"The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn't exist."
-the Usual Suspects
"The Devil" is one of the most controversial and fascinating subjects of Biblical lore. Some people believe not only that he does exist but that he also has red skin, horns and a pointed tail. While another group would say that he appears as an angel of light to trick us into veering from that narrow road of righteousness. There are still others who believe that the devil is a figment of the irresponsible human imagination; they consider it foolishness to say, "The Devil made me do it", no matter what the circumstance is. These skeptics laugh at demon worship, and enjoy movies such as The Omen, The Evil Dead, or The Exorcist.
There is no doubt that we have sin within our own flesh, I agree that it's a cop-out to blame the devil for personal failure But it is dangerous to ignore his existance altogether. The devil is in fact the head of an unholy trinity of sin, which consists of the devil, the world and the flesh.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.He is known as the accuser of the bretheren. He is also the "father of lies". The Devil is the enemy of God: a being driven mad by his upcoming judgement. He is the ultimate living expression of deception, damnation, temptation, illusion and rebellion. But he wasn't always an enemy. And in order to understand who he is now, it is needful for us to examine his previous state of being.
when God created the angel Lucifer, He was beautiful and brilliant: "the morning star", adorned in precious stones! He had great freedom to come and go as he pleased. He was apparently given great authority, he was brought into creation at the very peak of his perfection. There was no room for improvement or maturity in this creature.
This is how Ezekial describes him:
Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God every precious stone was thy covering...Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub
In all of creation there was only One more beautiful, more brilliant, more perfect that this creature, and that One is the King of All. Imagine that! What would it be like in that position?
imagine being born fully matured, truly perfect, "sealing up the sum" of creation, adorned with jewels, having the universe laid out at your feet, as you stand on the mountain of God himself. Imagine light radiating from your very body, as you wander through creation, dancing among planets, comets and suns. Imagine that your job is to conceal the glory of God. To cover up God's Holiness. Your job is to be a filter over the only perfection that is greater than yours. A perfection so pure that it cannot be directly seen. Imagine serving this creator in a universe without sin, a universe that has been weighed in the balance, and leveled out perfectly. All is well in all creation...
Now imagine your gaze drifting to the throne of your creator. Imagine your mind as it wanders from the known and set routine of your heavenly duties to a whole new line of exotic thinking. Imagine yourself begin to dream of doing the one thing that is forbidden of you to do. Quietly dreaming of being not even equal to, but actually better than your master: dreaming about taking the very throne of God. There is no one you can talk these thoughts through with, because you have no peers, only the lesser angels beneath you, and the object of your forbidden fantasies above. Alone in your tortured state.
These were harmless thoughts and at first, perhaps, but as Lucifer's mind continued to dwell, the power and pull of the dream grew stronger. Think about the silent struggle that took place in the mind of Lucifer: between his innate sense of obedience, and this brand new hunger. You can almost see him make his decision, see his eyes fill up with the first ever glint of that all consuming fire which we call greed...
What happened after that decision was made? What happened when Lucifer tried to take the judgement seat, the throne of the Father? Jesus told his followers plainly, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven". The prophet Isaiah also witnessed the judgement of Lucifer, and spoke forth this message for our edification:
How you have fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, 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
There is talk of death, yet Lucifer still lives. What's going on here? Just which "death" is the prophet Isaiah referring to? Is he describing the devil being bound up and caste in to the lake of fire, as he soon shall be? Did Isaiah see a picture of the "second death" which is reserved for the devil, the beast and the false prophet, as well as all the unrepentent? I'm not sure. Perhaps he saw a type of that final judgement, but I think Isaiah was shown the death of the sin which is separation from God. Just as Adam didn't literally die the day he ate of the forbidden fruit, but was cursed and no longer allowed to walk with God after his sin, so was Lucifer cursed when sin entered into him. All of sin is basically a blindness to the wonderful enriching nature of God's will. The narrow road that leads to life is one which is taken by the will of God. But lost to the truth, and in our sinful state, we think we know how to best spend our lives. By staying self-centered and stubborn in our ways, we are enslaved to sin, and we can never reach the fullness of our potential. It is when the dead look back upon their lives and see what they missed by refusing to do the will of God, it is then that they begin to weep and gnash their teeth. There are no exceptions to this truth. By doing whatever we want to do, making decisions based on our very limited perspective of the greater reality; by not trusting in or waiting on the Lord...we sin. And as we know, the wages of sin is death!
However, angels are beings of pure spirit, and are not imprisoned in flesh, so death does not affect them because they were not created out of clay as Adam was. There is no angelic grave, but there is imprisonment. It is the earth itself which holds the devil and his angels until the day of the Lord. In Genesis, God numbers the days of man to no more than 120 years. However Lucifer, the fallen one, lives on earth right now awaiting his judgement. Think about that, Satan has been on earth for thousands of years, since being cursed at Eden. The lake of fire which awaits the wicked on judgement day was reserved for Satan and his angels, according to the Christ. So what gives? Why are angels granted lifespans which glide through millenia with no problem? For instance, the angel Gabriel helped interpret Daniel's vision in Babylon, yet hundreds of years later who should deliver the news of John the Baptist's birth but the angel Gabriel? Just how long do these angels live, anyway? Do they just pop in and out of existance as needed? as spirit beings are they created once to live forever?
There are many paintings that depict angels as being infants with wings: so cute and adorable and holy and precious, yet that image could not conflict more with the scriptures. Not once in scripture is an angel described as being a child. They are described as either appearing like men, or like creatures with human and animal parts, covered by many sets of wings and many many eyes!! Children are simply underdeveloped adults. They represent the spring bud of human life, and their innocence and potential is strictly a human feature.
The point is this: neither Lucifer nor the other fallen angels have that redemptive trait which humanity has been given. They cannot learn from their mistakes. They cannot repent. Which is one reason why they hate humanity so very much. They do not die, as human's do, but they also cannot be redeemed as we can, under the blood of Christ. Why is that? Because they knew better. Lucifer at least personally met, saw and interacted with God. He was brought into existance at the peak of his perfection. Therefore, he had no room to grow or mature. We human beings don't know how to appreciate the miraculous nature of our personal path of growth, redemption and maturity. We don't know what a precious gift we have been given in the random state of being called mortal life. Angels simply cannot "grow up". They do not evolve on a personal level, they exist solely to serve their designed purpose under heaven. But Lucifer and his angels have fallen from grace, they have abandoned their posts, and even now await the final verdict of their judgement. I suggest you Read Revelation 12 to get a better idea of what sort of enemy we are up against. All humanity is hated by Lucifer and his angels for several reasons:
- we have room for improvement
- we have been blessed with the chance for redemption
- God created us in his own image
Revelation 12:12
Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.
