The Greatest Story Every Told About The Greatest Man That Ever Lived
This
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The devil, Satan, or Lucifer as he was originally known was one of God's created angels.  He
was God's right hand man.  He was the most adorned angel in Heaven.  Then he tried to
dethrone God, to take over, and God threw him out of Heaven.  He became a disgraced fallen
angel, and has since then tried to get back at God and God's people.  He is totally evil and
everything he does has only one motive....to kill, steal, and destroy.  Satan was the serpent in
the garden of Eden that tricked Adam and Eve into disobeying God, and he has been doing the
same thing ever since.  However by getting Adam to disobey God, he took dominion of this
earth away from Adam to whom God had given it.  Jesus, by dying on the cross, won the
dominion of this earth back from Satan.  Jesus will return again to reign and rule this earth
because it is now his, but until that time he has given authority over Satan and this earth to
Christians in his name.  But the devil still roams around this world causing trouble where ever
he can.

Isaiah 14:12-15
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.

Ezekiel 28:12-17
You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.  You were in Eden the
garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx
and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and beryl.  Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on
the day you were created they were prepared.  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; I made a spectacle of you before kings.

Revelation 12:7-9
And there was war in heaven.  Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the
dragon and his angels fought back.  But he was not strong enough and they lost their place in
heaven.  The great dragon was hurled down that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who
leads the whole world astray.  He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

Here is how I understand this story from these scriptures.  Lucifer was a created angel, adorned
with every precious stone, and walked among the fiery stones in heaven which was probably a
special place for the elite.  That shows how mighty and powerful as well as how high a position
he held.  He was smart, beautiful, blameless, and had a high standing with God.  But that wasn't
good enough.  He wanted to be top dog.  At the time he was ruling the earth.  So he convinced
the inhabitants of the earth as well as some of the angels to rebel against God with him.  He
ascended to heaven and tried to dethrone God.  But it didn't work, so he was thrown out of
heaven along with the angels who followed him.  That is when he became Satan.  (It's almost
like the story of Darth Vader in Star Wars).  At that time, God also judged the inhabitants of the
earth that took part in the rebellion.  These inhabitants then became disembodied spirits which
the Bible refers to as demon spirits or demons.  These demons are not angels, because they
have no bodies.  These are the ones that possess people and which Jesus used to cast out of
people including Mary Magdeline.  Today, they are called people with multiple personalities and
I have seen some of them who speak with different voices.  Doctors don't know what to do with
them, but Christians do.  The Bible is silent on the origin of demon spirits, but I believe from
these and other scriptures that this is where they came from.  If you read Genesis 1 and 2 you
will see how this all fits.  God created all the animals, plants, birds, created Adam and placed him
on the earth giving him dominion over the earth.  This infuriated Satan who had dominion of the
earth previously, so as a serpent, he tricked Adam into disobeying God so that Satan could
have dominion over the earth back and rule over the earth and all of mankind again.   This he
did and now had all the demon spirits and some of the fallen angels who followed him as his
army.  It didn't take Satan long to corrupt the people of earth, as we see in Genesis 6:5 where
God says...The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become and that every
inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time... In fact things became so bad
that God had to bring on a flood and start again with Noah and his sons.  But then things
changed when Jesus came to earth and started his ministry.  Jesus spent 40 days in the desert
being tempted by the devil.  One of the things the devil tempted him with was the rulership of
the earth.

Luke 4:5-7
The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.  
And he said to him, " I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me
and I can give it to anyone I want to.  So if you worship me, it will all be yours.  Jesus answered
"It is written: Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.

