Satan's Downfall and our Vanity

Satan's Sin and Judgment

Outside Coventry Cathedral there is a rather striking and evocative sculpture depicting Satan's final defeat. He has been bound by the Archangel Michael. Michael is mentioned few times in the Bible: three times in Daniel, once in Jude and once in Revelation. He is the highest angel, and not having fallen, is more effective than Satan, because he is holy and uncorrupted and working in the original harmony with God as intended.

I can't say I have a very definite view of the timeline of every aspect of Satan's fall. He is being judged progressively. Jesus saw him fall form Heaven like lightning, Luke 10v18. He will be bound, released, and then thrown into the Lake of Fire prepared for him, Revelation 20v10. We see many things in the heavens through a veil. We cannot comprehend eternity fully; it is a higher, more facetted, framework of being than our own. Satan's demise is certain, though.

If, like the Rolling Stones, you are foolish enough to sympathise with him, you'll end up there too. Unless you repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Satan himself is hardened beyond appropriate response toward God, which is a fearful state to end up in. He deserves no sympathy because he is cynically malicious toward anyone but himself. If you worship bitterness, rebellion, envy and a thousand other destructive tendencies you might identify with him, but you are on a loser to end all losers. We might ask why Satan and Satan worship appeals to so many, especially in the more dilute and indirect forms. Some of these are just 'ways of the world' of whom he is ruler. I'd suggest the answer is related to self-aggrandisement, selfish ambition, and attempts to control your own destiny. All this will fail in the end. (Self-aggrandization is a dilute version of self-glorification).

We know Satan corrupted himself and defied God's warnings. He got himself into a condition where he is beyond repentance and therefore beyond redemption.

Some places in the Old Testament allude to his fall.

The Book of Ezekiel moves rapidly from describing the sins of the people of Tyre in Chapters 26 and 27, to those of the Prince of Tyre in Chapter 28. The inhabitants' willingness to prosper while Jerusalem suffered is recorded in 26v2-5. They show selfish ambition and no reverence for the people of God. Judgment is prophesied. Tyre shall be 'in the midst of the sea'. Today, a city named Tyre has been rebuilt close to the ancient Tyre, while the remains of the old city can be seen surrounded by the waters of the Mediterranean. Verse 16 is fulfilled literally; 'your mighty pillars will fall to the ground'. Ancient toppled pillars indeed poke through the waves near the coast.

Chapter 28 moves from describing the Prince of Tyre, an earthly ruler, and on to the 'King of Tyre'. He seems to be a supernatural being. It is here that we find the allusion to Satan.

“Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord GOD: “You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared. You were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you. In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you. By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trade you profaned your sanctuaries; so I brought fire out from your midst; it consumed you, and I turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all who saw you. All who know you among the peoples are appalled at you; you have come to a dreadful end and shall be no more forever.”

Ezekiel 28:12-19

Satan is the entity behind the prosperity and pride of Tyre and its physical ruler. We see his giftedness, and the mistakes he made. Satan is a created being, who wanted to be on a par with God; something God didn't intend. The emergence of envy, violence and pride are described in the passage. 

I want to focus verse 17.

Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.  Ezekiel 28v17

Clearly Satan was exceptionally blessed and gifted. Yet he allowed himself to become discontent. He saw the Trinity and he knew he would never be part of it. He saw humans and their designed place before God and he was envious. Man is made for a likeness with the Father the angels don't have: Hebrews 1v4-6, 2v10-11. We as created beings have to accept our limitations. In his insecurity, Satan, the Devil, acted as if he was responsible for his greatness and giftedness. Pride is excessive self-promotion and self-worship. 

You'll never make yourself more than God intends you to be. Those who usurped the authority or office of others in the Old Testament were severely reprimanded, disciplined or punished. Saul usurped priestly office, as did the sons of Aaron. God took it extremely seriously. When we step out beyond God-given security and calling, we want to show off, to impress. We'll do it at the expense of others, not caring if it results in them looking and feeling bad. We become afraid of being seen for who we really are. We hide our folly, and we hide our hiding. Our pride is a form of inflammation, not genuine healthy growth. Healthy growth is growth in love and servanthood.

