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Who is the devil
The devil – also known as Satan, the serpent, the evil one, the accuser, the tempter, the deceiver, the father of lies, the ruler of the world, the prince of the power of the air, the destroyer – is portrayed by the Bible as the instigator of two major rebellions against the Creator God: the angelic rebellion and the human rebellion. These two events have plunged the created universe, and more specifically the earth and everything in it, into a profound misery. Two defining characteristics of Satan, namely his hatred toward God and his craving for power, enable us to understand why he raised himself against God and His creation from the beginning. When the Lord created the angels, He assigned to each of them their own position of authority. But Satan wanted to overthrow God and take His place on the throne, ruling over the “stars of God”, that is, God’s angelic ministers. Satan “said in [his] heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High’” (Isaiah 14:13-14). Thus in his desire to be like God, Satan incited one third of the angels to rebel against God, and as a result, they were thrown down to the earth.
Satan is known for his schemes, his lies and deceptions, and hostility toward God. He is anti-God and against the things of God. Satan is the incarnation of evil, the chief of demons, the ruler of the world system of evil. He was once one of the ministering angels of the LORD God. But moved by pride, the once holy Lucifer, “the Day Star, son of Dawn”, fell into perverseness because he did not stay within his own position of authority, and he was thrown down to the earth, and with him his angels. His hatred toward God has never ceased to grow, nor his determination to destroy God’s creation. And the main target of this demonic being has always been those made in the image of God, that is, human beings. Once he was cast to the earth he incited men in the same way he lured one third of the angels, and they too rebelled against God. He lured human beings to rebellion by causing them to question the goodness of God.
The devil in the Garden of Eden
When God made men, He gave them the authority to rule “over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:28). They lived under God’s rules and authority, and enjoyed His blessings. But Satan came along and incited them to defy God’s authority and break God’s rules. Satan allured Eve in the Garden by stressing on God's prohibition and not His provision, asking, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the Garden?’ (Genesis 3:1). Satan’s question insinuated Eve's misunderstanding of God's will and incited her to question God’s goodness. However, the first part of Eve’s answer, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden” (v.2), not only reveals God’s will for her and her husband and His abundant provision for their sustenance, but also expresses something they had been doing from day one: they enjoyed God’s provision every day. God had given them the liberty to enjoy the fruit of all the trees in the garden, with only one exception. The LORD God had commanded them, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17).
The LORD God forbade Adam and his wife to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Not that the tree carried within its fruit the seed of destruction – for all God’s creation was good – but rather it was placed in the garden by God so that man could prove his obedience and love for God by not eating its fruit. Man's disobedience to God's command – which is sin – was thus to be punished by death, as God warned the man in Genesis 2:17. “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Adam and Eve were both submissive to God’s command until the deceiver showed up and said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4-5).
In this statement, Satan denied the truthfulness of God's threat and deliberately misconstrued God's motives by insinuating that God's prohibition was designed to do the woman and her husband harm rather than good, to withhold something good from them rather than preserve them from something bad. “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths” (v.6-7).
Thus the evil one led the human race into rebellion against God and they fell into depravity and were subjected to death. And it is without a doubt that the devil wants to keep man in bondage to corruption and forever separated from God. He has not given up on his plan to incite man to rebel against God, but continues to spread lies to pit man against God; for he is a liar and a murderer – “He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies”, declares the Lord in John 8:44. In the Garden of Eden the devil lied to Eve that she would not die after eating the forbidden fruit, but would be like God. Eve believed his lie, ate of the fruit and gave some to Adam, and the curse befell them and their posterity, that is, the entire human race. Thus sin entered the world and death through sin.
The devil in the world today
Men's encounter with the devil in the garden of Eden has brought upon the human race a severe tragedy; it has led to the rupture of fellowship between God and men and to the deterioration of men’s relationship with one another and with creation. The devil was cast to the earth after his instigation of a third of God’s angels into rebellion. Then he disguised himself as an angel of light and, through lies and deceptions, lured men to disobey God. The strategy of the devil has not changed at all. He continues even today to induce people to rebel against God. Because of his hatred toward God, Satan wants to destroy God’s creation, and most specifically those made in God’s image, that is, human beings. He “has come down to [earth] in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short” (Revelation 12:12).
