Question: What do Members of the Restored Church
believe was the cause and nature of the war in heaven?
“And it came to pass that Adam, being tempted of the
devil – for, behold, the devil was before Adam, for he rebelled against me,
saying, Give me thine honor, which is my power; and also a third part of the hosts of heaven turned he away from me because of
their agency; And they were thrust down, an thus came the devil and his
angels; And, behold, there is a place prepared for them from the beginning,
which place is hell.” Doctrine and Covenants 29:36-38
“That Satan… he came before me saying- Behold, here am
I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will
redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it;
wherefore give me thine honor. But, behold, my Beloved Son, which was my
Beloved and Chosen from the beginning, said unto me- Father, thy will be done,
and the glory be thine forever. Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against
me, and sought to destroy the agency of
man, which I, The Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give
unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he
should be cast down; And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of
all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken
unto my voice.” Moses 4:1-4 The Pearl of Great Price
Members of the Restored Church believe the
devil (Satan or Lucifer) was a son of God who wished to take our agency by
becoming the Messiah. He promised the children of God that all would be saved
by him, by forcing them to keep the law.
He was not one with
God.
“And while we were yet in the Spirit, the Lord
commanded us that we should write the vision; for we beheld Satan, that old
serpent, even the devil, who rebelled
against God, and sought to take the kingdom of our God and his Christ.”
Doctrine and Covenants 76:28
Satan did not like
God’s plan of salvation. He had his
agency and he was one for himself. Satan
saw the growing lights of God’s children, God’s stars. He did not want any to
surpass him.
“For thou hast said in thine heart … I will exalt my throne above the stars of
God. …” Isaiah 14:13
In rebellion he
sought to supplant God the Father.
“I will ascend into heaven. … I will ascend above the
heights of the clouds; I will be like the
most High.” Isaiah 14:13, 14
Satan trusted in
himself, not God. He spoke of himself,
not God. Jehovah in faith spoke only of the Father, being a true witness of
godliness. Satan was faithless. From the
very first he was the father of lies out to destroy the potential of God’s
children. He did not know God. He knew himself.
“He that
speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory
that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.” John 7:18
“[T]he devil… He was a murderer from the beginning,
and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his
own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” John 8:44
Satan is a would-be
tyrant with the ability to seduce. He
was able to convince a third of all God’s children to follow him in rebellion against
God and Jehovah. This was the war in
heaven.
“And there was a war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon;
and the dragon fought and his angels.”
Revelation 12:7
The war in heaven
was fought between the archangel Michael and his angels, and Satan and his
angels. The word angel means messenger, so it was a battle of ideas: the
teachings of faith in God and Christ by Michael the archangel, versus the
teachings of faithlessness by Satan.
Satan fought by
working to convince God’s children to lose faith in their Father. He questioned God’s plan and God’s chosen
Savior. Little by little he worked to
remove their faith in God and all that He is.
They lost faith in
their Father, the being from whence they sprang, whom they were meant to become
like. Thus they had no faith in themselves. They became the faithless.
Satan in his pride
sought to bring down as many of God’s children as he could. One third of the hosts of heaven were cast
out of the presence of the Father, losing their first estate.
“Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me,
and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him,
and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only
Begotten, I caused that he should be cast
down.” Moses 4:3 The Pearl of Great Price
These fallen
spirits, who became known as devils, were sent to Earth to await their judgment
at the end of the mortal realm.
“And prevailed not; neither was their place found any
more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the
Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”
Revelation 12:8-9
“And the angels which kept not their first estate, but
left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under
darkness unto the judgment of the great
day.” Jude 1:6
They were cast and
bound to Earth and cut off from the Father, growth, and all light, which is hell.
The proof of your
faith in God and victory in battle against those who rebelled against God is
the fact that you are here. You gained
the second estate, a step along your path of growth and progression. You rejected Satan then and choose to follow
God and Christ. You can reject him again
and still choose to follow God and Christ.
“For ye have not
received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the
Spirit of adoption. …” Romans 8:15
Those who fought
against God lost faith, lost power, and did not gain bodies- never to be human,
never to become as their Father is. They are no longer sons and daughters. Satan has no physical body. He lost his first estate because of
rebellion, and is still a bodiless spirit, like air. They can never know God.
“And you hath he quickened, who were dead in
trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of
this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience.” Ephesians 2:1-2
Those angels who
followed him also remain spirits, antichrists, who tell lies. They work to destroy the faith of
humanity. They work to deceive the
world, telling them there is no Christ, or having them to look for elsewhere
for hope. False faith and hope, those
placed in things other than Christ, are called antichrist.
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the
spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into
the world. Herby know ye the Spirit of
God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of
God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the
flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have
heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.” 1 John
4:1-3
Satan and his
followers were in opposition to Jehovah and the Father before life on this
planet began. Here on Earth they engage in the same kind of work they did from
the beginning. The war in heaven
continues here on Earth. Satan still
wants to stop the growth of God’s children, he wants power over them. He lies, tempts, and seduces humanity away
from their Father. Satan is still determined to make the children of God slaves
to him. If you obey the devil in sin, you are his captive.
“In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves;
if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
And that they may recover themselves out of the
snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.” 2 Timothy
2:25-26
“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that
ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as
instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God … For
sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under
grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under
grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to
whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey:
whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” Romans 6:12, 16
Because of your
faith in Jesus Christ you gained in power and faith, obtained your body, and
the opportunity to grow. Other than God
and Christ and the faithful who are with them, the most powerful beings in this
universe are you and the other members of your species who kept the first estate,
and most especially the servants of Jesus Christ.
“And I will put
enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it
shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Genesis 3:15
“Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy
name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all
the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that
the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names
are written in heaven.” Luke 10:17-20
It is good to have
awareness that you have adversaries that will try to tempt and seduce you away
from God and Christ, but your main thought must be to strive toward God and
Jesus Christ, and give those adversaries little thought. They have little power over you, only that
which you give them.
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
James 4:7
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