Posts Tagged ‘Adversary’

The Story of Satan – Part 5 – Satan’s Adversary

Posted: July 26, 2026 in Biblical Wisdom
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So a quick recap from part 4 is 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 against you and me…Please don’t forget that. Additionally 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 study 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, He came to destroy. As I previously mentioned, Satan prowls around this earth with the sole intent of devouring you and me. Jesus’ plan is exactly opposite; Instead of your 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. 1 John 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 on earth, we are enslaved to Satan unless we accept the offer of Christ to be redeemed…but I am getting ahead of myself. Read these few verses:

But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.  Matthew 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 Luke 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.’ Acts 26:18 ESV

In case you didn’t know, when Christ came to Earth, that was a direct invasion into the enemy’s territory that absolutely shook the kingdom of darkness. Before He officially began His ministry here, Jesus actually allowed Satan to challenge Him with various temptations. The enemy tried to bribe Him with everything you see on this planet, provided Jesus would simply fall down and worship him. (Matthew 4:1-11).

Take a look at these few verses:

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.'” Matthew 4:8-10 ESV 

(We have talked about this before so I encourage you to go back to the blog citation at the end and read, “The Temptation of Jesus” for further details on the power that Satan has here on Earth.)

When you read these verses, you will notice that Jesus systematically refused Satan’s temptations by using only scripture as responses to each question. Why would Christ do this? Because according to the Bible, the Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword and 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.

QUICK SIDE NOTE: I really want to stress how vital it is for you to grasp the weight of this quote. Even though Satan operates as the prince of this world, he remains completely subject to the authority of Christ! Don’t miss this: it means you and I can access that very same power to achieve victory over the enemy when we need it. Please make sure you read this and realize that this divine resource is available to you. You are never fighting this battle alone.

Let’s pick up this story again. When Christ hung on that cross and breathed His last breath, the entire kingdom of darkness erupted in celebration. They were convinced they had secured the final victory because Jesus was dead. 

But don’t miss this: God had a different plan. 

If you are familiar with the scriptures, you know exactly why we celebrate Easter—it’s because He rose from the grave, defeating death once and for all and dooming Satan.

Read this quote from Erwin Lutzer from 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.

As you might expect, the legions of Satan shifted instantly from jubilant celebration to absolute terror. It was a complete reversal of fortune. Through the resurrection, Christ effectively sealed the doom of our enemy and guaranteed that God would secure the final triumph 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  Hebrews 2:14 ESV

So guys, we have reached a very important mile marker in this 6-part series about Satan.  We are at the point where the next episode we will 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 collective enemy.

Guys, I realize this isn’t exactly a light subject to dive into, but we simply can’t examine the full account of our enemy without looking at his final defeat through a scriptural lens. My aim is to lay out these details in a way that is clear and easy to grasp so the big picture really resonates for you.

Part 6 is next and it is the last one…planned.

Until next time guys-

Iron-man Strength (IMS) Team

Lutzer, Erwin, W. God’s Devil. Chicago: Moody Press, 1996

Wright, Kent, “The Temptation of Jesus,” Ironman Strength, January, 2, 2024, iron-man-strength.com

The Story of Satan – part 5

Posted: January 27, 2022 in God Perspective
Tags: , , ,
0

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-