Satan is a fallen spirit being, but he is not without form. He is a person. The discussion of Satan’s form should be preceded by considering that God has form. Moses testified that he witnessed God’s form when he asked to see His glory: “Then Moses said, show me Thy glory! And He said, I Myself will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion. But He said, You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live! Then the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen” (Ex. 33:18-23 NASB).

When Moses pitched the tabernacle outside the camp of the disobedient Israelites and entered the tabernacle, the Lord spoke to him face to face: “And it came about, whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent; and the LORD would speak with Moses....Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses returned to the camp, his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent” (Ex. 33:9, 11 NASB). The apostle Paul also confirmed the truth that God has form (Phil. 2:6; Rom. 5:14).

God is spirit: “Jesus said to her, Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall you worship the Father. You worship that which you do not know; we worship that which we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:21-24 NASB). The words “God is spirit” describe the nature of God. The doctrine of the trinity does not contradict the essential nature of God. Spirit is not matter but a nonmaterial subject. Since God is spirit, the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ could go through a closed door. The substance of God is invisible, uncompounded, and indestructible. Spirit is invisible; therefore, God is invisible (Col. 1:15; I Tim. 1:17).

God is not a corporeal being. The incorporeal nature of God is the basis for the commandment that forbids the worship of the likeness of anything of a corporeal nature (Ex. 20:4, 5; Deut. 4:14-19). In the Biblical view of things, a spirit may become corporeal by dwelling in a body (Eccl. 12:7; I Thess. 5:23). The statement that God made to Moses, “…you shall see My back” (Ex. 33:23), might lead to the idea that God is corporeal; but the context contradicts such an idea. God is known by His actions and manifestations (Rom. 1:19, 20). God’s glory (Ex. 33:22) and His moral character (Ex. 34:5-8) were manifested to Moses.

God is spirit in the same way that God is light and God is love. We would not say God is “a” light or God is “a” love. God is so inaccessible that we cannot know Him perfectly. On the other hand, God is so greatly manifested in nature and in Holy Scripture that we cannot be totally ignorant of His existence (Rom. 1:18-23; Ps. 19:1-11). As the light from the sun manifests other things to us, it also manifests itself to us. God who manifests things to us also manifests Himself to us: “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse” (Rom. 1:20 NASB). The light of reason that God gives us to understand other things (John 1:9) enables us to understand the existence of God.

While God is pure spirit being, one must not suppose that He is without form. God is not some electromagnetic radiation that permeates space. The eternal Deity of Christ is confirmed by the statement “existed in the form of God” (Phil. 2:6 NASB). Form is equivalent to our phrase “specific character.” God is pure spirit substance, and His form is that body of qualities that distinguish God from all other spirit beings. Jesus Christ had all those qualities that make God, God. Form carries with it the idea of shape. One does not think about a sword without visualizing shape, and no one thinks about God without visualizing form. Paul did not attempt to explain the form in Philippians 2:6. There is an unspeakable contrast between the heavenly and the earthly. Eliphaz said to Job, “...but I could not discern its appearance; A form was before my eyes; There was silence, then I heard a voice: Can mankind be just before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker?” (Job 4:16, 17 NASB).

Since God is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent, how can He have form? The answer to this question is explained by Jesus Christ’s statement concerning Himself: “And no one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven, even the Son of Man” (John 3:13 NASB). While Jesus Christ was here on earth, His human body restrained Him. He became hungry and weary, but He surrendered none of His attributes as God absolutely considered. The physical body of Jesus Christ, which is the form of man, did not hinder His omnipresence; likewise, the spirit form of God does not hinder His omnipresence.

God who has form assumed forms by which Deity is manifested. God who created man in God’s image and after God’s likeness manifested Deity to men in Jesus Christ in the form of man. (Study Gen. 18:2 and Dan. 3:25.) Adam was created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26); thus, he was a type of Christ (Rom. 5:14). The Greek word for “type” (tupos, translated mark, place, print) originally meant the mark caused by a blow (John 20:25). It came to mean the figure that a tool bears and hence a pattern or model. Finally, it came to mean a person or event prefigured by someone or something.

The incarnate Son is the ultimate in the manifestation of God’s form. He assumed the form of a servant by coming into the world in the likeness of men (Phil. 2:7). He did not become merely a man; but by taking the form of a servant, He came into a state in which He appeared to unregenerate people as nothing more than man. He remained God when He assumed humanity; therefore, He had only the appearance of man. He came in the “likeness” of sinful flesh. In the spirit of unselfishness and self-sacrifice, Christ assumed the form of a servant. Being in the form of God proves Christ was one with the Father. Being in the form of a servant proves what He unselfishly did for the elect. Christ did not change one form of being for another. He changed only His appearance by assuming a human nature. “To be” and “to be manifested” are distinct. There was no metamorphosis of substance in Paul’s statement: “who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:6, 7 NASB).

