Men are often frightened when they see an angel, for the latter come to them having left the holy presence of God.
Who are the angels? Paul, in his epistle to the Hebrews, answers this question:
Hebrews 1:14 « 14Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? » KJV
The scriptures forbid us from worshipping any spiritual creature and placing our trust in them.
Activities such as the invocation of the dead or the worship of idols bring us into contact with the world of demons. They inspire false doctrines and erroneous teachings, which provide worldly wisdom; they may even perform miracles.
Through His death and resurrection, Jesus Christ has triumphed over all forms of demonic activity and made them totally inoperative. Satan and all his legions of demons cannot exercise any power over the children of God and the Church of Christ (Colossians 2:15) as long as we avoid practices and activities that expose us to their power.
Therefore, a child of God should not be afraid of evil spirits, for Christ has already overcome them by the power of redemption.
Colossians 2: 15 «15And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. » KJV
Do not underestimate the spiritual world. No angel of God could defeat Satan. It took the Son of God Himself to come to earth to achieve this. The violence of the fight, with the death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross, teaches us much about the power of the Adversary of our souls.
Why did Jesus forbid the demons to say that He is the Son of God?
In Mark 3:11-12, the demons recognize that Jesus is the Son of God by filiation. Jesus forbids them to say it, for it is not their right; it is something that must come from a revelation of the heavenly Father.
Mark 3: 11-12 « 11And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God. 12And he straitly charged them that they should not make him known. » KJV
Ephesians 6:12 shows us that there is a classification and hierarchy in the world of darkness. Starting from the most wicked, there are first the dominations (or principalities), which correspond to generals; then come the authorities, who would be colonels; then, the princes of this world of darkness and, finally, the evil spirits. The kingdom of darkness is not divided; on the contrary, it is a brute force and very organized.
Ephésians 6 : 12 « 12For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. » KJV
Satan
What is its nature?
1/ He has a destructive nature (he comes to steal, slaughter and destroy). Revelation 9:11 uses the terms “Abaddon” and “Apollyon” to describe the devil, two names that mean “destructive”.
Revelation 9 : 11 « 11And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. » KJV
2/ He has a perverted nature: he will infiltrate wherever there is perversion or sin, and rule where there is a lack of justice. Six titles allude to Satan’s perverted nature: « Beelzebub » (lord of the dung heap); « Belial » (Greek name meaning good for nothing and always used to mean baseness and wickedness); « Dragon » (a term that presents the devil as a venomous creature, ready to strike and kill); « Evil »; « Murderer » (murder is part of Satan’s demented nature); and finally « Wicked » (for wherever the devil exerts his influence, sickness, poverty and spiritual death reign).
3/ He has a nature of control. Satan wants to control everything : the spiritual sphere, every government and institution of this world, men.
Ephesians 2: 2 « 2Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. »
4/ He has a manipulative nature (Ephesians 6:11; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5). Six titles deal with the ability of Satan to pervert truth, to lie to thought and disappoint: « Adversary » (he is one who is against justice, who wants to destroy it); « the Accuser »; « the Angel of Light » (Satan disguises himself as what he is not); the “devil” (term taken from the Greek word « diabolos », which indicates that Satan attacks again and again, continuously striking against the walls of our intelligence without stopping, until it pierces and penetrates); a “roaring Lion” (though defeated by the Lord Jesus Christ, Satan tries to keep a fearsome air and continues relentlessly to harass our thoughts, through innuendo or fear); and «Satan» (name from the Hebrew word « shatana », meaning «to hate and to accuse», and which is often associated with ideas of slander and false accusations).
Unlike Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, Satan is a creature, and his power depends only on the place that God gives him. Man was under the power of Satan because of his sin, but at the Cross Satan was defeated, stripped and judged.
There were two victories to be won over him:
Jesus at the Cross;
Ours, in Jesus Christ. This victory is already inscribed in the one of the Lord on the Cross; the Lord has crushed the head and it is now up to us to crush the rest of the body.
Indeed, Jesus was confronted with Satan and his demons during His ministry. At the Cross, Satan bit his heel, but the Lord crushed his head. The Cross is the place of defeat and judgment for Satan. There he was stripped of his power (Colossians 2:15), judged by God (John 16:11), annihilated (Hebrews 2:14-15) and cast out (John 12:31).
Colossians 2: 15 « 15And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. » KJV
John 16 : 11 « 1Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. » KJV
Hebrews 2 : 14-15 « 14Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. » KJV
John 12 : 31 « 31Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. » KJV
God has put all things under the feet of Christ and we are members of the Body of Christ. As the feet belong to the body, Satan is already under our feet! We refuse to let ourselves be taken over by him, to spend our time chasing Satan out of every event in our life and to give way to fear, often accompanied by its lot of superstitions. Let us concentrate on Jesus and put all our strength to seek His Kingdom.
Satan does not seek our riches or fame, for he himself gives riches and fame to certain men in this world. What he seeks above all is to steal the Word of God from us. And for this reason he assaults our hearts and thoughts every day.
Satan is jealous of the authentic Christians and his obsession is to prevent men from sitting in Christ, on the throne of God, a place that he himself coveted. We must cast Satan out of our lives, so that he has nothing left in us. Let us confess the lordship of Jesus Christ in our lives and remain attached to the Word of God. Let us never give access to Satan, who will then lose his influence and power over our lives. The devil can only prosper where man allows him to do so.
God has not given the destinies of mankind to Satan; absolute sovereignty is always with God. Satan is an impostor; he has no right on creation. God never left him the destiny of our world; Adam was only the manager of the world that God created, the usufructuary in some way, and God remained the owner.
Satan is not eternal either. He has a beginning and an end. In the beginning, God did not create Satan, but an angel called Lucifer, or star of light, who later became Satan by letting pride enter into him. He is not omnipotent, omniscient or eternal. He is powerful, but his power is limited. Many Christians have more faith in the devil than in God. Jesus came to show us the Father (John 14:7-9), not who is our enemy. He put emphasis on the heavenly Father, not the enemy. We too, in our prayers, speak more of the Father than of the enemy. Let us also pray for our loved ones.
How can we explain that Satan is still free? The manifestation of his judgment is progressive and will be definitive only in the last days.
