The cause of the fall from heaven is often misunderstood. Lucifer became Satan as we know him now at a steep cost. Some writers think that he was then cast out of heaven (Luke 10:18) and then made the ‘air’ and the ‘earth’ the settings for his unholy activity (Ephesians 2:2; 1 Peter 5:8). The haughty ruler of Babylon and the miserable King of Tyre (Ezekiel 28:12-18) is fittingly described in parallel with the once glorious chief in heaven. Ezekiel 28’s passage is a lamentation against the king of Tyre that describes a figure of perfect wisdom and beauty who falls because of pride. Though the prophecy is directed at a human ruler, many rightly allegorically interpret it as describing Satan's fall from heaven.
The description of a created, perfect being in "Eden, the garden of God," adorned with gems, is seen as referring to Satan's origins rather than the human king. The "guardian cherub" (Ezekiel 28:14) is understood as representing Satan's former position as a high-ranking angel before his rebellion. The passage's mention of the cherub's heart being "proud because of your beauty" and the finding of "unrighteousness" is interpreted as describing Satan's motive for rebelling against God. The fire that consumes the cherub symbolizes divine judgment and Satan's ultimate destiny; a concept found in other scriptures.
So, his pride was his downfall, as he elevated himself because of his exceptional beauty and brightness. Such a shallow reason to be doomed and condemned. We see the same often in the haughty behavior or celebrities and so called ‘stars’.
"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 28:17
In this passage he is also expressly called an angel (Ezekiel 28:14-16) and a fallen angel. He was an "anointed" cherub, set apart for a God given task. He is spoken of as having dwelt in the garden of God, the paradise of God, the holy mountain of God, the sanctuary in Exodus 38:13. Because of the enormous and eternal issues related to Satan's fall, we need to more closely examine the causes of his rebellion. That pride and ambition were especially the sins by which Satan fell is sufficiently evident from Paul's warning about being lifted up with pride.
Lucifer exceeded all other angels in power and glory was made something of an equivalent to "Secretary of State" to represent God, Satan was not content with a place of subordination to the will of God. He rebelled against divine sovereignty and allowed self-will to assert itself in defiance of God's will (Isaiah 14:13, 14; 2 Thessalonians 2:4). The exact point in time in which Satan rebelled against his Creator is known only to God and Satan. Was it an instantaneous decision or a long festering grudge only they would know. What we do know is there was a point or decisive moment in eternity past when this ‘prince’ of the Most High renounced his allegiance to God, and thereby changed from "Lucifer," the "light-bearer" of divine glory, into an "adversary" of God and a "slanderer" of His people. In that exact moment he became a fallen being before the world we understand today and before man and woman were created as evidenced from the fact that he appears to Eve as the serpent and deceived her in Genesis 3.
Because of His sovereign will, God gave to angels and men, regardless of the perfection of intellect and will, the ability to choose between good and evil. It was at this point that Lucifer used his gift against the Giver. Created in grace and lifted to the supernatural plane, we would have thought that his dazzling quality of angelic perfection would have precluded the very thought of sin. Instead, he symbolically and through actions spit in God’s face. In essence, Satan failed to make his will one with God's will. The two purely spiritual sins of pride and envy are the primary culprits. Since envy demands pride as an absolute prerequisite, it becomes clear that the sin of Lucifer was pride.
The form of pride resulting in the fall of Lucifer was the pride of position. He wanted not only to be equal with or above God (Isaiah 14:12-14), but to prevent the divine purpose for the Son of God and for the sons of men. Some of the writers argue that the devil rebelled against God because of His desire to make men like angels and to take the place of fallen angels. The redemptive purpose of God is not to give men the vacated thrones of evil angels but to fashion all who believe into His church.
... that the angels, learning of the setting up of a kingdom for the man Christ Jesus, and of the divine purpose that the human nature was to be united to the Second Person of the Trinity, and that He was to be the Head of all principality and power, became envious of their own position. God having thus declared His great love for mankind, Satan, or Lucifer, being the archangel, the very highest and brightest of all God's creatures, could not bear it, thought it below him and a great debasing of his exalted position. So, he conceived rebellion against the Almighty, and drew a vast company with him: their refusing to be subject to Christ, as man thus assumed, was their first sin and in opposition set up another kingdom against Him. ~ Jonathan Edwards
It was through pride that Lucifer became Satan, the "black sheep" in the family of God. Satan was God’s original Judas. Through this opposition to God, he brought a curse upon himself. God never cursed sinful man, but the serpent is under a curse that can never be repealed. That is why man's pride makes him a friend of the Devil. How true it is that the Devil sleeps like a dangerous animal in the shadow of good works, when we conceive a secret admiration for ourselves, we too condemn ourselves. Wise are those who become poor in spirit. Humility is the core of the Godliness and the path to righteousness. That is why Philippians 2:5-11 says:
“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.:
Jesus in Philippians 2 does the exact opposite of what Satan did in his fall thereby losing the exact thing he wanted…God exalting him to the highest places and exalting his name before all other names. Arrogance equals failure, humility equals God-like character. Blessed are the meek…
We must never lose sight of is that the devil, although a fallen angelic being, is still an angel. True, he is a rebel angel, but he is still an angel created being having been created by God with and among the other celestial spirits; even his fall and disgrace did not deprive him of the angelic nature. Satan retains the privileges of his unchanged nature and is still able to display his original grandeur (2 Corinthians 11:14). Although now the angel of darkness, the devil persists because, in spite of everything, he is still an angel. We do not know the breathless height of perfection from which Satan fell: we only know that he carried this ‘perfection’ with him into darkness.
This should give us pause before arrogantly proclaiming that we can easily vanquish him as a foe. That is foolishness. By his angelic nature, the devil enjoys that independence distinctive characteristic of a pure spirit. Because of his angelic independence he is immune to pain, to injury, to sickness, to death; indeed, he is even immune to human discomfort. All though he is already morally corrupted, there are in him no possibilities of corruption and physical decay, no threat of a separation of parts that will result in death. He is physically incorruptible, immune to the pains, the limitations of flesh, immortal. Only God, by His almighty power, could destroy Satan, recalling the borrowed existence by which the devil lives; and this God will not do. Angels are spirits as opposed to flesh and blood. God’s main purpose to maintaining Satan’s existence is to have him serve as a bad example.
"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms Eph 6:12 also Luke 24:39).
One of the most startling characteristics of the devil, to us who are constrained by time is his agelessness. It surprises many to see him as young now as when the world was born. He is undiminished, unweakened by age. Even now he has all the undiminished energy and dynamic robustness of full youth. Yet the fact is plain enough: a spirit does not grow old. They only age through eons. Since before Genesis 1 there is no moment in which he does not possess the full strength of angelic life. From the very first instant of his existence down. The Devil still lacks nothing of his perfection except for his morality. He has watched for millennia, the world grow old and the generations of men and women pass in unending procession from birth to death; when the last of that long line has passed, and the sun has set for the last time, Satan will still be young and vibrant. Yet, he will be condemned even in this pristine condition.
Although created to prominence in
the realm of angels and of men, Satan is doomed to eternal remorse and torment.
Cast out of heaven (Luke 10:18), then to the earth (Revelation 12:9), he is to
be restrained for 1,000 years in the bottomless pit (Revelation 20:1-3) before
being thrown into the lake of fire, the final depository of the devil, his
fallen angels, and the wicked.
"And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever" (Revelation 20:10).
Engulfed by the blackest despair, and bitterly hating himself for his plight and for his burning opposition to God, Satan's terrible doom has been announced since time immemorial. Never to hope again. Condemned, just as the arrogant men who say this is no God or act as if they are gods.
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