Satan - His Infernal Majesty

Satan is an angel (Job 1-2). God made him before the world began (Job 38:4-7). Satan was very powerful (Revelation 12:3: "ten horns") and very wise (Revelation 12:3: "seven heads"). But he became the first sinner (1 John 3:8). Apparently at one point in the past (or possibly future) he led a rebellion in heaven against God (Revelation 12:7). In Satan’s fall, he drew a vast number of angels with him (Revelation 12:4, 9). Some of the fallen angels are loose and some are bound in a place called the Abyss (Luke 8:31). The loose ones we call "demons". Of the bound ones, there are two kinds, permanently bound (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6) and temporarily bound (Revelation 9:1-11). Satan and his demons now wage war against God’s kingdom (Revelation 12:17). Some people think that Satan lives in hell, but hell is where Satan and the wicked will be sent at the last judgment. Satan now dwells on earth (Job 1:7). At the Second Coming of Christ, he will be bound for 1,000 years (Revelation 20:1-3). After the thousand years, he will be set free for a short time and will go out to deceive the nations (Revelation 20:7-9). The devil’s final end will be in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10), which was prepared by God for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41).

Satan is never explicitly called an angel in the Bible, but these are the things that make us think he is an angel (fallen angel, of course):

	In the first two chapters of Job Satan comes in to God's throne room with the rest of the "sons of God" (a term often used to describe angels in the Bible).
	The apostle Paul says that Satan "masquerades as an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14). The emphasis in this phrase is probably on masquerading as a good (i.e., light) angel as opposed to masquerading as an angel when he is really some other creature.
	Satan is called a "spirit" (Ephesians 2:2). The word "spirit" when not referring to the spirit of a human being or the Holy Spirit usually means angels, either good or bad.
	Satan is classed with the "spiritual hosts of wickedness" (Ephesians 6:10-16). This is Paul's phrase for demons.
	If Satan is not an angel, then what else could he be? There aren't a lot of other categories to place Satan in: God, man, creatures under man, angels. Satan is certainly not God. He's not a human being and he's not a creature under man's dominion. We'd be going very much beyond Scripture to create a new category of being that the Bible never speaks of.

Satan is not omnipotent (all-powerful). He is powerful, yes, but not all powerful (1 John 4:4; Revelation 12:8; 20:2).

	Satan has the whole world of unbelievers under his control (Matthew 4:8-10; John 14:30; 1 John 5:19).
	Unbelievers belong to him (1 John 3:8,12) and are his children (1 John 3:10).
	Satan has the power of influence and blinding. He blinds the minds of the unbelieving (2 Corinthians 4:4). He prevents the gospel from entering their hearts (Matthew 13:19; Luke 8:11). Satan speaks through fortunetellers (Acts 16:16), cult leaders (1 Timothy 4:1-2), and false preachers (2 Corinthians 11: 13-15). He seeks to deceive about his existence, his purposes, his activities, and his coming defeat. He is the deceiver of the whole world (Revelation 12:8). His ultimate deception will be in the anti-christ (2 Thessalonians 2:9).
	Satan can control a person’s body. Demons can cause muteness (Luke 11:14), mental disorder (John 10:20), violent action (Luke 8:26-29), and crippling (Luke 13:11,16). In these examples Satan caused people to be handicapped although there was nothing physically wrong with them.
	Satan influences governments and nations. Daniel 10:12-13,20-21 gives us a glimpse into the spiritual realm of angels and demons and how they affect nations. The "prince of the Persian kingdom" (v.13) is apparently a demon exercising influence over the Persian realm in the interests of Satan. The archangel of God named Michael finally overcame his resistance. Likewise the "prince of Greece" in verse 20 is also a demon.