Pride goes before the fall

Lucifer’s fall was more than physically being moved from Heaven to earth. It was a fall in position. At one time he was one of the 3 archangels, right up there with Michael and Gabriel! You couldn’t get any higher than that. Unless you were God. And that’s what Lucifer wanted. He wanted to be worshiped as God was. He was beautiful and smart and powerful, and his pride told him he deserved it.

God told him he didn’t. And He kicked him out of heaven.

When Satan fell he took a third of the angels in heaven with him.

Now, God had created a lot of angels. The Bible says multitudes. We are talking thousands and thousands. Angels are thought to have been formed after God make the heavens in Genesis 1:1, but before He created the earth. This theory is supported by Nehemiah 9:6, “And Ezra said, “Thou art the Lord, thou alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and thou preservest all of them; and the host of heaven worships thee.”

The theory is also supported by Job 38:4-7 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements – surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon 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?”

God then created man to populate and enjoy His creation. Satan was jealous and his pride told him he was better and therefore more deserving then they also. He set out to prove them unworthy and he succeeded in that much anyway. After THEIR fall Satan was given temporary rule of the earth. In 1 John 5:19 he is called the Prince of the world and it says the whole world is under the control of the evil one. When Jesus was in the wilderness being tempted by the devil, the devil says (in Luke 4:6) “I will give you all the kingdoms of the world’s authority and splendor, for it has been given to me and I can give it to anyone I want.” And the Lord Jesus left the statement unchallenged. Satan is not omnipresent like God, but because of his many followers, or demons, his influence spreads worldwide.

Christians need to be aware of him, but we have nothing to fear. In proportion to our trust in Christ we are delivered from the power of Satan’s temptation to sin. God has promised that when by faith we resist the devil, he will flee from us. (James 4:7) God will not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear. Satan is on a short leash.