Humble yourself
by Ivan Ho 14 Nov 2020
How Lucifer became Satan
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. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. 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. 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. 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. All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.
Ezekiel 28:14-19 KJV
Lucifer fell from his lofty position due to “multitudes of merchandise” (abundance of trade amongst angelic beings outside of his jurisdiction).
So what was Lucifer trading in heaven and why did multiple tradings led to his downfall? This is how I see it: Instead of staying in the position of his calling, he began to form a party and bring angels outside of his constituency to himself by offering them goodies such as positions and power in exchange. His ultimate goal was to attract all angelic hosts to worship him instead of God. This is exactly what Satan is doing in the world today, offering money, positions and power to people in exchange of their souls. Many have sold their souls to the devil in exchange of the things they want to have in this life. Many are not content with what they have been given by God and step outside of their callings to pursue their own dreams, in so doing drawing other followers to consolidate their positions of authority.
When a leader steps outside of his place of assignment and sphere of influence, he steps out of God’s grace and steps into demonic territory. Satan was assigned as one of the chief archangels but his pride led him to want to become god. He began to influence other angels and led 1/3 of angelic beings astray. Satan is doing the same thing today using prideful leaders to lead many God’s people astray.
Christ humbled Himself
Jesus Christ, even though being the Son of God, did not consider himself to be equal with God. He humbled himself, took the form of a human person and lowered his position as a servant. He was totally submitted to the will of His Father even to the point of death on the cross. For this reason, Jesus was highly exalted above all. The way to the throne is through humility and servant hood. We are called to learn from the humility of Christ.
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:5-11 NKJV
Humble yourself and God will lift you up
Jesus came down not to meet us at our level. Everyone has sinned and falls short of the glory of God who never lowers His standards to meet us at our level. Rather, Jesus came so we can meet Him at His level. When we humble ourselves and accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, He removes our sins and lifts us up to the place where He is seated in the heavenlies at the right hand of the Father!
Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up. It takes humility for us to approach Jesus and let Him rule over our lives.
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
James 4:10 NKJV