“The devil is a many-sided demagogue. To the psychologist he says, ‘I will give you new knowledge and understanding.’ To the occultist he will say, ‘I will give you the keys to the last secrets of creation.’ He confronts the religionist and the moralist with a mask of integrity and promises them the help of heaven. And finally, to the rationalist and the liberalist he says, ‘I am not there. I do not even exist.’ The devil is a skillful strategist. He is the master of every tactic of the battle field. He befogs the front. He hides behind a camouflage of empty religious talk. He operates through the use of the latest scientific method. He successfully fires and launches his arguments on the social and humane plane. And his sole purpose is to deceive, to entice, and to ensnare his victims.

Who then, we ask, is sufficient for these things? Who can withstand such a strategist and tactician? Only the One who has ventured all in His battle against the prince of darkness. It was He who repulsed the devil in the wilderness. It was He who destroyed the veil of darkness, and who became the Savior of Calvary, having defeated all the powers of Satan. We hear the triumphant cry of Paul as he writes in Col. 2:15,

     Christ has disarmed the principalities and powers,

     He has made an open example of them,

     He has triumphed over them in His cross.

     It is to Christ then that we look. To Him all power has been given. In everything He must have the pre-eminence (Col. 1:18).” – Kurt E. Koch

Origins of satan

The Holy Bible is replete with references to the reality of a personal devil who is a rebel angel (or cherub). Many of these references are spoken by Jesus Christ (John 8:44). The devil was created perfect and full of wisdom. Yes, created. Since he is a created being his abilities are finite and thus don’t have the attributes of his Creator. The devil is not omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. Despite all that his beauty was superb. Out of the multitudes and multitudes of heavenly beings (Rev. 5:11), he was privileged to be next to God. He must have once had an intimate relationship with God as he was an anointed cherub who covered God with his wings (Ezekiel 28:14).

Before the devil was known as satan, which means adversary [source], his name was lucifer. In Hebrew, the name lucifer is translated from the Hebrew word “helel,” which means shining one [source].

He has other names, of course. Some of his names are very descriptive. He is called the devil, Abaddon or Apollyon (Rev. 9:11), Beelzebub (Mark 3:22), Belial (2 Cor. 6:15), the serpent (Rev. 12:9), the red dragon (Rev. 20:2), a liar and a murderer (John 8:44), a strong man (Matt. 12:24), prince of the devils (Matt. 12:24), the god of this age or world (2 Cor. 4:4), the tempter (1 Thess. 3:5), the evil one (Matt. 6:13; 13:19,38), the prince of this world (John 14:30), the thief (John 10:10), and the lawless one (2 Thess. 2:9).

As with every other angelic being, the devil was created before the foundations of the world (Job 38:7). He was created perfect in his ways (Eze. 28:15) until at some point in his service to the Almighty God pride swelled up in his heart because of his beauty, and he corrupted his wisdom for the sake of his splendor (Eze. 28:17). The devil was perhaps above every other angel in heaven or at least a very high ranking one. His appearance was beautiful and dazzling. He radiated light and glory. He was covered with gold and shimmering jewels.

This is perhaps the reason why God finds pride an abomination (Prov. 16:5; Prov. 6:16-19) for it was pride that led to the first act of sin. I have seen pride manifest through people when praying for deliverance for them. The demon(s) will have the person have a prideful smile or laugh to mock the deliverance as if conveying to me “Who do you think you are coming against me?” Pride is certainly a salient trait of satan’s kingdom.

In Ezekiel 28 it reads:

12 “You were the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes Was prepared for you on the day you were created. 14 You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.”

Because of his rebellion, the devil (lucifer) lost his place in heaven.

In Isaiah 14 it reads:

“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! 13 For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’”

He wanted to be like the most high God (Isa. 14:14). He desires to be God. He lied to Eve and told her she could be like god. Even to this very day, he whispers to people that they can become like god and many believe it. Somehow the anointed cherub convinced one-third of all angelic beings to follow him in his rebellion against his Creator. Consequently, all of them lost their place in heaven (Rev. 12:4). Could it be the devil tried to convince the angels that they could also be like god, the same lie he told Eve in the Garden of Eden and New Agers today?

The Works of Satan in the World

Satan’s ego is so immense and so self-centered he dared to tempt his Creator to worship him in exchange for all the kingdoms of the world (Matt. 4:9; Luke 4:7). Indeed, Satan is the god (lowercase ‘g’) of this age until Jesus Christ returns to reign. Satan has authority and influence over all the world. He was the power behind the successive rulers of Tyre, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, and all of those evil rulers that we have seen come and go in the history of the world.

The devil’s very being was perhaps made up of instruments. He was probably a music worship leader in heaven before he fell (remember Eze. 28:13 reads “..the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.” and Isa. 14:11 reads “and the noise of thy viols [stringed instruments]”?). He is the apparent spirit behind the music industry which produces music that glorifies the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. He knows how powerful an influence music can be so he uses it for his wicked agenda. Several pop musicians have admitted themselves that spirits work through them for their music [check out Evidence Satan Is Behind Your Music].

No individual in the history of the world has caused more pain, sorrow, and suffering. The devil is behind all demonic possession, oppression, or influence. He takes glee in the destruction of people as we are made in the image of the Creator. His mission is to kill, steal, and destroy (John 10:10). If God’s hand of protection wasn’t over people, satan and his angels would kill all of humanity in a moment. He is like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour (1 Pet. 5:8). He hates humanity with such ferocity he accuses believers day and night before God (Rev. 12:10).

Satan wants to redirect all worship and glory from the Creator to creation whether it is to worthless idols, money, a girlfriend or boyfriend, or even self. Satan’s demons love to receive worship which can be done not just through worthless idols but through human agents such as gurus, celebrities, or the personality of cult figures.

Satan is behind all the false religions and cults in the world. He is the one behind Buddhism, Islam, Roman Catholicism, Scientology, Theosophy, Freemasonry, New Age, Hinduism, Shintoism, Taoism, Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Black Hebrew Israelites, Santeria, Voodoo, etc. All false religions and cults lie about who Jesus Christ really is and have a false Gospel leading many on the broad road to destruction. For a false Jesus and a false Gospel can’t save anyone.

The devil even used Simon Peter’s tongue to try to persuade Jesus to not go to the cross (Matt. 16:22). He causes illness and infirmities (Luke 13:10-17) and mental illnesses (Matt. 17:14–18). Satan is the spirit over all the children of disobedience (Eph. 2:2). He is the one behind every destructive addiction from pornography to drugs. Satan is the one who puts it in a person’s heart to commit infidelity, to have hatred, and to not forgive others. He is the one behind all the murders and terrorist attacks. He is the one behind all the greed, lust, gossip, slander, and pride. He sows seeds of error and doubt to people (Matt. 13:39). He blinds the minds of unbelievers (Mark 4:15; Acts 26:18).

He is behind the powers of divination such as with the Ouija Board, psychics, seances, channeling, I Ching, crystal work, and palmistry. He is also behind occult practices such as hypnosis and witchcraft. He is the one who makes evil look good and good look evil. He wraps poison in a neat package so people can receive it. That’s how so many people get involved with the New Age when at the core it really is repackaged Eastern mysticism for Westerners.