Satan

I have noticed something strange. Many Christians will acknowledge the existence and the general agenda of Satan. They will affirm that he is alive and active on planet Earth. Yes, they recognize that he hates God and God’s people. Yes, he hates truth and wants to steal, kill and destroy. Yes, he wants to tempt us into rebellion, crush us under guilt, and destroy all that is good, beautiful and anything that has even the faintest reflection of God’s character.

And yet, oddly, as quickly as those affirmations are made, that awareness seems to evaporate just as quickly. For many Christians, the devil appears to be a very limited antagonist. He might get some vague credit (for want of a better term) for any temptation we consciously notice. Still, he gets specific credit for very little activity.

For example, suppose the subject of the occult is raised with the related concepts of devil worship, seances, fortune telling, etc. Many will shudder and point to the enemy’s works in that case. But is that the whole story? Is Satan just tempting us as individuals and running a relatively obscure dark religious operation?

Let’s take a few moments to review some essential biblical background.

Origins of Satan – The name Satan means adversary and came to be applied to the greatest adversary of all – the devil. It is a well-earned label!

What we know of his origins is described primarily in Ezekiel 28:11-19, where it is clear that prideful arrogance was the key driver of his original fall from perfection. Since his fall, his primary domain has been Earth and Sheol. We see him cursed by God in Genesis 3 – the one whose goal was to be the most high became the most low, eating dirt close to the underworld.

Influence in the world – The big question in this post essentially relates to his influence. According to 1 John 5:19, the whole world is under the control of the evil one. He is called the ‘prince of this world’ on several occasions (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11). He influences through lies, especially the original lie that we humans can be like God, and he masquerades as an angel of light, deceiving people (John 8:44; 2 Corinthians 11:14). There are plenty of people whose spiritual father is the devil, and it is possible to identify them by their actions and their lack of love (John 8:44; Matthew 13:36-40; Acts 13:10; Ephesians 2:2; 1 John 3:10)

Influence over nations – He rules the nations and tried to strike a deal with Jesus in exchange for Jesus bowing down to him. Still, Jesus did not affirm his ultimate ownership of the nations and did not bow down. Jesus knew and trusted that, at the right time, the Father would give the nations to him. (See Matthew 4:10.) Jesus confronted the power of evil by casting out demons from people. It is evident that Satan commands the realms of darkness (see 1 John 3:8). What Jesus began in his ministry, he is continuing – building his church and the “gates of hell” continue to be unable to resist the onslaught. Satan is on the defensive.

Influence in the Church – Paul wrote to the Romans, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” (Romans 16:20). Yet, it would be naïve to assume that Satan does not influence the church. While our minds might go to Judas Iscariot, whom Satan influenced (John 13:2) and then entered (John 13:27), we do not need to live in fear of being taken over by the evil one. We belong to God, who is greater than the one who is in the world (1 John 4:4). However, we should recognize that discord, anger, unforgiveness and resentment can provide an opportunity to the devil, and we should actively resist him (James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:8-9).

Our hope as the spiritual war rages – Because of Jesus’ victory over the rulers and authorities on the cross (see Colossians 2:13-15), Satan’s power of death is now broken (see Hebrews 2:14-15). We now know that death is swallowed up in victory (1 Corinthians 15:54). And yet, the one who comes only to steal and kill and destroy does not give up easily (John 10:10). His ultimate downfall is already determined; he will be thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10). In the meantime, he fights on. Indeed, as his time gets short, we might expect him to offer a big final push, but we know the end of the story.

The hole in our spiritual warfare – So, what is missing in our understanding of the spiritual battle that we are in? Satan exists and is active on earth. Yes, he does tempt us and would delight to see us derailed by sin and defiled by discord. And yes, the occult does exist, and some people are drawn into religious acts of pure evil. But at the start of this post, I suggested our view of Satan may be too small. Is Satan just tempting us as individuals and running a relatively obscure dark religious operation?

To be candid, I have been struck by how much we are inclined to bury our heads in the sand regarding evil in this world. “Oh yes,” people will affirm, “Satan is real, and we are in a spiritual battle.” But mention some specific aspects of society and watch the response change:

Could there be evil at work in news reporting designed to shape our thinking? “No way, we can trust the news media.”

Might the enemy be shaping education to harm children?

“Don’t be ridiculous!”

What about medical professionals who seem driven by something other than ‘first do no harm?’

“Of course not! The doctors I know are good people.”

What about government decisions that seem to benefit them but harm people and cost lives?

“Absolutely not! They have our best interests at heart.”

What about unelected and unaccountable groups of the hyper-rich and influential seeking to gain control over ordinary people?

“If such groups exist, then I’m sure they mean well.”

What about influential people who have publicly declared the global population needs to be reduced by whatever means?

“Of course not; they only want to help the poor!”

What about the entertainment industry that so fills our consciousness?

“Oh, but I like him, she’s my favourite, etc.”

