Two weeks ago we began a three week Halloween series called - Heaven, Hell and The Walking Dead. It’s a series to answer three of the most asked questions by Christians and non-Christians: what happens after we die. As we talked about heaven, we learned that Heaven is a real place where Christ dwells and believers who have gone before us are present. We were then challenged by Peter in the first week to practice mercy, grace, forgiveness and love. Last week we talked about Hell and the fact that it's a real place. I even followed up with a YouTube video short emailed to those with a valid email address.
This week we continue to talk about another seasonal question: does the devil exist and are there really demonic minions? Now, I don’t want to get to caught up in the evil side of the spiritual battle taking place but as CS Lewis put is:
There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors, and hail a materialist and a magician with the same delight.
I think we need to discuss this topic because as a recent Barna research study claimed:
Almost 6 out of ten Christians (59%) agreed that Satan “is not a living being but is a symbol of evil.”
With that being said, a majority of Christians believe that a person can be under the influence of spiritual forces, such as demons or evil spirits.
I know I come with a bias. I have been in places where evil lurked. I could sense it in a building where something terrible took place. I could see it in man’s inhumanity to man. I have heard the rationalization of people who killed their neighbors in a Rwanda refugee camp. But I have also felt its allure. You see the devil doesn’t come as a little guy and pitchfork but something beautiful with a fatal flaw. He convinces you with lies and sells you on an idea. Like Eve in the garden, doubt and our insecurity are His greatest tools. The greatest of all his lies is he does not exist.
So who is this creature we read that bears the name the devil or Satan according to the scriptures?
Satan was created as a holy angel. Isaiah 14:12 possibly gives Satan’s pre-fall name as Lucifer. Ezekiel 28:12-14 describes Satan as having been created as one of the highest of created angels - cherubim. As the story goes, he became arrogant in his beauty and status and decided he wanted to sit on a throne above that of God (Isaiah 14:13-14; Ezekiel 28:15; 1 Timothy 3:6). In that pride, his fall from grace was sealed.
In being banished, Satan became the ruler of this world and the prince of the power of the air (John 12:31; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:2). He is an accuser (Revelation 12:10), a tempter (Matthew 4:3; 1 Thessalonians 3:5), and a deceiver (Genesis 3; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Revelation 20:3). an “adversary” and a “slanderer.”
Like a musician who keeps playing after the concert is over, the devil continues to strive to elevate his throne above God. He counterfeits all that God does, hoping to gain the worship of the world and encourage discord in God’s kingdom. Satan is the source of every cult and religion that claims anything other than Jesus as Lord and Savior. Satan will do anything and everything in his power to oppose God and those who follow Him. The good news is Satan’s destiny is sealed—an eternity in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10).
I believe in heaven, hell and the existence of the devil and his minions.
As CS Lewis is quoted elsewhere - “There is no neutral ground in the universe; every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.”
I have encountered evil in this life. The deep black eyes of a cult leader masquerading as a business leader, a dark stare of a killer, the coldness of evil spirit passing through my body as I prayed and the overwhelming draw of things of this world to the exclusion of everything I value.
The devil, his minions and the evil they bring, do exist.
Christians have studied him and them for a long time. Traditionally, we call this study Christian demonology. Christian demonology teaches us about the demons, what they are and how they attack us. Christian demonology helps us to be aware of Satan, his minions, and their evil schemes. The basics of Christian demonology are as follows:
We do not know the actual time of Satan’s fall. It more than likely occurred outside time as we know it, that is, before the creation of time and space.
The angels who fell had a free-will choice to make – God did not force or encourage any of the angels to sin. They sinned of their own free will.
We know from experience there is a difference between being possessed by a demon, and being oppressed or influenced by a demon.
We know Satan "walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8) and he is not omnipresent. Hence the need to have others, his demons to do his work around us in this world.
The devil and his minions can be resisted and overcome. The Holy Spirit living in our hearts, and "greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4).
2 Corinthians 11:14-15 is a key scripture in the New Testament understanding of the evil one and his minions, "And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve."
Satan and/or his demons can not read our minds. 1 Kings 8:39 says that God alone knows every human heart.
Satan was persuasive enough to convince one third of the angels to join him in his rebellion (Revelation 12:4) and as such, his minions have their knowledge and training at their disposal.
Attempts to disentangle oneself from demonic involvement without the Holy Spirit are futile. Jesus warned of a heart devoid of the Holy Spirit’s presence: such a heart is merely an empty dwelling place ready for even worse demons to inhabit (Luke 11:24-26).
The good news is that Satan can not overcome you as a professing member of Jesus’ family.
The good news extends beyond us in belief in repentance of our old lives and a commitment to Jesus releases Satan’s power.
What great news it is to know any of the people we encounter trapped in any one of a million lies he tells, can be free.
A commitment to repent and believe are all that's needed to be freed from the power of the evil one. When a person comes to Christ for the forgiveness of sin, the Holy Spirit comes to abide until the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30) cementing their freedom for eternity.
