Have you ever heard songs about God being your friend? Maybe the old hymn “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” or a more contemporary chorus that says, “I am a friend of God”? When we become Christians, we have a new closeness and intimacy with God, and we become part of a big circle of friends that goes around the world.

But there’s another side to that. When we become Christians, we also get a new enemy. He was always our enemy, but once we become Christians, we have big targets on our backs. That’s the truth.

The Bible doesn’t always tell us what we’d like to hear. Unfortunately, Christianity in the last half-century has become more of a feel-good religion, to such a point that people want to do away with truth. But we’re interested in truth—what’s real. So let’s try this one on for size:

Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:10–12, NIV)

What’s true? There’s someone called the devil, or Satan.

Modern society might say, “You believe in the devil? Like, with a pitchfork and horns?” No. But Jesus spoke of the devil as being absolutely real and, in fact, was tempted by him. So unless the Bible is a total fairy tale and Jesus is an imposter, there is a real devil. He exists.

And that’s the battle of a Christian. We don’t fight other people—we’re fighting against the devil.

So let’s discuss who he is.

Satan, the devil, or adversary, is a spiritual being who, with a host of invisible demonic spirits, tempts others to evil. He had a beginning in heaven, where he was probably called Lucifer, and he was a powerful angelic being of the highest order. And it seems as if pride got in his heart, because even though he was beautiful and powerful, he wanted to be like God. So he was cast down out of heaven—and now he is the archenemy of God and everything about Jesus Christ.

Satan is not omniscient; he doesn’t know everything. He is not omnipresent; he’s not everywhere at once (although he has a vast organization of assisting demonic spirits scattered everywhere). He is not omnipotent; he does not have all power like God. But he’s real, and he’s no joke.

The Bible never speaks of him in a light way. It has a very serious approach to who Satan is and what we face in our warfare against him.

Satan is so clever and nefarious that he can actually turn himself into an angel of light. The Bible talks about doctrines of demons that enter into Christian circles (see 1 Timothy 4:1), and the origin of those doctrines is not God or His Word. It’s demonic.

Jesus called Satan two things (see John 8:44).

First, the devil is a murderer. When Cain slew Abel, Satan was there cheering him on. Whenever a person does violence to himself or another person, Satan is at the origin of it, because he’s against life. He’s against peace and joy. He’s for hatred.

The devil is also a liar––“the father of lies.” His native language is falsehood. And if he says anything that’s partially true—he’ll even quote verses; he did that to Jesus—he’s making an end run around the truth to get us to believe a lie.

So this is real. If we’re for God and we want to do good and win others to Christ, we will have a fight with Satan.

“No, but I’m not looking for that.”

It doesn’t matter. The devil doesn’t like us, because we belong to Christ. This is the arena God put us in. To cover our eyes and say, “I don’t want to do that,” is like a boxer going into the ring and facing wild swings from his opponent and running back to his trainer and saying, “He’s trying to hurt me!”

“No, it’s real,” his trainer would say. “You’re in a boxing match, pal. Get in there and fight.”

Paul, at the end of his life, said, “I have fought the good fight” (2 Timothy 4:7, NIV). Among other things, he was talking about his warfare against the devil.

The devil is so powerful and clever that we have no chance to stand against him in our own strength. That’s why the Bible says, “Put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand” (Ephesians 6:13, NIV).

James 4:7 says, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (NIV). Discern his approaches. Be wise, be sober, and vigilant. He’s a predator with no feelings. You love your family; he doesn’t care about your family. You love those precious children; he couldn’t care less. He has no sympathy, no compassion. That’s who we are facing.

Let’s put on the full armor of God and resist the devil, and in the name of Jesus Christ, he will flee from us.

 

Prayer

Lord, equip us with Your full armor today so we can stand firm against every scheme of the enemy. Give us the wisdom to discern his approaches and Your strength to resist him, knowing that in the name of Jesus Christ, the victory is already ours.

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