The One Called Satan

After he was baptized in the Jordan by John Jesus set off on a forty day journey into the wilderness where he stayed among the wild beasts and was tempted by the devil. Jesus’ encounter with Satan wasn’t merely a metaphor but an encounter with a real individual.

Many people today, even those who profess to be Christians, have a tendency to downplay, even deny, Satan’s existence. Although they will admit that evil exists in the world, they refuse to believe that one who is known as the devil or Satan is a real individual. Most of this disbelief can be attributed to the way that Satan has been depicted over the centuries.

Satan isn’t some red guy in a suit with a pointed tail and pitchfork but a fallen angel that was created by God after the order of angels which means when he was created he wasn’t the evil one that he has become (Psalm 148:2,5; Colossians 1:16; Ezekiel 28:12-15).

During this season of Lent I believe it is important to stop for a moment and reflect on the enemy of God so that we may know who we are dealing with in our own wilderness journey.

Satan is a positive character; meaning he wears disguises and his objectives lie in only one direction. He is no doubt two-faced but never doubly minded, undecided, vague, or feeble in his purpose, desire, or ends. There has never been any irresolution, hesitancy, or aimless action undertaken by him in his war against God. Satan has character and character is felt. He is not merely an influence as so many want to claim. Christ Jesus didn’t deal with mere influences when He encountered demon-possessed people. In dealing with them Christ made a clear distinction between the human personality who was possessed and the personality of the demon who possessed them. In his view they were two distinct individuals and they were personal beings. Christ both spoke and commanded them as individuals—real living deities. And in turn they professed to know Him, confessed His divinity, bowed to His authority, and unwillingly obeyed His commands.

Satan is a master chameleon as well as deceiver. He can become any color or thing that he needs to become in order to pull off the lie. Since he is angelic, he is not limited by space and time, flesh and blood, such as we are and therefore we cannot compete or outsmart him. Satan possesses and wields great power but his power and authority is limited and control by God. This power however is greater than we alone can exercise.

Satan’s greatest desire’s is to be worshipped by all of humanity and therefore goes to great lengths in his attempts to achieve this goal. He is constantly grooming diabolical helpers along the way; many of these are of human origin. He is capable of appearing as an “angel of light” and therefore has his own false version of Christianity. He has his own phony doctrine (1Timothy 4:1), counterfeit communion table (1Corinthians 10:21), counterfeit spirituality (Galatians 3:2-3), based upon a counterfeit gospel (Galatians 1:11-12), his own synagogue (Revelation 3:9), his own dwelling place and throne (Revelation 2:13), and finally, his own false apostles, deceitful workers, false ministers, and false prophetesses (2 Corinthians 11:13,15; Revelation 2:20).

Satan’s human helpers are transformed into ministers of righteousness; propagating doctrines of death and destruction that are so subtle they go for the most part unnoticed. Some of these doctrines have been introduced slowly, slyly, in a way not to shock or alarm anyone and some have been around for decades, even centuries. These false workers of righteousness claim their doctrines come from the God of light; but in reality they are spiritual cyanide. It is extremely difficult for many professing Christians to believe that Satan can use a preacher, evangelist, deacon, priest, or other clergy. That by what they proclaim they become a tool of Satan; for they proclaim another gospel, a gospel different than the truth presented by Paul or the other apostles concerning the truth of Christ Jesus. Yet, this can be and is the case in many areas of Christianity.

Satan is a prince (Ephesians 2:2; John 12:31; Luke 11:14-23), the god of this age (2Corinthians 4:4), who commands a great army composed of both spiritual and fleshly forces. Those of flesh and blood help him advance his kingdom by working knowingly or unknowingly on his behalf—these individuals are not evil, they merely do evil. These are the ones scripture refers to as “the sons of the wicked one” (Matthew 13:38), “ministers of Satan” (2Corinthians 11:5), and “children of the devil” (1John 3:10). The ranks of his spiritual forces clearly outlined in Ephesians 6:12 are the forces he utilizes to gather information and implement his will. Through both his demonic followers and his human agents his will is implemented through a system of thought known as the world. The “world” in this context is a way of thinking that dominates the life of humanity.

Last but not least is the fact that Satan and his unseen forces posses great powers and are capable of assuming visible form (Matthew 4; Luke 4); cause blindness (Matthew 12:22); paralysis (Acts 8:7); convulsions (Luke 9:39); induce self-destructive or bizarre behavior (Luke 8:27; Matthew 7:15); compel animals to destroy themselves (Matthew 8:28-34); create powerful illusions (Exodus 7:11-12); and perform signs and wonders (Matthew 24:24; 2Thessalonians 2:9). These demonic spirits have the power and capability to directly influence our health, moods, imaginations, and thoughts. And no one is beyond his sphere of influence for he managed to infiltrate the sacred circle of Christ’s apostles. He caused St. Peter to stagger (Luke 22:31-32), and then possessed Judas Iscariot moving him to betray Christ and finally commit suicide. Therefore no one should make the mistake of minimizing Satan’s power or deny the reality of his kingdom of evil. However one must also avoid the error of giving into despair—he cannot go beyond the limits imposed upon him by God.

May The Peace of Christ Be With You