The doctrine of Satan (#6)

Satan is the most powerful creature in the universe. Satan is more powerful than the archangels Michael and Gabriel. But Satan is still just a creature and not the Creator. Satan’s power and knowledge have limits. God is omnipresent but Satan is not. Satan can’t be in more than one place at a time. When the forces of darkness assault our minds and oppress us from the spiritual world we collectively call them Satan because the prince of demons is the only demon we know by name. In reality, 99% of us may never encounter Satan himself but he has hundreds of millions of demons assigned to watch us from across the veil.

God is omnipotent and Satan is not. The Bible says with God anything is possible. Satan’s power when compared to God’s power is like an ant taking on an elephant. I’ve often wondered why God doesn’t destroy Satan with a word and be done with it. Satan wasn’t always the devil. He was once the top angel in heaven and created by God to be eternal like himself and so were all the other angels. Once God creates an angel as an eternal being he cannot then change his mind and destroy that creature. The Bible says God is unchangeable, and so he is. God’s Word is truth and cannot be broken. While God may not destroy a creature he creates he will imprison them if they sin against him. God created the lake of fire and brimstone to imprison Satan and the fallen angels who warred against God in heaven.

What’s true for angels is true for us. When God created us he also gave us an eternal spirit and therefore we are also immortal beings like God and the angels. The real us, our spirit being, will never die. When we sin against God while we’re on this earth in our physical bodies, and we all do, God will also imprison our eternal souls if we die with our sins being unforgiven. There’s no need for God to make a separate prison for our eternal souls since one already exists for the fallen angels. God will simply throw us in the lake of fire alongside the demons. We’re the lucky ones. When the angels rebelled in heaven they sinned against God and they were condemned without any way to be forgiven. We, on the other hand, have been given the opportunity to have our sins forgiven by the grace of a merciful God. God sent his Son to die on the cross as payment for the sins of all men, past, present and future. All God asks is for us to believe that he is and that Jesus Christ is his Son and the Savior of the world. We need to repent and ask God to forgive our sins.

God is omniscient but Satan is not. Satan has been around for the 6,000 years of human history and has gained an immense amount of knowledge. There are many things Satan doesn’t know. Although Lucifer served God in heaven he doesn’t know God as well as we do. Satan knows nothing of God’s love, mercy, grace and forgiveness. Satan doesn’t know the secrets of the past or the mysteries of God. Satan doesn’t know what the future holds. Satan has read the book of Revelation but Satan’s wisdom has been corrupted by sin to the point Satan doesn’t believe the ending. Satan still thinks he can defeat God.

Ezekiel 28:17 – Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, that they might gaze at you.