Original text from The War in Heaven and Satan’s Continuing Battle for Power by Kevin M. Bulloch, Ensign, February 2004.

The War in Heaven and Satan’s Continuing Battle for Power
Kevin M. Bulloch

Council in HeavenIn the Council in Heaven, Jesus offered to redeem us, saying, “Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever” (Moses 4:2). Robert T. Barrett, The Grand Council.

Many parents, as they have labored through the process of raising a teenager, may have wondered at times if Satan’s idea of destroying agency was such a bad idea. However, most parents have learned from experience that trying to control a child’s decisions, even in the right direction, can often result in the child’s rebellion. Very few, if any, like to be forced to do something, even if it is good. Having the right to live according to our personal desires and to exercise our agency, even if what we choose is not wise or good for us, is very precious to us. We prize our moral agency so highly that any attempt to undermine, circumvent, manipulate, control, or eliminate it often leads to conflict. These battles have spanned heaven and earth and have included both individuals and great assemblies.

The War in Heaven

In one of the most significant of such conflicts, Lucifer “became Satan” (Moses 4:4). When Satan “rebelled against [God], and sought to destroy the agency of man” (Moses 4:3), there was “war in heaven” (Revelation 12:7). That conflict led to Satan being “thrust down from the presence of God” (D&C 76:25), for God had given “unto man his agency” (Moses 7:32) and would not allow it to be destroyed. Sadly, Satan was able to amass a large following to his cause which resulted in the loss of “a third part of the hosts of heaven” (D&C 29:36; Revelation 12:4)[1], the first casualties of what has become an ongoing war.[1]