A Killer In The Midst - Part 1 Series

A killer in our midst – Part 1

My grandfather was a story teller – well, sort of. A Baptist preacher, he told stories that put you in the Biblical passage. He painted pictures that, at times, were so vivid you not only saw what was going on but you heard what the people were saying. The Bible was a living book to him.

Over the past 10 years or so, I have begun to “live in the Bible” as I read it. The places and conversations – I see and hear them. As a Teacher, I believe this is one of the ways the Lord is teaching me about His book.

You are about to hear a narrative about the fall of man. My prayer is that through this story you will see, perhaps in a different way, how Satan relentlessly works to deceive the Body of Christ in the same way he deceived Adam and Eve.

Long before he appears in Genesis 3...

Lucifer had rejected God’s love. The hands of love had created him – an angel like no other – second only to God in wisdom and perfect in beauty (Ezekiel 28:12). He is the only angel that the Bible says had been in “Eden the garden of God” (verse 13) and was the anointed cherub who was on “the holy mountain of God” (verse 14).

Lucifer had spent more time with the Creator than any of the other angels. The angels – millions and millions of them – knew him. They believed he was the Creator’s confidant. They believed only the Creator was greater than Lucifer and they treated him that way.

And he let it go to his head.

Lucifer began to believe he could rule heaven as well or better than the Creator. “I can do this. I should be in charge, not the Creator. The angels will follow me, I’m sure of it,” he thinks to himself and plots his rebellion. I’m sure that was part of it. But there was something else at work in him that could only be satisfied if he ruled heaven.

• He saw how the heavenly host adored the Creator.

• He saw how the heavenly host obeyed the Creator.

• He saw how the heavenly host praised the Creator.

• He saw how the heavenly host worshiped the Creator.

He saw and then coveted what he saw.

The Bible says Lucifer was created perfect in all his ways “until iniquity (every imaginable evil and wickedness) was found in him” (Ezekiel 28:15). Remember, God created him perfect.

But Lucifer was not a robot to be told what to do. Neither are we. Lucifer has free will to make his own choices and so do we. He chose to rebel against the Creator – so can we. In verse 17 we see the cause of Lucifer’s downfall and, if we’re not careful, our own.

“Thine heart was lifted up [with pride] because of thy beauty, thou has corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness...”

Somewhere along the way, Lucifer forgot how much he was loved.

Pride had corrupted how Lucifer thought about the Creator. He began to believe he could care for the Creator’s realm better than the Creator himself. How dangerous is pride to us today? When we believe we can live our lives however we choose and still believe we will spend an eternity with God we’re living in pride.

Because of his perceived position, Lucifer persuaded one third of the angels (Revelation 12:4) to walk away from the Creator. Never underestimate Satan’s ability “to talk you into doing something.” He and the angels were cast out of heaven – banished from the place where eternal life dwells – because of pride and what it produced in their lives.

The odds of our spending eternity with God decrease when we walk in pride – when the Bible is not the standard we follow to govern how we live.

Lucifer’s pride manifested itself in behavior that has become the hallmark of his presence today, even among the Body of Christ. Look at First Timothy, especially the words that I’ve highlighted.

(2) “For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, (3) Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, (4) Traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; (5) Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof from such turn away.” (I Timothy 3:2-5)

(When you have some time, read this passage again and then the definitions of these words. And remember, this passage is addressing the Body of Christ.)

Lucifer and his angels turned their backs on the Creator. They walked away from love. Now their eternity is death – complete and irreconcilable separation from God – with no possible reinstatement of life. Pride did this. Let that sink in.