We are entering what is referred to as the Christmas season, a time of joy and revelry, filled with bright colorful lights, gleeful singing and an abundance of good food. Thus, to continue my series of exposés regarding the one the Bible refers to as Satan or the devil during such a season may seem peculiar, if not absurd, However, Christmas, in its truest and ultimate sense, is the celebration of Jesus Christ, God the Son, humbling Himself and coming into “this present evil world “as a man, to destroy the works of the one the Bible refers to as the “god of this world/age”, namely the devil (1 John 3:7-8), and thus delivering us from his destructive influence in our lives while in this world (Galatians 1:4).
The devil’s works or schemes are designed to foment in men’s and women’s hearts rebellion, hostility or indifference toward the person and purposes of God, and to blind mankind to the glory of God (2 Corinthians 4:4), to the knowledge of His infinite goodness and wisdom, beauty and power, to all that makes Him worthy of our worship; worthy of being feared and loved, trusted and obeyed, desired and delighted in above all of His creation (Revelation 4:10-11).
God created mankind in His image and likeness that we may glorify Him by enjoying Him and His infinite blessings forever (Genesis 1:26-28) (Isaiah 43:7). However, this glorious image and likeness of God in man has been distorted and corrupted because of sin (Romans 3:23), because of mankind believing and acting on the lies of the devil (Genesis 3:1-6) rather than the truth of the infinitely glorious God who created us to know and love and be loved by Him (Romans 1:21-25).
When the first man and woman (Adam and Eve) believed and acted on the devil’s lies, sin’s corrupting power immediately impacted mankind’s physical glory (Genesis 2:25) (Genesis 3:7) to where our bodies that God created to be immortal, would now be subject to degeneration and death (Genesis 3:17-19). Of even greater concern is the impact sin had on the soul or heart of man, the core of our being wherein is formed our thoughts, motives, desires and affections. The Bible describes the heart of man as deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9), such that our thoughts, imaginations and intentions that produce our actions are seen by God as “only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5) (Matthew 15:17-20).
The Bible tells us that because of this corruption, the devil or Satan, whose word Adam believed over God’s, holds controlling influence over those in this world who have not repented of their sin and entrusted their lives to Jesus Christ, which is the vast majority of humanity in this present age (1 John 5:19) (Revelation 12:9) (Ephesians 2:1-3).
The Bible warns even those of us who have repented of our sin and put our faith in Jesus, that we not be ignorant of the devil’s devices (2 Corinthians 2:10-11) (1 Peter 5:8-11) and thus be allured, even temporarily, back into a life of sin, of doubting God’s goodness and grace as it is demonstrated to us in Jesus Christ, who came into this world to grant those who would repent of their sin and entrust their life to Him the most wonderful gift imaginable, eternal life (Romans 6:23).
Satan’s great influence in this world or age consists of variations of the lies and temptations that he presented to Adam and Eve. These lies and deceptions are intended to incite in us, as it did in Adam and Eve, what the Bible refers to as lust. In their case it was primarily the lust for power and control, personal autonomy, freedom from dependence upon and accountability to God. It is a lust the devil continues to incite in the hearts of fallen mankind today.
The term lust in itself is a neutral term with no moral connotation. It is defined generally as a passionate or obsessive desire for a person, object, position or experience.
In the Bible, however, the term lust represents the passionate or obsessive pursuit of the satisfaction of our God-given needs and desires for love and acceptance, beauty and pleasure, significance and security, riches and honor, independent of God, in the things, relationships and activities that have been forbidden by God or that take the place of God in our hearts.
The Bible reveals that in our sin corrupted condition, our hearts are governed and our life in this world organized around what is described in 1 John 2:16 as the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the boastful pride of life. I would like to define each of these as well as the sins they engender as a prelude to my next post.
Lust of the EYES: Obsessive desire to own or possess things we see or imagine, particularly things of beauty and value, things that will enrich us, bring us delight and satisfaction, significance and security. Sins engendered by the lust of the eyes include greed and covetousness, discontent, jealousy, envy, lying, theft and vandalism, adultery and sexual immorality, covetousness, idolatry, anger and murder. (This lust is probably aroused in us during the Christmas season more than any other time of the year.)
Lust of the FLESH: An intense desire/craving to satisfy our needs for physical pleasure and comfort through means that appear most accessible for our immediate gratification but are forbidden by God because they are destructive to our bodies and souls. Sins that are engendered by the lust of the flesh include drug abuse and drunkenness, adultery and sexual immorality, gluttony, laziness (slothfulness), lying, theft, covetousness, idolatry, anger and murder.
Boastful PRIDE of Life: An intense desire for personal autonomy, power and prestige, fame and success in service of our own personal and private happiness. The sin most prominently engendered by the pride of life is idolatry, the worship of ourselves as the center of our lives rather than God. It is displayed in the use of our God given gifts and talents for our glory, honor and profit rather than God’s. Other sins engendered by the pride of life include rebellion against authority, lying and deception, hatred, envy, anger and murder/suicide.
God willing, in my next post we will look at how Satan arouses these lusts with their concurrent sins in our hearts and begin to look at how God graciously provides, through faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ, deliverance from our subjection to these lusts and restoration to His kind and gracious rule over our lives.
Grace and Peace ×