Wow! That’s an awesome
question! In order to understand who Satan is and how he came to be, we need to
look at Old Testament scripture and, in particular, the Book of Ezekiel,
Chapter 28. Remember that Satan was an angel named Lucifer. In fact, he was
more than just an angel, he was an archangel and was literally God’s second-in-command.
But, pride entered
Lucifer’s heart and he wanted to be like God. Ezekiel 28:17 reads, “Your heart
became proud on account of your beauty and you corrupted your wisdom because of
your splendor.” So because he became
wicked and corrupted and because he was filled with violence and sinned, Satan
was kicked out of Heaven. God expelled him BUT God did not send Satan to rule
in Hell … Satan was cast down to earth. Satan is not the ruler of Hell, he rules
here on earth to those who do not have Christ in their hearts. Sadly, not only
was Satan cast down, so were a third of the heavenly hosts (angels) who decided
to follow Satan. They are no longer angels but are called demons. Between Satan
and his demons, all sorts of bad things have happened here on earth and will
continue to happen. It started for us in the Garden of Eden and continues on to
this day and beyond.
Satan wants to stop God’s
plan because he knows that, in the end, he will lose against God. But, God’s
greatest victory over Satan is Jesus Christ. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the
cross and His resurrection on Easter Sunday, death has been defeated and we can
be assured eternal life with God in Heaven.
Oh, by the way, Satan will
eventually be condemned to Hell where he will “reign and rule” for all of eternity, but not for a while yet.