Where did satan come from?
Satan (The Devil)
Where did he come from? Who is he? What is his purpose?
How much power does he have? What can he do to me?
What can he do for me?
There are many different ideas about where satan came from, who he is, what his purpose is, how much power he has and etc. But there is only one scriptural answer to each of these questions. So let us look at the scriptures and find the only true scriptural answers to who this guy really is.
Where did he come from and Who Is he?
Please stop and read the first 3 chapters of Genesis before continuing.
If we look at Genesis we find that it is the Creation account of the forming of the heavens and earth and ALL that are on, in or around it.
Gen 1:31-2:2 31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. 2 Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished.
So we find that God has now created everything. So if everything has now been created we must be able find every and anything mentioned in the bible here.
So lets look for satan, we know he is called many things, “serpent”, “satan”, “devil”, “accuser”, “adversary”, “spoiler”, “deceiver”, “dragon”, “evil one”,” belial” , “liar” and many more.
If God truly created everything in the beginning of Genesis we should be able to find satan here.
Remember there was nothing and now there is everything, all created by God.
Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?" 2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'" 4 Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
Well hello- here he is , in the garden created for the man by God. What is he doing here , why would he appear here, this is a special blessed place made for man especially well prepared and peaceful and quiet. Lets check back and see where he may have entered this creation.
Gen 1:24 Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind"; and it was so. 25 And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
Apparently he was created with all the other creatures on the sixth day. And isn’t this an interesting bit of information -- Gen 2:19 Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field.
It appears that Adam must have named the “serpent” when he named the other living things. In other words he had already met the serpent and didn’t realize who he was. So it appears that satan is in the garden, but he has no authority or power, he has not yet had an effect on the man.
False Teaching Exposed
Now before we go any further we need to address the issue of what some people claim to be the beginning of satan. There are many that teach that satan is a fallen angel, which is absolutely not true, so before we can go on with the study of the scriptural account of satan‘s beginning we need to show scripturally that it is not possible for satan to be a fallen angel of God.
Col 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 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.
Read these scriptures closely, No scripture contradicts another. Look at them closely, and go check the context, these scripture mean just what they say so lets apply them.
Look at this, God created ALL things, principality or power or whatever it is God created ALL. And He created it for Him. This means that God has a purpose for creating satan. But remember, God said that all things He had created were “good” so that simply must mean that satan is “good” for the purpose for which he was created. We will get to that purpose later.
1 John 3:8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning.
How could satan be a fallen angel of God if he “has sinned from the beginning”.
2 Peter 2:4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;
If satan was a fallen angel of God he would still be in chains and unable to be roaming around on the earth.
Jude 5 But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; .
Second witness that satan would be still bound in chains and unable to be roaming on the earth if he in fact was a fallen angel of God.
Isa 54:16 "Behold, I have created the blacksmith Who blows the coals in the fire, Who brings forth an instrument for his work; And I have created the spoiler to destroy.
God clearly says here that HE created satan.
Eph 3:9 and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ
Rev 4:11 "You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created."
And there are so many more scriptures that prove that satan was created by God and for God and for His purposes.. So now we know who this satan is, he is a creation (servant) of God , created for the purposes of God. And where he came from, he was created by God during the creation week. We will in the course of this study find out what power he possesses and for what purposes God created him .
How can anyone believe that a once holy angel of God is able to outsmart God and become that powerful devil that many people talk about and teach? The only reason I can think of is found in 2 Thess 2:9-12
9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
They have been deceived and because it is more important to believe what they have been taught than scriptural (God’s) truth, God has sent them the strong delusion and they believe the lie. What other reason can there be with the preponderance of scriptural evidence that God has indeed created satan for His purposes.
For what purpose did God create him?
God does nothing without a purpose , so what was the purpose in creating this satan. We will need to again go to the place in Genesis where he first appears to discover his purpose. Remember God said that everything He created was “good. Satan is “good” in the sense that he is good at what he was created for, not that he is “good” in the sense of being good.
