What We Believe About Satan (090323)

The After School Satan Club does not believe in introducing religion into public schools and will only open a club if other religious groups are operating on campus. ASSC exists to provide a safe and inclusive alternative to the religious clubs that use threats of eternal damnation to convert school children to their belief system. Unlike our counterparts, who publicly measure their success in young children's "professions of faith," the After School Satan Club program focuses on science, critical thinking, creative arts, and good works for the community. While engaged in all of these activities, we want clubgoers to have a good time.

AFTER SCHOOL SATAN CLUB MISSION

Proselytization is not our goal, and we’re not interested in converting children to Satanism. After School Satan Clubs will focus on free inquiry and rationalism, the scientific basis for which we know what we know about the world around us. We prefer to give children an appreciation of the natural wonders surrounding them, not a fear of everlasting other-worldly horrors.

All of that reminds me of what the serpent told Eve in Genesis chapter 3:

Genesis 3:4–5 KJV 1900

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 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.

While we may not care to think about all of this, it does support the importance of knowing:

What we believe about Satan

We believe that Satan is a supernatural person, a fallen angel, the author of sin and the cause of the fall; that he is the “god of this age, “the prince of the power of the air,” and the open and declared enemy of God and man; his destiny is eternal punishment in the lake of fire.

Satan is real!

The world - and even Satan himself - does not want you to believe that Satan is real.

In fact, the After School Satan clubs state:

Satan, to us, is not a supernatural being. Instead, Satan is a literary figure that represents a metaphorical construct of rejecting tyranny over the human mind and spirit.

However...

If we accept the Bible as the literal Word of God, then the reality of Satan cannot be denied. (This is why, once again, it is important to know what you believe about God’s Word!)

Much of the ridicule attached to the doctrine of Satan comes from the fact that men have read their fancies and theories into the Scriptures; they have read Milton's Paradise Lost but have neglected the Book of Job; they have considered the experiences of Luther instead of the Epistles of Peter and Jude. To avoid skepticism on the one hand, and ridicule on the other we must resort to the Scriptures to formulate our views of this doctrine.

Evans, William. The Great Doctrines of the Bible (p. 141). Kindle Edition.

Satan is real!

Satan’s existence is proven in the Old Testament.

Satan’s existence is specifically taught in seven Old Testament books:

Genesis

1 Chronicles

Job

Psalms

Isaiah

Ezekiel

Zechariah

Turn to and read Genesis 3:1-7.

Turn to and read Job 1:6-12.

Satan’s existence is proven in the New Testament.

Every writer of the New Testament affirmed the reality of Satan and his activity.

Turn to and read Matthew 4:1-11.

Jesus, during His earthly ministry, not only had interaction with Satan, He also taught the existence of Satan.

Matthew 13:39 KJV 1900

The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

Luke 10:17–18 KJV 1900

And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.

Luke 11:17–18 KJV 1900

But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth. If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub.

John 8:44 KJV 1900

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Where did Satan come from?

Satan is a created being.

Ryrie’s Basic Theology A. The Time of It

If Satan were not a created being then he must be eternal or self-existent, a dualism that is incompatible with monotheism.

John 1:1–3 KJV 1900

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

The two key Scripture passages on the origin of Satan are in Isaiah and Ezekiel.

Turn to and read Isaiah 14:12-14.

Turn to and read Ezekiel 28:11-19.

Satan was perfect in his creation.

Ezekiel 28:15 KJV 1900

Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

Satan was an angel of the order of cherubim.

Ezekiel 28:14 KJV 1900

Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

Note: It is ironic that Satan, who is so unholy now, was once a cherub, a defender of the holiness of God!

But...

Satan sinned!

Ezekiel 28:15 KJV 1900

Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

Ryrie’s Basic Theology A. The Origin of Satan’s Sin

Sin was found in him (Ezek. 28:15). This is really the only verse in the Bible that states exactly the origin of sin. The details of Satan’s sin are specified elsewhere, but the origin is only expressed here. Barnhouse terms it as “spontaneous generation in the heart of this being in whom such magnificence of power and beauty had been combined and to whom such authority and privilege had been given.”

Ryrie’s Basic Theology A. The Origin of Satan’s Sin

Sin was found in Satan; yet he was created perfect. God is not the blameworthy cause of Satan’s sin

We know very little concerning the circumstances of Satan’s original sin. Christ, though, did give us insight into the iniquity that was found in Satan:

John 8:44 KJV 1900

Satan, the father of lies, originated in his heart the first lie in the universe: that he could be like God!

Isaiah 14:13–14 KJV 1900

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.

The Five “I Wills” of Satan

“I will ascend into heaven.”

At the heart of each of Satan’s five statements is the sin of pride.

Simply put, Pride is believing a lie about oneself.

The word heaven as used here is the place of God’s abode and jurisdiction.

“I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.”

God has allowed Satan to have temporary power, but he has never been satisfied with that.

Satan wants men and angels to worship him instead of worshiping God.

“I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north.”

Satan’s great desire is to share - also - in the rule of the universe.

The phrases mount of the congregation and sides of the north refer to God’s throned.

Psalm 48:1–2 KJV 1900

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised In the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, On the sides of the north, the city of the great King.

“I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.”

In the Bible, clouds are symbolic of the divine presence.

Satan wanted to be greater than God Himself.

“I will be like the most High.”

This seems to be Satan’s main objective.

Satan desires to be coequal with God.

Note: Mormons teach that Jesus Christ and Satan are both created beings and are thus spirit brothers making them equal.

One Mormon website states:

God created both Satan and Jesus, and in that respect, they are brothers. But in that respect, every person who ever lived is a brother or sister to every other person, because we are all children of God. If we are all God’s children, then we are siblings to every child of God.

https://mormonchurch.com/587/do-mormons-believe-jesus-and-satan-are-brothers

Note: It’s interesting that the Mormons can’t exalt Satan any higher than he already is so, instead, they bring Jesus Christ down to Satan’s level.

Satan’s suggestion to Eve in the Garden of Eden was that she could become as gods which has, in reality, always been Satan’s desire.

From this, we should gain a new appreciation for the seriousness of the sin of pride!

1 Timothy 3:6 KJV 1900

Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.

From all of that we declare, in our doctrinal statement:

We believe that Satan is a supernatural person, a fallen angel, the author of sin and the cause of the fall;

that he is the “god of this age,”

2 Corinthians 4:5 KJV 1900

For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.

“the prince of the power of the air,”

Turn to and read Ephesians 2:1-9.

Praise the Lord, though, that through Jesus Christ we have been freed from the hold that Satan had upon us!

On Wednesday, we will look at the remainder of what our doctrinal statement has to say about...