Torch, Summer 1990

I ~ I l I I \ I I I I i I ---------------------------- What is Satan up to? Satan wants you ...to join his rebel– lion. Since hi s battle plan seeks your destruction , it is imperative that you know who he is, what he is about, and how he enlarges his following . Satan became God's archenemy. Satan was not always God 's enemy. God created him morally pure and made him to oversee the angels worshipping around God 's throne in Heaven. "You were the model of perfection...anointed as a guardian cherub... blameless in your ways from the day you were created.. ." (Ezekiel 28: 12,14,15). In that day Satan was known as Lucifer, "the morning star," (Isaiah 14: 12). Lucifer, meaning "to shine," signified Satan ' s essential activity: . t_o glorify God. Though he held a pos1t~on of high privilege, Satan rebelled agams_t his Creator. " .. .wickedness was found m you... you sinned" (Ezekiel 28: 15,16). God 's principal devotee became God 's enduring enemy and was exiled from Heaven. "I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, 0 guardian cherub..." (Ezekiel 28 :16). ,, Having been "cast down to the earth (Isaiah 14:12), Satan progressively revealed his seditious character. His two most common names disclose his malevolence. Satan means "adversary." Not only does Satan oppose the interests of God, he also resists the godly aspira– tions of men. Called the devil or "slanderer," he maligns the character of God and His righteous children. Satan's titles and representations also speak of his commitment to overthrow . God's rule. Distinguishing titles are evII one (1 John 5: 19), tempter (1 Thessalo– nians 3:5), accuser of our brothers (Revelation 12: l 0), prince of this world (John 12:31), god of this age (2 Corinthians 4:4), and ruler of the kingdom of the air (Ephesians 2:2). Such designations demonstrate that God has allowed Satan extensive influence upon the earth. Satan is represented as a serpent (Revelation 12:9), a lion (1 Peter 5:8), and a dragon (Revelation 12:3). These crafty, destructive, and frightful portray– als remind us that Satan became, and remains for eternity, God 's archenemy. Satan still aspires to dethrone God. Satan 's rebellion began with the sin of pride. "Your heart became proud..." (Ezekiel 28: 17). He rebelled against God 's sovereignty. Satan wanted to dethrone the Creator so that he could live independently. With God displaced, Satan would be free to promote his own interests. Isaiah 14:13-14 depicts Satan's straightforward challenge of God 's preeminence. "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 moun– tain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High. "' Five times Satan determined, "I will. " In his conceit he imagined that he was competent to rule in God's place. But with God already on the throne, Satan would have to overthrow Him. Thus the rebellion began. Though frustrated in its infancy, the rebellion took a heavy toll. When Satan was evicted from Heaven, so were as many as a third of the angels who had chosen to follow him (Revelation 12:4). Worse, the rebellion subsequently continued among men. Apparently Satan hoped that, with the support of multitudes of angels and men , he might still attain his goal of overthrowing God. Every baby born is enlisted into the rebellion and enticed into following "the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air" (Ephesians 2:2). Satan enlarges his rebellion through deception. Satan is not interested in our welfare. While seeking to benefit himself only, he does want us on his side and uses whatever means he can to add as many as he can to his insurrection. Jesus identified the fundamental tactic of Satan: "he is a liar. .." (John 8:44). Satan 's scheme is to deceive people into choosing their _own will_ rather than God 's, to begmle them mto directing their own lives without God's interference, and to trick them into trying to earn their own salvation. Deception is Satan's primary tool. The Apostle John revealed the last great hoax of Satan who "will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations...to gather them for battle" against God (Revelation 20:8). Satan 's counterfeiting deception is nowhere seen more clearly than in the two most famous temptations: the temptation of Eve and of the Lord Jesus. In both cases the tempter appealed to the self-interests of the one he solicited to evil. Satan suggested that his plan for Eve was better than and should replace God 's plan for her. The tempter induced Eve to question the Word of God and the integrity of God (Genesis 3: 1-5). First he asked , "Did God really say... ?" Then he added, "You will not surely die." Finally, he promised the deception that she could duplicate the wisdom of God. "God knows that when you eat of it...you will be like God." In Matthew 4: 1-11, the tempter suggested that his plan for Christ was superior to and ought to supplant God 's plan for Him. Satan promised Kingdom glory without crucifixion. Jesus wa~ invited to act independently by turnmg stones into bread, to indulge Himself by leaping off the temple and landing unharmed below, and to worship Satan. However, these appeals to pleasure, power, and pride were rejected by the Lord. He refused to substitute His own will for that of the Father. Unlike Eve and all her other offspring, Jesus Christ could not be deceived into counterfeit- ing the will of God. . Whatever Satan's disguise, be 1t dragon (Revelation 12:3) or angel of light (2 Corinthians 11: 14), his goal is the same: to counterfeit the Person and plan of God. He seduces all he can into his rebellion, but those who follow discover not joy but the judgment of God. Satan "deceives those who are perishing... because they refused to love the truth and so be saved" (2 Thessalo– nians 2: 10). Will Satan succeed? The answer is no, yes, and some– times. Against God, Satan will fail. Against unbelievers , Satan will succeed. Against believers, Satan sometimes succeeds, but ultimately will fail.