“Next the devil took Him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ‘I will give it all to You,’ he said, ‘if you will kneel down and worship me.’ ‘Get out of here, Satan,’ Jesus told him, ‘For the Scriptures say, “You must worship the Lord your God and serve only Him.’” (Matthew 4:8-10 NLT)
If you’re not familiar with Scripture you may tend to believe, as many misinformed people today do, that Jesus and Satan are equal, but that’s like saying oil and water are equal. They are not! Have never been and never will be.
Satan is a created being who rebelled against God and is subject to judgment and eternal punishment as is every other of God’s creation. Satan is subject to Christ’s authority and will one day lose his power over sinful mankind, but in the meantime, we have a fight on our hands. A few things we must consider.
First, alone we are no match for Satan, but with the covering of God’s Spirit we are impenetrable. Does that mean we can’t be tempted or caused to fall prey to temptation? No, it just means that as long as we rely on the Spirit’s armor and are fully dependent upon the Spirit’s strength, he cannot defeat us.
Can a believer in Jesus be demon possessed? Absolutely NOT! When a person is filled with God’s Spirit, they are in no danger of being possessed by Satan or his emissaries. However, we can be oppressed by Satan. What does that mean? Paul addresses a manifestation of this in 2 Corinthians 12:6-7. It can be in our mind, emotions, or in our body, but there are times that the Lord, for His own reasons, allows us to suffer in some way for the express purpose of drawing us closer and causing us to become more dependent upon Him.
Sickness can be tricky, because, unfortunately, we often blame Satan for what we bring on ourselves. Diabetes, kidney disease, and Alzheimer’s aren’t diseases with which I wrestle because of Satanic attack, they are issues I brought on myself because of my negligence to care for my own body, but are exacerbated by Satanic pressure to not take responsibility for what I now have to do as a result.
As long as I can blame Satan for my issues, I can avoid taking responsibility for them. It can be “poor me,” instead of “I brought this on myself.” Why does it matter? Because to not realize the origin of my problems is to misunderstand God’s role in them. To believe they’re caused by Satan takes my attention away from the Lord and lets me give credit to Satan that isn’t his due.
To understand that I have these physical concerns as a result of my own negligence puts me prostrate before my Savior seeking first, His forgiveness, but secondly, His continued presence in enabling me to be the best I can be for Him, beginning with the care of my body. Like it or not, our body is the temple of the living God and to neglect care of my body is not a lot different than not taking care of my car on which I depend for transportation.
Satan gets far more credit than he deserves, especially, when we make bad, ungodly choices, then blame him for our failures. We shouldn’t not study for a test, then blame Satan or even sometimes God, for our failure. But we must keep Satan’s power in perspective. It’s like Satan is a firecracker and God is an Atomic Bomb. There is NO COMPARISON!
That’s why it’s critical to place our trust in the living God and focus our energy on pleasing him, not fearing Satan. Can Satan influence us to do wrong? Of course, but God ALWAYS, without exception, gives us a means of escape when we’re tempted.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 