Sunday, February 5, 2023 AM
THE GOSPEL OUR FOUNDATION: The Cause of Chaos
Mike Teel, Pastor
FOCAL PASSAGE:
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. —Genesis 1:1-3
THE
DESCRIBED
1. THE LOFTY
–Satan’s fall from heaven is symbolically described in two passages of Old Testament Scriptures.
12 How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! 13 You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. 14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” —Isaiah 14:12-14 …
12 ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “‘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 adorned you: carnelian, chrysolite and emerald, topaz, onyx and jasper, lapis lazuli, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared. 14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. 15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. 16 Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. 17 Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings. 18 By your many sins and dishonest trade you have desecrated your sanctuaries. So I made a fire come out from you, and it consumed you, and I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching. —Ezekiel 28:12-18
–You will notice these passages describe why Satan fell, but they do not say when the fall occurred.
–Jesus, the eternal Son of God, witnessed Satan’s fall, and He mentions it in Luke 10:18.
We know that the fall occurred but when?
2. TIME
FOR THE CREATION OF ANGELS
–Scripture suggests they were created before the earth.
4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. 5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? 6 On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone—7 while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? —Job 38:4-7
–We also know that Satan fell before he tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden. (Genesis 3:1-5)
–Satan’s fall, therefore must have occurred somewhere after the time angels were created and before the Man’s placement in the Garden of Eden.
WHO IS
?
15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. 16 Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. 17 Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings. 18 By your many sins and dishonest trade you have desecrated your sanctuaries. So I made a fire come out from you, and it consumed you, and I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching. —Ezekiel 28:15-18
1. THE
–He is the personification of evil and goes by many names – Satan, Lucifer, the Prince of Demons, the Father of Lies.
2. WHO IS
?
–The prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah tell us that Satan was an angel known as the “Morning Star,” translated as Lucifer.
–As an angel, Lucifer walked on God’s holy mountain and was anointed to serve God as a member of the guardian “Cherubim,” among the highest rank of angels in God’s holy host Second only to the “Seraphim.”
16 “Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. —Isaiah 37:16
–In heaven, the Cherubim hold such a position of celestial prominence that God Himself sits “enthroned between the Cherubim.”
MOTIVE FOR
1. POSITION OF
–As a creation of God, we know that Lucifer was created good.
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. —Genesis 1:31
–In fact, Scripture asserts that Lucifer started out as “blameless” in all his ways, and as the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
12 ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “‘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 adorned you: carnelian, chrysolite and emerald, topaz, onyx and jasper, lapis lazuli, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared. 14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. 15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. —Ezekiel 28:12-15
–God’s ordination of Lucifer as a cherub demonstrates that God trusted Lucifer enough to give him a position of power among the heavenly angels (Ezekiel 28:14).
2. NOT
–Lucifer was not satisfied with the power and gifts God gave him, he wanted more.
–Lucifer became so consumed with pride over his God-given splendor that he became corrupt and violent, no longer willing to serve under God.
–This sense of superiority led Lucifer to use his free will to scheme to be greater than God, and to assemble an army of angels to help him carry out his plot.
15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. 16 Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. 17 Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings. —Ezekiel 28:15-17
13 You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. 14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High. —Isaiah 14:13-14
3Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. 4 Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. —Revelation 12:3-4, 9
–Satan’s sin was one of pride in rebelling against God and attempting to take from God the praise and glory reserved only for the Lord Almighty.
–Pride tops the list of sins God hates…
16 There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes (prideful look), a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, —Proverbs 6:16
–Fortunately for us, Satan’s prideful scheme to usurp God’s throne failed.
3. OUR
REBELLION
–The unfortunate thing is that we too often rebel against God through our own pride.
–When we think we know better than God and choose to follow our own paths.
THAT LED TO CHAOS
–As punishment for his disobedience and grave dishonoring of his angelic post, God cast Lucifer out of heaven by hurling him and his army of fallen angels to Earth. (Ezekiel 28:16-18; Revelation 12:9)
15 But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.
Once Lucifer was thrown out of heaven, he realized he didn’t have the power to directly take God’s throne from Him. —Isaiah 14:15
–At this point Lucifer, set his sights on overpowering God in another way— to ultimately destroy everything God created, and by tempting God’s children to abandon Him.
LIVE IT OUT
–How has pride affected you and your relationship with God?
–What chaos and disorganization has Satan been successful in creating in your life?
–Have you or will you allow God to recreate you?
What chaos and disorganization has Satan been successful in creating in your life?
Have you or will you allow God to recreate you?