* The Enemy Disguised as an Angel of Light

And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.     

2 Corinthians 11:14

Satan constantly is challenging God's power in the universe. He is a challenging counterfeit but yet he actually poses no threat to God. In his initial habitat, Satan was not always this way.  Satan was originally created by God as a beautiful angel named Lucifer.  

Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.  Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.  Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.  Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.  By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.  Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.   Ezekiel 28:12-17

But Satan rebelled against the power and authority of God. He wanted to be as God Himself.

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine 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 thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.  Isaiah 14:12-15  

God could have struck Satan down and killed him for such rebellion. But to our way of thinking, if He had brought down the first enemy in this way, just imagine, there could have been the possibility of another rebellion by another angel exalted in his own mind the way Lucifer was and the history of Heaven could have been clouded with similar disasters.

Instead, God cast Satan out of Heaven and allowed his claims to power to have reign in the earth. All of the angels that followed Satan in his rebellion against God were also cast out. They are now evil angels known as "demons", "imps" or "devils" at work in the world today.

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.   Revelation 12:9

Shortly after God created the first man and woman, the battle began on earth. (Genesis 3) The fall of Adam and Eve into sin was rooted in rebellion against the authority and power of God.   Satan would have Eve deceived into thinking that she would have the same knowledge as God and Eve convinced Adam of the same; that they would have knowledge equal to that of God. With such knowledge would come power. 

From that time forward, Satan has challenged the authority of God on earth. Through sin, Satan seeks to draw men and women to allegiance to himself instead of God.  One of the chief methods of Satan in challenging God's power is to imitate it.  Satan imitates the power of God. He imitates God's power in order to deceive people. He uses his angels (demons) to help him accomplish this goal. Satan and his demons sometimes appear as good instead of evil. We are warned:

And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness: whose end shall be according to their works.   2 Corinthians 11:14-15

In these final days of time on earth, this imitation of God's power by Satan has increased. Through signs and wonders, he deceives many:

Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders.  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish: because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.   2 Thessalonians 2:9-11

This Scripture reveals how Satan works.   He counterfeits the power of God with "all power and signs and lying wonders." 

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.   Ephesians 6:12

The only way you can detect his deception is by the truth of the Word of God.

Man is caught in this conflict of Satan rebelling against the power of God. We are engaged in a power struggle with the invisible powers of Satan. But the power of God is greater than "thrones, dominions, principalities and powers" . . . 

For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:   Colossians 1:16 

The truth is there is only one true living God and despite the masquerading tricks of the enemy we keep this truth before us: 

Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,  To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.   Jude 24-25

(Biblical Studies)

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