Pride like this is clearly not wise. Wisdom, on the other hand, accepts our limitations, our boundaries, so accepting the way God made us. It celebrates who we really are in the eyes of God. Indeed there is a right pride. 

Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else

Galatians 6v4

We are made to play our part, and only our part. True meekness and humility is not cringing low self-worth, it's accurate self-worth.

Satan corrupted himself for the exaggeration of his splendour, or brightness, as the Ezekiel quote says. This 'brightness' could be dangerously close to what we call 'star quality'. People lie, prostitute themselves, cheat, take short cuts in an attempt to build themselves up, or to enhance their reputation, often for fame and fortune. What they do in an attempt to get where they want to be destroys wisdom, and erodes true character. There are many forms of this. If we habitually hide or camouflage our sins and shortcomings, we do so out of some mixture of pride, self-promotion and fear. What went wrong within us, and how do we fix it?

The answer to both questions is through faith in God, though that might not seem obvious. There's a simple story in Genesis 2 and 3 which tells us the essentials. In the Garden, Adam and Eve were told not to eat from a tree. The tree seemed good; it promised to expand their consciousness so they could make moral judgments. But God told them not to partake of it. He didn't tell them to ignore it, but He did tell them not to partake of its fruit. Perfect faith would've trusted God and what He said. All He said was 'don't eat the fruit'. The woman added 'or touch it' when responding to Satan's question, but God didn't say that bit. They were free to eat from all the other trees in there. The command was highly specific and singular; there was a lot else to explore and experiment with. If Adam and Eve had obeyed, they would've made a step in perfecting their faith in God. They would've put substance on their trust in God. Instead, they went the other way, and schism developed steadily. What tragedy!

The problem was a lack of faith in God, and the answer involves faith too. We must put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who has destroyed the power of the Devil. He has brought the old man to death that a new man with a new heart might be born within us. The corruption birthed in us through Adam, the image of Satan, is far too deep for self-remedy. We inherit this condition without consciously choosing it. Only faith in Christ, his finished work, will fix it.

Adam and Eve were tempted into the same self-corruption Satan deceived himself with. Satan is self-deceived. He is permanently in that state. They chose to be unhappy with their God-given state, and eventually with themselves, Genesis 3v7.

If we are happy with ourselves, with who God made us to be, there's no need for strife or selfish ambition. We are secure in His love for us. There's no fear of rejection, mockery or condescension from others. When it comes, we disregard it, unless it's true. We can sympathise with the people who mock us, they do so because they aren't happy. People, unlike Satan, can be redeemed. Safe in God, there won't be fears about a fall in status before other people. We are a New Creation, 2 Corinthians 5v17, with a new name, Revelation 2v17. Our identity and purpose are established by God. We are secure.

God gave us a character and an identity. We are first and foremost a son of love. He also gave us a set of giftings to bless others. The deep lack of self-acceptance and the resulting attempts to radically alter identity we see today are ultimately acts of rebellion against God. They signify a lack of faith in Him and what He has done in creating us. The answer is to acknowledge that He has also paid the price for sin so that we can be redeemed and restored to a full love relationship with Him.

Misrepresenting ourselves to exaggerate our successes and hide our weaknesses and failures will compromise real wisdom. Our brightness, our splendour, rightly proceed from God, and from His wisdom in us. Any efforts we make to elaborate on our splendour will not increase our wisdom, instead they will deplete it or veil it. We are complete in Him, Colossians 2v10. We don't need artificial enhancements.

The answer as always is to seek His face, to share our hearts in humility and contrition, to allow ourselves to be taken over by love. Real love, His love. When we see pride at work in us, we need to repent and believe we are New Creations. By faith, put off the Old Man and put on the New Man. Ask for the grace to make decisions, day-to-day, large and small, in line with His Word and with who we truly are.

God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble. If we belong to Christ, we are basically contrite about our lives. We just need to learn to put the remains of proud thinking to death.

....God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

1 Peter 5:5-6

But he gives more grace. Therefore (the Word) says He opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

James 4:6-7

We can learn in the time and space God has granted us. Satan is beyond truly listening or learning. We are fortunate that God has taken us on as His sons and daughters. He is patient with us, yet He is also a perfectionist. He will complete the work He has begun in us, as we allow Him to.

He's showing us how Heaven does and does not work, and getting us ready.