When Satan rebelled against God, in Heaven!, who he saw every moment, desiring to be worshipped himself, how did he think he could ever win? Surely he saw what we long to—the perfect essence of God, His absolute power, knowledge, and love. God was revealed, and no one could possibly think that He could be overthrown. Right? And yet Satan must have thought there was a way. So I just pulled on that thread a bit....
Remember our story. We know it by the opening scenes. God creates Heaven, and then fills it with warriors—terrifyingly powerful angels. This is no date movie, no kids' cartoon. It's a war movie, from the start. Why is God's first creation warrior and a barracks for them (Heaven)? What implications did these created angels take from that? What role did they figure they had? Who was their enemy they were made to war after? What does their "Bible" say, if they have one?
I first wonder what God had revealed about events, about Earth, and people, that it would come under evil control and require rescue? Was there some reason that Satan believed that he could become that evil controller of Earth and its people?
I wonder these things because of Luke 4 when Jesus goes into the wilderness to be tested and to fast, and near the end, Satan appears in order to tempt Him. "The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”
And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’”
And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.”
And Jesus answered him, “It is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’”
And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time." (ESV)
How could Satan possibly have imagined that Jesus might yield and worship him? Something had to be at stake. For Satan to have had any hope that this plan could work, something had to hang in the balance, something at risk, a deal to be made. What could make it work? What would be so valuable that Jesus might give in and worship Satan, His own creation?
Satan had been given authority over the Earth and its people, and he held them captive, in bondage, enslaved to darkness and separated from God (which he caused!). So here it is: Would Jesus trade the freedom of His beloved people by worshipping the betrayer? That had to be the deal that Satan hoped to strike, to trade the freedom of people for worship. We parents know that we would trade anything to secure the safety of our kids, even ourselves. So of course, Satan knew that Jesus would trade to rescue His people.
What Satan couldn't see was that God had another plan! And the enemy's defeat began right there, in that moment when Jesus walked away. And indeed, Jesus did do what any parent would do, traded His own life to rescue His kids.
This gives me pause, for if even a little bit of this is true, then Satan is far smarter and more crafty than we'd ever imagined. The sheer audacity and brilliance of this plan cannot go unnoticed, even though it failed. It's much like watching a movie where the evil mastermind (who is indeed both evil incarnate and a mastermind of masterminds!) is a formidable foe with many resources, intent on setting off a nuclear device to destroy the Earth. Only at the last possible moment does the Hero manage to deter the plan and defeat the evil mastermind. In a way that the mastermind never imagined...by sheer willpower, goodness, and a knowledge beyond anything the mastermind could know, and sometimes even a willingness for self-sacrifice that the mastermind would never expect.
That's our story. We've been rescued, redeemed, from the hand of an evil mastermind by One who is ever greater. Of course, the mastermind still roams, seeking to devour all of us who claim to be Jesus' offspring. And He is dangerous, make no mistake. But our savior is even more dangerous! And on our side. And He sacrificed Himself for us, to set us free.
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