‘Taking Things Waaay Back’ — Part 2
Why Understanding Lucifer’s Fall Matters Today
After Lucifer was kicked out of God’s Holy heaven, he and his rebellious evil followers were banished to another realm until ‘the appointed time’— think Lord Of The Rings books/movies.
From scripture and use of the terms ‘heavens’ and heavenlies’, we conclude that there are essentially 3 ‘heavens’ —1.) the Holy heaven where God and his faithful angels reside, 2.) Satan’s present kingdom where he and the other fallen angels/the evil principalities reign (Ephesians 6:12) and 3.) the universe/sky above and earth that we humans can see where Satan’s darkness covers and his demons are allowed to harass…for now. (No, demons are not actually fallen angels and there is Biblical precedent for this based on the characteristics of each throughout the entirety of scripture, which we will get into in another blog).
Fast forwarding a bit — there was stuff in between but for now and for the purpose of this Part 1 and Part 2 blog — we’ll jump ahead to when God created the earth and us humans as outlined in the book of Genesis.
Genesis 1 details the basics of what happened at the beginning of this age.
Every single sentence in the Bible is a ‘key message’, but in relation to tying together Part 1 and the rest of this blog, I’d like to point out why Genesis 1:26 & 27 are of particular relevance…“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness”… “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”(KJV)
Reading those truth-filled statements about how we were created, and then jumping back to Part 1 understanding the main reason why Lucifer fell (ie: he wanted to be like and exalt himself up to and above God), it’s obvious why Satan (formerly known as Lucifer) hates us so much.
Lucifer’s sole objective was to to be ‘like God’.
But, God didn’t permit it. Lucifer never was, never could, and never did ever become like God.
Soooo, when God — lovingly, graciously and amazingly — created us humans in His image, Luficer (now Satan, the Devil, our Accuser, our Adversary, our Opposer, the Prince of The Air)…1000% HATED THAT.
Thus, since literally forever/from the beginning of this age, Satan has had only one single desire…and that is to “kill, steal and destroy” (John 10:10) the personhood and soul of those whom God made in His own image.
There’s no watering this truth down — Satan hates us.
Using any and all methods, according to what we are told about his character in scripture— sneaky, deceitful, manipulative, patient, creates cunning plans, is controlling, dominating, a liar and uses craftiness — the Devil has twisted and inverted everything God said was good and just.
It’s easy to see, then, how over the years, his evil ways have manipulated, infiltrated and influenced every area of our lives including; Hollywood, the media, music and radio (the Prince Of The Air…which includes all ‘airways’), our education system, government, politics, healthcare, medicine and even the food we eat.
Yes, even those who ‘play on his team’ here on earth will be used and then cast away like garbage in the end. It reminds me of that scene from Transformers 3: Dark Of The Moon where Dylan Gould stars as the rich business antagonist who sides with Megatron and then without barely a blink, Megatron betrays him after ‘all he did for him’. — Food for thought.
Also, some well-intentioned believers I have met have said things like, “Well…if I don’t bother (or acknowledge) him[Satan], he wont bother me.” Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that. To a small degree, because of their intentional or unintentional ignorance, those individuals may not be a massive threat to his kingdom. They may not experience external harassment to the degree of some others, but consequently, those individuals still lie deluded and, “under the sway of the wicked one” (1 John 5:19), blind to his tactics.
After the fall (the Adam and Eve story that many know about), Satan was given authority to rule the earth until — the exact time only God knows. Up until then, Satan has and will do everything possible to destroy what God created in His own image — us. But also until that time, we have been told specific things and given the framework and Truth in the Bible “so [we] will understand” (John 16:33) and know what to do and how to do it.
It’s really important to fully come to grips with the above to be able to comprehend, discern, and be prepared for who and what we are truly up against. It’s important to know how the opposition works, where we are in the whole scheme of things and what practical things we can do today, and in the days that lie ahead to walk in the victory already won for us.
Let’s look at competitive team sports, running a business or the military for examples as they pertain to understanding our ‘Opposer’s (Satan’s) methods:
In football, teams will study and do what they can to understand the opposing team’s plays to be in the best position to win the game (Go Rams), in MMA a fighter will study past fights of their opponent to gain insight on how to overcome him or her. Similarly in business, companies *should* do a S.W.O.T analysis to identify their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to best position themselves and their organization for successful growth and scale well. And in military battle, they study the moves of the enemy to ensure optimal chance at winning the war.
While it’s imperative to know our opposition or competition — on the flip side of it all too — a football team isn’t going to spend all their waking hours watching videos of other teams while not practicing or strengthening their own skills. Nor is it wise for a business to be so engulfed in what their competitors are up to that they become swayed away from their goals and original mission statement. The military isn’t going to just have meetings upon meetings, but they will train up toops, invest resources into and get their people into pristine shape physically and mentally.
Whether it’s business, sports or the battlefield…we need to both act on our own strengths and goals with the tools we have and also thoroughly and simultaneously understand our opponent in order to be completely successful.
Spiritual warfare is no different. To be victorious, we must know our mission, have the skills to win, work individually and also be able to identify the enemy and his moves.
And we can. Jesus has already paid the price on the Cross and the war has already been won.
As believers, we simply need to embrace, believe and walk in the God-given authority given to us as ambassadors for Christ. Putting on the armour of God each and every day (Ephesians 6:10–21), sharing the Good News of the gospel, loving others and following the practical application of Jesus’ ministry as summed up in Matthew 4:23 and Matthew 10:8, we have all the resources and tools at our disposal to be totally and completely victorious in our battle against Satan.
In Jesus’ name, we simply need only the faith to apply them. (Rev. 12:11)
If you don’t know or haven’t learned much about this topic, I’m happy to help point you in the right direction. If you’ve been in a church building your entire life yet haven’t really learned about your God-given authority over demons in Jesus’ name, Satan’s tactics and all that, it’s ok! I didn’t learn or realize a lot of those things for a long time either, and anytime is a good time to start.
But, once we know, we must determine to do all we can to remain vigilant because — 1 Peter 5:8.
***It’s of utmost importance to note, however, that if you have not yet entered into a personal relationship with Jesus , it is not safe or wise to engage in spiritual warfare.***
Don’t know Jesus personally yet? Need prayer? Have’t learned much about spiritual warfare and how to use it? — I’d be honoured to chat with you: please email: becky81@telus.net
-Becky
