There is no Devil or Satan, Part 2

I received an email from someone who read my blog post
“There is no Devil or Satan”. The (good) question was;
“If what you say is true, why did Jesus say in Luke 10:18
“I beheld Satan as lighting fall from heaven?” This is
my best answer and conclusion in trying to follow
the instructions to; “Do your best to be the kind of
person God will accept, and give yourself to him. Be a worker
who has no reason to be ashamed of his work, one who
applies the true teaching in the right way” 2Ti 2:15 ERV.

The word “Lighting” occurs 4 times in the New Testament.

#1. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning
(Strongs 796 = “Glare”) fall from heaven. Luk 10:18 KJV.

The verse just before this is; “And the seventy returned
again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject
unto us through thy name” Luk 10:17 KJV. The disciples
returned and in astonishment reported to Jesus the devils
obeyed when commanded in the name of Savior God. Of
course they realized in and of themselves they were powerless.
Jesus said to them, “I saw Satan falling like lightning from
the sky. Luk 10:18 ERV. Jesus gives a first person, singular
of what He saw when He looked at Satan. He actually
tells of His observation of the reaction Satan had. The
holiness and glory that God emitted made the devil see
a “glare”. Much like if you are driving a car into the sunset.
The glare from the sun is blinding to look at directly. This
evil force in no way, shape or form could ascend near to
where God abode.

“For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit
also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of
the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will be like the most High” Isa 14:13-15 KJV.

This sinful nature in man disregards God. It’s natural
course is to attempt to rise up and try to become a god.
Love of self. Pride. “A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands
that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plots,
Feet that are swift to run into mischief, A deceitful witness
that uttereth lies, Him that soweth discord among brethren”
Prov 6:17-19. This is the Devil the Scriptures speak of.

The Devil is pride. Satan is love of self, and rising above
others. Those characteristics are found in the human
heart, the sinful nature.

So what I am trying to convey is if we rightly divide the
Word of God, there is no supreme commander and leader
of hell called the Devil or Satan. This is NOT to say there is
no devils or demons in hell. They are there. They are
very real to us. They are a threat to us, but only if we
allow it.

Our New Testament if full of instructions to follow the
narrow path of life. “Jesus answered, “I am the way,
the truth, and the life. The only way to the Father is
through me” Joh 14:6 ERV. We are to pick up our
cross and follow Him daily. “Finally, my brethren, be
strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might” Eph 6:10.

While the Christian is alive in this world, and cloaked
with this body, we are walking in a purgatory between
heaven and hell. It is called a narrow path, because we
are walking in a mine field. The battlefield is the mind.
When temptations, trials and tribulations unfold before us,
how do we react? Do we ascend into the cross and the
blood of Jesus, or give in and descend to the wishes of hell?

What about when times are good? When are walking in
the prosperity and blessing of God? Is the pink cloud we
are riding on just a trap door to fall from if we forget where
all the blessings came from in the first place?

Hebrews chapter 11 records the deeds of those who choose
not to live in a season of pleasure and sin; “And others had
trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds
and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder,
were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about
in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted,
tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they
wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves
of the earth” Heb 11:36-38 KJV.

The ascribing of sin to a supreme commander called the
Devil or Satan is a sad and grave error. Like the serpent in
the garden of God;

“And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every
tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the
tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of
knowledge of good and evil” Gen 2:9 KJV. “Now the serpent
was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD
God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God
said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?, For God
doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes
shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing
good and evil” Gen 3:1,5 KJV.

What where the first words out of Eve’s mouth afterward,
when in the presence of God? (You might say) “The Devil
made me do it!!”. Oh my, can anyone give me an AMEN??

These are two errors in doctrine of the Christian church
today;

1) At the cross, Jesus took our sins away. When God the
Father looks at us, He sees only His Son. This atonement
is our redemption and salvation. We are made “white
as snow”.

The problem with this is it splits God into three separate
entities. Each one has it’s own distinct existence. This
fractures truth and dissipates God’s love and glory. It
waters down the “good news” of the gospel. The Son
of Man and The Son of God formed a bridge at the cross.
All of the universe marveled at the LOVE that could perform
such a thing. But we are called on to do our part in salvation through regeneration.

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and
by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their
lives unto the death” Rev 12:11 KJV. They lived according
to the Word of God in faith. They trusted in the cross to
deliver them. They lost their lives, only to gain it back
again. To the seven churches of Revelation it is promised
to each one of them; “..He that overcometh..”. Not,
He that trusted in the cross for atonement.

We have to look deep into our hearts and say; “But we are
all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as
filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities,
like the wind, have taken us away” Isa 64:6 KJV. The
Devil is not something foreign and outside of me, it is
something that is part of me, and is inside of me.

“And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose
you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which
your fathers served that were on the other side of the
flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell:
but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD”
Jos 24:15 KJV.

So then, Luke 10:18 paints a picture of an evil dominated
heart ascending up to try and take the place of God.
To form it’s own. But as oil and vinegar, good and
evil cannot exist together in the kingdom of God. God’s
holiness created such a blinding “glare”, the selfish evil
heart had to descend quickly back to where it belonged.
Into the abyss of eternal hell.

But the Christian heart who “Set your affection on things
above, not on things on the earth” Col 3:2 KJV.
They shall see the Son of Man, and the glare of the
lightening will not blind them.

“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet
appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall
appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is”
1Jn 3:2.

#2. “For as the lightning (Strongs 796 = “Glare”) cometh
out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall
also the coming of the Son of man be” Mat 24:27 KJV

#3. “His countenance was like lightning (Strongs 796 =
“Glare”) and his raiment white as snow:” Mat 28:3 KJV

#4. “For as the lightning (Strongs 796 = “Glare”) that
lighteneth (Strongs 797 flash as lightning: lighten, shine)
out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other
part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day”
Luk 17:24 KJV

This last verse provides much illumination to the truth.
“For as the lightening (“Glare”) that lighteneth..”
(“lighten, shine”). “Lightening” produces a blinding
glare that obscures the path. But lighteneth provides
light and shines guidance to the path.

One path is for the goats, and one path is for the
sheep; “And before him shall be gathered all nations:
and he shall separate them one from another, as a
shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats”
Mat 25:32 KJV.

Hallelujah!