Monday, March 2, 2015

The Angel Called Satan

    Have you seen the bumper sticker which says, “THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT”? To be sure, that is an attention-getter. I suppose this statement is intended to get whoever sees it off the hook, so-to-speak, because whatever is done that violates God’s or man’s laws is because Satan made them do it.

    Paul the apostle described Satan as “an angel of light” (2 Corinthians. 11:14). There is no getting around it, Satan is for real. The Bible is full of references to Satan and he is also called by many other names. Where did this wicked angelic creature come from? God did not create him evil. He did create all the angels holy and sinless. And Satan is as much a person as God is.

    Satan’s evil desires led him to oppose God and His plan (Isaiah 14:12-17). Satan tempted Adam and Eve and Christ. In fact, he is still involved in tempting people–believers and unbelievers–to sin. Two major passages of Scripture are used to describe Satan’s original condition before he sinned in rebellion against God and his subsequent sin (Ezekiel 28:11-19; Isaiah 14:12-19). Students of Scripture do not all agree that Satan is in view in these passages of Scripture which tell us how to have victory over this evil foe (2 Corinthians 12:11; Ephesians 6:11; 1 Peter 5:8-9).