The Evil One

As we have already seen, Adam was originally created in the image of God to be loved and to love. God was the Father, Adam was the Son and the Holy Spirit was the eternal life’s breath of God’s fatherhood who filled Adam’s heart with paradise. As a rational being Adam could either choose to accept or reject his destiny in God. In the same way, God created the angels, probably on day two of creation. This would have included Lucifer. The word Lucifer is from the Latin lucis ferrer meaning light-bearer. In Hebrew Lucifer is heylel meaning a bright morning star, something that travellers would follow to find their way. Lucifer was originally called the son of the morning and was possibly the first angel created by God. The angels were created to serve both God and the Sons of God, but again, God in his wisdom gave them free will and the opportunity to either accept or reject their God given destiny. It says regarding Lucifer in Isaiah 14:12-14 “How are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how are you cut down to the ground, which did weaken the nations! For you had said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet you shall be brought down to hell [the grave], to the sides of the pit”. The original role of Lucifer was to administer the power of God and reveal the glory of God to the rest of creation. It seems that Lucifer imagined that his perfection reflected himself and not God. He imagined that he was the marvellous me, that it was he and not God that was marvellously wonderful and was the great I AM. In Hebrew, the word bitter is marad. It is a pictogram of water and the head of a man, and means head water, a stagnant lake of bitterness. The word bitter also meant rebellion. The word proud in Hebrew means literally to lift up strength. Although Lucifer originally lived in paradise, he imagined that by rebellion he could create for himself a better paradise. Lucifer said in his lifted-up and pride poisoned selfish heart I will five times. Lucifer the light bearer became a fallen angel, the devil (diabolos in the Greek meaning to throw across or hinder) or Satan. In Hebrew, the name Satan or adversary means literally the snake that surrounds and devours life, or simply the murdering snake. That is why Jesus said in John 8:44 that the devil was a murderer from the beginning. Murder is the shedding of innocent blood and is the devil’s mark, signature or calling card often provoked by offended pride.

In Ezekiel 1 is mention of four celestial beings, cherubs or seraphim that cover the throne of God. Each had a different face representing a different kingdom before God’s throne. One had the face of a man representing humanity, another the face of an ox representing domesticated animals, another the face of an eagle representing birds and another the face of a lion representing the wild animals. It is possible that there is one missing. What is that? Reptiles. It is possible that Lucifer was a covering cherub that represented the kingdom of reptiles before the throne of God and as such had a particular affinity with snakes and serpents. It says regarding Lucifer in Ezekiel 28:12-17 “You sealed up the sum of perfection, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering….in the day that you were created. You were the anointed cherub that covered, I set you so; you were upon the holy mountain of God; you walked up and down amid the stones of fire. You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created, till iniquity was found in you. By the multitude of your merchandise they have filled the midst of you with violence, and you have sinned: therefore I will cast you as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty, you have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your brightness: I will cast you to the ground, I will lay you before kings, that they may behold you”. Lucifer was originally perfect in beauty, a wonderful reflection of the wonderful glory of God. Lucifer was originally in Eden, the paradise or Garden of God. This is the paradise where Adam and Eve, as the stones of fire, lived before everything went wrong. God wanted a Son, Adam, to have dominion upon the earth. God wanted a Son to administer the power of God and reveal the glory of God to the rest of creation, which was originally the role of Lucifer. And so, in his pride, Lucifer saw his opportunity to subvert God’s plan and by lying turn Adam away from God. If that happened, God would no longer be Adam’s first love; Adam would no longer give God as his Father the praise, worth-ship or wonderment that was due his name. Instead, in the pride of his heart, Adam would become his own first love; Adam would worship himself as the creature instead of the wonderful Creator and by default worship Lucifer as the god of this world. Lucifer would have dominion within the pride of Adam’s heart; Adam would become in effect Satan’s puppet king. Merchandise is something that people trade with. Trading is offering a perceived benefit for profit. Lucifer’s merchandise was the secret knowledge of his plan to become the god of this world, and this knowledge filled his heart with violence. Lucifer attempted to trade this secret plan with the rest of God’s angels to make both himself and them into gods, gods that one day could be worshipped by fallen humanity. This is mentioned in the Book of Revelation chapter 12. Using lies, deception and flattery, Lucifer as the great dragon or serpent swept a third of the angels out of heaven to establish a kingdom in darkness and to join him in his rebellion against God and to profit from Adam’s potential downfall. Lucifer said in his heart, I am god over the kingdom in darkness that he had established. The angels who remained faithful to God have nothing to trade and have no desire for profit. They live in paradise and their greatest delight is to be the servants of God. They rejected the devil and his wicked schemes.

