Do You Know Your Enemy #1? 

Have you met your very own personalized Enemy #1 or been introduced to him?  If not, allow me to let you know he’s not your co-worker, your childhood bully, your neighbor, or even a member of your family.  Nope, he’s Satan, a fallen spirit.  Oh, and by the way, I won’t be capitalizing his name too much throughout this series because I don’t believe he deserves the power a capital “S” can give – it’s my way of belittling him as much as I can.

Now that you know who I’m talking about, I want to remind you of something very important before I go any further.  Every day you wake up is a blessing from God, and every day is a day that you can honestly tell yourself and believe that God isn’t done with you yet!

Now that you’ve been reminded of a very important fact, let’s get back to the introduction and learning to recognize Enemy #1!

First, Satan is a spirit, though a demonic one, he too is not done with you yet.  He just works in different ways than God does – he’s deceitful, manipulative, crafty and conniving, while God is loving, forgiving, merciful and gracious.  A very BIG contrast, don’t you think?  I want you to remember the words I just stated describing your Enemy #1: deceitful, manipulative, crafty and conniving.

Now let’s go back for some historic background: For thousands of years satan has been doing three things since he was cast out of heaven (which by the way was before mankind) and that is to “kill, steal and destroy.”  John 10:10. Oh yeah, and he’s very good at it.  He will succeed if you don’t recognize and know who he is.

 

As we read in the book of Ezekiel 28:12-19 we’re given a really good description on just who Lucifer (satan before being tossed out) was before he was tossed out of heaven.  He was one of three Archangels of God whose wings covered the throne of God in Heaven.  He had a very angelic beginning and was an anointed guardian cherub who was on the holy mountain of God and perfect in all his ways.  Ezekiel 28:14-15.

From my reading, I believe Lucifer wanted to be just like God; not just regarded as a son of God, and not just one of three Archangels, but LIKE GOD and in charge of EVERYTHING.  It was this that in Isaiah 14:12-14 it appears that Lucifer was plotting to take over God’s throne and he may have been plotting this while on earth as the verse points out, “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.”

It’s this attitude of Lucifer’s that caused a war in Heaven.  This is why Lucifer is now called Satan the Devil and his angels are now demons as well.  Satan was defeated in Heaven and this is why he was cast out of Heaven and into the Earth, and I believe this is why you and I face a spiritual warfare every day.

Click below to watch my Facebook Live broadcast this week on introducing Satan.

LIVE BROADCAST

Further Reading:

Revelation 12:7-9 the Bible tells us that “Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon.  And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.  And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world – he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”