A Rebellion Of Many Angels

Today we start Section 2 in the book by Randy Alcorn If God is Good. Section two is titled Understanding Evil: Its Origins, Nature, And Consequences. Chapter six looks at evil’s entry into the universe via the rebellion of many angels.

I really enjoyed reading this chapter, it very simply explains the origin of evil and why it exists. As I see it the problem for most people in this world, unfortunately, is that many more people believe intelligent life exists on other planets (65%) than those (56%) who say they believe in God “as described in the Bible.”

Therefore, if you do not have a biblical worldview, you really don’t have anything substantial to get you through the suffering and evil we all experience in some way in this life. Consider that the U.S. experienced the highest-ever combined rates of deaths due to alcohol, drugs, and suicide during the first year of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Man

The author opens chapter six with the story of Jesus casting out a legion of demons from a demon-possessed man living among the tombs in the country of the Gadarenes. You can read the account in Mark 5:1-20.

This story reveals much about demons, people, and Jesus. Demons are real. Moreover, demons can oppress, attack, and possess people. Many times, the demonic realm will empower people to do evil, which always does them great harm and usually others also.

A person only needs to watch the news. Many times, when some horrific evil has happened, if the perpetrators haven’t killed themselves, they will say: “I heard voices in my head telling me to do so and so.”

While we have been conditioned in our day and age to believe that these people are psychotic or mentally ill,  perhaps they are also demon-possessed just as the man in the above scripture was. There are people who are being manipulated, oppressed, or even possessed by demonic spirits.

The author states that “people possessed by the demonic realm are pushed to hurt themselves and inflict evil and suffering on God’s image bearers.” He goes on to say, “Perhaps, this is the closest demons can come to avenging God for casting them out of heaven because of their sin.”

Jesus Christ’s Authority

Make no mistake demons recognize Christ’s absolute authority over them. Jesus commands them at will, and in loving mercy delivers a man from his miserable life.

This extreme case is relevant to all of us. In cultures where everyone realizes there’s a supernatural world, demons make themselves known as false gods to intimidate people demanding worship and exacting retribution.

However, in modern western cultures where people routinely deny the supernatural, demons often accomplish their purposes more effectively by flying under the radar and working covertly. If we had eyes to see, we’d realize that all around us fallen humans become the unwitting tools of evil spirits harming themselves and others and living wretched lives sometimes quietly under the facade of social responsibility.

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” – Ephesians 6:12

The Rebellion

God created all angels good. In Genesis 1:31 we see that everything that God created He called “very good”.

In Ezekiel 28:12-19 (ESV) we see the statement that God created Lucifer “blameless” and only later did Lucifer become wicked.

It’s misleading to say, “God created Satan and demons.” Rather, God created Lucifer and other righteous angels, who later chose to rebel against God and in doing so became Satan and the demons. Evil entered the universe through Satan’s then-fallen angels.

The great Archangel who rebelled against his creator is called the devil which means slander, or Satan which means accuser. Satan is called many things throughout the Bible. You can find a list of those names by clicking here.

Satan and the demons dreamed of having authority over themselves and exalting themselves above God. They sinned by desiring to have more power than God appointed to them.

God knew that the angelic beings He created would rebel; their rebellion did not surprise Him.

“For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.” – Colossians 1:16

When, But Not How

The Bible tells us about the entry of evil into the universe, but evil’s ultimate origin remains a mystery. Scripture addresses when evil came into being but not how. Deuteronomy 29:29 states:

“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”

God has chosen to remain silent on this question which may mean something significant. If evil is irrational how can its point of origin be rationally explained? Perhaps God does not offer any explanation because evil defies explanation. It might make sense to an all-knowing God, but no sense at all to us.

Satan’s Work

Immediately after the fall, God revealed both Satan’s and humanity’s roles in God’s redemptive plan. God pronounced a punishment on Satan after the devil seduced Adam and Eve to sin (see Genesis 3:14-15).

Satan’s work is evil and suffering, exactly what the messianic promise of Genesis 3 is said to ultimately defeat. 1 John 3:8 states:

“He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”

The Son of God

The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. From the beginning, God planned that His Son should:

• deal the death blow to satan, evil, and suffering,
• to reverse the Curse,
• redeem a fallen humanity, and
• repair a broken world.

