What are Angels, Satan and Demons? Part 2

Remember that last week we said,

Up to this point, when discussing God’s creation, we have limited our discussion to the physical realm. But there are also spiritual creatures God has created called angels and demons. Satan, a demon himself, is considered the head of the demons.

Demons

Demons are evil angels who sinned against God and who now continually work evil in the world. They are the angels whom God “did not spare … when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness” (2 Peter 2:4).

Demons did not start off as evil.

Genesis 1:31 ESV

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.

Somewhere between this and Satan’s tempting of Eve,

Jude 6 ESV

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—

and were cast into hell.

Grudem, Wayne A.; Grudem, Wayne A.. Christian Beliefs: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know . Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Satan is the personal name of the head of the demons.

Grudem, Wayne A.; Grudem, Wayne A.. Christian Beliefs: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know . Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

1 Chronicles 21:1 ESV

Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel.

Matthew 4:10 ESV

Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ”

Luke 10:18 ESV

And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

The Bible also uses the following names for Satan: “the devil” (Matt. 4:1), “the serpent” (Gen. 3:1), “Beelzebul” (Matt. 10:25), “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31), “the prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2), and “the evil one” (Matt. 13:19).

Grudem, Wayne A.; Grudem, Wayne A.. Christian Beliefs: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know . Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Satan was a “murderer from the beginning” and the “father of lies” (John 8:44). “The devil,” 1 John 3:8 tells us, “has been sinning from the beginning.” He is the originator of sin, having sinned before he “deceived Eve by his cunning” (2 Cor. 11:3). He also tried to tempt Christ to sin (Matt. 4:1 – 11) so that Jesus would fail in his mission “to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8).

Grudem, Wayne A.; Grudem, Wayne A.. Christian Beliefs: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know . Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Satan will use any means possible to blind us of God.

However,

The devil and his demons are limited both in their own power and by God’s control in what they can and can’t do.

Grudem, Wayne A.; Grudem, Wayne A.. Christian Beliefs: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know . Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Satan himself can be successfully resisted through the authority of Christ:

James 4:7 ESV

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Grudem, Wayne A.; Grudem, Wayne A.. Christian Beliefs: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know . Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Satan may like to act like he can see the future but he cannot even see what you will do tomorrow. His power is limited.

Demonic Activity

Like God’s angels, Satan and his demons are active in the world today, and they work much evil. But they are not solely responsible for all the evil in the world. Much of the sin mentioned in the Bible is not the result of Satan or his demons but instead the result of an individual person’s own actions (

James 1:14 ESV

But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.

Grudem, Wayne A.; Grudem, Wayne A.. Christian Beliefs: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know . Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

This is why we shouldn’t overly spiritualize everything. Not every ailment is demon provoked. Sometimes, your sin is just your sin.

Sometimes the trials and struggles we have are just a result of the fallen world we live in.

Sinful, imperfect people, make sinful imperfect societies where sinful, imperfect things happen.

Never the less, we are warned,

1 Peter 5:8–9 ESV

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

Ephesians 4:27 ESV

and give no opportunity to the devil.

Jesus, through His death, burial and resurrection has defeated Satan and his power. He can be defeated, in fact, he already is!

We should not fear demons, for “he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). All the time we should “not rejoice … that the spirits are subject” to us but instead “rejoice” that our “names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20).

Grudem, Wayne A.; Grudem, Wayne A.. Christian Beliefs: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know . Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

In Romans 16:20, Paul tells Christians, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” As the good news of the gospel is preached and people come to believe in Jesus, another spiritual battle is won. And someday Christ will come and completely remove the influence of Satan and demons from this world (see 2 Thess. 2:8; Rev. 20:1 – 3).

Questions for Review and Application

What are some of the things that the Bible tells us about Satan? How do these things put you on guard against Satan? How do these things remove some fears you may have about Satan?

Grudem, Wayne A.; Grudem, Wayne A.. Christian Beliefs: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know . Zondervan. Kindle Edition.