So a quick recap from part 4 is that we learned what Satan is doing right now. And trust me, he is NOT sitting on his hands. He is an active general conducting a war with you and me…Please don’t forget that. Moreover, we learned what you and I should be doing to protect ourselves while we are going through this journey. Most importantly though, we cannot be complacent about this unseen war Satan is conducting and we certainly can’t pretend it isn’t happening. So let’s jump right back into this again.
Let me start with this statement…
Jesus Christ came to earth to destroy the works of Satan. Did you catch that? Not mediate, compromise or even legislate what Satan is doing…but destroy. As I previously mentioned, Satan prowls around this earth with the sole intent of devouring you and me. Jesus’ plan is simply the opposite; Instead of destruction, He wants you to have eternal life with Him and what stands in both our ways are the plans of the enemy.
Jesus Christ is the adversary of Satan.
Read this;
Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 1John 3:8 ESV
Christ also came to this earth to establish the Kingdom of God and most importantly, deliver us, you and me, from the dominion of Satan. In case you missed this from previous blog episodes, while we are here on earth, all of us are enslaved to Satan unless we accept the offer of Christ so we can be redeemed…but I am getting ahead of myself.
But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Mat 12:28 ESV – Christ Speaking
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed – Luk 4:18 ESV – Christ speaking
And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” Luke 13:16 ESV – Christ Speaking
to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ Act 26:18 ESV
For those of you who did not already know, when Jesus came to this earth, it was an invasion into Satan’s Kingdom and it rocked his world. So…right before Jesus began His earthly ministry, Satan confronted him in the desert with a series of temptations and he offered Jesus anything he wanted ON THIS EARTH…the only thing Christ had to do was bow down to him.
(Matthew 4:1-11) Here are a few of these scriptures below:
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'” Mat 4:8-10 ESV
When you read these verses, you will notice that Jesus systematically refused Satan’s temptations by only using scripture as a response to his questions. Why? Because according to the Bible, the Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword and that was all that was sufficient to defeat the prince of this world.
Let me remind you of Martin Luther’s words from many years ago when he said,
The devil is God’s devil. We have forgotten that only when we know who God is can we know who the devil is. Blessed are those who are convinced that the prince of this world has become a slave to the Prince of Peace.
SIDE NOTE: It is HUGELY important that you understand this quote. Satan, although he is the prince of this world, is still under the control of Christ which means YOU can tap into that power and be victorious over this enemy. It is very important that you read this and know you have access to this. You are not alone.
We pick up this next section by telling you that when Christ was crucified on the cross…and then died, ALL of Satan’s Kingdom rejoiced. They TRULY believed they had won the war because Jesus was dead. But God had a very different plan in mind and if you know your Bible, you will know that is why we celebrate Easter…because Jesus rose from the dead.
Read this quote from Erwin Lutzer in his book, God’s Devil, who says;
Though he could never have predicted it, at the cross Lucifer would be defeated spiritually, for there Christ was guaranteeing that at least part of fallen humanity would be purchased out from the kingdom of darkness to share in the Kingdom of Light.
You can imagine, the demon hordes went from celebrating to all-out panic. Literally from one extreme to another. The resurrection of Christ initiated the defeat of Satan and thereby ensured God’s ultimate victory over him.
Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil Heb 2:14 ESV
So, guys, we have reached a very important mile marker in this 6 part series about Satan. Why? because in the next episode, we talk about Satan’s future. I think it is critical to share with you what happens to him and I want you to know what the Bible tells us about the end of our enemy.
This is NOT an easy topic to tackle but we cannot look at the whole story of Satan without looking at the end, scripturally. My goal is to present this detail in a readable and hopefully understandable way so it makes sense to you.
Part 6 is next and it is the last one…
Until next time guys-