Jesus did not correct the devil when he said "for it has been given to me" because he knew he
was right, the earth had been given to him when he got Adam to disobey God.  By doing so,
Satan became the rightful ruler of the earth again.  However, in Matthew 28:18 after his death
and resurrection, Jesus said " All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me."  By
dying on the cross, he got dominion of the earth back from Satan on Adam's and all of
mankind's behalf.  He then transferred dominion over to his disciples and all Christians until he
returns.  That is why Christians pray "in Jesus' name" because the only authority they have is
"in Jesus' name" not by their own authority.  Quite the turn of events, and this totally infuriated
the devil, however he didn't know that is what would happen.  In 1 Corinthians 2:7-8 the Bible
says... we speak of God's secret wisdom a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined
for our glory before time began.  None of the rulers of this age understood it for if they had they
would not have crucified the Lord of glory...  What this means is that had Satan known that by
Jesus' death he would lose dominion over the earth, he would have never allowed his
crucifixion.

This shows the incredible wisdom and craftiness of God.  He created a perfect scenario.  When
Lucifer sinned, and rebelled against God, he created a situation where everyone could benefit
from what happened.  The angels that followed Satan realized that they made a mistake and
were now on a losing team as was Satan.  The angels that didn't follow Satan realized that they
made the right choice to stick with God, and have since seen the consequences of their fallen
comrades choices.  Man was created as an innocent pawn in this game which is really between
God and Satan.  Man was given rulership over the earth.  Satan got man to sin and took the
rulership back.  Now man had the same opportunity not only to  see, but to experience the
effects of sin and chose good or evil.  Jesus came to pay man's price for sin so that man could
be saved.  And through it all, everyone has the opportunity to make the right choices.  As God
said in Genesis 3:22 after man sinned...."The man has now become like one of us, knowing
good and evil."  God knows good and evil, but chooses good.   The devil knows good and evil,
but chose evil.  Man has the freedom to choose either.  Some follow God and some follow
Satan.  Everyone gets to learn a good lesson.

The question is sometimes asked regarding this:  Why did God only provide redemption for
man and not for Satan?  They both sinned.  There is no mention in the Bible of a way for Satan
and the fallen angels to be saved like there is for man? Why not, God loves Satan and all those
angels as well as man. I have pondered this and prayed about it, and here is why I think there is
no redemption for Satan.  Man's sin was simply disobedience, he wanted to do it his way.  Our
teenage children sometimes want to do that too.  Satan's sin however was to dethrone God and
drive him out of heaven.  If our children want to go their own way and do bad things we are sad,
but if they come into our home with a gang of their friends with the intention of chasing us out
of our home, how could we ever trust them again.  This is beyond disobedience, this is hard
core hatred.  Also, all through this, there is no repentance or remorse on the devil's part.  He is
hardcore till the end even after spending a thousand years in the bottomless pit.

Now for more about Satan.

Job Chapters 1 and 2 tell a very interesting story about Satan, Job, and God.  I won't go into it
here, but if you read it you will get a better insight into what Satan is like and what his intentions
are.

John 8:44
You belong to your father the devil and you want to carry out your fathers desire.  He was a
murderer from the beginning not holding to the truth for there is no truth in him.  When he lies
he speaks his native language for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Acts 10:38
..how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power and how he went around
doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

2 Corinthians 4:4
The god of this age 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

Satan is a murderer and a liar.  He takes people captive and turns them away from God.  That's
why it is so difficult for some people to turn to God, Satan has a strong grip on their lives.  When
I was an atheist Satan had me in his grip and there was no way I could be convinced there was
a God, so I know how strong his influence can be.  It took me a long time to get free of that.

2 Corinthians 11:13
And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.  It is not surprising then if
his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness..

Satan is quite crafty.  He knows he will never get you to follow him if he tells you who he really is
and what his intentions are.  Of course not.  But if he pretends to be a nice guy and offer you
things that are "fun" there is a greater chance you will go for it.  And isn't that the way it always
starts.  No one goes to sleep one night and wakes up as a heroin addict.  You start with
marijuana for a few laughs, then stronger drugs, and before you know it, your are hooked.  That
is how the devil works.

1 Peter 5:8
Be self controlled and alert.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for
someone to devour.  Resist him standing firm in the faith...

