Others Are Higher Than We Are

I AM sure you will agree that others are higher, or greater and stronger, than you and I. Who would you say is?— Jehovah God is. What about his Son, the Great Teacher? Is he higher than we are?— Of course, he is.

Jesus had lived with God in heaven. He was a spirit Son, or angel. Did God make other angels, or spirit sons?— Yes, he made many millions of them. These angels also are higher and more powerful than we are.​—Psalm 104:4; Daniel 7:10.

Do you remember the name of the angel who spoke to Mary?— It was Gabriel. He told Mary that her baby would be God’s Son. God put the life of his spirit Son inside of Mary so that Jesus could be born as a baby on earth.​—Luke 1:26, 27.

Do you believe that miracle? Do you believe that Jesus had lived with God in heaven?— Jesus said that he had. How did Jesus know about such things? Well, when he was a boy, Mary probably told him what Gabriel had said. Also, Joseph likely told Jesus that God was his real Father.

When Jesus was baptized, God even spoke from heaven, saying: “This is my Son.” (Matthew 3:17) And the night before he died, Jesus prayed: “Father, glorify me alongside yourself with the glory that I had alongside you before the world was.” (John 17:5) Yes, Jesus asked to be taken back to live again with God in heaven. How could he live there?— Only if Jehovah God again made him an invisible spirit person, or angel.

Now I want to ask you an important question. Are all angels good? What do you think?— Well, at one time all of them were good. This was because Jehovah had created them, and everything he makes is good. But then one of the angels became bad. How did that happen?

To get the answer, we must go back to the time when God made the first man and woman, Adam and Eve. Some people say that the story about them is only make-believe. But the Great Teacher knew that it was true.

When God made Adam and Eve, he put them in a beautiful garden in a place called Eden. It was a park, a paradise. They could have had a lot of children, a big family, and lived in Paradise forever. But there was an important lesson that they needed to learn. It’s one we have already talked about. Let’s see if we remember it.

Jehovah told Adam and Eve that they could eat all the fruit they wanted from the trees in the garden. But there was one tree they were not to eat from. God told them what would happen if they did. He said: “You will positively die.” (Genesis 2:17) So, what was the lesson that Adam and Eve needed to learn?—

It was the lesson of obedience. Yes, life depends on obedience to Jehovah God! It was not enough for Adam and Eve just to say that they would obey him. They had to show that they would by the things they did. If they obeyed God, they would be showing that they loved him and wanted him to be their Ruler. Then they could have lived forever in Paradise. But if they ate from that tree, what would it show?—

It would show that they were not really thankful for what God had given them. Would you have obeyed Jehovah if you had been there?— At first, Adam and Eve did. But then someone higher than they were fooled Eve. He got her to disobey Jehovah. Who was that?—

The Bible says that a serpent, or snake, spoke to Eve. But you know that a serpent cannot speak all by itself. So how was it able to talk?— An angel made it seem like the serpent was speaking. But it was really the angel who was speaking. The angel had begun to think bad things. He wanted Adam and Eve to worship him. He wanted them to do the things that he said. He wanted to take God’s place.

So that bad angel put wrong ideas into the mind of Eve. Through the serpent, he said to her: ‘God did not tell you the truth. You will not die if you eat from that tree. You will become wise like God.’ Would you have believed what that voice said?—

Eve began to want something that God had not given her. She ate fruit from the forbidden tree. Then she gave some to Adam. Adam did not believe what the serpent said. But his desire to be with Eve was stronger than his love for God. So he ate from the tree too.​—Genesis 3:1-6; 1 Timothy 2:14.

What was the result?— Adam and Eve became imperfect, grew old, and died. And because they were imperfect, all their children were imperfect too and eventually grew old and died. God had not lied! Life does depend on obedience to him. (Romans 5:12) The Bible tells us that the angel who lied to Eve is called Satan the Devil, and other angels who became bad are called demons.​—James 2:19; Revelation 12:9.

Now, can you understand why the good angel God had made became bad?— It was because he began to think bad things. He wanted to be Number One. He knew that God had told Adam and Eve to have children, and he wanted all of them to worship him. The Devil wants to make everyone disobey Jehovah. So he tries to put bad ideas into our minds.​—James 1:13-15.

The Devil says that nobody really loves Jehovah. He says that you and I don’t love God and that we don’t really want to do what God says. He says that we obey Jehovah only when everything goes the way we like it. Is the Devil right? Are we like that?

The Great Teacher said that the Devil is a liar! Jesus proved that he really loved Jehovah by obeying Him. And Jesus did not obey God only when it was easy. He did it all the time, even when other people made it hard for him. He proved true to Jehovah right down till his death. That is why God brought him back to life to live forever.

So who would you say is our greatest enemy?— Yes, it is Satan the Devil. Can you see him?— Of course not! But we know that he exists and that he is higher and more powerful than we are. Yet, who is higher than the Devil?— Jehovah God is. So we know that God can protect us.