The History of the Battle, Part 1

Are there any folks in the house God has made you so pretty, has blessed you so much that you don't need God anymore?

You can make it on your own. Dr. Tony Evans says the idea that we're self-sufficient and morally independent is very old and very dangerous. To think you are who you are and where you are because of yourself, that is the thinking of a devil. This is The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, author, speaker, senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas, and president of The Urban Alternative. Satan has been keeping the world bound up in sin for a very long time. But Dr. Evans says God has a plan to untie all the knots. And today he explains the important role you play in the process.

Let's join him. The reason why there are so many spiritual casualties is that we lose sight that we're in a perpetual state of warfare. We are in a spiritual warfare, warfare that I call an angelic conflict. It is the basis of pain and suffering and agony because there is another world, another dimension that sits outside of our five senses but that is equally as real. The spiritual realm, heavenly places. There is the spiritual realm in conflict. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but while it is another realm, we are engaged with it. So that your struggle, your pain, your hurt, your aches, your sin is vitally tied to this other realm.

And because so many Christians for so long have been kept ignorant of the other realm, they think people are their only problem. Paul's point is that if you can ever get beyond flesh and blood and see the unseen. When I was growing up as a boy, they used to have these 3D films. You know, you go into the movie house and they give you these glasses to put on. And you go in there and if you take the glasses off, you couldn't see very much.

But if you put these glasses on, the screen, because of the 3D imaging, became clear and you saw what was really going on. The Word of God is teaching that what's really going on in your life, my life, your family, my family, this church, every church, and in the world in which we live is a battle that sits outside of time and space as we know it, but that determines what happens in time and space. It is simply a spiritual warfare. Many, many years ago, God created a body of beings called angels. He created them like Himself in that they were created spirit beings, and God is spirit. In fact, when God manifests Himself in history, you always see Him manifesting Himself as a bright light, a bright light. The Shekinah glory was always tied to light, because at the core of God's being is some imaginable power that shines. And so when you read about these angelic beings all through Scripture, you see light tied to them, because what God evidently did was spun off that part of His immaterial character in the creation of immaterial beings that we call angels. There was one angel in particular. His name was Lucifer.

That means the brilliant or shining one. When God began to spun out of Himself this new creature that He was going to create in order to worship Him and adore Him and magnify Him, He thought that to Himself, let me create a masterpiece. There are going to be okay angels and beautiful angels and magnificent angels, but I want to create a masterpiece, and His name was shining one. We are introduced to Him in Ezekiel 28 and verse 14, you were the anointed cherub, the one selected above all of them because of what God endowed Him with. He was placed on a holy mountain, and it becomes important, verse 13, the name of this mountain that had a garden surrounding it. The name of it was, verse 13, Eden. Now, you remember another place called Eden in the Bible? The Garden of Eden was where who was? Adam and Eve, right? Well, the Garden of Eden in the Bible, in Genesis chapters, the first three chapters, is a duplicate of the Garden of Eden that existed before Adam came here that Lucifer lived at. Now, why is that important? Because we're going to find out that Eden on earth was designed to reduplicate Eden in heaven in order for the conflict to leave there and come here.

Connection. He says that this magnificent being walked, verse 14, in the midst of the stones of fire, that is, as God's fire blazed in eternity past, he was right in the middle of it. He stood in the very presence of God, this high-ranking angel. Verse 15 tells us, you were blameless in all of your ways. When God created him, God created him perfectly, no spot, no wrinkle, no flaws. From the day you were created, nothing was wrong with you, no blemish, no spots. This magnificent creation is adorned with all manner of beauty, verse 13 goes into it.

I mean, he was laced with diamonds, the Scripture says, because God is very high on rubies and diamonds, and he laced them with brilliance, and oh, what a sight he was to behold. That is, according to verse 15, until unrighteousness was found in you. Now, that gives us our first problem. How can you have a perfectly created being with unrighteousness being found in him? That's not just an angel problem, that's an Adam problem. He's created perfectly in the Garden of Eden. How can God create a perfect being and then the perfect being come up bad?

It seems like a contradiction. You've got perfection, but there's something wrong with the perfection. Or if there's nothing wrong with the perfection, how do you call it perfection?

Let me try to take a stab at it. In order for God to create a being that was perfect, that could never become imperfect, God would have to recreate himself. In order for God to create a perfect being that could never become imperfect, he would have to recreate himself. But if God could recreate himself, then it wouldn't be one God, there'd be two gods, or three, or how many gods he created. Since there's no room in the universe for more than one God, even though God creates a perfect being, God gave those perfect beings volition or the ability to choose whether they would relate to him by their choice, not by their creativeness. So what God put in Lucifer and all the angels and what he put in Adam was the ability to choose him by choice because God could not recreate himself. That's one thing God can't do. You want to know what God can't do?

