the promised seed and Messiah (Ge 3:15; Deut 18:15; 2 Sam 7:12-13; Jn 3:16; Acts 2:34-36)
• God was motivated by His love to make this provision (Jn 3:16)
• God's righteousness required payment for sin (Ge 3:21 cf. 1 Jn 2:2)
• What God's righteousness demanded, God's justice executed (Rom 3:26)
• A God of love can sentence creatures who violate His righteous standards to an eternal punishment without violating the integrity of His attributes
• A righteous God is vindicated by a lower creature (man) accepting His grace provisions since Satan (the higher creature) failed

The ramifications of this truth in terms of personal application are manifold.  Please feel free to contact the pastor via email should you desire to ask questions or obtain further clarification.