The Bible tells us that Jesus having disarmed the powers and authorities made a public spectacle of them triumphing over them by the cross (see Colossians 2:15).

Jesus’s triumph ensured Satan’s defeat, only the execution of Satan’s sentence remains.

“The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone … And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”– Revelation 20:10

Never forget the devil sits on death row. He lashes out against God’s image bearers, trying to kill God in effigy.

“…Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”– Revelation 12:12

God Has No Equal

Satan is NOT God’s opposite, fighting a cosmic duel with an uncertain outcome. We know that the opposite of light is darkness, and the opposite of good is evil, but when asked to name the opposite of God, people often answer “Satan”, but that’s false.

Michael the righteous Archangel is Satan’s opposite.

• Satan it’s finite.
• Our Creator God is infinite.

God has NO equal!

Do not be deceived there is not a cosmic battle between God and Satan. Their conflict better resembles the undefeated world heavyweight champion who is God, taking on a cranky 3-year-old, who is Satan.

We see the ultimate outcome of Satan in Revelation 20:7-9.

Satan gathers people for battle, and they march toward Jerusalem. But in the end, one side suffers not a single casualty, while the other side has not a single survivor. Fire consumes all the enemies of God. The whole conflict ends pretty much before it even begins. It’s not a battle at all. It’s an execution.

Satan and God do not engage in hand-to-hand combat, with Satan sometimes getting the edge. That’s not the Bible; that’s Star Wars.

Many make Satan too big and God too small.

Scripture always describes Satan’s power in the context of God’s absolute sovereignty.

Satan remains under God’s authority at all times.

The devil is nowhere close to being omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, or anything like God. Likewise, the same goes for demons.

The Big Question

When Christ commands, the devil himself obeys. The question, then, is, “why doesn’t God once and for all command the devil to stop inflicting evil and suffering on the human beings God loves?”

Scripture ascribes to Satan and demons’ vast power we dare not underestimate. Satan inflicts evil and suffering on both the world and God’s people. Though Satan seeks to devour us he poses no threat to God. We are no match for Satan, yet we’re told: “submit yourselves to God.”

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” – James 4:7

Notice that we should never quote the last part of the verse without the first. We must submit ourselves to God. This alone is the basis upon which we can successfully resist the devil.

Satan’s Main Strategy

Satan, the ultimate evildoer sometimes disguises his evil as goodness. 2 Corinthians 11:14 states:

“…Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.“

His main strategy always begins with questioning God’s word: “did God really say?” Satan labors to keep unbelievers from trusting Christ.

^“…whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” – 2 Corinthians 4:4

“So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” – Revelation 12:9

He battles those who believe. We see in Ephesians 6:11:

“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”

Moreover, he works to keep believers from trusting our savior. Therefore, it should not surprise us when he uses evil and suffering, the very thing he specializes in, to get us to question God’s goodness, love, power, or knowledge.

Never Forget

Satan can attack our faith only within God’s set limits. Jesus said to Peter: “… “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.” Luke 22:31

The devil sought to destroy Peter’s faith just as he tried to demolish Jobs. Satan can only bring into a person’s life what the all-knowing and all-powerful God gives him permission to bring.

God has veto power over Satan. Perhaps one day we’ll learn how many times God refused satan’s request to bring greater temptations and hardships upon us.

John piper writes, “Satan’s fall and ongoing existence are for the glory of Christ. The Son of God, Jesus Christ, will be more highly honored and more deeply appreciated and loved in the end because He defeats Satan. Not the moment after Satan fell but through millennia of long-suffering, patience, humility, servanthood, suffering, and decisively through his own death.

God has both the power and the right to destroy Satan and the demons now, which would demonstrate His justice. However, He wants to display His other attributes as well, among them grace, mercy, and patience.

Every day that God delays His final judgment against Satan is one more day to extend His grace to a needy world. Moreover, it is one more day for His kindness in Christ to accomplish in this fallen world the work for which we will be praising Him 10 million years from now.