V Indicates Scripture or other reference

Before God created this universe that we can see, He created a vast and everlasting domain in the heavens. It is a spiritual domain that cannot be seen, heard, touched, or even understood by our natural senses. This heavenly domain is populated by legions of cherubim, seraphim, and other orders of angels. And the highest-ranking of these angelic beings was once called Lucifer – “the shining one.”

No other created being could worship God more wonderfully than Lucifer. This “shining one” could praise his Creator in song, in music, and by casting all of his created beauty down at  God’s feet. But Lucifer did not worship God in his heart. He thought he was “too good” to be under anyone else, even his Creator. And to get “out from under,” Lucifer rebelled against God, and convinced one-third of the heavenly host to follow him into rebellion. Here is the way God’s prophet Isaiah describes Lucifer’s act of original sin:  

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 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. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

Isaiah 14:12-15

“I will!” said the rebel, as he rose up defiantly against the Lord God Almighty. “I will do whatever I want; and I will do it my way!” Five times Lucifer said “I will!”; and then God slapped him down, changed his name to Satan – “the enemy of God” – and threw him and all his followers out of Heaven. And, at the end of time, the Book of Revelation assures us,‘they shall be brought down to hell”:

And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

Revelation 20:1-3

Yes, Satan was cast out of Heaven before the beginning of time. And yes, he surely will be cast into hell at the end of time. But during this period we call “time,” Satan is right here on earth, “weakening the nations,” pulling the same tricks he tried to pull in Heaven – trying to get people to worship him instead of God.

Satan’s original act of sin in this world is described in the book of Genesis, chapter three:

Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 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. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.

Genesis 3:1-8

The serpent began by subtly challenging God’s Word: “Yea, hath God said....?” At that point, Eve could have silenced the serpent – once and for good – simply by saying, “Yes; God did say to my husband, ‘But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat thereof you shalt surely die.’ That is the Word of God, Mr. Serpent, and I’m not going to argue with you over it, I’m just going to obey it. And if you have any problem with it, you can just do what my husband and I would do – take it up with God!”

But Eve did not say that. Maybe she thought the Word of God wasn’t strong enough in its own right; after all, this lowly serpent had the nerve to challenge it. So she “did God a favor.” She tried to “strengthen” God’s simple command by adding the words: “Neither shall ye touch it.”

That was all the opportunity God’s enemy needed. The moment he saw that Eve could not trust the bare Word of God, he went on to challenge God Himself. He said, “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.”