The Bible says that he hates you! Isn’t that a warm, fuzzy thought? It isn’t and yet, it’s true! Worse, yet, he is a powerful creature, bent on your total destruction. Yes, there is a real Devil. He’s not the pitchfork carrying imp of medieval art, nor is he the ‘second god’ of some dualistic worldviews.
In the
12th chapter of the Revelation, John uses ‘sign language’ to tell us about an ‘enormous red dragon’ (a picture
language symbol) who was poised to destroy the Messiah at his birth, who
rebelled against the order of Heaven and was defeated by Michael, the
archangel, who was kicked out of the Presence of God, and who now has "had a great fall; He’s wild and raging
with anger; he hasn’t much time and he knows it." (Revelation
12:12, The Message) You might think
that John was just a man of another time and world view, a man who was steeped
in myth. I don’t! He ‘saw’ as God’s Spirit gave him insight,
that Evil has a name and a personality! "This great dragon—the
ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole
world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels." (Revelation
12:9, NLT)
But,
John’s vision did not stop with the woe of the suffering. “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the
accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has
been hurled down. They overcame him by
the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love
their lives so much as to shrink from death. Therefore rejoice, you heavens and
you who dwell in them!” (Revelation 12:10-12)
I have great respect for the power of Satan and his demons,
and so should you. Do I live in terror?
Not at all, nor should any child of God.
I am safe because of the sacrifice of Christ that erases my sinfulness.
I am guided to life and peace by Spirit of God who lives in me. John says of Christians,
"they have defeated him by the blood of
the Lamb and by their testimony." (Revelation 12:11,
NLT) He alludes to the Exodus story, where the Israeli people who obediently
responded in faith by putting the blood of the Passover lamb on their doorposts
escaped the death angel’s judgment. We receive Christ, by faith, and His
sacrifice covers us.
When I
see stories about men who beat their wives, just because they are bigger and
they can; about terrorists who kill in the name of their god; about powerful
people who live without a flicker of compassion for those who lives are ruined
by their greed- I am convinced that evil is more than
mistakes, misunderstanding, or lack of information. Evil is personal, intentional, and aimed at
anything and anyone God created and loves.
But, even as we face the attacks of evil that comes at us through
‘the world, the flesh, and the Devil’
we have a promise of victory! Martin Luther wrote, in his hymn A Mighty Fortress, that though we walk
in a world ‘with devils filled,’ who ‘threaten to undo us, we will not fear for
God has willed His truth to triumph through us.’
Here’s a word from the Word. Meditate on it. Let the Truth
give insight into your own behavior and that of those who are around you, then
pray to be holy and to be part of the Divine Conspiracy to save Creation!
"Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil,
and he will flee from you." (James
4:7, NIV)
"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings." (1 Peter 5:8-9, NIV)
"He (God’s powerful angel) seized the dragon, that
ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand
years." (Revelation 20:2, NIV)
_______________
_______________
I Belong To A Mighty God
I belong to a mighty God
(I belong to Jesus)
I'm guided by His staff and rod
(I belong to a mighty God)
I am justified by the good gift of the Lord
And I will testify
That I belong to a mighty God
I belong to a mighty God
I belong to the Holy One
(I belong to Jesus)
His work in me has just begun
(I belong to the Holy One)
I belong to the Lord of all
(I belong to Jesus)
I'll stand in Him and will not fall
(I belong to the Lord of all)
I am justified by the good gift of the Lord
And I will testify
That I belong to the Lord of all
I belong to the Lord of all
Lynn DeShazo
© 1993 Integrity's
Hosanna! Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing (IMI))
CCLI License # 810055
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