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Luke 4:6-And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.
John (not his real name) was a pretty mild-mannered young gentleman that I met in jail ministry several years back. He was serving time for a non-violent drug charge, and he expected to be back out in town before too long. He decided to come check out the church of Christ services in jail, and was intrigued when I opened up the floor for any and all questions that the inmates would like to discuss. John quickly took the floor, and began by telling us all a little about himself.
When he was in middle school, John’s legal guardian (a church going man) had brought him and one of his sisters over to his house. He had then proceeded to murder his mother in front of the children before turning his weapon upon himself. After being moved around several counties in Kentucky in the foster care system, John had turned to a life of drugs. He had not done so in order to experience the physical pleasures that narcotics can bring upon the body, but as an avenue to explore the spirit world. He had since become a devout Satanist. That day in jail ministry, John asked a single question that he wanted to explore:
“Brother Mark, is Satan God?”
To many Christians, that question will sound absurd: and yet this question points to a belief that many people in our world adhere to. The philosophical term usually attached to this belief is “dualism.” It is the teaching that there are two gods who have always been at war, one “good” and the other “evil.” It is the same idea that people are expressing when they say things like, “You can’t have light without darkness, or good without evil.”
But dualism is false, and Satan is not God. Yes, Satan is “the god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4), and the whole world lies under his influence (1 John 5:19). And yes, he is the prince of the powers of the air (Ephesians 2:2). But the fact remains that Satan is a created being, and one who can never be of the same Nature as the eternal uncaused First Cause, Yahweh God (Exodus 3:14).
Careful reasoning will demonstrate that this is the case.
First, evil cannot be eternal for one simple reason: evil can only exist in that which is first good. Evil depends on goodness for existence. The famous defender of Christianity, C.S. Lewis, said it like this:
“Put it more simply still. To be bad, he must exist and have intelligence and will. But existence, intelligence and will are in themselves good. Therefore he must be getting them from the Good Power: even to be bad he must borrow or steal from his opponent. And do you now begin to see why Christianity has always said that the devil is a fallen angel? That is not a mere story for the children. It is a real recognition of the fact that evil is a parasite, not an original thing. The powers which enable evil to carry on are powers given it by goodness. All the things which enable a bad man to be effectively bad are in themselves good things—resolution, cleverness, good looks, existence itself. That is why Dualism, in a strict sense, will not work. But I freely admit that real Christianity (as distinct from Christianity-and-water) goes much nearer to Dualism than people think. One of the things that surprised me when I first read the New Testament seriously was that it talked so much about a Dark Power in the universe—a mighty evil spirit who was held to be the Power behind death and disease, and sin. The difference is that Christianity thinks this Dark Power was created by God, and was good when he was created, and went wrong. Christianity agrees with Dualism that this universe is at war. But it does not think this is a war between independent powers. It thinks it is a civil war, a rebellion, and that we are living in a part of the universe occupied by the rebel. Enemy-occupied territory—that is what this world is.” (C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis Signature Classics), 42-45 (Kindle Edition): New York, NY: HarperCollins)
When John and I studied on this topic, I pointed out to him that the only way which anything can be identified as “evil” is if there is first a standard of goodness by which the evil is judged. Thus, good must always exist before evil. In the same way, this reminds us that good can exist without evil, but evil can never exist without good.
As another author has recently noted:
“Possessing no absolute or true existence of its own, evil is, as well, by nature, parasitic. Being not of the created order, it can exist only by drawing its existence from that order. Evil must use the good. And so though good can exist without evil, evil cannot exist without good. Truth can exist without falsehood, but falsehood cannot exist without truth. Laws can exist without crimes, marriage without adultery, and life without murder. But crimes cannot exist without laws, adultery without marriage, nor murder exist without life. Destruction requires structure, immorality requires morality, and sin requires the holy. The good is primary. Evil is the parasitic inversion of the good. And so the existence of evil inadvertently testifies not against the existence of the good—but for it. It bears witness, unwillingly, to the existence of the good—the existence of God.” (Jonathan Cahn, The Dragon’s Prophecy: Israel, the Dark Resurrection, and the End of Days, 7 (Kindle Edition): Lake Mary, FL: FrontLine)
Now, let’s apply this knowledge.
First, remember that Satan is not on equal ground with God. He is a created being, and despite his twisted desires, he will never be on the same footing as the eternal God. His power as the god of this world is a stolen power: it was given to him through his deception of humanity.
Revelation 12:9-So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Always remember and hold close in your heart the knowledge that God is stronger then Satan.
Second, with this knowledge, remember that Satan has ultimately been defeated by what Jesus accomplished at Calvary. In the seven visions of the Book of Revelation, each begins with a demonstration of the triumph of Jesus over Satan at His First Coming. Jesus was manifested to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). Indeed, the Son of God was born that the “ruler of this world” might be “cast out” (John 12:31).
Third, while we do not live in terror of the devil, we recognize his power in this world and we do not treat him with contempt or disrespect (Jude 9). John goes on to describe for us the power of Satan in the world, and the reason for his boldness:
Revelation 12:12-Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
Finally, strive to have compassion for those who have been so deceived by the “father of lies” (John 8:44). Almost every person that I know who identifies as a Satanist or as an adherent of some pagan religion has usually suffered some tragedy or trauma in their life. Let’s love them, pray for them, and share the Word of God with them as we have opportunity.
Lord, thank You for defeating Satan. Help us to walk in victory through this life, and present us with opportunities to speak with lost souls in need of salvation. Give us loving hearts and bold spirits to proclaim Your Name. Amen.