Created: The Devil's Apprentice, Book 1.
“In this brilliant novel you will be transported to the first rebellion in heaven… and recognize the spiritual battle within each of us - the desire to worship self more than the God who made us.” – Karol Ladd, Bestselling author, including “Thrive, Don’t Simply Survive” Before "In the beginning..."
Angels waged war against their Creator. Created: The Devil's Apprentice, Book One of the Created series, tells the Biblical story of the battle for sovereignty in Heaven. A young angel, Malachi, witnesses the rise and fall Lucifer, heaven’s “Angel of Light” turned Satan as he wages war against His Creator. Chosen as Lucifer's apprentice, Malachi struggles with his own war of free will and faith. Part adventure story, part parable, this groundbreaking saga offers new insights into why God created anything with a will of its own and why He chose not to sentence Lucifer immediately to Hell after his rebellion, but instead, created our universe and mankind. Bible believers and skeptics will rethink their positions on Creation as they travel from the heights of the Holy Mount to the depths of Hell with Malachi and the heavenly angels. In a fresh interpretation of the spiritual battle for Heaven, Created: The Devil's Apprentice introduces Rogers’ series based on meticulous Biblical scholarship for a fictionalized retelling of the rebellion of Lucifer and his fall from God’s grace.
Perspective by Peter:
I discovered this novel in a Facebook reader's group. As soon as I read the Description, it was a no-brainer to read it. I love this topic of war in heaven and Lucifer's rebellion against God.
As stated in the Description, this is a fresh interpretation of this topic. And I found it the most comprehensive out of all the novels I have read in this arena. I guess one reason for this might be due to the reason Rogers wrote it. I take this from the the novel,
In 2013, Greg was approached by a friend who had recently walked away from Christianity. That friend challenged him to examine the origins of our universe and all it contains. He also asked Greg to review what he thought were contradictory claims in the Bible. In his opinion, if Greg did so, he too would walk away from Christianity. Believing truth could stand up to scrutiny, Greg accepted the challenge and began studying the many perspectives on the subject.
As he did, he noticed each group, believing themselves to be correct, discounted every challenge to their own position, even when those challenges seemed valid. Presuppositions clouded perspectives on every side, and discussions leaned towards upholding existing views rather than seeking truth. For the next 8 years, Greg listened to all sides, renewed his search through the Bible, and challenged every position. In the end, his faith in the God of the Bible grew. Now, in the Created series, Greg offers a fresh perspective, one which seems certain to capture the attention of both theists and atheists alike. “How far will God go to maintain His own perfection?” Will either side accept his theory?
Rogers also addresses the following questions that arose from this challenge:
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Why would an omniscient God who is perfect in every way ever choose to create the angels and to give them free will?
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Why did God not just condemn Satan and the fallen angels immediately to Hell following their rebellion against Him?
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How does the fall of the angels tie into the creation of the universe and the Earth?
So Rogers had a motive to not just tell an entertaining story but to offer an explanation as to why he (and Christians) believe what they do, just as we are instructed to do in 1 Peter 3:15:
And this is where this novel shines. Christian fiction can be very successful in educating, edifying and entertaining. These are the reasons I read Christian fiction. Especially when the Christian author writes with a purpose, knowing that God has given him a mantle to do so. Then it will just not be an entertaining story.
Rogers explores the reason Lucifer rebelled. Lucifer developed the ideology of living for Self and placing your Will above God's will. It explains why Elohim gave the Angels free will and why He gave mankind the same. It shows that Pride can distort the image we have of ourselves, and how Lucifer's view of himself just became more distorted to the point where he believed everything he thought about himself and even that God saw him that way too. I can see why one reviewer stated that this novel convicted him of pride in his life. I can relate to that as well.
Another strength of this novel is the use of the Word of God, specifically verses to base each chapter on and also specific ones, especially from the Beatitudes that destroy the various aspects of Lucifer's prideful claims. Very powerful. I found that I needed to listen and discern these for myself. Just as that reviewer stated, it convicted him of pride in his life, we can see how the Word of God can transform to our fallen state once the redemptive work of Jesus' death on the Cross achieved for us.
Another aspect that was strengthened in me was the attitude of the faithful Angels who choose to live for God and to do His Will and His Will only. And we have the character of Malachi to show us that we need to choose to do this. This angel nearly became the Devil's Apprentice, nearly became totally swayed into the concept of living for Self and seeing Elohim as the tyrant that Lucifer became convinced that He was. But what did Malachi do? He questioned these claims within himself. He asked for the counsel and guidance of Ruach Elohim (the Holy Spirit) to lead him into the Truth of these claims. It was this and the Spirit that showed him the error of his thinking and actions. He repented and turned back to Elohim. I found this to be a powerful but essential tenet of our belief. The Word encourages us to be discerning and wise in all things (James 1: 5) and we need to have embedded in our minds that God's Word is Truth and there is no other. We are encouraged to treasure His Word in our hearts. There are many such verses that instruct us to do so.
Rogers could not have created a narrative of why Lucifer rebelled against God without discussing the backdrop as to why he rebelled: The Sovereignty of Elohim. As Rogers states in the Introduction of the novel,
".......While He possessed no kingdom of any kind before His creation of heaven, the angels, and mankind, Elohim was, without question, Sovereign. With this simple existence, He was perfectly content. Perfect in every way. So, why does a perfect God who knows all things create anything that has free will, and with it, the capacity to destroy His perfection? The answer to this question both shook and established the pillars of heaven and earth, forever shaping the course of all future events."
This is the launching pad for the rest of the novel including the questions mentioned above. And Rogers offers insights that many of us would not have considered that do show how consistent everything He says and does is out of directly out of Him who He is: God and that Sovereignty is not separate from His Being but is part of His Being. And the justice metered out to Lucifer and the third of the angelic cohort is also part of that Sovereignty and God being Perfect. It is in the remaining novels that Rogers will explore the final claims of Lucifer against God's Perfection and Sovereignty and why He did not sentence Lucifer straight to Hell.
This novel ends well but it is a bit of a cliff-hanger in that we are left with the next stage of the spiritual warfare that Archangel and Malachi decide to instigate. So a sequel is needed. And there is. Five more novels to be exact. Here is the rundown on the next novel:
Created: Heaven and Earth – Book Two.
Angels, both righteous and fallen, engage in military operations focused on framing the real nature of how all things came to be; their target, a small group of men and women whose core beliefs are challenged as the truth about origins is brought to light.
Major Questions Addressed:
1. How can the creation timeline of the Biblical account be reconciled with the cosmological timeline presented by the majority of contemporary scientists?
2. How can the theory of evolution be reconciled with a Biblical creation account which appears to preclude such from being a possibility if the Bible is accurate?
3. How can a fossil record which appears to present death as having occurred for much longer than 6000 years on the Earth be reconciled with the Biblical account of death only entering the world with the fall of Adam?
Rogers is on a winner here. I look forward to the next instalment in this series.
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