“Put on the complete suit of armor from God that you may be able to stand firm against the machinations [Greek, “crafty acts”] of the Devil.”—EPHESIANS 6:11.
DOES Satan really exist? Some people argue that in the Bible, “Satan” refers only to the evil within man. They deny his existence as a creature. But what do the Scriptures tell us? The Gospel accounts of Matthew and Luke show that Christ Jesus was directly tempted three times by Satan, and each time Jesus rejected him, using Scripture. Why did Jesus answer him from the Hebrew Scriptures? Because Satan came to him misapplying those very Scriptures in order to make him sin and fail as the Son of God, the promised Seed.—Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13.
Obviously, Jesus, a perfect man, did not imagine these encounters. (Hebrews 4:15; 7:26) He was confronted by the same one who was the power behind the serpent in Eden, his own former angelic brother who ages before had rebelled and now was out to thwart the fulfillment of Genesis 3:15. Satan wanted to break the integrity of the promised Seed. Wise to his crafty acts, Jesus firmly rejected the Tempter. What was Satan’s reaction? “So the Devil, having concluded all the temptation, retired from him until another convenient time.” Clearly, Jesus did not retire from himself! Satan, frustrated, left him, “and, look! angels came and began to minister to [Jesus].”—Luke 4:13; Matthew 4:11.
Reasonably, one historian comments: “To deny the existence and central importance of the Devil in Christianity is to run counter to apostolic teaching and to the historical development of Christian doctrine. Since defining Christianity in terms other than these is literally meaningless, it is intellectually incoherent to argue for a Christianity that excludes the Devil. If the Devil does not exist, then Christianity has been dead wrong on a central point right from the beginning.” That conclusion presents a challenge for every person on earth today. Do you recognize the existence of an invisible enemy who is out to subvert God’s sovereignty and man’s allegiance?
No comments:
Post a Comment