Satan, known by many names such as the Devil,
Lucifer, the dragon , the evil one, and the god of this world had his beginning
as the greatest being God ever CREATED.
It was God as CREATOR who by reason of his own
will caused a CREATURE to come into existence who was the highest form of
spiritual power and intelligence. When he was created, or why he was created, we
do not know, yet God’s word tells us a great deal about the being originally
named Lucifer, the anointed cherub that covereth. Ezekiel 28:14.
Lucifer means light-bearer, or brightness and
is called the “son of the morning” or what we call the morning star. It is
evident that at his creation he was special, for we read of him:.
‘Thou art the anointed cherub that
covereth…. Thou was perfect in thy ways from the day that thou was created,
till iniquity was found in thee...Thine heart was lifted up because of thy
beauty, thou has corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness…” Ezekiel
28:14, 15, 17
From these words we learn that Lucifer
from his creation was PERFECT in wisdom, PERFECT in beauty and was the anointed
or High priest who covered the throne of God.
From this position he reflected God’s glory
to all of God’s creation in a kingdom of pure and holy light. And by reason of
his brightness and wisdom given to him by God, he was by rank, the highest of
all the created order of beings. Lucifer then, was a king and held the office of
priest over principalities, powers, might’s and dominions, Angels, cherubs,
seraphim and men today. From this lofty position as anointed Cherub pride began to take hold him as we read in Isaiah
14:12-14:
“How art thou fallen from heaven, O
Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst
weaken the nations!
For thou hast said in thine heart, I
will ascend into heaven, I will exalt
my thrown above the stars of God: I will sit
also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I
will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I
will be like the most high.”
It was at this moment when Lucifer’s heart was lifted up
that he actually believed that he was equal with God and claimed,
“I am a God, I sit in the seat of
God..” Ezekiel 28:2
Lucifer the creature, chose to exercise his will over the will
of his creator and set himself against God. Thinking himself to be wise, he
became a fool.
This is when Lucifer became SATAN, a Hebrew word meaning “adversary”
and when used as a verb means “resist”. Evil had now
entered God’s creation in the form of an adversary resisting God at every
angle and turn. The ultimate chess game of good versus evil had begun, and God
reacts by quickly pronouncing Satan’s doom.
God casts Satan out of the kingdom of light in Glory, the
Holiest of Holies, and places Satan in a VERY large box of darkness, and death,
or what we call our present universe. A universe filled with sin, death and
darkness, uninhabitable and without life.
For this God shall destroy Satan for we read,
”I
will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God:
and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub,
from the midst of the stones of fire...I will cast
thee to the ground, I will lay thee before
kings, that they may behold thee. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the
multitude of thy traffic (meaningSatan slandered God to the angels) therefore will
I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall
devour thee, and .” Ezekiel 28:16-19)
The battle of wills had begun, Good vs. Evil, Light vs.
Darkness, God vs. Satan. This is the great conflict of the ages, Life vs. Death.
Satan’s doom is inevitable, he will not live forever, but
shall die and be turned to ashes so that men will tread their feet upon him.
This has set the stage for the plan of the ages that has
transpired over the eons of time. God is light, and in Him is no Darkness. Where
once He was all in all, light with no existence of darkness, he is now separated
from his creation by Sin. Sin that has entered God’s creation by one of his
creatures exercising his free will bringing with it death, darkness and chaos
into God’s creation.
Satan has his army of angels that inhabit this universe. An
army that is billions strong, all adversaries to God and his plan to gain that
which has been lost through the forfeiture of Satan and his will.
Satan and the sin that he brought forth is occupying literal
time and space in God’s creation. To help you see this, think of a large white
sheet that has a tear in it. That tear in God’s creation is the darkness we
see every night. It is that tear that must be mended, so that God can again, be
ALL in ALL, no more death and darkness.
We know that in the darkness of the heavens above Satan and
his fallen angels and dominions find their home. When we read the book of
Daniel, we find Daniel praying to God for an answer. Daniel tells us God had
sent an angel or messenger to give Daniel his answer. What we are told is truly
amazing when the angel reveals to Daniel that God had sent him with his answer
twenty one days previous. The angel said it took that long because the fallen
beings that inhabit the darkness above RESISTED him! But he
finally got through when Michael the Arch Angel came and fought with Satan’s
band of angels allowing the messenger to get through to earth! He Leaves Daniel
by telling him that “I will now
return to fight...and there is none that
holdeth these things but Michael your prince.” Daniel chapter 10
God had cast Satan and his angels into the starry heavens, but
there will soon come a day when they shall all be cast toeven further to the
earth in the great war that takes place above us.