The tragedy that befell men after the fall has caused serious damage to their relationship with God: they are at enmity with God - as it is written, “No one seeks for God” (Romans 3:11b). All men by nature oppose God’s will, defy His authority, and despise His sovereignty. They are haters of God. This is exactly the degrading state that Satan intended men to fall into when, in the garden of Eden, he seduced Eve, and she and Adam disobeyed God’s command. Because of the alteration of their faculties, men no longer delight in the things of God, but love what the devil loves, and their will is to do his desires, i.e., the desires of Satan. Hence, unredeemed men are rightly identified by God in His Word as children of the devil (cf. John 8:44). For like him, they are by nature haters of God, proud and boastful, liars and murderers – as it is written, “There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:18).
Men in their natural state are driven by sinful passions such as: “sexual immorality, impurity, indecent behavior, idolatry, witchcraft, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these” (Galatians 5:19-21). By nature they set their hope and conviction on things that are transient, to satisfy their lusts and passions; they reject the things of God, which are eternal and more precious than gold and silver; they love foolishness and reject wisdom – “Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace” (Proverbs 3:16-17); they turn their feet to the path of destruction and raise themselves against the knowledge of God. Instead of worshiping the Living God, they worship the gods of their making, though they are profitable for nothing (cf. Isaiah 44:9-10). For they desire a god who approves of their sinful desires and works to satisfy their cravings.
As a footnote, it should be noted that there are only two objects of worship in the world: God and Satan. Every worship that is not directed to the Living God is directed to Satan. Which is to say, when people worship all kinds of false gods, they are actually worshipping the devil. Every person who does not worship the LORD is a worshiper of Satan; some people may call themselves atheists, but in reality they are held captive by Satan. There is no such thing as atheist, for there is no neutrality; for everyone who is not for God is against God, and everyone who is against God is for the devil. For there are only two kingdoms: the kingdom of light (God’s Kingdom) and the kingdom of darkness (Satan’s kingdom). Whoever does not belong to the kingdom of light is of the darkness. Hence, whoever denies God is certainly not a free man; for he is held captive by Satan, he is a slave to the evil one, the king of darkness. Such a man is ruled and controlled by Satan; he lives under his dominion and remains in the bonds of corruption, and death entangles him.
What led Satan to rebel against God was his craving for worship, his desire to ascend “above the stars of God” and control them. The same desire animated him when he was thrown down to the earth, and he set in his heart to deceive man in order to turn man’s devotion from God to himself. The devil has such a fiery craving for worship that when the Son of God was baptized and let into the wilderness by the Spirit of God, “the devil took [the Son of God] to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to [the Son of God], “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me” (Matthew 4:8-9). 1 Peter 5:8 warns us that the devil always “prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” For he knows that every time a man defects to his lies and deceptions, it is he, the devil, and not God, who gets the glory, he is the one who is worshiped, not God.
Whenever a person sins, Satan rejoices because he loves evil and hates God. And whoever offers the members of his body to sin as instruments for unrighteousness does not fulfill the purposes of God, but serves the will of Satan. He constantly tempts men to rebel against God. And he who runs after the pleasures of sin then becomes his slave. It should be noted that Satan can only rule over a heart when it is under the grip of sin. As a malevolent being, he constantly usurps God’s prerogative. Whenever he tempts someone to defect from God’s rules and authority, he wants to divert honour from God to himself. Because he has always desired to receive what belongs to God alone, he is always tempting people.
