Satan. Beelzebub. Lord of the Flies. Prince of Darkness. Lucifer. Mephistopheles. Lord of the Dungheap. Where did this enemy of our souls come from?
Most of our ideas about Satan come not from the Bible but from Milton’s PARADISE LOST (same place we get our notion that Adam & Eve were felled by an apple. The Bible does not name the fruit).
Isaiah provides one of the key passages on the devil’s origin:
“Shining morning star, how you have fallen from the heavens! You have been cut down to earth, you destroyer of nations. You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven, I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the Mount of Assembly. I will make myself like the Most High.’ Nevertheless, you will be brought down to the place of the dead and cast into the deepest pit” Isaiah 14:12-15.
So where did Satan go wrong? He was pure until he sinned (Ezekiel 28:15).
What was his sin? PRIDE. He tried to take the highest place. His punishment? Banished to the lowest place in hell forever.
WHAT CAN WE LEARN? The greater your pride, the greater your downfall. I spent part of the morning reading about a man from FBC (and SBC) who is 91. He was an appellate judge whose ambition (pride, IMHO) once took him to the top of the Southern Baptist Convention. Now a lawsuit—and the scandalous facts it reveals—will likely send him to his grave in shame.
A similar fate awaits everyone who is proud. “God is OPPOSED to the proud, but gives GRACE to the humble” James 4:6. You don’t want to be opposed to God! You will not win that contest!
God, make us humble!
ΑΩ
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