Sometimes we hear preachers wax poetic with grand description of the “celestial conflict” in heaven when the archangel Lucifer was cast out of God’s presence and fell to earth. It is true that Lucifer was cast out of heaven along with a third of the angels. However, there was no big fight in heaven. (See Isaiah 14:12-15; Luke 10:18.)
The apostle john wrote, “God is light, and in him is in darkness at all” (1 Jn. 1:5b). God can discern the difference between a thought and an intent [but no else can] [see Hebrews 4:12] when something move from being a thought to becoming an intent, it becomes sin before you commit the actual deed. That is why Jesus said that if a man looked on a woman to lust after her, he had cross the line. (See Mathew 5:28.)
Lucifer was an archangel in charge of the worship in heavenly realm. The thought entered his mind that he would rise up to supersede God, who is the origin of all things. What a silly thought! He should have dismissed it immediately, but he didn’t. when the thought of ascending to the throne of God entered Lucifer’s mind, there was no problem on till he said, “I’m going to try that.” The movement it moved from a thought to an intent, the tiniest speck of sin appeared in the bright white light of the glory of God, and it was gone in less than a nanosecond. The “WAR” was declared over and Lucifer, now Satan, was cast out there.
Lucifer didn’t up a third of the angelic corps and say, “Okay, we’re going to go to battle for the whole works. We’re taking the Big guy down today.” There was no real war. God didn’t get up one day and say, “Michael, Gabriel, you guys need to put your swords on. I’m having a problem with Lucifer. He is trying to push me off my throne and I need your help.”
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There was no cosmic war in heaven in which God finally manage to prevail and returned to heaven saying. “Whooo, that was a though one.” It didn’t happen like that. The moment Lucifer thought shifted to the realm of intent, in the immeasurable microsecond a tiny speck of darkness appeared in the heavenly realm, he who is light cast out the darkness instantly. How long does it take for darkness to flee the room when you flip on the light switch? There is no battle between photons of light and subatomic particles of darkness. No, when the light comes on, the darkness is obliterated faster than the blink of an eye. That is why Jesus said, “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven” (Lk.10:18).
In less than a split second, Lucifer was stripped of his name, position, and heavenly office, and thrown out of the heavenly glory-filled realm at the speed of light. He barely manage stay one step ahead of that light as he was cast down, and then darkness fell on the face of the deep.
Satan thought that he had found a place of refuge until God lend over and saw that the world he had created in absolute beauty had become a place of chaos, void and without form. God corrected that problem by decreeing, “LET THERE BE LIGHT.” The glory of God fell upon the earth and there was light from the emanation of His own presence, even before he created the sun! (See Gen. 1:3-5, 14-19.)
My friend, we face very similar circumstances today: Darkness once again cover the face of the deep. It is interesting to note the darkness affects only the surface or “Face.” Satan is occupying; he doesn’t own. He is just camping out here because he can’t go to depths of thing. He’s covering all the territory that he can, but his darkness only covers the face of things. His influence is wide, but his strength is shallow!
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If you scratch the surface, you will find hungry-hearted people who are just waiting for a flicker of light to come to them. It is that way in your city also! If worship can ever scratch the surface, the hungry will find you! They will follow the “LIGHT” to its source, just as the Wise Men of old followed the heavenly light to Christ. Worship opens a window, a widow for God’s glory to stream down. Humanity is then drawn to the light. “O God, where is that light switch?! Where is that window?”
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It is our job to intercede to the King for the people who dwell in darkness. Like Queen Esther who intercede for the life of her people, we must be willing to pay any price to see God’s glory shine upon our churches and cities. That brings up God’s problem. Sin can’t stand in His presence because He is light and there is no darkness in Him, none at all. Yet He longs to work with you and I in the cool of the morning as He did with Adam and Eve before they fell into sin.
