Satan’s Position
Satan is the leader of all fallen angels and the lost
We’ve seen that Satan the person is a fallen angel. He was created holy but fell from grace due to the sin of pride. He wanted to be like God. His first recorded act following the creation of the world was to deceive Eve in the Garden of Evil, resulting in tearing apart the perfect fellowship between Adam and Eve and God. That single deception, resulting in the fall of man, and its attendant separation of natural man from God, has been the cause of all suffering, heartache, and loss ever since.
If Satan had left the scene after the Garden of Eden, Jesus would still have had to come to die on the cross for our sins and to conquer death by rising in resurrection. But as bad as the results of the deception in the Garden were, and continue to be, it was only the beginning of Satan’s earthly evil works. He has remained on the scene since the Garden of Evil, trying to accomplish his prideful desire to be like God.
A single fallen angel with the goal of establishing his own kingdom in opposition to God’s kingdom could create much havoc. Still, that demon would be significantly limited. He would be all alone, without help. Since he could only be in one place at one time, his work would be limited in scope. He couldn’t simultaneously work in two houses next to each other, much less simultaneously extend his reach throughout the entire world. And, he would have no authority over the world, no way to shape and control the world’s cultures, government, religions, and institutions.
Though Satan is a single fallen angel, he’s under no such limitations. This is because he holds an elevated position of authority not only over all other fallen angels, the demons, but also over the entire world. We’ll consider those two areas of authority next, beginning with Satan’s authority over the demons.
The Bible tells us Satan isn’t just one among many fallen angels; he is the undisputed leader of all fallen angels. Jesus noted this when He spoke of a future time when He will judge the nations.1 He’ll sort the people into two groups. Those who had trusted in Him will be placed on the right and go to heaven; those who had rejected Him will be placed on the left and go “into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels”.2 That is, Satan, like God, has his own angels, his own angelic followers, the demons. All fallen angels look to Satan as their leader.
Jesus confirmed that Satan was the leader of the fallen angels when the Pharisees accused Him of being possessed by Satan and casting out demons by the power of Satan. He pointed out the irrationality of the argument that Satan would work against himself by casting out his own demons. He said:
“…How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end.” (Mark 3:23b–26)
Jesus was saying that if Satan cast out his own demons his kingdom would fall. Satan’s kingdom could not stand without the help of his army of untold millions of demons. Since he is limited to being one place at one time, he needs those demons to project his power in the world.
Jesus’ reference to a kingdom divided against itself wasn’t just a metaphor for Satan and his fallen angel followers; it was a true statement. It refers to the second high position that Satan holds. In addition to being the undisputed leader of the demons, Satan is the ruler of the entire fallen world. It’s his kingdom. We’ll look at that next.