Who is the Devil?

Who is the devil?

Ephesians 4:26-27 - "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.

Do not give the devil a foothold.

There are two extremes when it comes to the devil – not believing in him or giving him credence, and giving him too much. For those who do not give him enough credence, we know from Ephesians 6 that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms, and we also know from Revelation 12 and 2 Kings 6 that there is an unseen spiritual dimension behind our everyday experiences. And for those who give the devil too much power, we are reminded that he is only a created being who is not a god but a fallen angel, and that some bad things that happen are just a product of bad decisions, not because “the devil made me do it.”

Let me begin by doing a brief introduction to who the devil is. Satan is a created being, an angel who rebelled against God and took 1/3 of the angels with him, and is now bent on destroying the people of God. He is called the adversary – working against the people of God; the accuser of the brethren – accusing us before God; the ruler of this world; the tempter (1 Cor 7:5) – tempting us to sin, testing us to leave or disobey God. (1 Pet 5:8) He is a roaring lion seeking who he can devour, (2 Cor 11:14) he disguises himself as an angel of light. John 10:10 - He is the thief who comes to steal, kill, and destroy. He can work through people (like Peter in Matthew 16:23 or Judas in John 13:2). He can snatch away the word of God before it affects you.

But – he is not all-powerful or all-knowing. He only works within the limits God lays down (Job 1:12, 1 Cor 10:13, Rev 20:2,7). Jesus came to destroy the work of the devil. Jesus healed those who were under the power of the devil (Acts 10:38). At the cross, Satan is judged (John 16:11) and cast out (John 12:31), giving God the victory (Heb 2:14, 1 John 3:8). There is an eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Mt 25:41), and in Rev 20:10 John sees this come to pass. 

Submit yourself to God – do what he says. Resist the devil – don’t do what he says. And, as Paul writes in Ephesians 4:27, do not give the devil a foothold.

Think of your life as a house. Jesus uses that metaphor himself in Luke 11 when talking about how demons can affect you. Giving the devil a foothold is like leaving the door open, even it is just a crack, so that he can come inside. Not many of you would be comfortable sleeping with all your windows and doors wide open. But that is what many of you are doing spiritually. You rest, but you have left openings to the influence of demons everywhere.

1 Peter 5:8-9 - Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

John 10:10 - The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Speaker: Eric Stillman