It does not mean much to acknowledge that Satan is real and active if we then immediately deny that he could be at work in almost every layer of human authority and influence. And I would suggest we are utterly naïve if we don’t believe that the prevailing paradigm of our day, with its “lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God”, is influenced by Satan. (See 2 Corinthians 10:3-6)

In the past, Christians seemed ready to recognize the malevolence of hedonism or materialism as it confronted our worldview in the so-called “Christian West” or the evils of totalitarian regimes in the East. But today, too many Christians seem happy to play along with and believe the best about media-driven narratives concerning identity politics, critical theories, social justice, weather worship, globalist agendas, neo-communist ideologies, uncontrolled immigration and encroaching violent religion. Are we sure that we should ‘believe the best’ and ‘affirm the good’ in all the ideas swirling around and in all the layers of authority setting themselves up over us?

Perhaps it is time for us to fix our eyes on Jesus and recognize that we are genuine outsiders in this world and that we will be hated by it. And yet we are here as ambassadors to represent God’s truth, to share the hope of Jesus, to stand for what is right and to not love our lives even unto death. Let’s stop smiling at the devil as if he is an insignificant foe. Let us instead armour up, stand firm, be ready to speak, be prayerful as if we are in a war (for we are), and when we have done everything we can, to stand.

(HT – https://www.logos.com/grow/satan-in-the-bible/ )

Some years ago, I wrote about a blind spot in contemporary theology. In our church, we have just enjoyed a series about the Holy Spirit. In preaching this series, my mind has returned to this apparent blind spot. Yes, we know that Satan hates Jesus, marriage, and evangelism. But perhaps we should also consider his hatred for the Holy Spirit.

There is a logically obvious connection here. Satan hates God. The Holy Spirit is God, so therefore, Satan must hate the Holy Spirit. But it will be helpful to move past the obvious and ponder the specific reasons.

In the World

We see the enemy’s work as we look at the world around us. For example, we see cults, and we see secular society. In the cults, there is always an undermining of the biblical doctrine of the Trinity. So, God gets twisted from a gloriously loving tri-unity into a solitary and monadic power broker. As portrayed by the cults, God can even seem devilish and antagonistic. Thus, the Holy Spirit becomes just an impersonal force.

In secular society, the idea of God is also twisted into a perversion and caricature of reality. As society bombards the population with elevated notions of personal autonomy and a corrupted morality, the convicting work of the Spirit is directly opposed. People are coached not to feel guilty for sin, yet many are convinced they should feel hopelessly guilty for who they are.

In the Church

We also see the enemy’s work as we look within the church. It would be nice to imagine that his attack would lose energy once people become followers of Jesus. Reality reminds us that this is never the case. Does the enemy stop attacking marriage once people know Jesus? Are we no longer tempted to sin once we are believers? Of course not. We must then assume the enemy’s antagonism to the Holy Spirit will also continue within the church setting.

What is the enemy’s strategy to undermine the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives?

Christians seem to feel a pull in one of two directions — both of which are away from the reality of the Spirit’s work. Both directions negate that the Holy Spirit is a divine person rather they portray him as a mere impersonal force. Both distract believers from a beautiful and central element of the Christian life.

The first pull is to restrict the Holy Spirit into a power-focused force. The Spirit becomes the fuel for Christian living and sometimes the power for spectacular displays of personal anointing. Undoubtedly, there is truth in the mix here. Still, the corruption seems to come with respect to the focus’s emphasis and direction. The power, or lack thereof, tends to become the emphasis in Christian life and ministry. People caught up with a power caricature of the Spirit tend to focus either on the Spirit or themselves.

The second pull is to turn the Holy Spirit into a silent and benign figure. The Spirit is assumed to be at work in the ordinary things of church life through various means. There is truth in the mix here as well. He is indeed at work as we read the Bible, hear preaching, etc., but the problem seems to follow this focus’s emphasis and direction. The emphasis on Christian life and ministry can quickly shift to my habits and personal commitments. People buying into a means caricature of the Spirit may focus on themselves and their diligence.

The Work of the Spirit

The pre-eminent role of the Spirit is that of a communicator, specifically relational communication between the Father and the Son, God and us, and believers in the body of Christ. The Holy Spirit is primarily concerned with the power of love, not some love of power. He pours God’s love into our hearts and baptises us into Christ. The fruit of the Spirit is a continual growth in Christ-like character. He gifts us to build up the body of Christ so that we might point each other to the head, who is Christ.

This is the critical issue with the Spirit — he wants to lift the eyes of our hearts to Christ. That is why Satan so despises the work of the Spirit. By forcing the focus onto us or the Spirit himself, the enemy seeks to undermine the Christ-ward gaze of true Holy Spirituality.

The Holy Spirit seems to be a blind spot for many. Where the Spirit is relegated or twisted in some way, the bottom line will always drift towards an autonomous and self-driven “spirituality” (which was The Lie back in Genesis 3, of course).

Perhaps, we would do well to ponder the spiritual attack against the Holy Spirit. I suspect that we would find our hearts drawn to Christ in the process. After all, this is the goal of the Holy Spirit, not to mention the great fear of the enemy!

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This year’s journey through the Psalms has reached the Psalms of Ascent: