Who Is The Devil?

Many believers almost dismiss the existence of demonic activity and when they speak of these things, they speak in muted tones—afraid to be heard—no one wants anyone to think they are crazy.

Many believers go to extremes when it comes to the Devil.

On one extreme, Christians do not believe the devil is real. A 2009 poll of American Christians revealed that 60% of them didn’t believe the devil was real.

On the other extreme, Christians not only believe that the devil is real, but they also believe that he is directly responsible for all of their difficulties in life—they believe that everything negative they experience is attributed to an attack by the devil.

Listen to this line from C.S. Lewis from the Screwtape Letters:

There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors, and hail a materialist or magician with the same delight.[2]

This study is going to help us form a biblically correct understanding of the devil, demons and evil spirits. We know we have an enemy who, according to Jesus, steals, kills and destroys. We know the devil is powerful and relentless. We know the devil is a liar. We know the devil accuses the saints of God.

I would add, or potentially getting too many Christians to believe that Satan is more than he really is.

So, what is this study about? This study is going to help us form a biblically correct understanding of the devil, demons and evil spirits. We know we have an enemy who, according to Jesus, steals, kills and destroys. We know the devil is powerful and relentless. We know the devil is a liar. We know the devil accuses the saints of God.

But do we know where he came from and how he became what he is today? Do we really know how he works? What do we know about demon possession and spiritual warfare? How can the devil be defeated?

The Bible teaches us much about the devil—so many of these questions will be answered—at least in part. There is much about the devil we do not know, so we are not going to fill in the gaps with what we think or by anything that tradition has taught us.

We need to learn to become comfortable with the silence of Scripture because, if God didn’t see fit to make sure to have it written down for us, then it must not have been important.

With that said, there are some guiding principles that we need to hold on to in this study:

1. The Bible is true. We need to believe what the Bible tells us and then we live according to what the Bible teaches. Feelings and personal experience are, at best, secondary and they are always

subservient to the Word of God. This makes the Bible authoritative on this and every other issue.

2. The Bible doesn’t tell us everything we might like to know about the devil. All your curiosities will not be satisfied through this study and all your questions will not be answers.

3. The bible is always true, but some passages are clearer and easier to understand than others. There are times when you will hear me say something like this, “This seems to be the teaching of Scripture, but it is not explicitly.”

Understand we are dealing with a topic that has traditionally inspired much imagination and superstition.

This first session I want to examine the devil’s origin and some of the names given to him in the Scripture.

First, if the devil really did wake that person up—that’s simply terrifying and I would put my house up for sale and move the very next day.

Second, this person—because of what they have learned about the devil really believes that the devil visited their house and physically woke them up. Maybe—but doubtful.

So, we are going to go on a little adventure together and hopefully with an open Bible and an open mind, we will search out God’s truth with humility and an intention to obey what God says.

This first session I want to examine the devil’s origin and some of the names given to him in the Scripture.

Here is the guiding truth: The devil is a real person and more.

Genesis 1:31 ESV

31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

In the opening chapters of Genesis, we are introduced to a universe (generally) and a world (specifically) that was made by God and for God.

The Creator and Designer produced an amazing world that reflected His creative genius. The pinnacle of creation—God’s greatest creation was mankind. Nothing else in the entire created order was created in the image of God.

Mankind had a relationship with God and were created to love God, serve God, and to be loved by God and God pronounced that it was very good—everything was pleasant, it was desirable to God because it was flawless, it was pure, it was perfect.

Look at verse 31…

And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Don’t miss this—"God saw everything that He had made, and behold it was very good.”

Genesis 3:1–5 ESV

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Genesis

Ask: In light of our study, what can we infer from ?

At that time there was nothing that God had made in the expanse of heaven, on the earth, or below the earth that was not good. There was no evil. There was no sin. There was no death. Everything—all of it—was very good.

Now, turn to (Genesis two is a commentary on ):

Something has happened between God’s pronouncement that everything was good and the opening scene of Genesis three.

One of God’s creatures is trying to undermine His authority and bring down humankind.

That raises some questions, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, the Bible doesn’t tell us everything we want to know—but God has told us what we need to know, and that is what I want to focus on.

The devil is a real person

We can see that this snake was part of God’s creation, but it was craftier than all the other animals. Crafty means that it was skillful in deception, clever, shrewd, cunning.

Clearly, we are dealing with something more than a garden snake. How do we know?

First, the snake was able to talk. Listen, you may think your animal is talking to you, but you’re not Dr. Doolittle and animals don’t speak, and the Scripture does not lead us to believe that they once had the ability to carry on a conversation with humans.

The only other place in Scripture that tells us an animal spoke to a human is when Balaam’s donkey spoke to him, but even then, the Bible tells us that “the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth.”

So, the serpent of was under the control of a personal being.

As the Scripture unfolds, we learn that the serpent of Genesis three is a manifestation of the devil.

Ask: What does the Scripture teach that leads us to believe that the serpent is a manifestation of the devil?

· The serpent tempted Eve to disobey God—the devil is referred to as the tempter by the authors of the New Testament. (; )

· The serpent deceived Eve—Jesus calls the devil “the father of lies.” ()

· The serpent opposes God’s good work—the devil has been “sinning from the beginning.” ()

· John refers to the devil as “the great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the world astray.” ()

Would it then be right to say that is a clear echo of and that the devil is that ancient serpent who deceives the world?

Then, it is safe to conclude that the serpent who spoke to Eve was a manifestation of the devil.

The devil is a real person.

The devil has traits of personality.

· He can plan—the devil was more crafty. One of the most common traits of personhood is the ability to plan. Animals cannot plan. Animals act by instinct and command, but they do not plan based on logic and reason. ()

· He can communicate—the devil spoke to Eve, he had a conversation with God in and 2, he had a conversation with Jesus in , and it is said that he accuses believers. How do you accuse someone? By making a charge against them. How do you make a charge? By communicating.

