God
vs. Satan - Dualism
Religious dualism is a common misconception that basically says that
there are two opposite yet equal powers in the universe. The powers in this
case would be God who is good and Satan who is evil. These supreme beings are
pitted against each other in a battle of light verses darkness. According to
dualism this battle will continue for eternity. On the surface, this sounds
right, however under scrutiny this belief quickly falls apart. First of all God
and Satan are not equals. Satan, like the other angels, is a being created by
God with free will. Angels are incorporeal beings with the ability to take on
human form. Angels were created with not only free will, but personalities, independent
thought, interests, and as painfully obvious with Satan the ability to sin. God
is omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient, while Satan is none of these.
Satan’s power is limited to that which God allows. And Satan, as a created
being, has a beginning and a foretold end.
Dr. Towns says this about Satan’s abilities
“Satan’s inability to create or be original, offers some insight into the
mental capacity of Satan.” (Towns 2008, 2002, 380)
It
seems that society today people either deny the existence of Satan or they will
deny the fact that he is a fallen angel. Ezekiel 28:13-19, and Isaiah 14:12-15
also in 2 Peter 2:4 these scriptures speak clearly of Satan, these passages
give us a good understanding that Satan was an angel who swelled with pride and
thought he may over take God. In His perfect righteousness God could not allow
Satan to challenge him, so He cast him out of heaven. God executed his judgment
of Satan on several levels, he was first confined to the earth (Rev 12:12-17),
then he will be confined for the millennium (Isa 24; Rev 20), his final
judgment is being cast into the lake of fire and sulfur. (Rev 20:10)
There
are several stances that have been taken to try and prove that the writers of
the OT books Isaiah and Ezekiel were not writing prophetically of Satan, but
rather of kings of their age or ones to come. To them I say how could the king
be in the Garden of Eden (Ez 28:13), or told he was an anointed guardian cherub
(Ez 28:14)? Isaiah speaks of the audacity of Satan in chapter 14:14, where
Lucifer feels he can be like God himself. Dr. Towns states this clearly, “The
ultimate desire of Satan was to take God’s place.” (Towns 2008, 2002, 362) As I
have stated previously Satan does not possess the immutable characteristics of
God, he lacks omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence. I strongly feel that
one of the greatest sources of Scripture to point out all the ways Satan is
lacking is the Book of Job particularly chapter one. The fact that Satan was on
the earth and had to leave it to enter in to the presence of the Lord shows he
is not omnipresent. When the Lord has to mention to him have you considered my
servant Job (Job 1:8) shows that he is not omniscient or the Lord would not
have had to tell him of Job. The Lord also sets limits to the things Satan
could do to Job, if he were omnipotent there would be no equal or greater force
to stop him from doing what he wills.
Satan
was originally created as an angel; their primary purposes are for the glory of
God. While the word angel technically means a “messenger”, Dr. Towns says this
of his origins, “Satan was also originally created as a being with power and
personality and the freedom of choice. He was an angel with apparent honor and
leadership in heaven. When Satan’s pride blinded him and led him to exercise
his will in rebellion against God, he was cast out of heaven (Isa 14:12-15, cf.
2Peter 2:4; Jude 6)” (Towns 2008, 2002, 361)
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