Revelation 4:11 reads, “Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they existed and were created.” It is against this reality that Satan raised himself from the beginning. He has always desired to be the head of everything; he has always coveted God’s glory and honor. He rejected God’s authority by leaving his own position of authority because he wanted God’s creatures to worship him, a creature, rather than the Creator God. While dismissing Satan, after being tempted by him in the wilderness, the Son of God reminded Satan that God alone must be worshipped. He said to Satan, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve’” (Matthew 4:10). Yet Satan is still inflamed with the desire to usurp God’s prerogative, and he perpetually longs to destroy God’s image-bearers.
Satan's activity on earth has turned the realm of mankind into a realm of darkness and subjected its inhabitants to the fear of death. As the king of darkness, he rules over the evil world system that opposes God and His authority. Satan stands in opposition to God’s purpose for mankind. According to God’s sovereign decree, man’s chief purpose is to glorify God and rejoice in Him alone. Yet the evil one desires that God be for man neither his object of worship nor his object of joy, but that there be enmity between God and man. For in this manner he can continue to have dominion over man and usurp God’s prerogative – and man’s moral corruption always serves as a springboard for Satan's devilish enterprise. He seizes the opportunity to carry out his destructive work. To put it plainly, Satan seduces the sons of men by offering them exactly what their corrupt hearts desire. In their longing to gratify the flesh, people open the door of their hearts to the devil and, being the master of deception, he puts thoughts and desires in them; he fills their imagination with wild pleasures and the delusion that their sinful activities will benefit them (cf. Genesis 3:4-5). But never does he disclose the thorns and snares that line the way to the fleeting pleasures of sin and the unavailing wealth it promises. Through lies and deceptions, Satan ignites people’s irrational impulses and they succumb to temptation (cf. Genesis 3:6).
Satan’s temptation and human guilt
Satan is known as the Tempter. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us, “the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” The desire of Satan’s heart is to cause people to stumble, to cause them to sin against God. It must be noted, however, that Satan can have influence on a person only because of the evil bend of the person’s own heart. Man’s sinful desire is the foundation upon which Satan erects his deadly devices. If a man has a holy desire in his heart, namely, the desire to honour God, he cannot succumb to Satan's devices. Hence the exhortation of the believers by the Apostle Peter to be sober-minded and watchful (cf. 1 Peter 5:8). By nature, man is rebellious: he desires to do the things that God forbids him and not to do what God commands him to do. Hence his natural inclination to sin becomes an open door for Satan, who incites him to proceed with his heart’s desire by flaunting before his eyes the glory of worldly wealth and the pleasures of sin, though fading and deadly. As we read from James 1:14-15, “Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”
Therefore we are without excuse whenever we disobey the commandments of the Lord, even when we are being tempted by Satan. For we willfully choose to reject God’s rules and defy His authority because of our unbelief and lack of trust in God – an attitude that is rooted in pride; we choose the things of the flesh over God and the things of God because we do not treasure God in our hearts, although He ought to be to object of our worship and the object of our joy. Therefore, Satan’s activity does not excuse our sinful deeds and disobedience to God. We are guilty of sin whenever our action does not bring glory to God, even when we act under the influence of Satan. For in our longing to gratify our own desires rather than glorify God, we deliberately reject the Word of God to obey Satan’s lie; we pursue the pleasures of sin, being deceived by our own heart, which is animated by lusts, thereby bringing upon ourselves curse instead of blessing (cf. Genesis 3:16-19).
It should be noted, however, that Satan is not free from guilt when he tempts us and we fall into sin. Yet his temptation does not nullify our own guilt. And it should be noted also that we make ourselves easy prey for him whenever we give provision for the flesh. It is therefore crucial to overcome the flesh if we are to resist Satan's schemes. For the flesh and the devil are faithful partners in the destruction of souls.