Lucifer fashions himself as God. Just as God speaks words of truth by the eternal life’s breath or Holy Spirit that dwells within him, Lucifer is the father of lies who speaks lies with the evil spirits or breaths of lying words that form part of his diabolical kingdom. The devil is the god of this world who speaks words like murder, hatred, rejection, rage and lust, all filled with evil spirits or breaths of those horrible words. In the ancient world, these things were in effect worshipped as gods. In Hebrew the word for prince is sar and means literally the devouring man. Satan became the selfish prince of darkness ruling like a devouring man to profit his pride over a selfish kingdom in darkness with himself at its diabolical head. Jesus said that the devil is a thief who comes to kill, steal and destroy and that the devil is the father of lies within whom is no truth. As such, the devil is the author and father of all rebellion. As father of lies, he is like a waiter in a restaurant. He waits on tables of the established religion of church tradition, trading to take away truth and replacing it with theological orthodox tradition. He takes away the children’s bread of the true salvation of signs, wonders and miracles and replaces this bread with the junk food of church tradition, creeds, theologies and the false promise of something great when people are dead. In every aspect of life, the devil offers deceiving lies in exchange for God’s amazing truth. For instance, Jesus taught that if a man looks at a woman lustfully, he has committed adultery in his heart. The devil within the established church teaches that no man could ever not be lustful if the woman is pretty enough, so Jesus died on the cross so that the theologically trained could continue to have eyes bulging with lust and even satisfy these diabolical lusts but be considered conceptually righteous by faith alone and go to heaven when they die. However, Paul said in Ephesians 5:3-7 “But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore, do not be partners with them”. This is absolutely clear to all except those with prideful fallen hearts who have been educated by the established religion of hand-me-down church tradition beyond their understanding. Those that are theologically trained find that their tradition gives them a spoonful of sugar to make the devil’s diabolical lies go down right into the depths of their deceived darkened pride-poisoned hearts.

Jesus saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven and Jesus has given his true followers dynamite power to trample on snakes and scorpions and overcome all the power of the enemy. How? By bringing them humbly under the same umbrella or covering of the superabundant saving anointing that Jesus received and that gives them undeniable overcoming victory in every circumstance of life. Because of the blood of the cross shed by the pride of those Jesus came to save, it was this saving anointing of the Holy Spirit that was poured out on the Day of Pentecost. Those that truly follow Jesus by humbly submitting themselves to God and resisting the devil find that the devil will flee from them. Nothing will ultimately harm them. All created beings, people included, can choose either good which is God or evil which is ultimately Lucifer. In that sense, the devil serves the purposes of God. The rebellious are the sons of rebellion and devil is ultimately their father. The scoffers are all puffed-up by the over inflated opinion of themselves and submit to the devil to satisfy the lust of their eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. For the scoffers, the devil is God’s garbage collector; someone has to take out the trash. These scoffers do not realise that in pleasuring themselves by walking in the devil’s ways he is ultimately their father, and they are following him to his ultimate doom but also theirs. In Hebrew the word for fire is esh and means literally a strong devourer. Just as fire has authority to devour things that burn, the second death and lake of fire will have authority to devour all who continue to embrace evil. Why? Because the evils within the prideful hearts of those choose to continue to do evil are something that the fire of the second death can and will devour. On the cross, God himself in the person of Jesus the Anointed One bore the dreadful curse of all sin and rebellion for all time. Through the blood of the sinless Lamb of God, this was to give people a fresh start, a new beginning, a changed life. Mercy and forgiveness are available for those who repent from the pride that nailed Jesus to the cross but the scoffers who remain rebellious and stiff-necked will one day find their necks suddenly broken and that without remedy. The second death will have authority over them, forever.

