There is too much in each chapter of Jesus the Christ to take this study a chapter a day. Although I don't know how long or how deep this study will take me, I know each chapter will open my eyes, ears, and spirit to all that Jesus was and did for me. I'm excited to begin.
"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...And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven...," Revelation 12:7-9, 4
"And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day," Jude 6
"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 ascent 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
Jesus was foreordained to be the Savior of the World. A terrible contention or war of words led by Satan against God caused that 1/3 of the hosts of heaven, symbolized as stars, to be cast out. Somehow these beloved spirit children of God, the Father, were deceived by Satan and believed his ideas. As with Esau, these angels and Satan sold their birthright for 'a mess of pottage' or lost their first estate. Thus, they abdicated their second estate, which is life on earth. Not only did God reveal this event to John the Revelator but also to the prophet, Isaiah, several centuries before the birth of Jesus.
Satan wasn't a rank and file spirit, he was a spirit of distinction, as Moses revealed.
"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,[Pg 8] 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," Moses 4:1-4
Jesus Christ, Satan, and all the hosts of heaven lived together with God, The Father, in a pre-earth condition already possessing the ability to think and choose. Abraham tells us likewise.
"Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones; and God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born. And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell; and we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them; and they who keep their first estate shall be added upon, and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads forever and ever. And the Lord said: Whom shall I send? And one answered like unto the Son of Man: Here am I, send me. And another answered and said: Here am I, send me. And the Lord said: I will send the first. And the second was angry, and kept not his first estate; and, at that day, many followed after him," Abraham 3:22-28.
"When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" Job 38:7
Living an earthly life, we kept our first estate. In our mortal bodies, the test on earth is to keep the second estate. We do this by accepting Jesus sacrifice and using all the tools he gave us to be like Him: faith, prayer, study and adoption (of the Word), repentance, baptism, listening to the whisperings of the Holy Ghost, service, but most of all accepting the saving grace of Jesus Christ.