· He has a will—the devil has the ability to will something—to choose, which is a trait of personality. He has desires and asserts his will to achieve those desires.

· He is referred to with personal pronouns—the word “you” is used in and throughout the entire New Testament the words, “he” and “himself” are used in reference to the devil.

· He has proper names—we’ll get to those.

· He has personal accountability—the devil will be judged by God for his actions (animals will not be judged by God).

· He has personal titles.

o The anointed cherub that covers ()

o The prince of this world.

o The god of this age ()

o The prince of demons ()

· He performs actions.

o He lies ()

o He works ()

o He contends with God’s angels ()

o He prowls ()

o He blinds unbelievers ()

o He has a character ()

o He gets angry ()

Mike McKinley wrote: “No impersonal force or generalized concept could be said to do any of these things. These are the behaviors and activities of a person. Most convincingly (and importantly!), Jesus Himself at every point treats Satan like a personal being. Jesus called him by name repeatedly, spoke directly to him, and taught about his works and strategies.”[3]

The devil is also a spirit.

Although the devil is a spirit, he is not like God. God is divinity; therefore, God is not limited by space, time, or power.

The devil has limits. He exists in time, not outside of time. He does not have all knowledge and wisdom. He does not have all power. He cannot be everywhere.

The devil is a real person and he is a spirit—but where did he come from?

Like us, there was a time when he did not exist, but there will never be a time that he will cease to exist.

The devil is a real person and he is a spirit—but where did he come from?

Scripture does not tell us about his origins—he just shows up in Genesis three and his presence is assumed throughout the rest of the Bible.

But there are some things we do know:

· God created the devil.

Colossians 1:16 ESV

16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

· God created the devil good.

1 John 1:5 ESV

5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

James 1:13 ESV

13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.

2 Peter 2:4 ESV

4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment;

Jude 6 ESV

6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—

5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.

· Some created angels rebelled against God. This had to have happened at some point between and 3:1.

4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment;

6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—

· The devil has authority in the realm of demons.

John 12:31 ESV

31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.

Ephesians 2:2 ESV

2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—

31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.

2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—

· The devil’s evil came from within himself.

There is much we don’t understand about the devil’s origins. God doesn’t tell us why he allowed the devil to rebel against Him. He doesn’t tell us why he didn’t destroy the devil a long time ago.

At the most basic level, he is nothing more than a twisted part of God’s creation, he is not a competing God. He never surprises or out-duals or frustrates God. The devil is still “our ancient foe” but he is not worthy of our fear or anxiety, nor is he the reason we sin.

We must always remember that he has been defeated by Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 2:14 ESV

14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,

Because we are in Christ, we have overcome the evil one.

1 John 2:14 ESV

14 I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

Ask: How do we overcome the evil one?

I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

In a sense we have overcome—meaning that when we trust Christ, we are no longer children of the devil, we become the children of God.

In that there is no condemnation. There is no judgment. There is no eternal penalty for sin. We are saved, we are secure, we are fully accepted because we are in Christ who is the beloved of God.

But there is a daily overcoming. So, John taught…

If the word of God abides in you, you are strong—strong first in overcoming the accusation of the devil, and strong second in overcoming the temptation of the devil.

But you need to be aware that if the devil cannot undermine your faith by accusation, he is relentless in trying to undermine it with temptation.

The way we stand against him and overcome Him is by abiding in the word.

The devil is a real person and a spirit, but he is not to be feared by the believer. We are to resist him, we are to stand against he and his forces, knowing that we are eternally secure in Jesus Christ.

Why does Satan have so many names?

A name tells you a lot about someone, and a bad guy needs an appropriate name. Imagine if Sauron from The Lord of the Rings were named “Frank”; it just wouldn’t be the same! The Bible uses a lot of different names for the evil one, and each reveal something about his character. Perhaps there are many because he loves to hide and disguise himself…

The devil ( 1)—Devil is the English version of the Greek word for slanderer.

Satan ( v 1)—Satan is the Hebrew word for “adversary”, and at every point in Scripture we see that he is the adversary of God and his people. This name is echoed in v 8, where Peter refers to him as “your enemy the devil”.

The tempter ( v 5)—Satan loves to entice people into sin. Famously, he tried to lure Jesus Himself into sin as well.

The evil one ( 19)—The devil is the personification of wickedness and the power behind it.

The ruler (or prince) of the power of the air ( 2)—Satan exercises spiritual control over his human subjects, referred to later in the verse as the “sons of disobedience”.

The prince (or ruler) of this world ( 11) and the god of this age (or world) ( v 4)—The devil’s authority is conditional and limited. He only exercises authority in “this world”.

Beelzebul ( 15)—This name literally means “lord of the flies”. It was originally the name of a false Philistine god, but is used to refer to Satan several times in the New Testament.

Belial ( v 15)—This name means “worthlessness”. It shows what the apostle Paul thought of the devil! The accuser ( 10)—Satan delights in pressing charges against God’s people.

Abbaddon or Apollyon ( 11)—These names means “the one who destroys”. Satan creates nothing but seeks to ruin what God has made.[4]

[1] Frank Newport, Most Americans Still Believe in God, https://news.gallup.com/poll/193271/americans-believe-god.aspx, accessed October 15, 2019.

[2] McKinley, Mike. Did the devil make me do it? Questions Christians Ask (p. 7). The Good Book Company. Kindle Edition.

[3] Mike McKinley, Did the Devil Make Me Do It, 17-18.

[4] Mike McKinley, Did the Devil Make Me Do It, 19-20.

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