Job happens to be the first book of the Bible that God wrote. In this first book, God describes His relationship with mankind since the fall of man. God also describes His relationship with His enemy Satan, the god of this world. II Corinthians 4:4.
After its description of Job's righteousness, the books begins with the sons of God appearing before Him. God allows Satan also to appear before Him as a former son even though Satan only comes to mock Him. Satan brags about his power to walk through the earth doing whatever evil he pleases. In his pride, he forgets that he has this power in the earth only because God allows it. God allows it because He is using Satan to fulfill His purposes.
Job symbolizes the image of God which He has put into every person He has created. Job's perfect righteousness was not the righteousness of Christ which He gives to everyone saved by grace. Job's righteousness stemmed from the image of God created in him. Even though Job was a sinner which he confessed, he had lived his life as close to his image of God in him as a sinful man possibly could. For this reason, God described Job as being as perfect as a sinful man can be, Job 7:20; Job 1:8. Job even offered burnt offerings to God for himself and his children just in case they had done something evil. The Old Testament burnt offerings symbolized God 's salvation by His consuming fire of all humans not saved by grace. I Corinthians 3:11-15. Some people have led very clean and moral lives by yielding to the image of God within them even though they are not saved by grace. Others have led very cruel and evil lives because they have rebelled against God and the image of God within them. Nevertheless, all humans have done some good and some evil. In the end of the world, God will resurrect all humans within the regions of the dead and recreate them to live on His recreated earth. God will reward them according to their good works. Those who did a lot of good works will retain some of their former identities and receive many rewards. Those who led evil lives will lose most of their former identities but their lives will be preserved in God's recreation of other humans. God will use His consuming fire to separate their living images which He created for His rewards, and will consign their separated total evil and death to the lake of fire forever. Matthew 16:24-25; Matthew 3:10-12; John 5:28-29; Revelation 20:5; Revelation 20:11-15; Revelation 21:1-5; Revelation 21:8; Revelation 22:11-12.
When Satan mocked God by claiming that Job only served God because of the blessings and protection that God had provided him, Satan revealed his plan for the whole human race. Satan took Job's children and everything he owned from him, including his health, and left him with absolutely nothing except the righteous image of God that was still within him. Satan even caused Job's wife to desire to be rid of him. When she told Job "curse God and die," she revealed Satan's plan for the whole of humanity. Satan desires to use evil to overwhelm and destroy the goodness that God has put into every man to the degree that even the image of God in every man dissolves into an evil curse against God. Should Satan succeed, he would completely destroy a part of God's creation and a part of God's Word, reveal God as being less than Almighty, and thus begin the downfall of God Himself. But God has promised that His Love, His creations, and His Word can never be diminished in the least. I Corinthians 13:8; Ecclesiastes 3:14; Matthew 24:35.
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