Too many people on all sides of the cultural divide are carelessly throwing around the word “enemy” and they need to stop. If we don’t know who the enemy truly is, from what direction he comes, and in what strength he arrives, then we are all too easily defeated, or at least subject to his blast effects. Today, let’s look at who is the enemy.
Satan might have one of those equality bumper stickers on his car but that would be par for the course for the father of lies. As much as he’d want you to believe that he’s equal to God, and quite frankly, as much as we think of Satan as “other than God,” Satan doesn’t even come close to a comparison with anything other than another fallen angel.
All of this depends, of course, upon your belief that Satan is real and he’s evil. Usually, our real enemy only achieves anything over us by the authority we give him. And too many of us do just that. If we do not acknowledge the enemy in the field, we become subject to him just as we would by ignoring an advancing army. And by writing these columns and hosting culturewarcollege.com, I don’t wish to poke my finger in Satan’s eye. That would be reckless. I don’t approach discussing him capriciously. That’s because I believe he’s real and that he’s evil.
For believers, we have considerable information about this enemy. He has a voice, the ability to manifest himself in animals, demons, and the dragon of the Revelation. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us that he prowls around like a lion, so we know his territory is limited. A pride of lions has its territory and one lion, I suppose, can be territorial. But there’s no way that Satan can be all places at all times. Hold that equality bumper sticker.
We know he commands dark world rulers, dark world authorities, dark world powers, sometimes called principalities, and something called spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (see Ephesians 6). It looks like he gets some help in his evil work. God doesn’t need that. Time to start peeling that bumper sticker.
We know he talked Adam and Eve into questioning God, and by doing so, sitting in judgement of Him. The tree of life was not about right and wrong, good and bad. It was about God’s command regarding these, and Satan convinced Adam and Eve that they were just as good in making these determinations. Do you do this? Say, you wouldn’t have an equality bumper sticker on your car, would you?
Satan is real and he is the enemy. He is an idea, an argument, a pretension that sets himself up against the knowledge of God. He wants you. He wants you to break relationship with God, and then he wants you dead. And if you are a believer, he wants to rob you of the joy of your life, the strength of your faith, and the assurance of your hope. I believe many elements of a dark world culture that surrounds us is attempting to help him accomplish his war aims. Don’t like to call it war? See 1 Peter 2:11. I didn’t write that. And as the enemy approaches, it may be time to throw those bumper stickers at him and seek out the one true God. It’s never too late to do that—unless, of course, you’re already dead.
Next Week: Where are these dark world rulers, authorities, powers, principalities and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms? Some thoughts.