Gen 3: Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?" 2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'" 4 Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil .
Here it is he is attempting to get the woman (man ) to disobey God. If God has said everything He has created is good, and we find this satan tempting the man to disobey God then his purpose must be to be a tempter, to cause the mankind to not obey and follow God. To as it were, test man’s willingness to follow God and His plan. If we go to scripture we find that
The following scriptures and many others confirm this. So we know he was created to be a tempter. God Himself tempts no man, so the devil was created to be the tempter that God needed to test (prove) mans commitment to God.
James 1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
Matt 4:1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
Luke 4:2 being tempted for forty days by the devil.
Luke 4:13 Now when the devil had ended every temptation,
From the following scriptures we see he is our adversary.
1 Tim 5:14 Therefore I desire that the younger widows marry, bear children, manage the house, give no opportunity to the adversary to speak reproachfully. 15 For some have already turned aside after Satan.
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
He is the enemy of our flesh. The tempter, adversary, deceiver, destroyer, spoiler and at least 25 other names . Remember in scripture the name is the character of the person.
What Power does he have?
Lets look at satan from a perspective that is seldom used. According to
James 1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
He can tempt us but only in the areas that we have desires of our own that are not of God. Can you see where I am going? If we can understand that satan was created by God to do a job and that he only has the power in our life that we give him by submitting to our desires that he exposes by tempting us. So if we do not follow thru on those secret desires when he exposes them , He is powerless in our life. He has the power to tempt, to try to get us to destroy ourselves but no further power unless we give it to him by following through on OUR desires that he has exposed. All we have to do is submit those areas that are not given to God over to God instead of submitting to satan by following through on our hidden desires and he has NO power.
1 John 3:8 For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
What can he do TO Me?
He can tempt and mislead you. He can expose your hidden desires that are not of God. He can temp you in situations where you have to make a choice. He can not do anything to you unless you fall for his schemes as did Eve in the garden. He cannot “do” anything to you without your consent. If you make the wrong choice and follow through on the exposed desires instead of crucifying them as scripture tells us to, then you give him consent. Do you see it?
Gal 5:24 And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Rom 7:25 So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
What can he do FOR Me?
He can actually help you, if you are truly sold out to the Lord. But only if you completely understand what power and authority he has and respond properly when he comes on the scene. In fact I have found the best way to get him to leave you alone is to always stop and look at the situation when he comes on the scene. In other words when you are being tempted, or find yourself in a situation where you have a choice of doing the scriptural thing or something else. You stop and say satan get behind me. You know if it a temptation or a leaning in the wrong direction etc it is NOT from God so it must be from satan.
Matt 16:23 But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."
Luke 4:8 And Jesus answered and said to him, "Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.'"
And you must be ever mindful and on the alert that he will always come to you when it is an opportune time for him. When you are tired, confused, upset , in other words not really on the alert. You have to train yourself to always look to God FIRST in every situation, then he will have no power over you. But he can be an instrument of God , exposing the areas of your life that still must be surrendered to God.
Luke 4:13 Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.
Conclusion!
Remember that as scripture says he is like a roaring lion seeking who he may devour. A lion that is roaring knows that he has no power to subdue his enemy and is hoping to scare his prey so that he may overpower him. The strong lion that can destroy him enemy is quiet and waiting for the time to strike. Satan has the wisdom to sneak up on you but because he has no power, he has to rely on enticing you to destroy yourself by submitting to your hidden desires. There is no reason to fear him UNLESS you have areas of your life you wish to keep from God, areas that you desire to walk in your flesh. And if that is the case you should be very fearful.
So my dear friend , understand who he is, what his purpose is and ALWAYS submit to God in every situation and satan will never have any authority in your life. And if or when you do fall, quickly repent and get right with God and you shall be perfected and become a glorious child of our loving God.
1 Peter 5:8- Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. 10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. 11 To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Charles LaFoe 10/29/2009
