I purposely kept my description of our opponent, the devil, very short. For one thing, you already know just how despicable he is. In case you forget, just watch the news. It's mostly how bad stuff happens to people.
On top of that, take a look at all the bad things that have happened to you, your family members, your church friends or you neighbors. And it's not just here in Savannah, Ga., it's all over America and all over the world. Even sinners will have to admit that something sinister is trying to destroy the world by destroying innocent people.
But, I'm not concerned about how everyone views the devil. I'm interested in the way that God sees him. Just to refresh your memory God says in Ezekiel 28 that the devil will die a violent death. Paul said in Colossians 2:15, that Jesus disarmed these powers and authorities and triumphed over them by the cross.
In essence, no matter how mean and despicable he acts, as far as a believer is concerned the devil and his angels are defeated by the power of Jesus' blood and the Word of God. The problem is that we spend more time thinking about the awful works of the devil and we don't give preeminent time and space to the Word of God in our lives. When we follow the advice in Romans 12 to quit being conformed to the world and become transformed by the renewing of our minds, we find out just how powerful a believer is and how weak and mindless our enemy is. So let's find out just what kind of wrestler we are according to God.
One of the things we discussed in Wrestling Part 1 is the fact that the devil and his angels cannot be forgiven. They weren't created to be. They were created to be obedient. When he sinned, satan and all of his underlings were banished forever from the glory world. God sent them to the earth to wait in anguish for the day when they will be burned alive. (See Jesus' description in Luke 10:18)
Matthew 25:41--NIV--Then He (God) will say to those on His left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.'
Revelation 20:10--NIV--And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. According to Revelation 21:8 this is called the second death. See also Ezekiel 28.
However, Christians are forgiven because of the sacrifice of the Son of God at Calvary. Isaiah 43:25 tells us that God blots out our sins and will NEVER remember them any more. We stand before Him as blood washed children. We are called His children and joint-heirs with Christ in Romans 8:17.
Briefly, the Creator God, the One who makes the rules for everybody, has declared satan to be eternally damned while declaring us eternally saved. God has NEVER declared that he loved the devil while at the time ALWAYS declaring His deep-seated love for all of mankind. 2 Peter 3:9 declares that God wants EVERYBODY who has ever lived to be saved. That is how great His love for mankind is and always will be.
Jesus plainly tells us that the devil is out to get us but He gives us a steadfast promise. In John 16:33, He said, "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
1 John 4:4 tells us that, "Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world." So, while we are on this earth, we WILL be challenged by the devil. But, residing inside of us is a power FAR GREATER than any power the devil thinks he has.
Then why does the devil win? Because people think, meditate and believe that he is unstoppable. And the people that believe he is unstoppable wind up losing this wrestling match with the devil.
This is simple. Let's say that in your yard you have a patch of weeds and a garden of roses. The one that you pay the most attention to is the one that will grow and flourish. The same way in this world. If all you think about is how bad things were, how bad they are now and how bad they might get tomorrow don't be surprised when all you get is "bad" stuff. But if you spray Round-up on the weeds and take good care of your roses, you won't be surprised when the roses grow and bloom profusely.
Finally, in Romans 8:37, Paul tells us, "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors thru Him who loved us." Did you notice that this great and victorious hero of faith and soul winner said that we were MORE than conquerors? That's because Jesus has already conquered satan (see Colossians 2:15). We are more than conquerors because we get to enjoy the freedom from his oppression.
In my next blog, we'll get into the techniques of wrestling God-style.
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