Do you believe, like most of the world, that Satan is just a failed experiment, a creation of God that went sour, which God “accidentally” left in the garden of Eden? “OOOPS!”, said God – “I should have seen this coming! Now I’ll have to rethink my whole plan and come up with a way to save man!”

No, Satan is an integral part of this plan – in fact, without Satan, you could have no salvation!

Imagine for a moment, a world without Satan. This means a world with no deception, no lies, because Satan invented those. (John 8:44). So then, you would know God without interference – without confusion. Do you know what that would mean? That would mean if you sinned, you would have no excuse!

If Satan had not existed, the first sin of mankind would have meant the death penalty – because the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). And without Satan, they would have had no excuse for their sin. Let’s read exactly what happened there.

Genesis 3:11-12 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

Adam blamed another. He had an excuse – he said it was the woman’s fault!

Genesis 3:13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

So God then went and looked to the person who deceived Adam. She in turn claimed – and correctly – that the serpent had deceived her. She also had an excuse for her sin. God then sought to place the blame on Satan. Satan had no one to blame – no one to point to, no excuse to offer, because the buck stopped there. It was ultimately his idea, his fault, and no one else’s! He was without excuse!

This is not to say that Adam and Eve did not receive punishment for the sin – but it was a punishment that was tempered, because they HAD an excuse! The better you understand God’s will, and His nature, the less EXCUSE you have, and the sterner your punishment must be.

Lucifer had spent many thousands of years with his wing over the Throne of God (Ezekiel 28:14-16). He knew God as well as any carnal being has ever known Him. He knew that God’s way brought good fruit – and yet he consciously CHOSE to reject God, and became Satan – the Rebel. God does not forgive CONSCIOUS, WILFULL sin. How – or why – would He, if you fully knew what you were doing? You can only repent if you didn’t know the consequences, or if you were decieved and misinformed.

You see, if you were to stand in front of God, fully understanding what He is like, KNOWING His will clearly, and THEN spit in His face… There is no excuse for you – Christ’s sacrifice cannot apply to you (Hebrews 10:26) – And God cannot forgive it. That is truly the unpardonable sin. But Satan is the only one who has ever done this!

You on the other hand, HAVE an excuse. Satan deceives this world you were born into. Your sin can be traced back to him. This is NOT to say that you wouldn’t have thought of the idea of sin on your own, given a few years by yourself, just as Satan did – but then you’d be in the same situation Satan is, and God didn’t want this!

He wanted you to be able to blame Satan for part of your sin. Without Satan to bear your sin, even the sacrifice of Christ COULD NOT pay for your sins! There are TWO things necessary for the removal of sin.

In Leviticus 16:7-9, it describes the SHADOW, or the PREVIEW of the sacrifice of Christ and the coming destruction of Satan. Aaron is instructed to take the two goats, and cast lots over them. One goat is killed for a sin offering, representing Christ. This one PAYS for the sins of the people. The other takes the BLAME for the sins. There is a HUGE difference!

Leviticus 16:21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.

Notice that your sins are upon the head of Satan! It isn’t Christ’s FAULT you sinned – He, of His own free will, CHOSE to pay for your sins, but He didn’t have to.

Satan on the other hand, bore the blame along with Adam and Eve, and took away part of the penalty of their sin, because he was RESPONSIBLE. It was HIS IDEA to sin.

The deception of Satan is VITAL for God’s plan. If you fully know God, and sin ANYWAY, there is no sacrifice for you! Christ’s sacrifice CANNOT save you! The ONLY way God could avoid this, was by having someone for you to POINT TO and BLAME, just as Adam and Eve did.

Satan’s confusion serves to prevent mankind from understanding God perfectly, so they ALWAYS HAVE AN EXCUSE.

Because of Satan’s existence he can BEAR the BLAME for your sin, and Christ can PAY for your sin. You could not be saved WITHOUT BOTH. Without Christ, you couldn’t be redeemed, and without Satan, Christ couldn’t apply His redemption to your sin – because without Satan, ANY sin is willful – your idea – and YOU would have to die for it! There could be no repentance if you were not deceived!

Romans 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

He has closed their minds, and allowed Satan to deceive them, so that they can experience what it feels like to sin, to learn to HATE it – and yet be exempted of it’s penalties when they repent. Without Satan this would not be possible!

So God created the being who became Satan for a reason – because God NEEDED him! He NEEDED a scapegoat on whom to blame the sins of humanity. Otherwise, He wouldn’t have been able to apply the sacrifice of His son to mankind, who would eventually have sinned without Satan’s help (Jeremiah 17:9, Ecclesiastes 7:29).

This is not to say that Lucifer was predestined to fall, or that he had no other choice. Lucifer CHOSE to be the devil of his own free will. And God knew what choice Lucifer was likely to make – so He created Lucifer, who in turn became Satan, the deceiver so that mankind – YOU – would have an excuse.

So, God NEEDS Satan – He is a NECESSARY – yes, CRUCIAL – part of YOUR SALVATION!

But be sure and read next week’s article “But God… I was deceived!” to see if this exonerates you from the blame for your sin!