In The Beginning
We must first recognize that too many people give the devil more credit than he is due. Some view the heavenly realms as a battle between light and darkness, good and evil, with the forces of good fighting for the souls of humanity. The Asian dichotomy of balance in the symbols yin and yang aligns with this theory. God and the devil are at war and fighting with each other to win mankind. Others view the dual entities as God is the god of heaven, and the Devil is the god of hell. They each rule and reign in their respective space in the universe. They can neither leave nor enter the other realms.
What does the Bible teach about the Devil? The Bible’s view of the devil is not as grandiose as the world likes to portray him. We live in a world where we reshape and adjust what frightens us into something more tolerable. We do this because we feel threatened and must protect our minds and hearts from any eternal fears. We do this because we want to be in control of our situation. We prefer not to be caught off guard, feeling out of control, and entering an unknown reality.
The Bible is clear about who the devil is. Satan means, “adversary” in Hebrew (Job 1:6-12), and in Greek he is called diabolos, which means “slanderer” (Matt. 4:1). Satan is also refered to as: The Evil One (John 17:15), The Tempter (1 Thess. 3:5), The Accuser (Rev 12:10, The Sepent (Gen 3:1), The Dragon (Rev 12:9), Prince of the Power of the Air (Eph 2:2), God of this world/age (2 Cor 4:4). All these names are given to and identify the creature that leads a third of the angels in heaven to fall with him (Rev 12:3-4; 9).
The Bible states that Satan was not created evil, nor was any creature created evil. Evil is not created or made, it is practiced. Evil is an action and an act of the beast acting in rebellion against God’s laws. Satan was created perfect and holy, yet the mystery of Scripture reveals that Satan sinned against God by trying to be like God. His pride and passion were to receive glory as God was being glorified. Consider all the negative emotions a jealous person may have; that’s what Satan felt. He had envy, jealousy, rage, frustration, judgment, accusations, and depression. Satan rejected God, refrained from giving God glory, and proceeded to mock and accuse God of being unfair and unloving. These are all speculations because we are not told exactly how things played out in Heaven, but we do have glimpses of the outcome. He convinced, we do not know how, a third of the angels in heaven to follow him. He convinced them to abandon God’s authority and rule with him to be like gods on Earth. 
They believed him, followed him, and fell with him. Satan then uses the same temptation and sin to draw Adam and Eve out of the comforts under God’s wings, to give them a taste of freedom. The freedom he promised them is freedom from oppression (God). He coerces, confuses, and coaxes them into desiring the things of God rather than God Himself. They originally had life with God walking with Him daily, but now Satan has blinded them to the truth by tempting them to desire what God has, and not who God is. Satan’s tactics worked. Adam and Eve fell hard, and the repercussions of their sin carry on with us today. We are all recipients of that first sin, which roots back to how Satan fell in the first place. Pride, envy, and redirected desires. All sins can be traced back to this original fall, the pride of autonomy.
Satan was also called “Lucifer,” which is Latin for “light-bearer.” What a glorious name to have, to be called the light-bearer of God. Jesus is the Light of the world (John 8:12), and to be honored with the title light-bearer is a tremendous honor. 
But to Lucifer, that was not enough. He was not satisfied or content with just carrying the title; he wanted to be the Light of the world. His ultimate desire was and still is to be like God. His desires led him to fall, but he used that same temptation on the first people on Earth. Adam and Eve’s desire and real reason why they took the fruit was the same reason Lucifer fell from Heaven: to be like God, or more accurately, to be Gods themselves. All other religions trace back to this event as well, because all religion is an attempt to make something else (force, energy, person, or entity) like God or another god. They are false images of the true living God, and the Devil created those other religions to deceive mankind in a similar fashion and with similar desires. All sins committed are another act of rebellion against the Holy God, rejecting His authority and declaring their rights and authority to act as God. We desire to have what God has, not be with God in His presence. Our sin is the same as the devil’s.
All these tactics and methods are skillfully crafted to best suit the situation for every individual. We are all tempted by the same things, but at different times, and in different ways. They are all the same. Sin desires to have ultimate freedom, to be autonomous, to feel we have rights and choices. Sin desires to be like God in His nature, powers, and authority. We will look into some of the tactics Satan uses to deceive and tempt you in ways that you did not realize or recognize. We will take a hard look at what Satan’s goal is and why he does what he does. 
We will examine the three methods I’ve discovered how the Devil draws us into deception and disillusionment.
The Devil will align himself accurately with you so that he can imitate you and simulate you so that you will not recognize whether the temptation is from you or an external source. He aligns his words, body, and mind with yours so that you cannot tell the difference. Satan will make himself sound like you, look like you, and act like you. You are his target, and he has all his arrows pointed directly at every part of your being. He will strike and attack at your most vulnerable times. His onslaught of anger and rage will overwhelm you with depression and, in the worst case, suicide. He is out to steal, kill, and destroy everyone in his path (John 10:10). He wants to cause the most pain possible. I would ask you to take a moment to pray to God for enlightenment on this topic, so that you can know your enemy and avoid them at all costs. God will shield you from the devil’s lies so that you may see the truth that only comes in Christ. This article is broken down into three parts: Hear no eavil, See no evil, Speak no evil, as in the ancient Japanese philosophies of the three wise monkeys. This is to organize the devil’s schemes in how he makes himself sound like you, look like you, and act like you. You will see the deception the Devil likes to use to gain access into people’s minds and cause inception.
