The war in heaven, by Gustav Dore
There is no doubt that, coming out of nowhere, this idea sounds appalling. If someone were to walk up to you on the street and ask, “Hey, did you know that Jesus and Satan are brothers?” you’d run away. To understand where this idea comes from, you would have to understand God’s Plan of Salvation.
First, let’s see what the scriptures have to say about Lucifer. Isaiah said,
“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
“For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
“I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
“Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit” (Isaiah 14:12-15).
In Revelation, chapter 12, John said,
“And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
“And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”
In the Doctrine and Covenants it says,
“And this we saw also, and bear record, that an angel of God who was in authority in the presence of God, who rebelled against the Only Begotten Son whom the Father loved and who was in the bosom of the Father, was thrust down from the presence of God and the Son,
“And was called Perdition, for the heavens wept over him—he was Lucifer, a son of the morning.
“And we beheld, and lo, he is fallen! is fallen, even a son of the morning!
“And while we were yet in the Spirit, the Lord commanded us that we should write the vision; for we beheld Satan, that old serpent, even the devil, who rebelled against God, and sought to take the kingdom of our God and his Christ—
“Wherefore, he maketh war with the saints of God, and encompasseth them round about” (Doctrine and Covenants 76:25-29).
In the Pearl of Great Price it says,
“And I, the Lord God, spake unto Moses, saying: That Satan, whom thou hast commanded in the name of mine Only Begotten, is the same which was from the beginning, and he came before me, saying—Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor.
“But, behold, my Beloved Son, which was my Beloved and Chosen from the beginning, said unto me—Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever.
“Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down;
“And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice” (Book of Moses 4:1-4).
It is readily apparent from these scriptures that there was a war in heaven in which Christ and Satan (Lucifer) fought against each other, and that there were followers of each. Satan was defeated and cast out along with his “angels” or followers. Where were all these followers, and who were they? The answer is that they were us. Christ and Satan and their followers warred in a heaven that pre-existed this earth and mortal existence. All of us lived in this heavenly spiritual realm before we were born with physical bodies on the earth. Christ was begotten of the Father, as were all of us, including Lucifer, who was a Son of the Morning. The title “Son of the Morning” could either signify that Lucifer was one of the earliest born of the spirits, or was illustrious, or both. The name Lucifer means “lightbearer” or “shining one.” Since both Christ and Lucifer were born of the Father, they were brothers in a spiritual sense, as all of us are brothers and sisters in that sense ─ we are all the sons and daughters of God. In the war in heaven, every single spirit-child of Heavenly Father took a stand. Since Lucifer and his followers were cast out, their progression stopped. They will ever remain spirits, without the opportunity to earn mortal bodies or immortal, resurrected bodies in the afterlife. All of the rest of us took Christ’s side in the war in heaven.
Since Lucifer was cast out and disowned by God, and since Satan will be cast into “outer darkness” at the end of the world, he is no longer part of the family of God, no longer a child of God. Therefore, he is bereft of relationships, and is not the brother of Christ.
If Lucifer is also a child of God, who you call “Heavenly Father, and has a part to play in the Mormon Plan of Salvation, is there no hope of salvation for Lucifer in your theology?
Yes, Lucifier was no pleased when his plan for mankind was not accepted and, like most children, rebelled, but is there no way to bring him back to the family of God?
I am not a Mormom, so please forgive my ignorance on the issue.
Thanx.
