Answer: This is a most difficult question to answer! I’m going to give you an answer, but it really doesn’t make sense to me.What was with Lucifer that got him off track? Revelation 12:7-9 tells us “there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray.” But it doesn’t say how sin originated in Lucifer.
Two passages in the Old Testament that carry double meanings give clues. They describe a ruler or kingdom but mix it with the characteristics of an older source that has the same spirit.
The first one is Isaiah 14:12-15: “How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star [some translations say “Lucifer,” which means morning star], son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.”
By reading Isaiah 13, you’ll find that Isaiah 14 is talking about the country of Babylon. The city’s egotistical traits are rooted in Satan.
The second passage is Ezekiel 28:12-15: “Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre [notice the spirit of Satan in this “lament”] and say to him: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared. You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you.”’”
I can see why this is called a “lament”—it’s agonizingly sad. How could the “model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty” become Satan?
Perhaps you’ve seen the same scenario play out with a teenager who was born “with a silver spoon in his mouth.” He’s intelligent, looks stunning, is part of a great family, is wealthy, cultured, has an incredible attitude, demonstrates leadership, is honest, cool, kool, and kewl—he’s all that and more. And then, for no explainable reason, he runs away from home at the age of 17 and lives on the streets of a large city. He gives up so much in exchange for so little! You would never do that if you’d been given his opportunities and talents. You wonder, What got into him?
That’s the story of the “original sin” in Lucifer. He had it made, but for some unexplainable reason, he wanted to be God.
From a human perspective you will always be the child of your parents, but there’s no way that your parents can become your children. You’ve been given the power to create children of your own. Will you rebel because your parents won’t be your children? It just can’t happen. Neither could God (THE Creator) be replaced by Satan (a creator).
I don’t know how long Lucifer plotted to replace God. I don’t know how long it took to spread the discord around heaven before that war broke out. I don’t know how Satan thought that he would overpower his own source of life. How crazy!
Neither can I explain some of the selfish, ego-maniacal things that I do—except to blame them on Satan. But I have the resources of heaven to help me—I don’t have to choose to be evil/selfish. While I was born with a natural bent to be selfish, Satan wasn’t created that way.
I look forward to living in heaven, where I won’t have that “natural” bent to be selfish. But apparently I will still be able to choose to be a creative creature in heaven instead of the Creator who replaces God. That’s something for all of God’s creatures to do—on earth and in heaven.
