SATAN, THE DEVIL , the Great Dragon—he is a shadowy but undeniably very powerful figure in scripture, the “god of this age.” (2 Cor. 4:4) He appears throughout the bible, from Genesis to Revelation, and God has given him, difficult for us to comprehend, the power to tempt mankind. The oldest book included in the bible is Job, and here God gives Satan permission to bend the circumstances that surround Job’s life and try to cause him to question God and to doubt his righteousness. “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” (Job 1:12) He is the Snake that whispers “Did God really say?” (Gen. 3:1) to Eve, the Devil that challenges Jesus “Tell these stones to become bread.” (Matt. 4:3), the Dragon first imprisoned during the millennial reign of Christ, but released again, “set free for a short time.” (Rev. 20:3)
Jesus had the power and the authority to cast out demons, and he commissioned his disciples, first the twelve, and then seventy-two more, to do likewise. In Mark’s gospel, “Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits.” (Mark 6:7) “Akathartos,” the word Greek word for impure, joined with the word for spirit—“pneuma”—can be used almost synonymously to convey the thought of demon possession, and it is not improper hermeneutically to do so. There is a distinction to add, and that is, in the context of Judaism, an unclean spirit in a person makes them not only unclean, it *denotes that they are a contaminating spirit. In other words, they are dangerous to others. Much as lepers were feared because their disease could infect the physical bodies they come in contact with, these are feared and reviled regarding spreading spiritual pollution. This is something Christians should take note of.
Jesus makes a unique statement in Luke’s gospel. The seventy-two return from their mission overjoyed by their authority over demons. “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” (Luke 10:17) Jesus responds, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” (Luke 10:18) This revelation is an affirmation of Jesus’ pre-incarnate existence. It links his ascended life with the Father, when “he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority, and power.” (1 Cor. 15:23), with his pre-incarnate knowledge of Satan thrown out of heaven to become the “god of this age.” (2 Cor. 4:4) There are two scriptures that speak of this event. One lies outside of the scope of man’s understanding until the Book of Revelation speaks of Satan’s exile from heaven to earth; the other is previously disclosed by the prophet Isaiah. The angel of the Lord speaks to John, divulging a previous event told only now from the heavenly perspective. “The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.” (Rev. 12:9) Satan falls a tremendous distance, not measured by meters or miles or light-years, something we only dimly comprehend, and Isaiah speaks to his arrival: “How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth.” (Isa. 14:12) It is at this time that the Snake is seen whispering in Eve’s ear, and the temptation of mankind begins.
It is a tremendous power that has been given to Christians, this power of exorcism of unclean spirits. “Go into all the world and preach the gospel. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons.” (Mark 16:16-17) But do not make the mistake of battling with Satan. His demons can be cast out, but he is too strong. Even Jesus’ final victory over Satan awaits a time to come—but his victory on the cross, his resurrection overcoming death that guarantees that final victory, are ours now. We must resist the Devil’s temptations, as Jesus resisted. Our victory comes in that resistance. James tells us this foundational principle of spiritual warfare with Satan: “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you.” (James 4:7-8) Resisting the devil is a lot like a principle of physical training by lifting weights—the more repetitions we do, the stronger we get. And when we stay in training, we maintain that strength.
We have the same authority Jesus gave his original disciples. “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” (Luke 10:19) But need to hear clearly what he says next. “However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:20)
The greater goal is not in resisting the devil and overcoming evil, though this definitely must be done as part of our spiritual disciplines. It is instead assuring our presence in heaven eternally, where there will be no devil. And all of this has been done, is being done, and will be done through Jesus Christ.
Q. How is my resistance training going?
*Louw-Nida 12.39.
Leave a Reply