Thanks for your question, Ed. No, there is no way for Satan (and his followers who were cast out of heaven) to be reclaimed. They have been set outside Christ’s power to redeem and are ever and ever enemies of God. Think of every awful, horrible thing that has been perpetrated by men in the history of this earth, and realize that Satan performed them all, every one. Satan and those who fell from heaven with him will be cast into “outer darkness” at the end of the world, and the only ones who will go with them to this condemnation are those who have blasphemed against the Holy Ghost. These are they who have a perfect knowledge of Christ — the heavens have opened to them, and they have seen the Christ — and then have denied Him. The following scriptures are from section 76 of the Doctrine and Covenants, a compilation of modern revelations. Section 76 is the record of the vision of the kingdoms of heaven experienced by Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon:
They are they who are the sons of perdition, of whom I say that it had been better for them never to have been born; For they are vessels of wrath, doomed to suffer the wrath of God, with the devil and his angels in eternity; Concerning whom I have said there is no forgiveness in this world nor in the world to come—
Having denied the Holy Spirit after having received it, and having denied the Only Begotten Son of the Father, having crucified him unto themselves and put him to an open shame. These are they who shall go away into the lake of fire and brimstone, with the devil and his angels—And the only ones on whom the second death shall have any power; Yea, verily, the only ones who shall not be redeemed in the due time of the Lord, after the sufferings of his wrath. For all the rest shall be brought forth by the resurrection of the dead, through the triumph and the glory of the Lamb, who was slain, who was in the bosom of the Father before the worlds were made.
And this is the gospel, the glad tidings, which the voice out of the heavens bore record unto us—That he came into the world, even Jesus, to be crucified for the world, and to bear the sins of the world, and to sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness; That through him all might be saved whom the Father had put into his power and made by him.
You say that Satan was so bad there is no way for him to partake in the plan of salvation. Is it not also true that in Mormon theology that this was all part of God’s plan? If it was all part of God’s plan then Lucifer is a victim. If I understand it correctly it was necessary for man to fall so that we could have free agency. What does that say about Satan’s free agency if it was all planed out. Confusing.
Yes, there needed to be opposition, and God surely knew that Satan would rebel. However, Satan will be bound during the thousand years of the Millennium, so his machinations can’t be completely central to God’s plan. “Adam fell that man might be, and men are that they might have joy” is the quote. So Adam fell from his terrestrial state, which was static, and in which he could not father children, so we could be born. With that fall, it took the Savior to bring us to the worthiness and cleanliness necessary to return to God’s presence.
I did not understand or saw a clear answer to the question. If God created Satan knowing he would rebel, doesn’t that make Satan a victim, or God an accomplice. My best thought on this would be that Satan was created as an non-sentient being (robot like) to carry out God’s plan to fulfill God’s glory. But why this painful and torturous plan for mankind and the Christ.
Hello Ed, Your thoughts are all good. The God who LDS (Mormons) refer to as Heavenly Father (aka Father in Heaven) is the exact same way Jesus referred to His Father as stated several times in the Holy Bible. I have also thought about your question of Lucifer/Satan having a chance of returning back to the family of God. After pondering upon this my answer to you (Ed) is that God the Father chose to cast Lucifer out– I’m pretty sure the Father did not cast him out right away but as Lucifer proved himself as evil and having no place with God or the things of heaven he could not remain. People on earth live by faith, but Lucifer was with God in heaven and completely rebelled.
Bible legend says that God wept tears of Joy when he created Lucifer and tears of Sorrow when he cast him and his followers out of Heaven.
2 Corinthians 11:4 “For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached”
Can you show me where the Apostles preach that Jesus is the brother of Satan/Lucifer like the Mormons preach?
Yes I can, you can read a lot more in the 27 books that the Catholic church ordered to be destroyed. In Egypt was found a ceramic jar buried by the Catholic Monks in 367 AD. The main subject as I have read them all is mainly the preexistence. The book “THE NAG HAMMADI SCRIPTURES” page 670 it states. He who had gone up into the Fullness did not want to consent to the suffering, but eh was prevented from passing through because he was held back by the Boundary – that is the partner. For the correction could no come about except by the means of his own Son, to whom belongs the entre divine Fullness. It pleased him to place within him the powers as a body, and he descended.
Hello Adrian, Actually in related scriptures as found in the Holy Bible there are several times it was recorded about Lucifer being a son of the morning and living (as a spirit) with Father and the Son.