When Lucifer Created Evil

One Year Bible

Old Testament passage for Friday, September 13, 2013:  Isaiah 12:1-14:32

12 “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!  How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations!  13 For you have said in your heart:  ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’    Isaiah 14:12-14 (NKJV)

In a moment's time, the best became the worst.  Jewish and Christian tradition tells us that Lucifer was an archangel of the highest order.  Isaiah 14 speaks of the King of Babylon and this individual named Lucifer.  Ezekiel 28 is about the King of Tyre.  It is obvious that they represent something deeper: the embodied evil -- Satan.  This archangel, Lucifer, was the worship leader of heaven -- the anointed cherub that covered the throne of God (Ez. 28:14).  He went from being the closest to God to being the farthest.  

God is not the author of evil, but it is obvious that He granted the freedom of choice.  Lucifer took this freedom in the wrong direction.  He conceived evil in his heart.  

The cataclysmic transformation in this archangel is breath-taking.  He went from perhaps the highest place of favor to the lowest position of judgment.  One minute he was the picture of purity and perfection.  The next he was the creator of all that is impure and despicable.  

Something happens when we cross the boundary between good and evil.  I have seen it a hundred times.  One minute a man seems to love his wife and family and is committed to a life of responsibility and integrity.  The next we find out that he has somewhere crossed a boundary and he proceeds to turn into a totally different man.  

A teenager goes off to college and turns into a different person.  Barriers are crosses.  Standards are violated.  The result is a tragic transformation.

That's what happened to Lucifer.   This beautiful creation of God became the author of evil.

When I see this, it causes me to take close care of the decisions I make.  As in Genesis 4:6, "sin lies at the door."  It desires to not only seduce us but also rule us.   When the wrong decisions are made, the dramatic fall can come with shocking speed.

Lucifer had an identity crisis.  He proceeded to seduce Adam and Eve into the very same error.  He is still in business today.  If Satan fell by crossing boundaries, we will be strong and safe by staying within the boundaries God has given us.   In so doing, we turn back Satan's strategies and we bring glory to our great God!