Sep 22, 2015
From Lucifer to Satan
Rod Henry, Asst. Pastor
Next Step Christian Church
Thornton, CO
God created the heavens and the earth and it was “very good.” Part of that creation was a “world” of spirit beings. It was a “spirit world” of perfection and beauty. However, one of those beautiful angelic beings led a rebellion in heaven which would drastically change everything. The leader of this angelic revolution was Lucifer, who then became Satan.
Scripture does not lay out for the reader a systematic theology of Satan. It is necessary to develop this theology by seeing Satan interact with both God and man in Scripture.
Very little is told to the reader of Scripture about the origins of Satan. He enters the Biblical drama at the beginning of human history in the Garden of Eden. Without introduction, he appears as a serpent in all his evil and deceitful ways to tempt Adam and Eve into rebellion against God.
The Bible suggests that Satan was not created in the evil state in which we see him in the Bible. Isaiah 14:12 calls him “the star of the morning” from the Hebrew word, “Lucifer.” Lucifer is his pre-rebellion name.
Ezekiel 28:12-15 describes Satan in terms of the King of Tyre. The clue that this passage may also be referring to Lucifer/Satan is, “You were in Eden, the garden of God.”
God created Satan, as he also created man—in perfection and beauty. Lucifer is described in Ezekiel as “the model of perfection,” “anointed as a guardian cherub,” “full of wisdom,” and “blameless.” But he was also created with the variable factor of choice. Lucifer’s evil and deceitful nature was not part of God’s creation but the result of his own perversion. Lucifer became Satan because he chose evil.
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; I made a spectacle of you before kings. Ezekiel 28:15-17
Satan’s beauty warped and corrupted his wisdom, becoming his downfall. Isaiah 14:12-15 gives more help in understanding the corruption and rebellion of Satan.
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
Satan’s heart was in rebellion against God when he declared his “I wills.” But in the final “I will” Satan declared, “I will make myself like the Most High.” Satan never ceases to try to make himself equal with God, which puts him at odds with God. For this sin and rebellion, God cast him down to the earth, his current domain. Lucifer became Satan, the “adversary” to God and also to human- kind. In Isaiah 14:12 God told Satan, “You have been cast down to the earth.” And in Ezekiel 28:17 He said, “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.”
On earth Satan would have to live under the authority of man. When man was created, God said to him, “rule…over all the earth…and all the creatures.” (Genesis 1:26) Satan had been cast down to the earth because of his sin, to live under the authority of the man and woman. It was God’s plan that the perfect man and woman He created would exercise authority over Satan based on their perfect relationship with God. Their relationship with God provided them the authority and power to rule over Satan.
The story of the man and woman losing their authority on earth to Satan is told in Genesis 3. Here, Satan appears to the humans in the form of a serpent. It appears from the text that Satan has no power or authority to force Adam and Eve to do anything. He simply tempts them with the same sin that caused his own fall, the temptation to be like God. (Genesis 3:1-5)
The key element of Satan’s temptation is in the words “and you will be like God.” Compare this to Satan’s words in Isaiah 14:14, “I will make myself like the Most High.” Satan knew that man was the object of God’s love. He also knew that if man could be enticed to sin then the God/man relationship would be broken in the same way that Satan’s own relationship was broken by sin.
Man was created to live under the authority of God and to exercise God’s authority over “all the earth” which included Satan. Satan tempted them to reject God’s authority and instead “be like God.” They believed the lies of Satan; they sinned. The consequence of sin was their separation from God. This separation caused man
to forfeit his authority over the earth and Satan. Subsequently, Satan became the god and prince of the world
(2 Corinthians 4:4). I John 5:19 declares that, “the whole world is under the control of the evil one.”
Satan is not omnipresent like God. So, his work is mostly carried out for him by angels who are loyal to him, called “demons.” The Devil and his angels are determined to keep humans separated from God by sin and blindness to the gospel. “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age (“world” KJV) has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4)
These forces of evil also attack believers. The Apostle Paul warns us that our struggles on earth are “not against flesh and blood …but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12) Paul also tells us, “But I am afraid just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:3) Satan is a deceitful and powerful liar. Jesus called him “a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44)
The only way to fight against the deceitful and lying forces of evil is by re-establishing our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Separated from God by sin, we have no authority and no power to fight the forces of evil. However, our relationship with God can be restored by putting our faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ. It is in Christ that we have restored authority in our position in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:4-6). And it is through faith in Christ that we have the indwelling Holy Spirit to give us power (Acts 1:8). In Christ, we have both the authority and power to have victory over Satan and his demons.
All spiritual warfare will be successful if the believer recognizes and exercises his position in Christ (authority) and his power from the Holy Spirit. “But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).
