Satan's role

Not sure what you mean by "role", but his aim is to lead as many as possible away from God.

Yeah, it is similar to the way Pharaoh was...Pharaoh made his own name big and wanted to enslave others to his kingdom. But God raise Pharaoh up that His name might be known and His power might be made manifest.

REV 20:7 When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth - Gog and Magog - to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore.

COL 2:4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.

1CO 3:18 Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise.
19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight.

ROM 16:17 I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.

MAR 13:22 For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect - if that were possible.

MAR 13:6 Many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and will deceive many.

2CO 4:3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.4 The god of this age (satan) has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

DarkProphet said:

what is his role?

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Fuel for the Lake of Fire.

Satan sought to make himself equal to God. He said

"I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High." Is. 14:14

For that reason, God brought him down. He still has access to heaven, at least for the time being. This doctrine is derived from Job 1:6.

"Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them."

I'm not sure "what is his role?" is the right way to word the question as it implies that God has us all involved in some kind of a RPG, which is not the case.

A better way to word the question is "what is his mission or goal?"

In a nutshell, Satan works to:

1) pervert the scriptures, twisting them to say what they do not mean.

Mt. 4:6
and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: He shall give His angels charge over you,’
and, ‘ In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”

Satan knew that God would protect His Son, and tempted Jesus to do something which would reveal himself as the Son of God prematurely. Jesus knew that God had promised to preserve Him, but that that guarantee presupposed living in God's will. To claim the promise in an act of disobedience would be tempting God. Jesus chose to await God's timing to accomplish His will.

Gen. 3:1-5
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Satan knew that God did not mean she would die physically right away, but that disobedience would break the bond she enjoyed with God. He twisted what God said to imply that she would not die physically from a "poison" fruit. Eve sinned, and the relationship with God was broken, resulting in spiritual death, physical death to come later.

2) he opposes God's work.

Zech. 3:1
Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him.

1 Thes. 2:18
Therefore we wanted to come to you—even I, Paul, time and again—but Satan hindered us.

3) he hinders the gospel.

Mt. 13:19
When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.

2 Cor. 4:4
whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.

4) he works lying wonders.

2 Thes. 2:9
The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,

Rev. 16:14
For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

5) he appears as an angel of light.

2 Cor. 11:14
And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.

He makes sinful things look appealing, even right to men, but such things lead to destruction.

Prov. 14:12
There is a way that seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.

6) he is the father of lies.

John 8:44
You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.



In all of these things and more, Satan seeks to subvert God's plan for the salvation of men. He is crafty, a deceiver, an adversary to God and the work of Godly men.

Therefore, we are warned about him.

Eph. 6:11-13
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

1 Pet. 5:8
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.

Satan is aware of the fate that awaits him, and wishes to take as many as he can with him. But, you can be sure, through belief in Jesus Christ, that you will not find yourself on the left hand of God at the judgment.

Mt. 25:41
Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels

DarkProphet said:

Satan is a former angel cast down from heaven but after that what is his role?

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Satan is the contrast to the light by being the darkness. No painting that would reveal anything is painted white on white, but is revealed by using all the colors, all shades, and even the absence of all light which is black - the perfect outline. The devil also provides choice and love cannot exist between two beings without choice. It has to be given and is never taken by force.
Satan also shows us the example of a being given it all without suffering any pain of growth by faith. He became proud and wanted to usurp the very power of his Creator and was cast out.
Although satan's acts are done to deceive and bring about evil and chaos, in the end, God turns it all around into good - revealing Himself to those that love Him.

Ro 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

He would represent the counter force to good, always trying to cancel it with evil. God did not give him a force, he wants to lead people into hell so he can tourment them, just because they are God's work and he hates God. Unable to destroy God he tries to blind people from God, teaching Satanism, Atheism, darwinism, hinduism, the list goes on and on and on. He does this because he hates people too, because they are in God's image, they are God's loved, and because God made them. He just hates that word God I suppose because he can never beat God, he tries to hurt him emotionally, by leading his children and even his followers into hell. He also hates it when the Bible is being discussed, praying, Angels, and Christians earn his #1 hate list on humans. Which is why the most demons came to me when discussing the Bible with a close friend. I don't think your in any danger of them hating you Darkprophet, no offence or anything.

