Let’s go head on with the burning question this Halloween 2021. Who is the devil? Where did he come from? Or where is he headed? Sometimes people might even wonder some things with the direction the world seems to be heading. Is the devil bigger or stronger than God? We’re going to look at some of those questions.
Only God existed from the beginning. Psalm 90:2 Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. Let’s get one thing straight. Only God has existed from the beginning. (God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit) God created all things. Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Hebrews 2:10 God, for whom and through whom everything exists. Colossians 1:15,16 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.
God created all things! There is nothing, whether seen or unseen, that wasn’t made by God. Believe it or not, God created satan! You may ask, why would God create a being which is so evil? The answer is that He didn’t. God originally created satan as a beautiful, shining angel.
Ezekiel 28:12-15 “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. 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.
18 By your many sins and dishonest trade you have desecrated your sanctuaries. So I made a fire come out from you, and it consumed you, and I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching. 19 All the nations who knew you are appalled at you; you have come to a horrible end and will be no more.”
Isaiah 14:12 How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! Back then satan’s name was translated as “lucifer”, which means “son of the morning” or “Morning Star”. When the sun comes in the morning, all of the stars fade away. The Morning Star is the last one to fade away because it is brighter than all the others. So, lucifer was the brightest and most beautiful of all the other angels, until the day when evil was found in him.
Isaiah 12-15You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! 13 You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. 14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” 15 But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.
Ezekiel 28:16-17 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, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. 17 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.
Luke 10:18 (Jesus) replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
Lucifer became proud because of his beauty. He said in his heart that he would ascend up to heaven, raise his throne above all the stars (or angels) of God, claim positions that were higher and higher until he became like God Himself. Because of lucifer’s pride and sin, God cast lucifer out of heaven, along with all the other angels which followed him. That made up 1/3 of all the angels in heaven.
The devil, or satan, originally known as lucifer, is doomed for complete destruction at the end of time. Until then he will continue to cause all sorts of evil. But, in the end, God will destroy him and his fallen angels in the Lake of Fire.
Satan was in the Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve were created. He deceived Eve encouraging her to eat the forbidden fruit and telling her that she would “not surely die” if she ate it, as God had said. Instead he told her that she would “be like God, knowing good and evil.” He tempted her to be proud, to try and be “like God”. He also tempted her not to believe what God had said. In the end, Eve ate the fruit and then gave some to Adam who also ate.
Genesis 3:1-6 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ” “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
Satan deceived Eve, and as a result she and Adam sinned. Because of Adam’s sin, God sent them out of the garden. But before Adam and Eve left the garden, God promised them a Savior. God prophesied that satan would be destroyed by one of Eve’s descendants. This prophecy came true when Jesus gave up His life on the cross. Jesus crushed satan’s power over the world and all mankind. After Jesus’ Resurrection, He told His disciples “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Matthew 28:18. Because of Jesus and His death on the cross, we can be forgiven of our sins and live forever.
Even though Jesus has already defeated satan at the cross and taken away the power that satan had over death and over mankind as the prince of this world, he continues to make war. However, soon God will crush satan and punish him forever in a place prepared especially for satan and the other fallen angels. This place is called the Lake of Burning Sulfur or the Lake of Fire. Romans 16:20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.
Revelations 20:10 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.
Dear God,
Please be with all who go about their Halloween festivities. Guard them and keep them safe. Protect them from the tricks of the evil one, who comes only to kill and destroy. Satan does not like to be unmasked, Father, but prefers to masquerade as an angel of light. Grant that we may see and follow the true light of the world, Jesus Christ. It is in His name we pray. Amen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPFJqXQCr3I
