There First

Scripture References: Psalm 119:89; John 5:4-5

To combat the New World claims of her European opponents, Elizabeth’s England said they would avoid any area actually occupied by the Spanish or Portuguese, but felt free to sail where no national colonies existed. This was called the doctrine of effective occupation—if you get there first, you can have the place.

Satan untiringly lies that he has effective occupation rights on earth. Yet the biblical message is one of recovering for God what his creative powers first established. Satan is the interloper whose opposition remains historical, not eternal. Satan will be cast into hell at the end, and God’s truth, more ancient than Satan’s lies, will continue after the end, eternally.

Courtesy of Speaker’s Sourcebook of New Illustrations by Virgil Hurley © 1995 by Word, Incorporated.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.