Satan to me is extreme materialism,lust,greed,desire,extreme passions,perversion,corruption,injustice and the representation of inequality.

Satan is the father of all lies.

He is here to lie.... to Believers and Non Believers.

DarkProphet said:

Satan is a former angel cast down from heaven but after that what is his role?

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It's just my view, but I personally believe that Lucifer was not only an angel but an angelic power by his creation. This position was never forfeited by him, only corrupted in principle. God made a race of angels to serve the upcoming creation of man, (this was also the occasion of Lucifer's discontent and envy,) and this race of angels itself had higher more mighty angels set over them called "powers" with some powers being more powerful than others. Lucifer was the highest of all of the angelic powers and this is the main reason why the whole bunch of the rebel angels and damned souls are stuck with him...He is still the one with the most muscle and knows how to use it to keep his wicked kingdom in line with his own will. His role now is just the same as then: To lead those angels who were placed under him. He does not lead those noble angels who refused to obey him in the great pre-adamic rebellion in difference to disobeying the Creator, but he still very much leads the angels who chose to follow him and he does so by virtue of his great power over them. This is the reason why we haven't the slightest hope of victory outside of the omnipotent Holy Spirit of God indwelling us. Lucifer is still a great power to be respected in his own class, but with the limitless Holy Spirit indwelling us, poor old Satan has met his match.

DarkProphet said:

Satan is a former angel cast down from heaven but after that what is his role?

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What do you mean by "role?" If you mean the part he plays in God's creation, it is the same as it ever was, and that is to simply carry out God's will. If you mean what he does, by analogy Jesus said, "The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy; I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly." So, clarification of what you're asking might help in answering your question.

Hi dark prophet,
Satans role?? If you mean what is Satans agenda ... I would have to say that his main agenda is to be god to himself. He has rejected his original role and turned from his creator to try and be his own god, with his own agenda. Not very much unlike people.. "sheep going astray ... every one turning to his own way."
I like what CS Lewis said of this choice. He said something like : "There are two kinds of folk in this world those who say to God, 'Thy will be done', and those to whom God must say... alright then have it your way.'" Satan falls into the category of "having it his own way." Lewis went on to say that "the gates of hell are locked from the inside". I think he's right.

DarkProphet said:

Satan is a former angel cast down from heaven but after that what is his role?

Click to expand...

After being cast down from heaven he is used by God for His purposes.

What I think Satan role is by leading us away from God and more closer to him.

That's what I think.

x

A few interesting things I've noticed when I was reading the Bible.

Exodus 3:2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.

This, and a number of other places, seem to suggest that "angel" is simply another word for "manifestation of God." I haven't read this in the original hebrew, obviously, but all the english translations I've seen have made it kinda vague as to what an angel actually is. But this, combined with all the things I've read and heard about what Satan has done, suggest to me that Satan does, in fact, serve a very specific role in God's plan.

All the places where I've seen the devil play a direct role have all been important moments where someone needed to be tested. When Eve eats the fruit, I can't see how this was an accident on God's part. He created the tree, warned Eve about it, allowed the serpent to come and tempt her, and then allowed all of humanity's future to taste the fruit of knowledge.

The only reason that makes any sense to me for this is that the fruit was a test that Adam and Eve were meant to fail. Sooner or later, someone was going to eat if. Tasting the fruit of knowledge was a necessary step in God's plan, and the serpent's temptation was a crucial part of it.

A similar thing in the New Testament. Jesus goes to the desert to be tempted. Part of Jesus' role was to be fully human, and you can't be fully human until you have experienced all of human temptation. Again, Satan's presence is not merely some accident that God takes advantage of. It's an indispensible part of Jesus' goal.

Throughout the Bible, every story I've heard about Satan has not been about Satan ruining people's lives, but about Satan providing a necessary test so that people could become better.

I'm also a little fuzzy on where specifically Satan came from. I haven't found it explained anywhere in the actual Bible, only in the Apocrypha, which also state that Eve was Adam's second wife. If that source of knowledge is where we get Satan's origin story, why do we trust it?