How Satan Deceives

From the entrance of sin into the universe, Satan has been involved in a controversy with God over His character. This earth got involved in that controversy when Adam and Eve chose to follow Satan and rebel against God.

It is important to know how Satan works so we will not be caught up in his false thinking. Here are some thoughts to help in that understanding.

Most of this material including the bracketed comments in blue come from the published material of Dr. Timothy Jennings.

Review and Herald April 14, 1896: The agencies of Satan are at work to keep the minds of men engrossed with the things of this life, in order that he may work counter to the mission and work of Christ. [Is that just entertainment and routines responsibilities like work, or is it also politics, social justice through government, and wars?] Of Satan, Christ declares he “abode not in the truth.” Once Satan was in co-partnership with God, Jesus Christ, and the holy angels. [What is co-partnership? Agreement, cooperation, harmony, like-minded, working upon the same principles and toward the same goals.] He was highly exalted in heaven, and was radiant in light and glory that came to him from the Father and the Son; but he became disloyal, and lost his high and holy position as covering cherub. He became the antagonist of God, an apostate, and was excluded from heaven. He established his empire, and planted the standard of rebellion against the law of Jehovah. [How? By claiming that God’s law is imposed and that angels were so holy they had no need for law and that if one breaks the law, God really doesn’t give freedom, He kills, He punishes, He inflicts death.] He invited all the powers of evil to rally about his standard, in order to form a desperate companionship of evil to league against the God of heaven. He worked perseveringly and determinedly to perpetuate his rebellion, and to cause men to turn from Bible truth, and to stand under his banner. As soon as the Lord through Jesus Christ created our world, and placed Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, Satan announced his purpose to conform to his own nature the father and mother of all humanity, and to unite them with his own ranks of rebellion. [What is Satan’s purpose? To take human beings, created in the image of God to be temples where God dwells, living beings who operate upon the living law of love and replace God’s methods, principles, character and law with his own evil methods, principles and character and the law of sin and death. Satan wants to dwell where God is supposed to dwell.] He was determined to efface the image of God from the human posterity, and to trace his own image upon the soul in place of the divine image. He adopted methods of deception by which to accomplish his purpose. [He deceives people into believing what they are doing is right when they are doing wrong. He does this in a variety of ways, one is to get people to pursue justice by practicing his methods, another is twisting reality so that people believe good is evil and evil is good—such as it is good or acceptable to flaunt perverse sexual views in the workplace but it is abusive and evil to share your faith with people in the workplace. He is able to do this because he has replaced design law with imposed law, and made-up rules are arbitrary and often contradict reality—God’s design laws, leaving people without any reliable standards upon which they can determine right from wrong. Only those who know God, His character and His design laws can truly discern right from wrong.] He is called the father of lies, an accuser of God and of those who maintain their allegiance to God, a murderer from the beginning. He put forth every power at his command to win man to co-operate with him in apostasy, and succeeded in bringing rebellion into our world.

Rev 12:7-9 – Then there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and his angels. 8 And the dragon lost the battle, and he and his angels were forced out of heaven. 9 This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels.

Review and Herald June 18, 1895 – The life of Christ is to be revealed in humanity. Man was the crowning act of the creation of God, made in the image of God, and designed to be a counterpart of God; but Satan has labored to obliterate the image of God in man, and to imprint upon him his own image. [“Man” means humankind not male; Adam and Eve together are the crowning act of creation.]

Bible Creation Concept

Which is more reasonable the Genesis account of creation or godless evolution? Which view is more consistent with testable evidence? Let’s examine the premises each theory is built upon and find out:

Evolution                                                Creation  

Something came from nothing           Something came from something (Creation)

Life came from non-living matter       Life came from living matter

Complexity comes from chaos          Complexity comes from intelligent input

Genetic mutation adds vitality           Genetic mutation reduces vitality

DNA coding can write itself                DNA coding requires an intelligence

On every point the creationist’ view is more scientific, more evidence-based, and more consistent with reality.

Gen 1:1 – In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Gen 1:27 – So God created human beings in His own image. In the image of God, He created them; male and female He created them.

Medical Ministry 89 – We are dependent on the Bible for a knowledge of the early history of our world, of the creation of man, and of his fall. Remove the word of God, and what can we expect than to be left to fables and conjectures, and to that enfeebling of the intellect which is the sure result of entertaining error. We need the authentic history of the origin of the earth, of the fall of the covering cherub, and of the introduction of sin into our world. Without the Bible, we should be bewildered by false theories.

But, the message for the people at this time in history is to worship the Creator whose laws are design laws, the laws life is built to operate upon. As such harmony with God and His laws is the very basis of life and every deviation injures those who break God’s law.

Rev 14:6-7 – And I saw another angel flying through the sky, carrying the eternal Good News to proclaim to the people who belong to this world—to every nation, tribe, language, and people. 7 “Fear God,” he shouted. “Give glory to him. For the time has come when he will sit as judge. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all the springs of water.”