Chapter 3.5
Satan
Who is Satan? Why is Satan?
Why does he continue?
Where is Satan?
Did Satan join the church?
First
Word
When
God made beings with the ability to; think, reason, feel, perceive, and to experience subjectivity, He also gave them FREE WILL; to do GOOD things. So by giving them FREE WILL, He
also gave them the ability to choose to do EVIL;
to choose to SIN.[1] We still
have that ability today.
NOTE: There
is something that you know about Angels, but have forgotten for the moment. Satan
is also an Angel that was created by God.[2] GET THIS: He
was not just any Angel, he was the “Immortal” Chief of Staff, given the
highest assignment; that of protecting and guarding the earth. He was the model of perfection, full of
wisdom, perfect in beauty, handsome and splendor and blameless in his ways, and
God even gave him a special ability with music.[3]
He was adorned with beautiful stones;
ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and
beryl
He was placed in authority to protect Earth, including
the atmosphere, he held court and dispensed his reign in the “Garden of
God”. At this point, man had perfect access and communication with
God. But that was not enough for Satan,
he wanted to be “worshiped” like God. He began to have “I” trouble and became absorbed with
himself, he said with his FIVE I Wills; “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."[4]
After this rebellion by Satan, God made Adam and Eve and placed them in
the Garden of Eden and gave them the authority over the earth and everything in
it.[5] Satan
was not going to take this laying down; he certainly was not going to report to
Adam, a man made a little lower than him and of all things, a being made out of
dirt. There’s just no way he would
submit to any man.
Satan entered the “Garden of Eden” introduced doubt and unbelief; the doctrine of: “God didn’t really mean what he said”
and “You too
can become a God” and Adam and Eve went for it and it was their sin that
cut off that perfect access man had with God.
This
is hard to believe, but as Satan rebelled against God, one-third of the angels were
deceived, some 50,000,000 loyal to Satan left their assignments and followed
their “Top Dog.”[6]
Satan quickly pounced on this
opportunity and organized his new kingdom into “Principalities” and appointed “Princes”
to control the earthly governmental leaders.[7] That’s
why we should pray for our leaders in government. Satan
is not a disease or a symbolic principal with horns, a tail and a pitch fork; he
is real.
Who
is Satan?
There are a more names for Satan than you can
shake a stick at but here are the big three:
Lucifer in Latin:
Lucem
ferre means “Light Bearer”,
“Morning Star”, “Son of the Morning.”
Satan in Hebrew:
Satanas
meaning “adversary”, “To accuse”
Devil in Greek:
Diabolus meaning “slanderer” and “false accuser”, “The
enemy” [8]
Much can be learned about who Satan is by “reading between the lines” of
the scriptures. I hope to explore here
who he is, why he is, where he gets his power and how to defeat him. Satan has a bunch of names; Lets’ take a look
at scripture at the names that are used to describe Satan’s character:
God of this
World, Worthless Shepherd, Father of lies, Master of intrigue, Contemptible
person, The Wicked One, Man of lawlessness, Lawless one, Prince of destruction,
Prince of the Power of the Air, Power of darkness, Abaddon, Apollyon, Fierce
King, Devil, Belial, The Beast, Beelzebub, Prince of demons, Great Dragon,
Serpent of Old, Devil, Satan, The Dragon, Ancient Serpent, Serpent, Old
Serpent, Great Red Dragon, Unclean Spirit, Evil Spirit, Lying Spirit, Tempter,
Adversary. [9]
Note:
Before the fall of Satan, he carried some of the same names
as Jesus Christ, such as Morning Star.
Some translate “Lucifer” as Day Star.
Satan’s “WILL”
This Angel was created perfect and was
beautiful to behold and was full of wisdom, but using his inward “WILL”
desired to be as God; desiring to take God’s place. This “iniquity” or sin that was FOUND in him was disappointing to God; thus the
word “found”.
God did not create iniquity or sin; it
was generated by the free will of Satan’.[10] In the beginning there was only ONE WILL; God’s will, then Satan rebelled and now
there became TWO WILLS and when Satan
sought to corrupt man and get them to follow his will, he failed because man
would not attach themselves to Satan, they wanted their own will; so now there
are MILLIONS OF WILLS.
