According to Tim Mackie, Satan is not a proper name. It's the title of a creature motivated to destroy. Its literal name is translated adversary. Satan is used to describe kings opposing Israel in the Old Testament (the satan). It's not a name but an adversary to the order and good of God.
God created order out of chaos. He created humanity and endowed them to govern His good creation. God created good out of waste, darkness, and the abyss of nothingness. His creation brings life and peace as it was created before the fall of man and the curse. The satan is anti-creation. This creature's desire is to de-create the world back to nothingness. It took the form of a snake and tempted humanity.
The title Lucifer was a Latin translation to describe the morning star. That last star (Venus) that sits brightest next to the sun just before dawn breaks. It wasn’t a name, but a description. The serpent in Old Testament literature was used to illustrate wisdom of craftiness. The snake is aware of its surroundings and clever in its movements.
Peter (1 Peter 5:8) describes the devil as a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. The term devil literally means liar or deceiver. Paul uses the term Devil to describe Christians spreading gossip in the church.
I am reminded of the Harry Potter books. The dark lord is referred to as, “He who shall not be named.” The naming of something honors it as something worthy of naming. Scripture does not name this creature of destruction and anti-creation. It describes its horrifying qualities and motivations, to undo all that is good and ordered by God.
The satan uses violence, death, and chaos to destroy all that is good. Violence is not of God. It is a tool of the satan to destroy. The adversary is clever in sewing destruction. It may use righteous indignation or good motivation to destroy. If its means are violent or destructive, it is the sin crouching at our door. It tempts us with just cause.
This makes evil clearer to understand. The end never justifies the means. It’s the means that are evil and foil the good in our lives. It’s the everyday decisions that destroy what is good.
Violence can never bring peace. Violence ends in death, it will never bring life. Those habits which destroy your life or someone else’s are evil and are of the satan. Gossip, lies, abuse, violence, murder, addiction, are all satan to God.
Our behaviors potentially de-creates what God intended for good. Human beings are made in the likeness of God. Any form of de-valuation of another human is the satan to God.
Satan is not a name but a creature that embodies the anti-creation. Power over this creature and its tools (violence, murder, chaos, destruction) comes from sacrificial submission. Jesus set the example and conquered through love in His unjust death. Love and the acts of love are our weapon against violence, murder, and chaos.
May you love the world to peace
May you see the satan for what it is
May you uncover the satan with the light of love
Josh