So, why Lucifer? As we have seen, God in his wisdom gave both Adam, and the angels that he created to serve his purposes for Adam, free will. This was the ability to choose for themselves how they wanted to live and what or who they wanted to serve. Both people and angels behave what they believe, they can and will choose to serve the things that they believe will bring them into the paradise of their greatest pleasures. Lucifer is the ultimate alternative to God. God is lowly in heart and gentle, Lucifer is puffed up and proud. God is love, Lucifer is hate. God brings life, Lucifer destroys life. God speaks truth, Lucifer speaks lies. God brings blessing, Lucifer brings curse. God reveals, Lucifer deceives. God wants the best for everyone and everything in every way. Lucifer wants to destroy anything that he cannot possess and even what he does possess he will eventually destroy just for the hell of it. Those that choose to be deceived into thinking that his false promises of benefit or blessing in seeking pleasure, satisfaction and fulfilment in rebellion against the clearly revealed will of Almighty God follow Lucifer to his ultimate doom but also theirs. Of course, even though God loves the scoffers and is willing to forgive them for their wicked ways, the scoffers don’t believe that either God or the devil exist. Having descended through the evolutionary tree from primitive protoplasm somehow washed up on some kind of primordial sea, and sharing a common ancestor with toads, they are morally accountable to no one except themselves. They have created for themselves a scoffers’ paradise. Such a paradise is no paradise at all. They will find out that they are dreadfully mistaken when it is too late to do anything about it.

So, what about you? Someone once sang, I’m on the highway to hell, don’t stop me. The satanic principle is rebellion, hatred, independence, selfishness and pride. All manifestations of this will result in the kingdom of darkness being advanced. The evil one is the father of lies and of all rebellion who calls the rebellious to follow him and his diabolical principles on his highway to hell by satisfying their lusts but remember, in the ancient Hebrew culture of the Bible, hell is not so much a place but a state of heart. What has been translated as hell in most Bibles, Jesus was referring to Gehenna in Greek, the Valley of Hinnom in Jerusalem, the local rubbish dump. Hinnom means lamentation in Hebrew, a place of woe. Those that heard Jesus first hand would have known that Jesus was actually referring to Isaiah 66 which describes the eternal fires that are not quenched and the worms that never die within the carcasses of the living dead who rebelled against Yehovah God. What is in people’s hearts when they die, the pride that nailed Jesus to the cross, the fires of hatred and worms of lusts and resentment, will be with them forever. There is another highway. It says in Isaiah 35:8-10 “And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up there, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there: And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away”. The highway of holiness is far better than the highway to hell despite what the rebellious scoffers may think. Those who travel on the highway to hell have evil thoughts, murders, adultery, fornication, perversion, child abuse, thefts, lies and lusts dwelling in their fallen prideful hearts. Unless Jesus and his precious blood is given the opportunity to change their hearts, they will be like that forever. Those with redeemed hearts walk on the highway of holiness, freed from sorrow and sighing, with everlasting joy upon their heads.  That is why James said in James 4, submit yourself to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you, and John said in 1 John 5 that whosoever is born of God does not sin so that the evil one does not touch him. Let’s keep on the highway of holiness. Let’s allow the blood of Jesus and the living word of God root out everything false or rebellious within our personalities so that we will be able to say, as Jesus said, the evil one has nothing in me.

Prayer: Dear Father, you know that I was born down and out. I was down because of the Fall, and out because my forefathers lived outside of your kingdom by submitting to the satanic principles of rebellion, hatred, independence, selfishness and pride that came from the Fall. I acknowledge that apart from your grace, these things would have got the better of me and my life would have ended in ruins. In the name of Yeshua, the Messiah I renounce these things and any benefits that I may have received by behaving so badly. I ask that your Holy Spirit washes me with the blood of the Lamb of God from the generational curses and wounds that I inherited from my fallen forefathers. I humbly submit to your authority as God and honour those that you placed in authority over me. Please lead me on the highway of holiness by your Holy Spirit so that everlasting joy will be upon my head and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

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