Satan’ Goal - Detach
Man
In
the beginning at the creation of angels, there were no Policies or
Procedures or Laws... There was not a Law, that said that if you sinned you
would die, so all the beings created were immortal. They would live forever. (Somewhere). Satan
made a decision that it was not enough to be the Angel that protected and ruled
the earth, but he wanted to be worshipped like God. This was the beginning of the revolt; many of
the angels were already reporting to him and followed him. [11]
Satan’s goal is to detach us from God; this in effect attaches us to
him. He stays busy messing with us in
order to stop God’s promises from reaching us.
He delays our promises, diminishes our hope; with expectation that we
will stop praying and give up on God.[12]
Satan’s Characteristics
The
Book describes Satan as the
Temper, one who spawns a spirit of disobedience, one that is cunning aggressive
and deceiving. He masquerades as a good
person, but is actually a cowardly but vicious, fierce and cruel murderer; he is a
thief and a destroyer who with his lying signs and wonders prowls about like a roaring lion around
seeking someone he is able to deceive and devour.
He has a “synagogue
of worshipers” filled with deceitful workers and false apostles that can transform
themselves into the apostles of Christ.[13]
NOTE; God allows
Satan to mess with us, but it is within the limits He has set. Did you see it;
Satan is limited by God and the Believer will respond in the spirit and will
receive restoration.[14]
Why is Satan
We scratch our head and wonder why God just doesn’t just zap Satan and
fry him, but that does not address the root problem and that is LOVE. Satan
exists so that God’s love and patience can be witnessed by ALL creation, giving Satan and all that follow him
eons of time to repent. The reason Satan
continues is that the afflictions of Satan gets man’s attention back on God, which
opens the door to repentance.[15]
NOTE: When it
is raining, it is a natural consequence to get wet, but you can step under an umbrella
to get out of the rain; but you are still wet.
It naturally takes time to dry off.
Sin has natural
consequences and sickness in one of them. You reap what you sow; more than you sow; and
longer than you sow. When you step
under God’s umbrella, while you are out of the sin, it still takes time to dry
off from the consequences of sin.
Satan exists so that ALL creation will
observe that Satan is not all powerful, that he cannot create anything and that
to follow him leads to eternal separation from God.[16] He
exists so that it will never again enter the mind of man and ALL the rest of God’s creation to ever rebel again,
and they will confess there is only one God and He alone is worthy of Worship
and praise. God allows Satan to
continue in order that we develop our character and faith. So that we will know where we are in our own
spirit and faith in God. In the end, God
will demonstrate to all creation his power and authority over Satan and those
that enter into heaven will be those who by their own FREE WILL want to be there with Him; there will
never even be a thought of another rebellion.
Where
is Satan?
I need to digress here to make note that
today we don’t hear much about Satan or his Demons; their activity has been
strangely silent. There is a reason for
this; Satan has
joined the church. The plan
now is to introduce doctrine that tickles the ears of the saints, to corrupt,
compromise and otherwise water down the doctrines of Christ, he makes the
Church a victim of change not an instrument of change; to cause them to follow
not lead.
Satan deceitfully gets preachers to preach the Bible by what they
believe instead of preaching what they believe by the Bible. Think about that. He
introduces other religions that increase “the man” and diminish God: “Be all that you
can be”, “Prosperity on earth”, “You have all you need on the inside.”[17]
(no repentance needed)
CULTS
are springing up that
point to someone other than Jesus Christ, or point to writings or books other
than the
Bible. Jehovah Witness,
Mormons, Christian Science, The Way, Unity, and the World Wide Church of God; all proselyte Christians; not the unsaved.
Interests:
Out of body experiences, UFO salvation, Ouija boards, Tarot card, Palm reading,
Horoscopes, Herbal cures, Holistic Healing, Spiritual Guides, Channeling,
Reincarnation and Karma All these tickle the itching ears.
Satan is fanning up interest in Eastern
religions such as Buddhism,
Hinduism and Islam. He waters down the
Gospel of Jesus Christ with Swamis, Yogis, Gurus and Zen masters, Mediums and
Psychics, Ancient Lords, Ascended Masters and Alien Visitors.
The
New Age message is a hybrid mix of spiritual, social, political, sociology,
theology, physical sciences, medicine anthropology, history, human potential,
sports and science fiction. “The Force be
with you” from star wars is a mix of Christianity, eastern
religions, and demonic forces, so it’s actually “the FARCE be with you”.