Make a twin. He cannot reduplicate himself. God giving this perfect being the right of choice, that is, to serve him by choice, not simply by mandate. God was not going to hypnotize him because God wanted worship by willingness, not worship by mandate only. Unrighteousness was found in this cherub.

Now, I won't go today into all of the detail, but just so you know the basis of it, so I can make a very important point here. Just so you know the basis of it, you were internally filled with violence, verse 16 says, and you sinned. Therefore, I cast you down from the mountain. What made you sin, Lucifer? Verse 17, your heart was lifted up because of your beauty. You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. Satan looked into the mirror and said, you bad boy.

You looking good. He looked into the mirror and saw the beauty of his creatureliness. And pride wound up in his heart so that he began to raise the question, why do I need God if I'm this pretty by myself?

If I've got all this wisdom and all of this glory and all of this beauty and all of this power and all of this grandiose-ness, I can make it on my own? I mean, look at me. I suppose when Lucifer began to walk among the angels, the angels said, look at him. Good gracious.

I wish God would have studded me with rubies and stitched me with that. Look at him. And old Satan must have said, yeah, look at me.

Look at me. Unrighteousness was found in him and then by a choice of his will. So how do you know? Well, we get into that on angels, but Isaiah 14 says, Satan said five times, I will, I will, I will, I will, I will. It was a choice of his will, meaning God granted him the ability to make a choice.

He chose to rebel against God. In other words, God had made him so pretty, he didn't need God anymore. Are there any little Lucifer's in the house? Are there any folks in the house God has made you so pretty? Has blessed you so much? Has come along and taken care of you so well? Has enhanced you so much that you don't need God anymore?

You can make it on your own. That's why the Bible says people who think like that are children of the devil. See, that's why he says the devil is your father. Because you have looked on what God has done. Deuteronomy chapter 8 says, if you've made a little money in your lifetime and you're a little bit successful and you have a nice house and nice cars, he says, be careful, lest when the Lord has blessed you, you forget the Lord your God, for it is the Lord that hath given you power to make this well. And that's why the greatest sin listed in all of the Bible is pride.

To think you are who you are and where you are because of yourself. That is the thinking of a devil. Dr. Evans will come back with more on the history of the battle in just a moment. First though, the message we've been listening to today is from Tony's series on spiritual warfare. In these lessons, you'll see life's problems for what they are. Symptoms of the invisible spiritual battle going on around us. And you'll learn ways to work through those problems using God's tools, tactics, and power.

It doesn't matter whether they're the everyday challenges we all face or the more serious attacks that show up in the form of substance abuse strongholds, sexual or emotional problems, or relational issues. We want you to get your own copy of the messages in the spiritual warfare series as our gift. Just visit tonyevans.org before time runs out, make a contribution, and we'll say thanks by sending all 12 full length lessons your way. Again, that's tonyevans.org or call 1-800-800-3222 where resource team members are standing by around the clock to assist with your request. I'll have that contact information for you again after part two of today's lesson and this. If you've ever wanted to go on an Alaskan cruise, we want to tell you about an incredible opportunity you won't want to miss happening between August 6 and 13. Join Tony Evans and the Urban Alternative on an unforgettable journey through this unspoiled paradise.

From the majestic mountain peaks to the mighty forests and green meadows teeming with wildlife. Plus, you'll hear life changing teaching from Dr. Evans and other gifted teachers. Those dates again are August 6 to 13, but rooms are filling up quick, so reserve your spot today at tonyevans.org. When Lucifer wound up with his pride and based on his own free will, the ability to choose, and out of his desire to share the glory that belongs to God alone, and the Bible says, God will share his glory with no one. He began a plan of rebellion, a coup d'etat, if you will, in heaven.

He went to the angels and offered them the option of following him. We're talking about millions and millions and millions of angels. One-third of them, according to Revelation chapter 12, verse 7, one-third of them left with Satan and said, yes, we don't need God anymore, and that's the danger of pride. God doesn't only mess you up, but he can mess up a whole bunch of folk.

Because all of the angels who followed Satan will regret for millions of years to come that they let his beauty persuade them. And God, not willing to share his glory, verse 17 says, cast Satan to the ground. What ground?

God there, 14, tells us what ground. It says you were cast to earth. Satan and his hosts were evicted from heaven, because God will not have any challenges to his authority in his presence, and they were cast to a place called earth and sentenced. It was a trial, so to speak. Because of your rebellion, because you, the creature, wanted to be like me, the creator, I will remove you from here, and I will sentence you.

What was the sentence? Matthew 25, 41. Then he will say to those on his left, apart from me, accursed ones, into eternal fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels. Eternal fire was the penalty for rebellion against God. Let me read you Jude, verse 6, next to the last book of the Bible. Jude 6 says, and angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, worshiping God, he has kept an eternal bond under darkness for the judgment of that great day. God does not play with his glory. You see, I don't understand that. God does not play with his glory.

