Dr. Michael D. Halsey
Chapter 5
THE REALITY OF SATAN
Philosophers, theologians, plumbers, lawyers, bankers and mechanics have thought about the problem of evil and where it comes from. Is evil intrinsic to the universe? Has there always been evil? The Bible doesn’t think about the answer. It reveals it.
In contrast to other statements about the origin of evil, the Bible says that the origin of evil lies in a person. Not an influence. Not a force. A person. The Bible presents Satan as a being with personality.
Literature and other arts have treated the devil in an interesting manner. Some may remember the short story, "The Devil and Daniel Webster," from their high school days. Satan has been portrayed as a lawyer and again as female, while a comedian made a living from the phrase, "The devil made me do it."
The moment you accept the Bible as revelation from God and not man’s thoughts about God, then you accept the reality of Satan. What makes the case is only one sentence: Jesus said Satan is a person and Jesus affirmed his existence.
A person, to be a person, has three things: intellect, emotions and a will. The Bible says that Satan has all three (II Cor. 11:3; Rev. 12:17; Is. 14:12-14; II Tim. 2:26)
The book of Job refers to Satan using the personal pronoun, "he," as does Matthew 4. In Matthew 25:41 God holds Satan accountable, which further demonstrates that the Bible presents him as a person. You can’t hold an idea or a force accountable for punishment.
Just as every person has a history, so does Satan. He is a created being (therefore he’s not always existed, nor does he possess the characteristics God does.) Of all the verses in the Bible, only one tells us the origin of sin—Ezekiel 28:15. God created Satan perfect, but he sinned and fell from his high angelic rank. I Tim. 3:6 tells us that sin was the sin of arrogance and we see the details of his pride in Isaiah 14:12-14 in the infamous "Five I-Wills." Satan becomes a premier illustration of just how sin ripples out to others. His sin caused repercussions among angels (Rev. 12:7) among all members of the human race (Eph. 2:2) and among all the nations (Rev. 20:3).
Just as every person has a future, so every person has things they do. What has Satan done and what does he do?
He tried to eliminate the Cross. (Matt. 4:3-10)
He hates and opposes Christ. (Gen. 3:15; Matt. 2:16; Matt. 16:21-23; Matt. 4:1-11)
He is a counterfeiter who wants to be like God. (Gen. 3:5; II Tim. 3:5; II Cor. 11:15; I Tim 4:1-3)
He deceives nations. (Rev. 20:3) (He can promote the idea among nations that they can bring peace to the world apart from the rule of Christ; he used governments to hinder the spread of the gospel (I Thess. 2:18). He’ll deceive the nations into accepting the anti-Christ (Rev. 13:2-4)
He blinds the minds of men to the gospel. (II Cor. 4:4) (He does this through promotion of the idea that "there are many ways to heaven" by snatching away the Word of God that people hear (Lk. 8:12), and through his trump card, religion.)
He tempts believers to immorality (I Cor. 7:5), to conformity to the
World system (I Thess. 3:5), and to cover up selfishness (Acts 5).
He opposes believers in witnessing by persecution and he accuses us before God (Rev. 12:10), but Christ defends us (I John 2:1-2).
He negates our usefulness and testimony. (I Peter 5:8)
Just as every person has a history and things he does, so every person has a future. Martin Luther said, "The devil is God’s devil" and he said it well. God will judge Satan at the end of the millennial reign of Christ. The result of that judgement will be that God will cast Satan into the lake of fire for all of eternity. (Matt. 25:41; Rev. 20:10)
Someone said that when you get down to basic questions, there aren’t many people left in the room. He meant that basic questions have few options for answers. When we come to the problem and question of evil, there aren’t many options. One option gives us no hope. Another option is to say that evil doesn’t exist. But that idea is ridiculous. Another is to say that evil does exist, but we’re making progress on its eradication. There’s no evidence for that either.
There’s only one answer, the Bible’s. The Bible’s answer is that evil wasn’t part of the original creation, that it’s an intrusion into the universe that it came through Satan. Then, and only then, is there hope. God can and will hold Satan accountable; He will judge him; He will put down evil.