Spirit Guides are easy to summon up; you think you are
seeking them, but they are actually seeking you! Satan walks about like a roaring lion
“seeking” whom he “MAY” devoir. (He
gains your permission through deception) Satan disguises himself as an angel of light
and so can his minions.[18]
Satan’s War in Heaven
The war in Heaven: with my BS, my Believe System, when I first learned of Satan being thrown
out of heaven, I thought it had already occurred; it was a done deal. I thought all this happened before Adam was
placed in the Garden of Eden taking Satan’s place of authority. Now I find in scripture that even TODAY,
Satan STILL has access to Heaven.[19]
I had to change my BS; my world view.
Day and night Satan continuously brings
accusations of the Believer before the Throne of God. After 6,000 years of
listening to accusations, you would think God would be a little bored with it
all.
This brings us to THE BIG
QUESTION; when does Satan
and his Angels get booted out of Heaven?
Satan
and his Angles will NOT be thrown out
of heaven until the middle of the “Tribulation Period”, or three and a half
years after it starts; WHAT !
Did you see it? God allowed Satan and all the
Angles that “rebelled” to continue to have access to heaven for some 6,000
years; giving them PLENTY of time to repent. All of
creation has watched and is a witness to the mercy and patience of God, BUT
then one day it will finally happen; WHAM; this
will not be “Pretty Please” will you
leave. It will be an all-out WAR BETWEEN THE
ANGELS.
The accuser will
no longer be allowed in Heaven to come before God and accuse us of our
sins. So now this Devil-Angel will pursue the Saints on earth; primarily the
believing remnant of the Jewish nation. There
will be JOY
in
Heaven when he is thrown out, but there will be WOE on the Earth. The Devil is HOT
from being thrown out of Heaven. This is where the term “Raising Hell” comes from. He has been told of his fate and is now STOMPING around thinking
he can change things. He marches right
into the Temple and sets up an image to be worshiped and then it gets worse;
three and a half years later he sets in
motion the first stages of THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON.
Mankind
Mankind was created a little lower
than the Angels,[20]
and since many of these Angels rebelled and sinned against God, how much more
can man, who being made lower than the angels have the ability to Sin also In
fact ALL men have sinned and come short of the
glory of God.[21]
911
HELP:
God didn't go to all the trouble of
sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad
it was. He came to help, to put the world right again.[22] Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone
who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it; and why? Because of that person's failure to BELIEVE in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when
introduced to Him.
This is the CRISIS
we're in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women
everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were
not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone
who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates
God-light and won't come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But
anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work
can be seen for the God-work it is.
This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only
Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him,
anyone can have a whole and lasting life. These are not my words; this is “Word for Word” right out of
scripture.
Angels are SUPERNATURAL creations; if
you reject the supernatural and remove it from scripture, then you have NO Savior, NO salvation, NO Faith and NO HOPE; with only the death sentence of everlasting
destruction as your future. There is NO other
Name. Jesus Christ is THE ONLY WAY.[23]
The Take Away
Fallen Angels have been busy in the past, busy in the present and will be busy in the future. The Angel Satan will continue to accuse us before God till
he is thrown out of heaven. His angels
will be doing the same things they have always done; deceiving the unbeliever
with Evil disguised as Truth; Darkness disguised as Light; Blinding them from
the light of the Gospel; Snatching the seeds of the Gospel message away as soon
as they are sown.[24] The Good news is; that it’s NOT POSSIBLE for the Elect; the True Believer to be deceived, (However, the Make Believer is another issue altogether).
Since Satan’s rebellion and his sin against God, and man’s sin in the Garden of Eden,
the entire world including Satan has been condemned to the burning lake
of fire forever. ALL creation has
been watching Satan, to see what his rebellion will come to. They will observe him and his followers,
thrown into the burning lake of fire forever.
They will see Gods mercy and patience, not wanting any to perish, but
giving eons of time to repent. This
story will be told time and time again. God will finely have A PURE PEOPLE and this will never happen again.
So here we are; God made everything “good” including man. Satan corrupted it. God still loves
us and has provided a way of escape[25] for
us to get back into perfect Communication and Harmony with Him. The Mystery; the
Plan of escape from Hell fire is
through his Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.
God will not look upon SIN… He will cast it out as he did
Satan. Sin blocks access and fellowship
with God. In the beginning, sacrifices
of unblemished animals to God were made to atone or cover up the sin of man so God would again look upon them. It would be the final work of sinless Jesus
Christ, sacrificed on the cross as an unblemished lamb that would, not just
cover up our sin, but remove the sin completely as if it never was, and give us
full access to the Father God.
