7 Good Lessons From 7 Bad Bible Characters [Pt. 7: Lucifer]

All right guys.

We are now on the FINAL part of our series! We’re now on part 7!

I hope and pray that you’ve been blessed by this series on finding deep spiritual lessons from the lives of the Bible’s worst characters. I myself have been blessed just studying and learning all kinds of lessons from Delilah, Pharaoh, Goliath, Jezebel, Haman, and Belshazzar.

Now, if you’ve read Part 6 of this series, I ended the post by saying that we’ll next be studying the life of a “Surprise Bible Character.”
And, as you can see from the post title and post image, that surprise Bible character is Lucifer.

So, let’s get into 3 profound lessons from the great enemy of the great controversy.

Who Was Lucifer?

Ezekiel 28 gives us insight into who Lucifer was before he became Satan:

“You were the seal of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The sardius, topaz, and diamond,
Beryl, onyx, and jasper,
Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold.
The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes
Was prepared for you on the day you were created.
“You were the anointed cherub who covers;
I established you;
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.

(Ezekiel 28:12-14)

In verse 14, Lucifer was once a “cherub.”

What in the world is a cherub?

In Hebrew, the word for “cherub” is kĕruwb (כְּרוּב), which basically means “an angelic being.”

So, Lucifer (now Satan) used to be an angel who was decked with “every precious stone” (see verse 13). He once was established “on the holy mountain of God.”

Check out what my favorite writer, Ellen White, said about Lucifer:

The strife for the highest place was the outworking of that same spirit which was the beginning of the great controversy in the worlds above, and which had brought Christ from heaven to die. There rose up before Him a vision of Lucifer, the “son of the morning,” in glory surpassing all the angels that surround the throne, and united in closest ties to the Son of God [before his fall].

~The Desire of ages pg. 435~

He [Lucifer] had been near the great Creator, and the ceaseless beams of glorious light enshrouding the eternal God had shone especially upon him.

~The story of Redemption pg. 14~

Hold up. So, based on these two rather mind-blowing statements, Lucifer used to be CLOSE to God and Christ.

But he fell into bitter iniquity.

If a once glorious angel who was closely tied to God and Christ could fall so low and so deep into sin, what about us as sinful, erring human beings?

HOW can we NOT fall down so terribly like Lucifer?

The three lessons we’ll learn give us clues on how to not end up following the dark destiny that awaits those who copy these 3 traits of the master rebel.

1. Lucifer Was Proud

We see this first lesson illustrated through lucifer in Ezekiel 28:17–

Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty;
You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor;
I cast you to the ground,
I laid you before kings,
That they might gaze at you.

(Ezekiel 28:17)

Lucifer was proud, and it caused him to be thrown out of Heaven.

As I mentioned before, Lucifer was once a close friend and a close servant of God before his fall.
But pride in his beauty; pride in the gems that adorned him caused him to fall away.

How does this apply to us?

Proud Vs. Blessed

Revelation 3 gives us the primary application of this:

Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—

(Revelation 3:17)

For Lucifer, it was pride in his physical beauty.
But for us, it could be pride in our religious beauty.

Lucifer was proud of the gems that adorned him.
For us as Christians, we may become proud of the gems of Bible truth that adorn our lives.

Friend, are you being like Lucifer? Are you PROUD to be a Christian?

Because friend, being a Christian isn’t something to be PROUD of. Being a Christian is a BLESSING.
Think of it this way:

Christianity was never meant to be a source of pride, but a source of blessing.

But what do you see Christianity to be in your life, dear reader? A source of PRIDE? Or a source of BLESSING?

2. Lucifer Weakened Others

Isaiah 14:12 tells us:

How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!

(Isaiah 14:12)

The last part of this verse tells us that Lucifer “weakened the nations”–obviously speaking about AFTER he fell.

But what about us?

As average mortal human beings, we don’t have much power and authority to weaken entire nations and countries like Lucifer.

BUT we DO have SOME authoritative power to weaken individuals.

What do I mean by that?

Living Kryptonites

Ellen White explains this “power” we as humans have to weaken other people (no matter our social status, popularity level, occupation, education, whatever) in her book Christ’s Object Lessons:

This is a responsibility from which we cannot free ourselves. Our words, our acts, our dress, our deportment, even the expression of the countenance, has an influence. Upon the impression thus made there hang results for good or evil which no man can measure……………….[It] never should it be forgotten that influence is no less a power for evil. To lose one’s own soul is a terrible thing; but to cause the loss of other souls is still more terrible. That our influence should be a savor of death unto death is a fearful thought; yet this is possible. Many who profess to gather with Christ are scattering from Him. This is why the church is so weak.

~Christ’s object lessons pgs. 339, 340~

Lucifer has all kinds of ways to weaken people–especially on a spiritual level.

But for us, there’s only ONE way we can WEAKEN others spiritually.
By our influence.

Our influence can either:
*Spiritually Energize Someone
*Spiritually Enfeeble Someone

So, dear reader, is your influence and my influence WEAKENING the spiritual muscles of a friend, classmate, relative, or co-worker? When people are around you, do they become spiritually stronger from your words and actions? Or do they get weaker?

3. Lucifer Deceived The World

The third and final lesson we’ll glean from lucifer is found in Revelation 12:9. This verse is talking about when there was war in Heaven between God and His angels and Lucifer and his rebellious angels:

So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

(Revelation 12:9)

Lucifer deceived the whole entire planet earth!

But what about us?

Lies Christian Hearts Believe

Obviously, we have no power to deceive the entire world.

BUT, we have SOME power to deceive the world of someone else.

And even more than that, we have the power to deceive our own little worlds.

Jeremiah 17:9 says:

The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?

(Jeremiah 17:9)

Did you catch that? Our OWN HEARTS are DECEITFUL!

We can DECEIVE OURSELVES with all kinds of lies thrown at us by the world, by the emotions we focus on, and–of course–by Lucifer himself and his demons.

Going back to deceiving our little worlds with our own emotions, I really like how the book Lies Young Women Believe by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth and Dannah Gresh (really good book by the way!) summed it all up:

“Feelings aren’t Facts.”

–-Lies young Women Believe pg. 90

So, how can we know whether or not we’re copying Lucifer and deceiving our own world and the worlds of others?
The Bible says:

I, the Lord, search the heart,
I test the mind,
Even to give every man according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his doings.

(Jeremiah 17:10)

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.

(Psalm 139:23-24)

Only God can see
That deceivers we be.
Only God observes from afar
How lucifer-like we really are.

A Prayer

Dear reader, if you’ve felt convicted by the Holy Spirit that you are acting more like Lucifer than Christ; that you’ve been proud, or weakening others’ spirituality, or deceiving yourself and/or others, then I wanna appeal to you to just pray:

I’d like to conclude this post with this quote, that reminds us of the TRUE place to go to in order to genuinely develop a Christlike character. It’s not just sitting in church every week; it’s not just professing to be a Christian. The key to become more like Christ is way more personal than that. Check out the following quote:

Those who are learning at the feet of Jesus will surely exemplify by their deportment and conversation the character of Christ. Their spiritual life is sustained in the closet, by secret communion with God.

~The Review & Herald May 30 1882~

It’s my sincere hope and prayer that you, dear reader, would take time to learn at Jesus’ feet, and as you learn more of Him, you’ll grow into more of His likeness, and less of Lucifer’s likeness.
Amen! Maranatha!

*****UPDATE: This series now has a BRAND NEW SEQUEL! Check it out by clicking HERE*****