Mike,

Why does Satan have the power of death since we were created to die?
K____

Hi K____,

Thank you for your question. You ask:

Why does Satan have the power of death since we were created to die?

I think you are confusing ‘death’ with “the power of death.” “The power of death” is “the fear of death.” All of mankind is by nature afraid of dying and will do all in his power to preserve his life:

Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
Heb 2:15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

Eph 5:29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:

It is not Satan who causes us to die. As you point out, that is what flesh was created to do. Satan’s power is to incite in our flesh the fear of its demise. Our flesh argues that if there is not a body of flesh, then there is no you or me, as if you or I are in a position to say who we are and are not. You and I are not as complicated as either puppets, and we certainly are not likened by our Creator as complicated robots. We are likened to simple clay pots which are “marred in the Potter’s hand.”

Jer 18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

The new vessel the Potter has seen fit “to make” is a spiritual vessel which will not be corruptible.

Adam was created as “corruptible… sinful flesh” which could “never have inherited the kingdom of God”, whether he had ever eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or not. That is why he ate of the tree in the first place. It was his corruptible, dying condition that caused him to disobey His own Creator and listen to the voice of the Adversary. It was all part of God’s plan to create a natural, earthy, of the earth, corruptible man first, give him an experience of evil to humble him, put him through the fiery furnace of His Word, destroy the marred vessel of clay, and make it anew as a spiritual body with no clay or dust attached to it.

1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Ecc 1:13 I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens:it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it.(CLV)

Flesh and blood are equated with corruption, and all the sermons to the contrary, with all the human reasoning to the contrary, will not put flesh in the kingdom of God. As our Lord Himself put it:

Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

So when you hear anyone talking of “a body of eternal glorified flesh” or a body of “spiritual flesh”, then you know that man is still attached to the earth and is not yet capable of understanding heavenly things:

Joh 3:12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?

So while the absolute Truth is that everything is of God, the relative truth is, as it relates to mankind, that God Himself has delegated the task of being His Adversary to Satan and has given to Satan the power to keep us “all our lives in fear of death.”

The plan of salvation requires that mankind be created with a nature that is as self-centered as any ravenous beast on earth. Adam was created with a very proud nature which, when incited to do so, will literally enthrone and worship himself.

Gen 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Gen 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

The desire to be “as gods” was in the nature given Adam by his Creator, and the Adversary’s assigned task was to incite that sinful nature to seek to serve and worship its own desires. To this very day “we all… by nature,” worship that sinful nature within our flesh:

2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

“That man of sin sitting in the temple of God, showing himself to be God” is you and me. When we do this, we are, by the nature which God himself has placed into our flesh from birth, “the children of disobedience.” As “the children of disobedience” we are then “walking according to… the prince of the power of the air”, Satan himself, and are thus “worshiping the dragon.”

Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

Rev 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
Rev 13:2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
Rev 13:3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
Rev 13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who [is] like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

“We all… are children of disobedience” and thereby children of “the prince of the power of the air.” This is especially true of all of us as we profess to know Christ and are still slaves to our flesh and our proud carnal minds. Here is what Christ had to say to his proud carnal followers who “believed on him.”

Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Joh 8:33 They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
Joh 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.

Proclaiming one’s own righteousness, not even realizing that we are all created in bondage to sin, is a necessary evil in our walk, but not a good place in which to remain. Anyone who proclaims his own righteousness “is the servant of sin” and will inevitably “seek to kill Christ.” We believe in Christ, and yet we “cannot receive His words, [and we] seek to kill Him.”

Joh 8:37 I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.
Joh 8:38 I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.
Joh 8:39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
Joh 8:40 But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.
Joh 8:41 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, [ even] God.
Joh 8:42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
Joh 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

“If we are Abraham’s children, then we would do the works of Abraham,” and if we do the works of Satan, then we are “of our father the devil”, and we worship him as our father.

Rev 13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

As you know, all of this is by God’s design, and it is all within each and every one of us as creatures which are “in Adam.” We all must live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, and keep the things written therein.” We are all “of our father the devil” before we become the sons of our heavenly Father.

I feel certain you are already aware of most of this, but I hope this helps you to see why God has delegated to Satan “the power of death” and how Satan has used that power, “the fear of death”, to further all of his other lies. It is “the fear of death” which helps to further the lies of the doctrines of the trinity, the immortality of the soul, and its sister lie, the false doctrine of the immortality of the soul.

Your brother in Christ,

Mike