God wants to redeem his people
and has put “The
Plan of Salvation” into effect to save those who have a WILL
toward Christ.[26] God does not want us to be ignorant; to make
“no decision” is to accept the fate of Satan. We must FIGHT; this is no afternoon
athletic contest that we'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of
hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil
and all his angels. MAKE BELIEVER; do you profess to believe in the one and
only true God, and then complacently sit back as if you had done something
wonderful? That's just great, even the demons
do that, but what good does it do them? Believing and
Accepting are
two different things. Please note; I didn’t say this; I’m quoting “word for word”
right out of the scriptures.
[1] Ezekiel 28:12-17 – Satan
had FREE WILL to do evil and he did
[2] Job 1:6 – Satan is an
Angel
[3] Ezekiel 28:12-19 – Satan
was the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty
[4] Isaiah 14:13-14 – Satan’s
“Five” I wills to exalt himself above God
[5] Genesis 1:26 - God gave
Adam dominion over the earth
[6] Jude 6 – Some deceived
Angels loyal to Satan did not keep their assignments
[7] Ephesians 6:12 – We contend with Principalities, powers, and rulers of
spiritual darkness -- Ephesians 2:2 - Satan is called the “Prince” of the power of the air -- Daniel 10:13 – One
of Satan’s minions is the “Prince” controlling
Persia -- Ezekiel 28:2 – Satan has consumed his Prince
of Tyrus
[8] 1 Peter 5:8 – The Enemy,
The Devil, Roaring lion -- Luke 10:18 – Satan -- Isaiah 14:12 – Lucifer; Son of
the Morning - -- Isaiah 14:12 - Morning
Star; son of the dawn
[9] 2 Corinthians 4:4 – God
of this World -- Zechariah 11:16-17 – Worthless Shepherd -- John 8:44 – Father
of lies -- Danial 8:23 – Master of intrigue -- Danial 11:21 – Contemptible
person -- 1 John 2:13 – The Wicked One -- 2 Thessalonians 2:2-3 – Man of
lawlessness -- 2 Thessalonians 2:7-8 – Lawless one
Daniel 9:26 – Prince of destruction -- Ephesians
2:2 – Prince of the Power of the Air -- Colossians 1:13 – Power of darkness -- Revelation
9:11 – Abaddon, Apollyon -- Daniel 8:23 – Fierce King -- Matthew 4:1 – Devil --
2 Corinthians 11:14 – Satan -- 2 Corinthians 6:14-15- Belial -- Revelation
13:1-2 – The Beast -- Matthew 12:26-27 – Beelzebub -- Matthew 12:24 – Beelzebub,
Prince of demons -- -- Revelation 12:8-9 – Great Dragon, Serpent of Old, Devil,
Satan -- Revelation 20:2 – The Dragon, Ancient Serpent, The Devil, Satan -- 2
Corinthians 11:2-4 – Serpent -- Revelation 20:2 – Old Serpent -- Revelation
12:3 – Great Red Dragon -- Matthew 12:43 – Unclean Spirit -- 1 Samuel 16:14 –
Evil Spirit -- 1 Kings 22:22 – Lying Spirit -- Matthew 4:3 – Tempter -- 1 Peter
5:8 - Adversary
[10] Ezekiel 28:15 – Satan’s “WILL” became toward self -- Ezekiel
28:17 – Pride was born Satan -- Matthew 12:24 – Satan is the prince of devils
[11] Ezekiel 28:2 – Satan set
his heart as the heart of God and this gave birth to pride -- Proverbs 16:18 –
Pride comes and then the fall -- Ezekiel 28:17 – Satan corrupted his own wisdom
because of his splendor -- Proverbs 11:2 - When pride comes, then comes
shame -John 8:44 – Satan became the father of lies.
