The Fall of Lucifer, the Rise of Man - Part One



Angels are created beings.   Today we're going to talk about a very beautiful and powerful archangel God made and named Lucifer whose name means "star of the morning; day star; lighter bearer or bringer".      Let's look at the passage in Ezekiel, Chapter 28, that speaks to the king of Tyrus, but is obviously referring to Lucifer:

¹² Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

¹³ Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

¹⁴ Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

¹⁵ Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

¹⁶ By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.

¹⁷ Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

¹⁸ Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.

 

 

Lucifer was perfect in his ways from the day he was created "until iniquity was found in thee" (vs 15).  What happened to cause a perfect being to fall and to be able to influence one third of the angelic host of heaven to follow him?  Was it simply pride because of his beauty?   What provoked Lucifer to want the worship that belonged to God alone?    What engendered such a vendetta in his heart against man in particular?

 

To answer these questions, let's take a deeper look into who Lucifer was and the position he held:

 

- full of wisdom

- perfect in beauty

- covered with precious stones: the sardius, topaz, diamond, bery, onyx, jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; all set in gold

- musical tabrets and pipes were built into his being ("prepared in thee", vs. 13)

- anointed to cover the glory of God  (vs. 14, God says, "I have set thee so").   In other words, God positioned Lucifer to cover Him in his glory.

- permitted to be upon the holy mountain (high place of God; mountains represent not only places of worship but of governmental rule)

- we cannot yet speak of what the "stones of fire" mean.  We do know that our God is a consuming fire and it might well represent the fact that God loved Lucifer and as some in the Body of Christ have indicated, the stones of fire may be within the very heart of God and may represent the passion and glory with which He loves.  

 

Lucifer was glorious.  See him as he was when he was created.  Watch him as he moved with every move of God because he was a covering.   God is Spirit (wind, breath).   Every time God moves, wind is created that blows through the pipes within the being of Lucifer.  Music pours forth from his being automatically.  God is Light.  Lucifer reflects the light of God and it radiates from the precious jewels that cover him.  See the rays of living color emanating in shades of green and blue, red and golden yellow, etc. as the light passes through the precious stones.  He's a regular light show of God's glory.  It may have looked like fireworks accompanied by heavenly music every time God moved and Lucifer's being responded.  Like the two winged cherubs on the Mercy Seat in the tabernacle of Moses from between which the Shekinah glory of God arose, Lucifer was anointed and appointed by God to be that covering and to move when God moved.  Everything that God did... everywhere that God went, the anointed cherub was right there and music was coming out of his being.  I believe this is how he led the heavenly choir.  It wasn't that he was standing in front of them like an orchestra conductor; but rather, the praise that came out of his being provoked a correspondent praise within the angelic host.

 

"Let Us Make Man..."

 

Everything God creates He  makes perfect.  When He made man, He gave mankind the ability to create as well.  He placed all the raw materials that man would ever need within man's grasp.  Look at man's workmanship from clothes to houses to cars to planes to computers, etc.  Nevertheless, man's works are not perfect.  So, from time to time, he will make a "new and improved" version of a previous work.   If you buy a computer this year, it may be obsolete next year.   Can you imagine having been the victim of the first "surgical procedure" as mankind was learning to "practice" medicine and the "healing" arts?  Wouldn't you prefer the "new and improved" methods?   But God is not like man.   He does not need to make "new and improved" versions of His own works.

 

When God created man, He was not making a "new and improved" version of angels.  He was making an entirely new order of being.  Unlike angels that were created to be servants, this new

order of being was created to be "sons".  Man would be made in the image and likeness of God Himself!

 

Remember how glorious Lucifer was?  Certainly as the anointed cherub who was designed to be in God's presence continuously, he had to have heard God say, "Let us make man in our image and our likeness".   Although Lucifer was an awesome and powerful angel, he was still just an angel.   And he understood that God was taking counsel within Himself to bring forth a new being that would out-rank him!   That's right!  You and I were created to out-rank.. not the devil... not the fallen angel... we were made to be even more glorious, even closer to God, even more like the Most High, than even Lucifer, the bright and morning star.  He was not going to be "top dog", as it were, after the creation of man.

 

I believe it was God's decision to make man that triggered something within Lucifer and caused him to begin to look at himself and think, "Why does God want to make man?  I'm beautiful.  I cover him.  I'm close to Him.  I lead the choir.  Aren't I worthy?  Haven't I earned the right or privilege. I should be like the Most High."  Can't you just hear the thoughts that must have been generated within the heart of Lucifer?   Iniquity was being birthed in him...

 

⁶ But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

⁷ And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

⁸ And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. - Genesis 2

 

When God created man, there was a mist that covered the entire earth.  In other words, the earth was cloaked in a cloud.  Where was the anointed cherub?  Why did he not accompany the LORD God as He formed man?  Job Chapter 38 talks about how all the morning stars sang together and the sons of God shouted for joy when God began to lay the foundations of the earth.  But there was an angel that stopped singing.  There was an angel that stopped moving with the glory of God.  All of a sudden when God went right, this angel started going to the left.  At some point, Lucifer stopped bowing and worshipping the Most High God. 

 

 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High," (Isa. 14:14).

 

Lucifer was not happy about the creation of man.  He was jealous.  Pride told him that he should have been the one.  If God was standing in a cloud upon the earth when He created man, then the heart of Lucifer was telling him to ascend above the heights of the clouds.  When God said He would make man in His image and likeness, the heart of Lucifer said, No! I will be like the most High!

 

Something began to permeate the atmosphere of heaven that did not belong in God's kingdom of light.  A darkness was birthed.   A darkness that infected one third of the angelic host as Lucifer lost his light and took on a new nature, the darkness of pride, jealousy, rebellion, etc.  He had to be separated from God and all those that followed him had to be evicted.   And the darkness came and lodged upon the face of the deep...

¹² How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

¹³ For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

¹⁴ I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

¹⁵ Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

- Isaiah 14

 

We will continue this next week...