2 Timothy 2:26
...and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil who has taken
them captive to do his will.

Many people are doing the devil's will and obeying him without knowing that they are doing so.  
The devil has blinded their minds and taken them captive with a strong grip on their lives.  Some
of them can kill, rape, and torture people without any remorse.

1 John 3:8
He who does what is sinful is of the devil because the devil has been sinning from the
beginning.  The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.

Thank God that Jesus did destroy the devil's work, or all of us would spend eternity under
Satan's rulership.  Now we don't have to, we can accept Jesus as our Saviour and spend
eternity with God.

James 4:7
Submit yourselves then to God.  Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

The devil has no power over you if you are a Christian.  If you believe in Jesus you can drive
him away "in the name of Jesus" and he will have to go.  Even if you are not a Christian all you
have to say is "No Thanks".  He cannot force you to do anything.   If you resist, he will leave you
alone and look for easier prey.

Ephesians 6:10-12
Finally be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God so that you
can take your stand against the devil's schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and
blood but against the rulers against  the authorities against the powers of this dark world and
against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

We should not be angry with people because our struggle is not with them, it is with the forces
behind the people.  Most of those that are serving Satan, are doing it unknowingly.  They have
been taken captive and their minds are corrupted by evil forces.  Many of them think they are
actually pretty good people.

Revelation 20:1-3
And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven having the key to the Abyss and holding in his
hand a great chain.  He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil or Satan, and
bound him for a thousand years.  He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over
him to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended.  
After that, he must be set free for a short time.

This is the final chapter for the devil.  His days are numbered, and he is thrown into an Abyss
and kept there for a thousand years while Jesus comes to earth to reign and rule.  That's when
there will be peace on earth for a thousand years, because the troublemaker will not be there.

Revelation: 20: 7
When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to
deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth Gog and Magog to gather them for battle.  In
number they are like the sand on the seashore.  They marched across the breadth of the earth
and surrounded the camp of God's people the city he loves.  But fire came down from heaven
and devoured them.  And the devil, who deceived them was thrown into the lake of burning
sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown.  They will be tormented day and
night for ever and ever.

Even after having a thousand years to think about it, Satan is still the same.  He still wants to kill,
steal and destroy.  He again gathers an army to fight God and his people.  I kind of feel sorry for
the devil even though he is so evil, I would like to hear an ending where he finally repents and
comes back to God, but that's not the case.

John 10:10
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.  I have come that they may have life and have
it to the full.

Jesus says that even though the devil comes to kill, steal, and destroy, he has come to give us
an awesome life if we will only turn to him.

If you are a Christian, you don't have to be afraid of the devil.  You have power over him in
Jesus' name.  Jesus defeated the devil and gave his followers power over him in his name.  
From time to time we do get attacked by the devil or his demons.  But you don't have to take it.  I
used to, but several years ago I constructed a large cage in the spiritual realm and whenever
demons attack me, I bind them in Jesus' name and then ask God to send angels to round those
culprits up and throw them into my cage.  Many years ago, during a down time in my life, I
released all the demons I had in my cage, and did I ever regret that later when they ganged up
on me.  Since then, I have never released any from my cage, I told God that I want them held till
the day of judgement.  They have no right attacking me because I don't want anything to do
with them and told them to get away from my life.  If they disobey, they have to pay the price.  
They haven't attacked me for a long time now because they know their fate if they do.

This is a long study, but there is a lot to say about the devil.  Some people don't even believe he
exists. When I was an atheist, I didn't believe he existed either.  That's his favourite trick.   If he
told Adam and Eve that he was the devil coming to deceive them they would have never
believed him.  Instead he found a more convincing way to get them to obey him.  And he has
been doing that ever since.  He will never tell anyone there is no God, that's too obvious, he will
instead tell them that there are many gods and that Jesus is not the only way to get to God,
there are many ways.  Yet that is not what the Bible says.  But if you understand the Word of
God, you won't be tricked.