#fall of man
The rise of the philosophers meant the fall of man, for once reason took over, men no longer possessed their former guides, their regulating, unconscious and infallible drives: they were reduced to thinking, inferring, reckoning, co-ordinating cause and effect, these unfortunate creatures; they were reduced to their ‘consciousness,’ their weakest and most fallible organ!
Friedrich Nietzsche from On the Genealogy of Morality.
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Lucifer is the eldest angel, most wise, powerful and beautiful of all angels. But his beauty was the reason of his pride and subsequent fall. He was distracted from the beauty of the God when he considered his own beauty (both inner and outward) equal to God.
Here’s an interesting excerpt from the book “Discovery: God’s Answers to Our Deepest Questions : a Bible Study” by Will Wyatt:
Satan: The First Rebel
Adam and Eve were not the first to reject God’s provision. They followed the advice of the first rebel, Satan. In Ezekiel 28, which speaks of Satan, we see the motive for rebellion.
“You had 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 ruby, the topaz, and the diamond; the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the lapis lazuli, the turquoise, and the emerald; and the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, was in you. On the day that you were created … ”(12-13).
We all wish we could be perfect. As beautiful as some people are, almost everyone. at times, wishes God had done a little better job creating them. We wish for a little more here, a little less there. Sometimes we have a hard time accepting God’s choice for our personality, talents, or appearance. In contrast, Satan was perfect in his beauty. This is what happened to this beautiful creation of God:
“You were internally filled with violence, and you sinned; … Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty [pride); you corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor” (Ezekiel 28:16-17).
Satan’s perfection went to his head. He took credit for the beauty God had given him. Notice that outside influences were not the cause of Satan’s pride; he was internally prideful and violent. We see Satan’s proud boasting in Isaiah 14:13-14 (Ts):
“I will ascend to heaven and rule the angels. I will take the highest throne. I will preside on the Mount of Assembly far away in the north. I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High”.
Satan was created to reflect the glory and beauty of God. Among the precious stones that covered Satan were diamonds. When held in the light, a diamond will reflect every color of the rainbow. But if we hold a diamond in our cupped hand to shut off the light, it loses its beauty. The beauty of all the stones that covered Satan depended on light flowing through them. In darkness, they were dull and drab. Satan had the wonderful opportunity to reflect God’s glory and beauty. Instead, he deceived himself into believing he was beautiful within himself and would not give God the honor for his creation. He wanted to be just like God, even to ascend to a greater height and sit above Him. Satan was not willing to be a reflector of God; he wanted to be above god.
That’s the reason why I depicted Lucifer not stereotypically as everyone depicts him being ugly, but as the most beautiful looking being created by God… and that’s why he is the Father of lies.
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