I had planned this post to address God’s final judgement and ultimate penalty for sin, namely consignment to Hell, or what is referred to in Revelation 20:10-15, as “the lake of fire”, and to argue for the justness and righteousness of such a penalty. However, I determined that Hell can wait, as I would like to first do a series of exposés of the one for whom Hell was created (Matthew 25:41); the one whose influence and diabolical deceptions have and will result in millions if not billions of men and women made in the image and likeness of God; men and women created to know and love and be loved by God, joining this one in his place of eternal punishment, just as they had, while in this world, joined him in his rebellion against God. (Revelation 21:8) (Matthew 7:13-14).
The Bible identifies this one using a number of descriptive names that represent the tremendously destructive and corrupting influence he has had and continues to have on God’s good creation, most tragically on mankind. He is best known as Satan (the adversary) or the devil (deceiver/accuser) the one referred to as the serpent who deceived Adam and Eve in the beginning to join him in His rebellion against God (Genesis 3:1-4). He continues to do so with everyone born into this world since ((Revelation 12:9). In this passage in Revelation he is referred to as the dragon – symbolizing a being of great power – that power being his ability to deceive the whole world. The universality of his power and influence is most clearly acknowledged in 1 John 5:19, and the destructive consequences of it on the souls of all mankind is revealed in Romans 1:18-32 and Romans 3:9-19.
The Apostle Paul in Ephesians 2:1-3 refers to this one as “the prince of the power of the air” (existing in the spiritual world around us), who works unseen on the minds and in the lives of those who have chosen a life of disobedience to God, encouraging them, through the various media of this world, to continue in that disobedience.
In 2 Corinthians 4:4, the Apostle Paul refers to this prince as “the god of this world/age” who, blinded the minds of those who are perishing under God’s judgement from seeing the glory of God as it is most wonderfully revealed in the person and saving work of Jesus Christ. He does this through deception and cleverly using their own innate hostility toward God (Romans 8:7).
In Ephesians 6:10-13, Paul reveals the devil as the one who commands a spiritual army of other angels who also rebelled against God. These beings, who we refer to as demons, operate within the spiritual dimension behind the scenes of human history with a threefold purpose, namely to suppress the knowledge of the truth of the goodness and the glory of the one true God, to influence and promote mankind’s rebellion, hostility and indifference toward God, and to lull mankind into a false sense of being in control of our lives and our destiny (Genesis 3:4-5) (James 4:13-16).
Jesus Himself had intimate knowledge of Satan and his ways, having been the one who created him (Colossians 1:16), initially good (Genesis 1:31) (Ezekiel 28:15). In his pride, he attempted to exalt himself over the rule of God (Isaiah 14:13), with Jesus ultimately casting Him out of Heaven to the earth, where he has been allowed by God to test and try the faith of men ever since. (More on this in my next post)
Jesus tells us of the nature and character of the devil when in John 8:44 He exposes him as a liar and a murderer, the originator of both. He is here revealing him as the author and perpetuator of the lie referenced in Romans 1:25, wherein he has essentially convinced all mankind that our greatest joy, our greatest pleasure, our ultimate happiness is not found in knowing, loving and obeying God, but in having the freedom and ability to do as we please, whenever we please, however we please, determining for ourselves right and wrong, good and evil, accountable to no one, just like God. This was the lie in which he induced Adam and Eve to sin and ultimately every person since (Genesis 3:4-6). In believing and acting on this lie, Adam brought death and misery into the world (Romans 5:12), a misery that afflicts all mankind.
Shockingly, Jesus also reveals here in John 8:44 as well as in 1 John 3:8 that when we sin, we sin out of the same willful, self centered nature and character of our spiritual father, the devil (Isaiah 14:13-14), as the righteous nature of God in which man was created was corrupted through Adam’s disobedience (Ecclesiastes 7:29). This is of course contrary to our fallen world’s belief in the universal Fatherhood of God.
However, we are restored to the glorious position of the children of God when we put our faith in Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:26) (John 1:10-13), wherein we are “born again” through the work of God the Holy Spirit (John 3:3), who begins to restore us to the nature and character of God (Ephesians 4:20-24), a restoration that will be completed upon our seeing Jesus at our death or at His second coming (1 John 3:1-3).
Jesus acknowledges that this one we call the devil has some level of influence and authority in this world when in John 14:30 He speaks of him as the prince or ruler of this world. Jesus came into this world in fulfilment of the promise in Genesis 3:15, to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). To do so, Jesus would have to be tested as Adam was, and that test would be conducted by the same one who tested Adam, namely the devil (Matthew 4:1-11). This time the result is different – Jesus passes . (More on this in an upcoming post).
In my next post I will begin to look at what the Bible has to say regarding the origin of this most malevolent of beings (and his fellow demons), their present evil works, and how God sovereignly and intentionally uses their works for His good purposes, to magnify His glory and to bring about the ultimate and eternal happiness of His people in Him.
Grace and Peace ×