Wednesday
If you were to ask the average person on the street the question; who or what is the devil? Their answers would range from the totally ridiculous to the totally abstract – from a little red guy in tights with horns who sits on your shoulder, whispering in your ear, urging you to sin, to a metaphorical expression used to describe the personification of evil. The Bible, however, gives us a clear portrait of who Satan is and how he affects our lives. Put simply, the Bible defines Satan as an angelic being who fell from his position in heaven due to his sin and rebellion against God and is now completely opposed to God, doing all in his power to destroy God's purposes on earth.
He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. – Luke 10:18
How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit. - Isaiah 14:12-15
You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth. – Ezekiel 28:14-17
The name Lucifer means “Morning Star”. Satan was once Lucifer, one of God’s angles, in fact, the most beautiful of all the angels. It’s hard to imagine a being who was as close to God as Lucifer (Satan) was somehow coming to believe that he could overthrow God. Even the most depraved mind should be able to see that the creature cannot possibly contend with the Creator. And yet Satan attempted to dethrone God and strives to this day to defy His authority, to destroy His plans and harass His people.
The reason for the fall of Lucifer from heaven was the pride in his own heart. “You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’” This has always been Satan’s desire – to be God, and it is the very temptation he used in the Garden of Eden to get Eve to disobey God: “You will be like God.” (Gen. 3:5)
It is all too easy to read these passages and dismiss them as some kind of biblical fairy-tales, myths or legends. However, the same selfish pride that led to the downfall of Satan resides in the heart of every man and woman on earth. This is probably why he (Satan) is so often successful in his attempts to tempt, deceive, and distract us humans. There is a part of each one of us that wants to become God too. We think we know better than God how to run our own lives. We want to be in control. We don’t want to have to answer to anyone, or be accountable for our actions. Perhaps we would be better off if we viewed the story of the fall of Satan as a warning to our own hearts. The truth is that if such a fall from grace could happen to an angelic being in the presence of God, then we certainly are not immune to the possibility of it in our hearts.
Jeff Frazier
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