November 12, 1996
Katy cried in fear every time she heard a noise at her window. Matt couldn’t sleep at night because there was a monster in his closet. Sharon dreamed about wild animals and woke up sobbing. In every case, mommy or daddy came to the rescue and hugged away the fears.
Imaginary creatures frighten children but they are imaginary. We have some power over our imaginations. I recall dreams that took a terrible turn but even in my sleep, I changed the storyline and made a happy ending. The threat in my mind was controllable—in my mind.
Real-life monsters are not so easily manipulated. A few years ago, a monstrous black bear visited our campsite and charged our tent several times. Once a German Shepherd lunged unprovoked at my throat. These four-legged monsters did not hurt me but they had a definite ability to do so.
However, my most serious battles are with a formidable monster that I have never seen, one called Satan or the devil. Many suppose that this too is an imaginary creature yet Christians know he is real. Scripture presents him as a real person and Jesus describes him a “liar and the father of lies.” I have wrestled with his lies. I know he is real.
However, one of his most convincing suggestions is that he does not exist. For those who will not buy that, he uses other falsehoods about his identity. For instance, some think this expert at deceit is God’s counterpart. To them, God is extreme good, but Satan is extreme evil.
While that is an accurate description, Satan is not God’s opposite. God is all-powerful but Satan is limited. God is omnipresent, but the devil cannot be everywhere at once. God knows everything, but Satan is in the dark about many things. The devil is only a created being—one that is in rebellion against God.
In that regard, he is like people. We rebel too, but there are differences. For instance, Satan is not as free to do what he wants to do; he must first get permission from God. The story of Job confirms this limitation. When the devil wanted to damage Job, he approached God with this challenge: “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? ...But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
For reasons not explained, God replied, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” With that, Satan was allowed to attack Job.
Satan also attacked Jesus during His temptation in the wilderness yet this too was in the plan of God: Matthew 4:1 says, “Jesus was led by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil.”
God had His reasons to allow His Son this test, otherwise Satan would not be able to stay in the sinless presence of Christ. His holiness would simply drive away one who is so evil. For that matter, while Christians are not sinless like Jesus, we are also told that when we yield to God (implying that we keep our lives pure and holy), we can “resist Satan and he will flee from us.”
The Bible’s teaching about Satan applies in many situations. If our world caves in, like Job’s did, we can rest in God’s sovereignty. We may not understand why trials happen to us (God did not tell Job), but we know that nothing falls outside of God’s purposes. He loves us. We can trust Him to be with us, to help us and to see us through the very worst situations. He even promises to “work all things together for our good,” a promise my experience stoutly defends.
We can also trust God when temptations are strong, when Satan whispers, “this is too much for you.” Rather than giving in to his lies, we can firmly declare, “My God is able to deliver me.” With that, we are resisting lies with truth, and truth makes this monster turn around and run.
Showing posts with label devil is real. Show all posts
Showing posts with label devil is real. Show all posts
Friday, January 6, 2017
Friday, December 30, 2016
What about angels? .......... Parables 530
October 22, 1996
Angels are everywhere. They are fashioned into stick pins, earrings, tie tacks, cross stitch designs and wall plaques. They are the topic of books and poems. Three “angels” even star in a television series. Of course all are “good” angels, who do kind deeds and have beautiful faces.
Far from being figments of human imagination, angels are described in the Bible as created beings who do the will of God and act as His messengers. There are referred to more than 300 times in both the Old and New Testament. Most bring messages to God’s people, some are warnings and others, like those who appeared to the shepherds near Bethlehem, bring good news.
There is a negative category of angels too. Jesus’ disciples excitedly reported, “even the demons submit to us in Your name.” To this, Jesus replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven . . . Do not rejoice over this but rather that your names are written down in heaven.” Jesus downplayed their focus on demons but did not deny that they exist.
Fallen angels are not like those people who go astray and we call “fallen angels.” People have hope—Christ promises to save and give new life to any who come to him—but the angels who fell from heaven are not similarly blessed.
Jude 6 says, “And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these He has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.” These angels are doomed. God “hurled” them out of heaven without offering them a second chance.
