Morning Musings: The fall of Satan and our own foolish thoughts

Why did Satan fall? This morning, I was reading Ezekiel 28, which describes the fall of Satan, and it's a fascinating passage, and it answers the question of what made Satan become the archenemy of Satan. The answer is shocking. Pride.

 

The passage starts as a statement to the king of  Tyre, but you quickly realize that its talking about the power behind the king of Tyre, because we're told that he was in Eden, the Garden of God.

 

So what do you see? First, you see a being that is blessed in every possible way. In the description of Satan in Ezekiel 28, you see that he is the model of perfection. Full of wisdom and beauty. Adorned with all kinds of precious stones. Anointed as a guardian cherub. Ordained by God. He walked among the fiery stones. I don know what the fiery stones where, but I'm betting they where amazing.

 

But then look at what he said. "I am a god. I sit on the throne of God." He looked himself and he wanted the same status as the Creator. He wanted his standing to be equal with God. He forgot that he was a created being rather than the creator, and claimed the prerogative of God.

Here's the thing that struck me. Do we not do that when we seek self autonomy? Do we not do that when we think "I can handle this. I got this, I don't need God for this." Is this not us much of the time? "I am in control, I can handle things, I don't need God for this. He can take care the big things I'll take care of this".

 

If we're depending on him for out very breathe how can we say this? If we acknowledge that he orders and numbers our days, and is sovereignly in charge of all creation, how can we say this with a straight face? He is God. He is in control. He alone rules all things. May we not be so foolish as to think that we are in control. May we not be so proud as to think that we've got this. Only God "has this", only God most high is in control.

 

So here's my final though and prayer (my prayer for myself, my family, my church, and for everyone who reads this). May we see at all times that God is God, and we are not. And may we be on our knees crying out for God to work through us what is pleasing to him. May we see that there's nothing that we can do apart from him that will have any real value. All we do is sinful to the core. It's filthy rags. We need Him to be at work. May he be at work for His glory and not ours, and may we acknowledge that he's got this (whatever this is) and we do not.

Satan’s A-Game

I keep re-reading sections of J.D. Greear’s book Gospel: Recovering the Power that Made Christianity Revolutionary. Its loaded with great stuff, and I recommend it to everyone. It’s awesome.

This statement on how Satan tempts us is worth reflecting on. Greear looks at Satan’s attempt to tempt Jesus; coming and trying to get Jesus to think about not having food, even though He (Jesus) is the son of God, and in essence Satan asks, “what are you doing out here Jesus?” Greear then draws out some implications, which I commend to you.

Don't you think it's significant that Satan began his "A-game " by trying to get Jesus to take His eyes off the identity the Father had declared over him and to seek validation in another way? Satan's approach to us is the same. Satan's most effective weapon is to take our eyes off of what God has declared over us in the gospel.

 A lot of times when we think about spiritual warfare we think of it in terms of strange, paranormal phenomena – people levitating 6 feet above their beds, their eyes rolling in the back of their heads and foaming at the mouth, singing back-masked heavy metal music.... Does Satan do stuff like that? I wouldn't put it beneath him. But I'm pretty confident that it's not his main strategy. He attacks our identity in the Gospel. Satan's one direct shot at Jesus didn't include levitation or Ouija boards; nor did he show Jesus pornographic pictures out in the wilderness. He redirected Jesus mind away from God's declaration over Him.

He goes on to look at the fact that Satan’s lies always have the ring of truth to them, and then continues,

Our enemy for example, will points correctly point out our failures. Sometimes he helps us see how badly we're doing at being a Christian by showing as someone who is much better Christian than we are…. Other times he puffs us up with pride. Either strategy is effective, because in either case we take our focus off of Christ’s gift-righteousness and put it onto ourselves. And comparison with others leads us to two of Satan's favorite sins: pride and despair. Pride leads us leads to hardness of heart towards God and hatred of others. Despair leads us to depression, fear, and indulgence in the last of the flesh. This is the cycle he loves to have a sense. Both start with unbelief of the Gospel.

When Satan takes our eyes off of the declaration spoken over us at the Gospel, we lose the security and satisfaction we have in the love and approval of our heavenly Father. The gateway is then opened up for all that the gateway is then open for all the other temptations.