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Satan is such an Angel
Satan is such an angel!
I want you to close your eyes for a minute and try to imagine what Satan (The Devil) looks like. What images came to mind? Probably different ones for most people, but my guess would be that some common images would include horns, pointy tail, some degree of redness, and maybe even a pitchfork thrown in for good measure.
If any or all of those were on your list, I have important news for you…
You couldn't be more wrong. In fact, the freaky looking half-goat-half-Bin-Laden representation of Satan is exactly what Satan himself would love for you to have fixed in your imagination. Why? Well, because it's sort of comical and it goes a long way towards helping you drop your guard. It makes him seem like a harmless comic book character that occasionally pops in on your shoulder and whispers tempting thoughts in one ear while a white robed-harp playing angel counters in the other. It even makes him interesting and causes some of us be tempted to get closer to him.
That's the kind of image that eventually gets people to either stop believing in Satan or to stop taking him seriously. That, my friends, is a serious mistake. So let's take a look at the non-comic book version of Satan who right this minute is planning new and effective ways to take you out.
The only description of Satan we can trust is in the Bible. According to Ezekiel 28, Satan is the most powerful and beautiful angel ever created. Think about that for a minute…and according to that same chapter, after he got kicked out of heaven for trying to lead a rebellion against God (never a good idea, by the way) - he apparently kept his power and beauty. Nowhere in the Bible do we read verses like: “and after Satan fell from heaven, he turned really red from embarrassment and sprouted horns. And the only thing God let him keep was his trusty pitchfork…”
Um, no. Satan is still the most powerful and probably still the most beautiful angel in the universe. Listen to the warning that Jude (the brother of Jesus) gives:
In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings. But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!' Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand…. Jude 1:8-10
Jude is saying that not even Michael, God's strongest angel, would pick a fight with Satan.
OK, so if the archangel of God doesn't have the power of Satan, what does that say about our need to take him seriously? It says that we'd be stupid not to!
So now that you know Satan isn't a cartoonish figure, how should you picture him? Here's the way the Apostle Paul (A man of great wisdom and intellect) looked at Satan:
Even Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light. (2 Corinthians 11:13)
Did you catch that? Satan - who is also called the Father of lies - lies about who he really is. He puts on a “godly angel” disguise, then uses it to attack us. In other words, if you met Satan today, you might be fooled that he was an angel sent straight from the throne of God.
That.is.scary…
Why? Because most of us are looking for Satan's attacks in the form of evil, when it might really be coming through things that appear good or harmless.
Like your best friends.
Like television and movies.
Like the internet.
Like a self-righteous attitude.
Like a lot of things you never considered before, but now that you know how incredibly smart, amazingly beautiful, and unbelievably powerful he is, you would do well to watch your back…
Because you don't want to be touched by this angel!
Satan came to kill, steal and destroy. Jesus came that we may have life and life to the fullest. (John 10:10)
By Brian Hoover