[12] Ephesians 6:12 – Our
fight is against invisible principalities. -- Luke 8:12 – He steals God’s word
from our heart. -- Mark 4:14-15 – Satan immediately without hesitation attacks
us -- Acts 26:28 – Causes us to procrastinate in our actions -- Matthew 4:1 –
He tempts us to test God -- 1 Chronicles 21:1 – He tricks us to do things we
should not do -- 1 Corinthians 3:3 – Satan Divides the Believers with divisions
-- Zechariah 3:1 – He resist our efforts to receive God’s promises -- 2
Corinthians 4:4 – He blinds our mind to not really believe the Gospel -- James
1:5-8 – Satan makes us double minded; creating doubt -- Luke 4:3 – Satan
creates doubt of who we are in God -- 1 Peter 5:8 – He is our adversary; seeks
us out for destruction -- Luke 22:31 – He messes with our lives; to sift us
like wheat -- Luke 13:16 – He afflicts us with sickness
[13] Matthew 4:2-3 – He is a
Tempter -- Ephesians 2:2 - Spawns a spirit of disobedience -- 2 Corinthians
2:10-11 – He is cunning and scheming -- Ephesians 4:27 – He is aggressive -- Revelation
12:8-9 – He deceives -- 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 – He masquerades as a good
person -- 1 Peter 5:8 – He prowls around pretending to be a roaring lion -- James
4:7 – He is a coward that will flee from you -- John 8:44 – A murderer -- Luke
8:28-29 – He is vicious, fierce and cruel -- John 10:9-10 – He is a thief and a
destroyer. -- 2 Thessalonians 2:9 – He has lying wonders and signs -- Revelation
2:9 –Satan has a Synagogue of worshipers. -- 2 Corinthians 11:13 –Deceitful
Workers, False apostles transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ
[14] Job 1:12 – Satan has Limitations; he is a dog on a chain
[15] Job 33:14-28 –
Afflictions brings us closer to God -- 1 Corinthian 5:1-11 – Rebuke a brother
who is in sin to save his soul -- Revelation 21:5 – Turning back from sin to
God will save you from the lake of fire -- 2 Corinthian 2:8 – When a brother
returns to the faith; Love him
[16] Ephesians 3:10-12 – The
rulers in the heavenly realm, TAKE NOTICE -- 1 Corinthians 4:8-9 – The believer is on
parade; ALL CREATION WATCHES us, to see what we will do. -- 1 Corinthians 4:12-13 – Under
persecution we work, we bless and we love
Mark
16:17 – The believer will destroy the works of Satan’s -- Ephesians 2:8-10 – Salvation is a Gift;
prepared in advance for us; it is not our works -- 1 Peter 1:10-16 – We are no
longer in ignorance, we are called to be Holly -- 1 Peter 5:8-9 – We must stay
alert and resist temptation -- James 1:13-15 – CAUTION - Temptations gives birth
to death -- 2 Peter 1:5-7 – We grow in goodness, knowledge, godliness, kindness
and enlarge our faith -- Jude 22-23- The Believer is merciful and show mercy
[17] Acts 17:20-21 – Satan
wants us to the latest strange ideas -- 2 Timothy 4:3-4 – The Make-believer
will seek what their itching ears want to hear
[18] 1 Peter 5:8 – Satan seeks who he “MAY”
deceive and devour
-- 2 Corinthians 11:14-15 – Satan’s minions masquerade as righteousness
[19] Job 1:6 – Satan reports on his efforts to the Heavenly Court -- Zechariah 3:1 – Satan shows up at the throne
of God with accusations -- Revelation
12:10 – Satan accuses the Believer Day and Night -- Revelation 12:7-12 - WAR in Heaven – Satan and his angels are thrown out -- Matthew 24:15-22 –
Satan sets up the Image in the Temple to be worshiped
[20] Psalm 8:5 – Man was made a little lower than the angels. -- John 14:6 -
Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life -- Acts 4:12 – There is NO OTHER WAY by which we can be
saved -- Acts 4:12 - There is just NO OTHER NAME which we can be saved
[21] Romans 3:23 – All have sinned and fall short of God’s Glory --
[22] John 3:17-21 – Jesus was NOT sent to condemn, but
to save. -- John 3:16 – Whosoever believes in Jesus will
be saved --
[23] John 14:6 - Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life -- Acts 4:12 – There
is NO OTHER WAY by
which we can be saved
-- Acts 4:12 - There is just NO OTHER NAME which we can be saved
[24] Revelation 12:10 – Satan continues to accuse us before God day and night
-- 2 Corinthians 11:14 – Satan’s
minions Dress up like an Angel of light -- 2 Corinthians 4:4 – Satan blinds the minds of the unbelievers -- Matthew 13:19 – Satan snatches away the sown
seed of the Gospel -- Matthew
24:24 – It’s not possible for the Elect to be
deceived -- Ephesians 6:12 – The Saints must Fight to the
finish; its Life or Death -- James
2:19 - Even Demons believe in the only one True God
[25] 1 Corinthians 10:13 – There
is a way of escape
[26] Revelation 22:17- Where
there is a WILL there is a way.
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