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I'm Trying to be Like Satan

8/23/2013

4 Comments

 
I heard about a guy once that was really involved in God's work.  He was a good looking guy, everybody liked and respected him, he was the choir director at his church, and he basically spent his entire life trying to be like God.  In fact, his whole ambition in life was to be like God.  And then God shot him out of the sky like a lightning bolt.  It's true, a guy I know saw it happen. (Luke 10:18)
I hope I'm not struck down for saying this, but sometimes I feel like I am unfairly judgmental toward Satan.  Well, on second thought maybe I'm just unfairly biased toward myself.  When we imagine Satan, we think of some totally evil entity that is entirely and eternally bent on being the opposite of anything God is.  But when we look at scriptures, we see that that was not always true.  For much of his existence, Satan spent his time trying to emulate God.  It's not that Satan hates God and thinks that he is worthless.  On the contrary, Lucifer loved God, was obsessed with God, and God loved him.  The Bible says he was anointed by God as a cherub of God (Ezekiel 28:14).  
Picture
A ridiculous depiction of our vastly skewed interpretations of Jesus and Satan

Knowing all of this, how did Lucifer become the Satan that we know today?  Quite simply put, he wanted to be like God.  I've heard this, and have never batted an eyelash at it.  Of course, Satan wanted to be like God, therefore he is evil.  But let's put it in context.  You've probably heard your pastor or someone else in the Church talk about another believer and say something to the effect of, "Johnny is such a Godly man.  His whole purpose in life is to be more and more like God."  And then of course you respond, "BURN THE BLASPHEMER!"  That's how I always respond to adversity.
I give you this example because I think it is important to understand why Lucifer, the anointed cherub of God, became Satan.  I've come to realize Satan wasn't always a bad guy.  He really, really, really, more than anything else, wanted to be Godly.  It actually sounds like Satan used to be closer to what God wants from us than I am.  However, at some point, Satan crossed a line.  It was a razor thin line, one that he probably had no idea he had crossed.  This is not the line of the normal sins we think of.  I don't think Satan stole something or told a lie.  The line was the line of holiness.  Satan started to take pride in his own holiness and cast away the holiness of God.  He probably didn't know that's what he was doing at first, but by the time he was cast out he was so totally and utterly obsessed with himself, he could no longer worship God without seeing himself.
This sounds a lot like someone else I know.  This guy has been in church his whole life, has lead Bible studies, preached sermons, given Godly wisdom, read countless books on being more like Christ, and even wrote a blog on Christian issues.  I think you see where I'm going with this.  This person is myself.  You see, I have crossed this line.  I have crossed it many times.  I begin to confuse God's holiness for my holiness.  I see the good things I do and forget that they are God working in me.  I see the people whose lives I invest in and forget that it is God doing the changing.  I see my personal growth in wisdom and knowledge and am blinded to God's benevolence in giving it to me.  I find that many times, when I am trying to be like God, I actually end up trying to be like Satan.  We know that we are supposed to boast in nothing but God, correct?  But we confuse that with boasting in our holiness.  What Galatians 6:14 actually says is, "As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world's interest in me has also died."  We must come to terms with the fact that Christ is the only good thing, and that no matter how close we are to God, no matter how many ministries we are involved in, no matter how many starving babies we feed, we don't matter.  If we are in Christ, the world's interest in us should be dead.  We need to get over ourselves and move on.
4 Comments
Carter Brown
8/23/2013 09:40:35 am

My father, not wanting to seem overly critical of me, private messaged me this, and I think it would be helpful and beneficial to post here. Sorry for my bad grammar and punctuation. This is what Facebook does to me. This is our conversation:
Hi Carter Brown. Once again you have written a very thought provoking blog with some very good applications. You are a talented writer and great thinker. I’m so proud of you.

On this one there are many points with which I agree. However I have some differences in how some of your observations are phrased regarding Satan.

You wrote: “I've come to realize Satan wasn't always a bad guy. He really, really, really, more than anything else, wanted to be Godly. It actually sounds like Satan used to be closer to what God wants from us than I am.”

Yet Jesus said in speaking to the Pharisees, You are of your father the Devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and has not stood in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of liars. John 8:44

I don’t believe the context of Jesus’ statement meant Satan was created evil. For God declared creation to be good when he finished. So to that end I would agree that he wasn't always a bad guy, though we would have no way of knowing how long that “good guy” designation remained. However, I would strongly disagree that he wanted to be godly. Instead I would say he wanted to be God. I don’t even know that any angels strive to be godly for they were not created in His image.

Jude 1:6 says that Satan along with the other fallen angels “did not stay within his own position of authority.” In other words, the sin was a rebellion against God. He had a desire for more power and more authority than they were appointed by God and under God. He was interested in self-exaltation and self-determination.

I know that is the point of warning for us you were making and it’s a good one. Ultimately I agree with your application. I disagree with your characterization of Satan before his rebellion.

I would love to talk about this subject further. It's pretty interesting.

Hey don't be afraid to comment on the blog about this. That's what it's for. But in regards to what you are saying, I believe there was a time in which Lucifer was created by God to be good. He didnt start out lying. He is simply the father of lies, i.e. he was the first to make it happen. What I am saying in my blog is that his original goal of becoming more like God ended up becoming a goal of being God. and i believe we do this often in our own lives.
Again, I welcome you disagreeing with me on the page itself, as it will create more open discussions.

Thanks. I agree with you 100%. My issue was with ascribing the word godly to Satan. I chose not to respond on the blog for fear of being misunderstood as being critical of my son, "in whom I am well pleased."

3:43pm
I think our disargreement is in our definition of what godly means. Godly can mean, and normally does in our context, close to God. Satan chose to take actions that he thought would please God, and then he came to the realization that he thought he could do it jsut as good or better. I am not saying satan is Godly now, im saying in the beginning he was striving to be like God, which he eventually took too far.

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Sharon link
7/14/2014 05:42:53 am

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-y5DOUBOou4 watch this and know that god is the only lord and savior. Don't from one moment think that Satan won't try to get you

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kennsie
11/8/2014 06:52:32 am

I was looking at some images on google because i was confused about something i read in the bible so i looked it up, i came across this picture, then above it i saw something about someone wanting to be like satan so here i am. Commenting.

I dont think you should want to be like the evil spirit who intends to destroy you and cause nothing but the worst for you in your life. You see all of the evil in this world? The rape, hate, violence, killing, harassment of all sorts and experimentation with all kinds of evil acts?The source of it all started from the devil and his influence. God is stronger than the devil although the devil is strong too. In God's presence and even hearing jesus' name, devils and demons instantly turn weak and fearful.

Please, the statement i read made me nervous. Dont ever want to be like the devil. Ever. :'(

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Carter
3/9/2015 03:50:26 pm

You seem to be missing the point of the article. In saying that I am trying to be like Satan, I am saying that I am sinning. I would never want to be like Satan because I think in any way it is good. I want to be like Satan because my sinful pride drives me to do so. My real desire is to be godly, yet I often find myself trying to be like Satan instead.

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