Fox Television Network has green lighted a new show called Lucifer. This new series will depict Satan, bored with being "lord of hell", taking a vacation, of sorts, in Las Angeles. A major plot line of the show will be Lucifer helping the police punish criminals while an angel, sent from God, attempts to convince him to return to his place in Hell. Lucifer becomes an anti-hero with a likable personality, more of a lovable rogue than the hater of men's souls.
This theme of traditionally evil characters being rebooted as heroic and virtuous seems to be a new trend in Hollywood. Disney's Maleficent reinvents the evil character from Sleeping Beauty as a creature of beauty and grace who was turned bitter by lost love and betrayal. In the end, Maleficent regains her wings and returns to being a creature of goodness and light, restoring peace to the world. Dracula Untold was the next film that recently retold the tale of an overtly evil character who was really a misunderstood good guy, forced to embrace an evil persona to accomplish good. In Dracula Untold we find the story of a man who is forced to become a powerful creature in order to save his family and kingdom from Islamic invaders. A character who is traditionally referred to as "the prince of darkness" and whose name literally means "son of the devil" gets a makeover and is revealed to be more than good as he sacrifices himself for those he loves. In essence, we have Dracula being recast as a Messiah rather than a blood thirsty agent of hell.
Lucifer is one of a slew of comic book based television shows and movies that have been flooding American culture in recent years. Executive Producer Jerry Bruckheimer has been quoted as saying, "We are in the transportation business. We transport audiences from one place to another", in referring to the film industry. Where exactly is Mr. Bruckheimer attempting to transport us with Lucifer?
With the current trend of reinventing evil characters, Lucifer goes beyond mere entertainment as this production deals with a non fictional entity who is evil personified. There seems to be an agenda to cast Sastan in a positive light, especially to younger generations who are all but Biblically illiterate. Isaiah 5:20 states: Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Maleficent and Dracula are obviously fictional characters and reinventing them for entertainment purposes is perfectly acceptable. One does have to wonder who or what is ultimately inspiring these ideas. I dealt with this topic in a previous blog that can be accessed by CLICKING HERE
At some point in the future, Satan will come to world power through the person the Bible refers to as the "beast" traditionally known as the Anti-Christ. This is clearly stated in Revelation 13:5-8 5 And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling,[a] that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, 8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. Obviously, if Satan showed up today, the world would not accept him or worship him. Something must fundamentally change in the way the world views God and Satan for the above scenario to take place. Television shows like Lucifer are the beginning of what must take place in order for there to be a paradigm shift tremendous enough for the world to embrace Satan and actively reject God. People must be conditioned to accept the idea that Satan is good and God is evil.
In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve walked with God, talked with God, had fellowship with God, yet Satan was able to convince them that God was lying to them for His own selfish purposes. If Adam and Eve could be convinced of lies about God, how much more is a world that has no regard for the Creator susceptible to such a great delusion. In fact, the Apostle Paul warns us of this very thing in II Thessalonians 2:8-11 - 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false,... Satan's perceived persona must change in order for the world to accept him as a ruler. Current culture and entertainment is attempting to accomplish just that. Through conditioning, society may come to view Satan as a heroic, even victimized, persona that wants what's best for everyone. This idea transcends the idea of sympathy for the devil, even the Rolling Stones' song by the same name cast Satan as a villain. Casting Satan as a sympathetic villain is not enough to bring forth the cultural shift that must take place before Revelation 13 can become a reality.
As believers, we have a great challenge and responsibility to present and defend truth. We cannot afford to speak about faith and not actively practice it in our daily lives. The onus is on us, now more than ever, to educate the younger generations in Biblical truth. The Word of God has been marginalized in our post modern society and is not tolerated in the marketplace of ideas because, in a relativistic society, there is no place for a book that claims authority and absolute truth. We need to be careful, now more than ever about our entertainment choices and the example we are giving to our children and grandchildren. Hypocrisy is one of the largest factors in why young people are rejecting Christ in record numbers. When we say one thing and do another, it tells those around us that we really do not believe what we claim to believe.
We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities of darkness. We must be prepared for battle and we must understand that the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but of the Spirit. Scripture memorization, obedience to God's word, and prayer. We must have the mind of Christ. Philippians 4:8 tells us to focus on good things and not to dwell on evil: 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Time is short, and we know that the world will grow increasingly evil before the end of all things. We can do our part by being aware that evil influences will be growing as well, and responding to these influences properly. We must be wary, as believers, to not participate in or support anything that glorifies the enemy of God. Lucifer should be on our "do not watch list" but it should be part of our conversation. We are called to be prepared in season and out of season to give an account for our faith. A show about Satan may just be a good conversation starter and we can take something that Satan meant for his glory and use it to glorify our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
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