Introduction:

From the very beginning of Earth's history, there has been war between Christ, the Son of God, and Satan, the devil. Lucifer, once the highest angel in Heaven sought, first to supplant God Himself in Heaven, and then, failing that, to hurt God by destroying His people here on Earth—whom God loves with infinite compassion.

The battle began in Heaven, as described in Rev. 12:7-9. Satan [Lucifer: (KJV) Isa. 14:12-14] lost the war in Heaven and was exiled from God's presence. Soon afterward, evidently, God created Earth and allowed Satan to live on this planet.

It seems that the devil's visa restricted him to the Tree of the Knowledge of God and Evil. God gave Adam and Eve explicit orders that they should not eat fruit from that tree. Why? Satan was there. That's the only place where he was permitted to tempt them. And if they followed his suggestions and ate the fruit, they would not only be disobeying God, but would be joining sides with Satan and his demons in their war against God.

And you know the outcome: Eve let herself be deceived by Satan—who appeared to be a serpent in the tree's branches. Eve, in turn, became the original missionary, taking the fruit to Adam. And Adam was the world's first convert—to the dragon's army.

This study traces, briefly, the conflict between Christ and Satan from it's initial heavenly battleground to Satan's utter defeat and eradication.

1GC Rev. 12:1-6:

All through the Bible, God has referred to His people as being His wife. When they disobeyed Him, or worshiped idols, He accused them of committing adultery.

• Example: Jer 3:8, 9 "I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery. Because Israel's immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood."

• But in Rev. 12 the woman is dressed with the sun—she's clean and pure—a virgin. So she appears as the faithful bride of Christ: God's church. (The adulterous woman in Rev 17 describes a false religious system.)

The Dragon was the devil, and Satan. The name Satan has the root meaning of "the accuser." He is the one who accuses, before God, those whom he tempts into sin as unworthy of any divine notice. And he discourages us by accusing us of committing the unpardonable sin, and in this way he makes us believe that there's no hope for us.

3GC Rev. 12:2, 5

Jesus was the Man child. Satan, through Herod, tried to kill Christ as soon as He was born.

• Jesus is pictured here to be the child of His church. Of course Mary, as a faithful "mother in Israel," was one of God's people, and a part of God's true church.

4GC Rev.12:7-9 He came from Heaven, and he moved to Earth. (See "Introduction" above)

5GC Ezek 28:12-15

Satan was a created being (verse 15) who was cast out of Heaven (Rev. 12:7-9). We next see him take up residence in Eden (Gen. 3:1-7) in the form of a snake . . . a serpent . . . a dragon . . . . So the devil would have had to be cast out of Heaven some time before the creation of the Earth.

6GC Rev. 12:9; Gen. 3:1-7

When Adam and Eve sinned, they were the only people on Earth. When the first pair sinned, at that point Satan led the whole world astray. Ever since that time most of the world has been following his leadership. But there have always been some who were faithful to God.

7GC Rev. 12:10; Heb 2:14

Satan was irrevocably conquered at the Cross of Christ. Beyond that point there was no hope that he would ever win the battle. His war was lost.

8GC Rev. 13-16

Satan tried to destroy God’s people. Satan reasoned that if he couldn't kill Jesus, he would get at him where He could hurt Jesus the worst: The devil decided to persecute and destroy God’s people whom He loved so much.

9GC Rev 12:17

      • They keep all God's commandments;

      • They hold to the testimony of Jesus. (We will discuss this under the study "Spiritual Gifts")

10GC Rev. 20:1-3

Jesus will cast Satan into the "bottomless pit" for 1000 years. (We will cover this topic when we study the Millennium.)

He will be thrown into the lake of fire that destroys this earth and everyone who has chosen to follow Satan and to accept him as their God.

12GC Rev. 21:3, 4; Nahum 1:9

All the people in the universe have seen how much God loves His people, and what it cost when people became selfish and wanted to go their own way outside of God’s will (sin). Nobody is ever going to want to start that again.

      • "The great controversy is ended. Sin and sinners
        are no more. The entire universe is clean. One
        pulse of harmony and gladness beats through the
        vast creation. From Him who created all, flow life
        and light and gladness, throughout the realms of
        illimitable space. From the minutest atom to the
        greatest world, all things, animate and inanimate,
        in their unshadowed beauty and perfect joy,
        declare that God is love." Ellen G. White The Great
        Controversy Between Christ and Satan (Boise, ID:
        Pacific Press Publishing Association) p. 678.