“And there was war in heaven: Michael
and his angels fought against the dragon: and the dragon fought with his angels,
and prevailed not; neither was there place found any more in heaven. And the
great dragon, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which
deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the
earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Revelation 12:7-9
It is not a question as to what will happen to Satan, God has
pronounced judgement and it shall be meted out in full measure. Satan, the
greatest created spiritual power and intelligence, who once occupied the highest
sphere, will someday soon be brought down to earth where God will utterly
destroy him. Turning him into dust for the ground, he shall die the death of a
man, for in the end, he shall commit himself to a human body, just like God in
Christ did 2000 years ago. You will know him as the Antichrist, and he shall die
like a man.
But God, since the fall of Satan, has set forth a Divine plan
of the ages that would allow another being of a different order, created from
dust itself, to ascend to the highest sphere, there to occupy and replace that
which has been forfeited by Satan and his angels. A being that would do so out
of love for his Creator.
This Satan knew, “Behold, thou art
wiser then Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee:” Ezekiel
28:3as God’s adversary, set
out toresistGod’s plan.
This plan is the story and purpose of the ages as set forth in
the bible, from Genesis 1:2, where God begins to restore the earth. It was an
earth that had perished by water (2 Peter 3:5-6) that was void and without form
as darkness covered the deep from the destruction of the judgement that fell
upon Satan as he was cast out into this universe. A universe destroyed by water
where the great Dragon, the Leviathan got his name as he swam through the deep.
But God turns his attention to redemption and we read of a MAN
being formed out of the dust of the ground and he was given the name Adam (or
red clay).
Satan knew that he must get to Adam, for God gave Adam
Dominion over the earth and the Animals. In other words, he made Adam a king, a
future rival to Satan.
Satan being wiser than any other created being used this
wisdom to get to Adam and his wife Eve. Just as Satan was CAST out of the Garden
of God’s holy mountain, Satan would see to it that Adam was cast out of the
paradise of God.
When Satan approached Eve in the garden, he spoke to her as an
angel of light, (2 Corinthians 11:14) for the word serpent is the Hebrew word
for Nachash, meaning shining one.
Within the Garden were two very special trees. One was the
Tree of Life, the other the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, both bearing a
very special fruit. Adam and Eve were told NOT to eat of the Tree of Knowledge
of good and evil, for if they did, THEY WOULD SURELY DIE, for from dust they
were formed and from dust they would return. They did not posses immortality,
but were on probation as it were until a time when they would have right to the
Tree of Life to gain immortality.
Satan knew that if he could get them to eat the fruit of the
Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, Adam would lose his right to the tree of
Life and die. This would give Satan a victory and throw a kink in God’s plan
of the ages, so he thought.
So Satan did what he does best and LIED to Eve when he told
her.
“And the serpent (Shinning one) said unto
the woman, Ye shall not surely die;” Gen 3:4
This is probably the singleGREATEST LIE ever told!
God had said, “...Thou shalt SURLEY DIE.” Gen
2:17
Adam had sinned, and his judgement was swift and sure.
Paradise would be lost and Adam would certainly die. And because of Adams sin,
we shall all die,
“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered
into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all
have sinned:” Romans 5:12
Yet man still believes to this day that he is in possession of
an immortal soul and that he shall never die. Satan has deceived the world from
the beginning for ,
“He was a murderer from the beginning,
and abode not in the truth, because there is
no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for
he is a liar, and the father of it.” John
8:44
But God, being infinite in wisdom knew all of this from the
beginning, and now set out to redeem man from death. For Adam was attacked by a
being greater than he, and for this, God would send him a saviour, a redeemer who would deliver him from his
certain death.
This was the plan of the ages that God had set forth, that he
would stoop down to the level of man and redeem him from the power of sin and
death by his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
“He that committeth sin is of the
devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the
Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” 1 John 3:8
“The last enemy that shall be
destroyed is death.” 1 Cor. 15:26
Satan brought sin and death into God’s universe, and Adam
brought sin and death to this world. We are all going to die. This is the enemy,
and Satan would have you believe you will live forever, that you have no need of
a resurrection through belief in Jesus Christ. This is the GREAT LIE of Satan.
“For the wages of sin is death; but
the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans
6:23
Here is set forth life’s greatest realities:
Life’s greatest reality—SIN
Life’s greatest certainty—DEATH
Life’s greatest offer—THE GIFT OF
GOD
Life’s greatest issues—DEATH and
LIFE
Life’s greatest choices —– WAGES
or GIFT
Life’s greatest medium— THROUGH
JESUS CHRIST
Satan would have you believe he does not exist, that there is
no war in heaven and that the darkness you see at night is normal.
God will fill that which has been forfeited by Satan through
the Death of His Son,
“For he hath made him to be sin for
us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” 2
Cor 5:21
“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid
to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world (Satan) hath blinded the
minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious god news of
Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” 2 Cor. 4:3-4
