By Dr. Kerry Knight, Emerald Beach Church of Christ
“How are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How are you cut down to the ground” (Isaiah 14:12)
Many would say, “Now wait a minute, Satan is a fallen angel, right? How can you say he has not fallen?” Notice carefully that I said he has not fallen from EARTH. If you read from Isaiah 14, Ezekiel 28 and Revelations 12, the story of Lucifer falling from HEAVEN is acknowledged. In brief, he was a powerful and beautiful angel, even an archangel. When his pride led him to corrupt good wisdom and defy the God of the universe, he was thrown out of God’s presence. But where was he cast? Isaiah said he was “cut down to the ground.” He still roams the earth, and so says Job in the first chapter of that ancient book. Satan is called the “prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2).
James 4:7 says that we must “resist the devil, and he will flee FROM us.” That means he is here, on planet earth, Although he is not visible to us since he is a spiritual being, he wrecks havoc by influencing us to yield to temptation. Just because we cannot see him with our eyes doesn’t discount his continuous presence. We are all tempted when we are lured away from God by the devil (James 1:14). And Satan knows us well. He has “devices” or plans to destroy us (II Corinthians 2:11). He is as powerful as a “roaring lion” (I Peter 5:8). So, what’s the point here? The point is we must be vigilant, knowing that we are dealing with a real spiritual force and person. For the next several weeks, I will be preaching on the subject of Satan and how he works. I will be speaking at the Emerald Beach Church of Christ at 301 Alf Coleman Road, right next to Shipwreck Island Water Park. The time for these lectures/sermons will be 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoons. If you have ever wondered how Satan operates, and how to overcome his attacks, please join us.