To escape an anthropomorphic god, we do not throw ourselves at the feet of a morphic god. God does not lack form. He is the ethical God to be loved and trusted. We may feel awe in the presence of the absolute, as we feel awe in the presence of a storm or flood. However, our feeling of awe in the presence of a storm does not cause us to love but to fear. God revealed to His own that He loves us by sacrificing Himself for us. Self-abnegation, not self-depreciation, is commended to us in Philippians 2. Christ did not stand on His right of retaining the position of equality with the Father in glory that He enjoyed eternally before assuming a human nature, but He was willing for our sake to become subordinate to the Father as He assumed the form of a servant.

Does God have form? “For in Him [Christ] all the fulness of Deity dwells in bodily form” (Col. 2:9 NASB). That is form. There is nothing in Scripture to indicate that when we step out of time into eternity we will see either the Father or the Holy Spirit. The only manifestation of the Divine Triunity is Jesus Christ. He is in His glorified body. We will recognize Him, and He will be our King of kings and Lord of lords throughout eternity.

While Satan is a fallen spirit being, one should not suppose that he, any more than God, is without form. The form of Satan is confirmed by the Biblical description of his creation: (1) He was created “full of wisdom and perfect in beauty” (Ezek. 28:12 NASB). Who but a person with form could be described in such a manner? Beauty can be applied to things as well as persons, but wisdom can be applied only to living beings. (2) He was created as a cherub that covers (Ezek. 28:14). He was anointed. The word “anointed” is used with reference to Satan only one time in the Old Testament, and it has the significance of outspreading wings. Lucifer, therefore, was the overspreading cherub that covers. (3) The heavenly creatures had form. The representation of the cherub over the mercy seat had form (Ex. 25:20). The four living creatures of Ezekiel 1:5 had the likeness of a man. The seraphim of Isaiah 6 had form. The angels appeared in form to Lot in Genesis 19. The human form in general is emphasized in that chapter.

Lucifer, who became Satan in his fall, retained form that carries the idea of shape. The characteristics of intelligence (Eph. 6:11), knowledge (Rev. 12:12), memory (Matt. 4:6), will (Is. 14:13, 14; II Tim. 2:26), speech (Job 1:9, 10), emotions (I Tim. 3:6), and wrath (Rev. 12:12) are ascribed to Satan as a person, and a person has form. The personality of Satan sounds crude to this scientific age. It may sound to many like spooks, ghosts, and myths. The modern idea of Satan resembles the concept that since men voted the Devil out, then the Devil is gone. If that is true, we would like to know who is carrying on his work.

Satan, who has form, assumes many forms by which evil is manifested. He took the form of a serpent to deceive Eve. The serpent was the most clever of all the beasts that God had created. This cleverness was the harmless cleverness patterned after being “shrewd as serpents” (Matt. 10:16 NASB). The serpent’s speaking emanated from Satan, not the serpent. The serpent was only the form through which Satan operated. Human beings are not beyond being used of the Devil to speak the things he desires rather than speaking the things of God. Peter illustrates this when he was rebuked by the Lord for acting like Satan (Matt. 16:21-23). Satan is an invisible spirit being; thus, he disguises his true motive.

Satan disguised himself in the garden of Eden as an angel of light. He began his confrontation with Eve by asking a question. He promised greater power and glory than Adam and Eve possessed. The Devil injected into Eve’s heart the principle of self-love; and through Eve, he reached Adam. In this manner, our first parents plunged from God-consciousness to self-consciousness. Satan blinds the minds of unregenerate people by assuming an optimistic view based on self-consciousness. This world is governed by Satan (I John 5:19), as far as people are concerned. His spirit works in the children of disobedience. All persons disobedient to God’s word are the workers of Satan. However, there is a Ruler (God) overruling and permitting Satan to operate.

The ultimate of Satan’s form will be in the coming Antichrist (II Thess. 2; Rev. 13). The mystery of Godliness had its embodiment in the Lord Jesus, and the mystery of iniquity will find its embodiment in the Antichrist. Saul, the first king of Israel, stood from his shoulders upward higher than any of the people (I Sam. 9:2). He prefigured the coming of the man of sin, who in intelligence, governmental power, and Satanic might will tower above all of his contemporaries (Rev. 13:4). The Antichrist will be charisma personified. Saul blatantly performed the office of a Levite (I Sam. 13:9). The time of his reign was immediately before that of David, and the Antichrist will immediately precede the Son of David, David’s Lord. Saul was a mighty warrior (I Sam. 11:11; 13:1-4; 15:4). He was a rebel against God (I Sam. 15:11). He hated David, and the Antichrist will hate God (I Sam. 18:7, 8, 11). This wicked king slew the servants of God, and Antichrist will do the same (I Sam. 22:17, 18). Saul had communication with evil spirits (I Sam. 28:7-14). He died by the sword (I Sam. 31:4, 5).

No one questions that David is a type of Jesus Christ. Since Jesus Christ is the greater David, Saul was a type of Christ’s opponent. The first king of Israel retained the throne after he was Divinely rejected. David, the true king chosen by God, was hunted like a bird on the mountains and found his refuge in the cave called Adullam. However, God did not at once intervene by power and take the dignities of the kingdom from Saul, although Saul had lost title to them. As Saul was king for a short period of time and usurped authority, the Antichrist will do likewise.

Copyright ã   2004

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