Deliverance from Satan’s dominion
Man’s inner enemy (the flesh) and his outer enemy (Satan) are strong allies against the soul of man. Until the flesh is subdued, man can never be set free from the dominion of Satan. And since by nature man is of the flesh, the fight against the flesh cannot therefore be initiated by man. The initiative must come from outside of him, the battle against the flesh must be initiated and fought by an opposite power. For the flesh cannot fight against itself. The heart of man is by nature inclined toward the deeds of the flesh. Therefore he has neither the will nor the ability to initiate the battle against the flesh, nor can he win such a battle by means of the flesh. As the Lord Jesus says in John 3:6a, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh.” This statement from our Lord points out the sin-prone condition of man and his natural ability to achieve only that which is consistent with his inherently sinful nature. And in John 6:63 the Lord says, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” The Spirit and the Word of God work together: the Spirit brings us from death to life through the instrumentality of the Word, He opens our hearts to the love and understanding of the Word, and the Word teaches us the way of God, which is the way of life.
By His declaration in John 6:63, Christ establishes on the one hand the contrast between the power of the Spirit to give life and the ineffectiveness of the flesh in this matter, thus implicitly highlighting the contrast between the work of the Spirit ( life) and that of the flesh (death). On the other hand, the Lord declares that the Word of God is the fountainhead of life, thereby refuting the effectiveness of all man-made supposed ways to life – human ideologies and traditions and man-made religions do not produce life but lead to destruction (cf. Jeremiah 2:13).
The Spirit of God is pictured in the Bible as the One who wages war against the flesh and its desires. Galatians 5:17 highlights the opposition that exists between the Spirit of God and the flesh. Paul writes in Romans 8:13, “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Those who live according to the flesh abide in death. As Romans 8:6 says, “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” A heart that is ruled by the Spirit of God rather than the flesh cannot fall under the dominion of Satan, nor can death have any claim on it. But a heart that raises itself against God cannot escape Satan’s influence and the grip of death, since it remains under the bonds of corruption. And the evilness of man’s heart is the fountainhead from which Satan’s blinding influence draws its sustenance, and death is the inevitable outcome of a soul ruled by Satan.
Satan’s blinding influence can be avoided only through an initial conquering of the flesh. But it is not within ourselves that we can find the ability to overcome the flesh. We must turn to Him who alone has the power to overcome the flesh and to defeat Satan. God alone can set us free from the bonds of corruption and the dominion of Satan. He graciously grants deliverance to anyone who turns to Him in humble submission and recognizes the corrupt nature of his own heart, his inability to overcome the evilness of the flesh, and his utter dependence on God for restoration. Proverbs 3:5-8 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your body and refreshment to your bones.”
Only a humble submission to the Living God can break the power of sin, the flesh, and Satan over a person’s life and set them free from eternal ruin. For one who submits to God finds shelter under His wings and receives protection from these dangerous enemies (cf. Ephesians 6:11-18). James 4:7 commands us, “Be subject therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Anyone who humbles himself before God is graciously delivered by God from Satan’s dominion and from the sting of death on the basis of the work and person of Jesus Christ the Son of God. “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8b). Christ died to set us free from sin – which entered the world because of Satan (cf. Genesis 3:1-7); Christ died to deliver us from the dominion of Satan, and from the wrath of God Almighty stirred up by our sins.
Satan led the sons of men into depravity with his lies and deceptions, and because of our sins we have been separated from God and subjected to the wrath of God. But in the fullness of His grace, God sent His Son Jesus Christ to redeem us. The Son of God came into the world not only to conquer the evilness of our hearts and set us free from the dominion of Satan, but also to restore peace between God and us. “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7). “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36).
Deliverance is found in Christ alone, deliverance from sin, Satan’s power, judgment and the wrath of God. I urge you today to submit yourself to God, put your trust in His Son Jesus Christ, that He may overcome sin in your heart and deliver you from Satan’s dominion, from the grip of death and from the coming judgment and wrath. Psalms 7:11-13 reminds us that “God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day. If a man does not repent, God will whet His sword; He has bent and readied His bow; He has prepared for him His deadly weapons, making His arrows fiery shafts.” Therefore do not delay! Turn to Him now in humble repentance and faith, that your soul may be set free and preserved. 1 Peter 5:5 reads, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”