The old 60s song, Mr. Big Stuff, who do you think you are? God does not play with his glory, and when you raise up, and you rebel against God, and you don't need him anymore, when God looks at you, he sees Lucifer. He sees Lucifer, he sees the same thing being repeated, and that's exactly why false teachers in the Bible are condemned so strongly, because like Lucifer, they lead others with him. So the angels were sentenced, but God decides, no, I'm not just going to kick you out of heaven. I'm not just going to create your own place called hell. I'm going to show you something. I'm going to demonstrate to you. I'm going to let you and all the angelic world see. I'm going to let you and all the angelic world experience not only who I am, but I want to let you watch me unfold a plan right in front of your eyes that will demonstrate God is not to be trifled with.

Enter man. Genesis chapter 1. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was formless and void and darkness over the surface of the deep. To put it another way, verse 2 says earth was a garbage dump. Now, we read verse 1, God created the heaven and earth. We read verse 2, earth was a garbage dump. It was all meshed together.

We know that because the water happened to be separated from the land. How in the world did earth become a garbage dump? I'll tell you how earth became a garbage dump. Remember, Satan was kicked out of heaven, and he was kicked to earth, and wherever Satan takes over becomes a garbage dump, including your life. Wherever he resides and wherever he's in control and wherever he runs the show, when Adam and Eve yields to Satan, their home in Eden becomes a place in the wilderness, because wherever Satan owns or operates from becomes a garbage dump. We find that the earth has to need, in verse 2, the spirit of God to fix it because it's a garbage dump. The point is that God had to intervene, and God decided in eternity to create something called time between eternity past and eternity future to put a short period of time, a short period of linear history, and to call it time.

Now, I'm going to mess with your teaching in high school and college. I would like to say that this event in Genesis 1 is not older than 10,000 years. This is a very recent event. It's 10,000 years. The issue is that it's millions of years ago that this other event occurred. See, that's where this long time is. The long time is before the garbage dump. The garbage dump is about 10,000 years ago using biblical chronology or biblical history.

Now, watch this. Satan and his demons have been kicked out, and they have been limited to planet earth. Planet earth becomes a garbage dump because wherever Satan is becomes a garbage dump.

God did not want to defeat him but wanted to defeat him royally. So what God decided to do was fix the garbage dump. So verse 2 says, And the Spirit of God hooverred over the waters, and God says, Bing, let there be light.

Why? Because wherever the devil is, it's darkness. See, most people think God just said, Let there be light. No, he said, Let there be light because hell has made it dark. So God says, Let there be light. Bing, the waters have meshed all with the land.

Let the water be separated from the land. Now, let me show you what happened. Job, chapter 38. The angels up in heaven were watching this. After how many other thousands or millions of years this took place, the angels up in heaven were looking at this.

And let me show you their reaction. Job, chapter 38. God says, Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you have an understanding, who set its measurement since you know, or who stretched the line on it?

On what were its bases sunk, and on what laid its cornerstone? When the morning stars, the angels, sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy. That is, when the angels saw light come back to this dark place, they rejoiced. Because God was now going to do something. What was he going to do? God was going to create somebody less than the angels to demonstrate, here it is, that even though you don't have angel ability, even though you don't have angel strength, even though you haven't had an angel experience, if the lesser creature will trust God, he'll go further than an angel in heaven that won't trust God.

He wanted to demonstrate and show Satan, Give me less ability that will trust me, and it will outdo you with more ability who won't trust me. Dr. Tony Evans, reaffirming that less is more when God is in the equation. And if you'd like to get a full-length copy of this message, check with us for details on the lesson called The History of the Battle. Better yet, you can get it as a part of Tony's two-volume series on spiritual warfare, a collection you'll find yourself going to often for hope, encouragement, and instruction during your own personal battles. Don't forget, this powerful 12-lesson series on CD or digital download is yours as our thank-you gift when you make a donation to help support Tony's ministry.

As always, you can reach out to our resource center at 1-800-800-3222 to get the details. That's 1-800-800-3222, or visit us online at TonyEvans.org. And while you're there, be sure to discover how to stream the popular film Journey with Jesus. Shown last year in theaters around the nation, Journey with Jesus brings the New Testament gospels to life as Dr. Evans and his adult children visit the locations of Jesus' earthly ministry, connecting them to their significance for all of us today. Plan on making this film part of your special reflection for Easter this year. For information on how to take advantage of the Journey with Jesus limited-time streaming opportunity, visit TonyEvans.org today. The history of mankind is a history plagued with pride, power struggles, and treachery. And Dr. Evans says it's a reflection of the spiritual warfare that's been going on behind the scenes from long before humans took the stage. Be sure to join us tomorrow as he continues his look at the history of the battle. The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans is brought to you by the Urban Alternative and is made possible by the generous contributions of listeners like you.