I AM GOD I AM SATAN I AM JESUS CHRIST FULL
“Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “You had the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds I will make myself like the Most High.’ Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit” (Isaiah 14:12-15). “How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, you who have weakened the nations! “But 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 in the recesses of the north. Two Old Testament passages, Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28, deserve solemn reading as they graphically portray Satan’s fall: In Genesis 3, Satan is present in the garden, but he is already fallen. “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding, who set its measurements, since you know? Or who stretched the line on it? On what were its bases sunk? or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4-7). Indeed, the angels witnessed creation and rejoiced: Satan and the angels existed before the creation of the world. We must first go back in time-but forward in Scripture-to the biblical account of Satan’s creation and fall. But the study of the temptation and the fall of man must wait until our next lesson. One might expect we would start at the beginning of the Old Testament, where in the first three chapters of Genesis Satan tempts Adam and Eve, and the fall of man occurs. We will then draw some conclusions with their implications. It then will move to the major focus of this lesson: Satan’s part in the plan of God, as seen through the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation, from before creation to the final chapter of history. Our study will begin with a survey of the names and the nature of Satan. This lesson will consider Satan, who is literally hell-bent on perverting or preventing God’s plan. In this series, we are engaged in the study of God’s eternal plan for creation, having previously considered God as the perfect Planner and then His plan as the perfect plan. God’s Word supplies the facts and perspective we need. Satan should receive only the attention he deserves. Satan fell because of his insatiable desire for prominence, desiring the glory which belongs only to God. God neither wishes to flatter Satan with too much publicity nor desires that we become preoccupied with him. Given Satan’s key role in the plan of God, his great power, and his cunning ways, we might expect to find more about Satan in the Bible than we do.
The Scriptures tell us all we need to know about Satan, and no more. The Bible displays a sense of proportion concerning Satan which we should seek to gain and then maintain. Some therefore give him too much credit and others too little. Some Christians see too much of Satan, as though he were behind every biblical bush. Satan is a serpent, and as such, he is not only deadly but often is so well camouflaged we do not see him. Our approach must be one of soberness, for the issues at hand are life and death, heaven and hell. This study is important, but we dare not be ignorant of Satan’s strategies, “in order that no advantage be taken of us by Satan for we are not ignorant of his schemes” (2 Corinthians 2:11). I do so with mixed feelings I look forward to the ride, but I remind myself of the dangers involved. Undertaking a study of God’s plan for Satan reminds me of those occasional times I put on a motorcycle helmet and set out for a ride.
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