The prince of these fallen angels has many names. Revelation 12 calls him, “the great dragon,” “that ancient serpent,” “the devil,” “Satan,” and the “accuser” of God’s people. In another passage of Scripture, Jesus calls him “the liar” and “the father of lies.”
While some say there is no devil, Jesus describes him as an actual personality, a created being who resists God. Others think he is behind every corner and all evil. The Bible keeps a balance. Satan does exist, but we are capable of doing wrong all by ourselves. Furthermore, Satan is not a counterpart to God; he is not all powerful nor does he know all things. He cannot be everywhere. He can disguise himself as “an angel of light” but since God “hurled him out of heaven,” his domain is darkness and lies.
The prophet Isaiah described his rebellion this way: “How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’”
With those expressions of pride, Satan lifted himself above God but his ambition backfired. As Isaiah says, God “brought (him) down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.”
Before he is finally judged, the devil “roams the earth, like a roaring lion.” His main activity is putting untrue ideas in our heads in such a way that we think they are true, even that they are our own thoughts. He is subtle and powerful but we are not helpless. Through studying Scripture, we can learn to detect his schemes. Through “the blood of the Lamb, the word of our testimony and by not loving our lives” we can overcome him.
Christ death and shed blood guarantee forgiveness and eternal life to those who believe in Him. Christians can give testimony to His saving power and we know Satan cannot ruin what God has done for us. Our fear of death is broken. Unlike fallen angels who have been cast into outer darkness, we know when we are “absent from the body, we will be present with the Lord.”
Angels are everywhere. They are fashioned into stick pins, earrings, tie tacks, cross stitch designs and wall plaques. They are the topic of books and poems. Three “angels” even star in a television series. Of course all are “good” angels, who do kind deeds and have beautiful faces.
Far from being figments of human imagination, angels are described in the Bible as created beings who do the will of God and act as His messengers. There are referred to more than 300 times in both the Old and New Testament. Most bring messages to God’s people, some are warnings and others, like those who appeared to the shepherds near Bethlehem, bring good news.
There is a negative category of angels too. Jesus’ disciples excitedly reported, “even the demons submit to us in Your name.” To this, Jesus replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven . . . Do not rejoice over this but rather that your names are written down in heaven.” Jesus downplayed their focus on demons but did not deny that they exist.
Fallen angels are not like those people who go astray and we call “fallen angels.” People have hope—Christ promises to save and give new life to any who come to him—but the angels who fell from heaven are not similarly blessed.
Jude 6 says, “And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these He has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.” These angels are doomed. God “hurled” them out of heaven without offering them a second chance.
The prince of these fallen angels has many names. Revelation 12 calls him, “the great dragon,” “that ancient serpent,” “the devil,” “Satan,” and the “accuser” of God’s people. In another passage of Scripture, Jesus calls him “the liar” and “the father of lies.”
While some say there is no devil, Jesus describes him as an actual personality, a created being who resists God. Others think he is behind every corner and all evil. The Bible keeps a balance. Satan does exist, but we are capable of doing wrong all by ourselves. Furthermore, Satan is not a counterpart to God; he is not all powerful nor does he know all things. He cannot be everywhere. He can disguise himself as “an angel of light” but since God “hurled him out of heaven,” his domain is darkness and lies.
The prophet Isaiah described his rebellion this way: “How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’”
With those expressions of pride, Satan lifted himself above God but his ambition backfired. As Isaiah says, God “brought (him) down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.”
Before he is finally judged, the devil “roams the earth, like a roaring lion.” His main activity is putting untrue ideas in our heads in such a way that we think they are true, even that they are our own thoughts. He is subtle and powerful but we are not helpless. Through studying Scripture, we can learn to detect his schemes. Through “the blood of the Lamb, the word of our testimony and by not loving our lives” we can overcome him.
Christ death and shed blood guarantee forgiveness and eternal life to those who believe in Him. Christians can give testimony to His saving power and we know Satan cannot ruin what God has done for us. Our fear of death is broken. Unlike fallen angels who have been cast into outer darkness, we know when we are “absent from the body, we will be present with the Lord.”
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