Lucifer chose to oppose God and eventually was cast out of heaven along with hordes of angels who chose to follow him. In his fallen state Lucifer became known as Satan and the devil. Satan became a murderer and the father of lies. Satan became the antithesis (exact opposite) of all that Christ is. Thus began a spiritual warfare among principalities in high places that has continued even unto this day.
(Isaiah 14, Ezekiel 28, Psalm 78:49, 1Cor 6:2-4, 2Peter 2:4, Jude 6, Revelation 9:14-15 and 12:7-11)

Now there are two opposing spiritual realms: God's realm; and Satan's realm. God's realm is the realm of life and light. Satan's realm is the realm of death and darkness. It is Satan's nature to steal and to kill and to destroy; in opposition against God's nature to create and to impart life and to restore. Satan's primary attacks are centered against the works of God's creative Word (the Truth, the Christ, the Son of God).

In the Garden of Eden, Satan (the original sinner) struck against God by instigating sin in that which God had created in His own image: mankind. He corrupted their God-given powers to choose and to believe. His objective was to plant in them the same iniquity that brought about his own fall --- the desire to be independently powerful as a god in his own right. With beguiling lies (spiritual poison), Satan contradicted God's word and implied that God had lied to Adam and Eve to keep them from becoming as gods, knowing good and evil (Genesis 3:1-24). They chose to believe Satan in disobedience to God. Disobedience to God is Sin. Sin kills. Sin separates us from God.

In that fateful moment all mankind fell from God's loving grace; out of God's realm of life and light, and into Satan's captivity in Satan's realm of death and darkness. Man comes into bondage to whatsoever, or to whomsoever, he has chosen to believe.

Fortunately for us, By the grace of God, when man was driven from the garden in Eden, he was allowed to keep the power to choose and the power to believe. It was these powers that Satan manipulated in his capture of Adam and Eve. And it is these very same powers with which God is restoring and liberating us from Satan's captivity. (John 3:1-8 and Mark 9:23)

It was a spiritual warfare, not physical. While Satan was busy crucifying the flesh at Golgotha, Christ was gathering unto himself all of the past, present, and future sin with which Satan had poisoned man in the Garden of Eden. Jesus Christ was destroying the work of Satan. He became sin for us to liberate us from Satan's captivity. (This gift of God was foreshadowed for us by the fiery brazen serpent in the wilderness ~~ Read Numbers 21:4-9) But this was only the beginning of His battle plan. When Christ departed from His body on the cross, He descended into hell with all the sin in the world. He confronted Satan face to face.

Christ took the victory with the spiritual principle he had previously revealed to the Pharisees. Jesus had said to them, "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, and unto God that which is God's". (Matthew 22:15-22) Down in hell, Christ rendered unto Satan all the sin in the world. (because all sin belongs to Satan, the original sinner who instigated it.) (Ultimately, sin will be destroyed along with Satan and his followers in the lake of fire.) Jesus Christ separated himself and us from sin by returning it to Satan (to whom it belongs).

And, not only that, but while our Lord Jesus was in Satan's realm of death and darkness down in hades, he preached liberty to the captives. And, upon His departure, Jesus took Satan's power of captivity away from him. He took captivity captive and for evermore has the keys of hell and death.

Then, Again without sin, our Lord and Savior re-entered His physical body for the resurrection and the ascension. Thereby He set the divine pattern for the resurrection of all believers who choose to be unified with Him.

To actively receive God's salvation We must become unified with Christ. We must become one with Him and the Father. (John 17:15-24) We must be born again into eternal life in Christ!!! (John 1:1-4, 1:14, 3:1-8; 2Cor 5:17; 1Cor 12:12-13; 1Peter 1:23-25)

How do we get born again? We are born again by The Word of God (Jesus Christ) which liveth and abideth for ever. (1Peter 1:23) This happens when Jesus baptizes us with the Holy Spirit, as John the Baptist said He would. We are baptized with the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ. We cannot receive this just by repeating words that someone tells us to say. We cannot receive this without a deep godly sorrowful repentance, a yearning, and a strong deep desire in our heart to surrender ourselves (our "self") to Jesus. Those who seek and ask with a broken and contrite heart toward God shall find it and receive it. This is how we become unified with Christ. Only then can we truly understand what Jesus meant when He said, "I am the resurrection, and the life". Then we shall understand why it is that no one can come to the Father but by Jesus Christ our Lord. He is our only way. We are not able to save ourselves.

If you are not yet born again, but deeply yearn to be, and are asking, "How do I get started?", my advice is that you immediately begin getting into the word of God, and begin getting the word of God into you. (John 5:24)

Read the Bible New Teatament. Talk with born again Christians who can explain the kingdom of God to you and show you the answers to your questions in their Bibles. Attend a church with a good New Testament Bible study class. Ask! Seek! Pray! (Luke 11:9-13)

It was Jesus who said, "If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him". (John 14:23) Get into The Word of God, and get The Word of God (Jesus) into you.

Make your transition as soon as possible. Those who remain in the realm of death and darkness will die the second death (when death and hell are cast into that horrible lake of fire that was made for Satan and his followers). {See Revelation 20:6-15.}

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people that ye should show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. (1Peter 2:9)