Most of us have likely never been in a battle. We see conflict break out on the other side of the world or dramatized in a movie or Netflix series, but most of us have never been directly involved. But what if battles don’t only happen on physical battlefields. What if there’s a battle raging on every day that we can’t even see? In this series, we at SMCC want to walk you through this unseen spiritual battle so that you can be equipped to recognize it and effectively fight it.
The unseen battle (or spiritual warfare, as it’s often called) is something that likely not a lot of us spend a great deal of time thinking about. If we can’t even see it, why bother worrying about it, right? But this unseen battle is very real, and it can affect all of us in many different ways, which is why we’re going to walk you through this series. In this series, we’re going to be talking about evil, Satan, demons, demonization, and how to effectively combat all of it, starting at the macro level and zooming in over four parts.
The first major thing we must note about this unseen battle is that things are not only as they seem. This is true of a lot of things outside of spiritual warfare as well. We can’t see the wind, but we can feel its effects in a physical way. We can’t see gravity, but we’re all affected by it constantly. We can’t see the source of darkness or evil, but we see its effects too. What this means is that there are certain immaterial realities at play in our world. The existence of evil tells us this.
One of the strongest arguments for immaterial realities is evil. Evil exists and we can all see its effects in the physical world. Now, something isn’t evil just because I don’t personally like it, it’s evil because it is inherently opposed to what is good. We can see this idea at play by looking at any number of genocidal regimes throughout human history. Things like that are always evil, have always been evil, and will always be evil. If absolute evil exists, though, then that can’t just come from popular opinion, its origin has to be rooted in something more immaterial. It only makes sense that a good God is the absolute standard by which we evaluate good and evil. This brings us to a working definition of evil.
Moral evil is that which is opposed to and opposite of God. Evil doesn’t exist as a separate entity, it’s just the opposite of whatever is good. It’s not a created thing. If all goodness originates in and is from God, then anything that opposes God is evil. In the same way, we know a line is crooked because it isn’t straight. With that in mind, here’s the problem that we’re up against…
As evil abounds our ability to understand it and fight it is deficient. We’ve become so secular as a culture that we largely no longer believe in absolutes or the immaterial. Most of us now believe that everything has some kind of natural cause and a scientific explanation. We’ve lost the ability to see evil as evil and instead look at everything as morally neutral cause and effect. As a culture, we have lost sight of the true enemy and how to understand it and fight it. Thankfully, Jesus helps us understand it and He fought it and won. We want all of us to understand it, join with Him in the fight, and experience the victory.
I want to encourage you to take some time and read Mark 5:1-20. It’s a story about Jesus healing a man possessed by a demon. In this passage, we can see all of the things we’ll be talking about through this series right in front of us. There are immaterial realities, evil exists, and affliction and destruction can be caused by evil spirits. This can all sound pretty scary, but it’s important to remember this…
Jesus conquers. Throughout this series, we’ll be talking about some fascinating stuff, but this idea will serve as a kind of GPS to guide us through it. Let’s look at a few Scripture passages that really emphasize this point:
“And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” (Colossians 2:15)
We don’t fight for victory; we fight from victory.
“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” (Ephesians 6:13)
Evil will come, but in Jesus we will stand, and we will win. He teaches us to pray a confident prayer.
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” (Matthew 6:13)
Daily, we are to prepare ourselves to do battle with the evil one knowing that Jesus is more powerful.
One of the goals of this series is understanding evil. To do that, we need to look at its origins. In the beginning, God created everything and everything He created was good. He created both humans and angelic beings. These angelic beings are immaterial, body-less beings, not the disembodied spirits of humans who have died. These two realities (material and immaterial) overlap at several points in the Bible, including the Mark 5 passage that we already mentioned. The Bible also describes the fall of humanity with Adam and Eve. At SMCC, we often talk about a prior fall that placed the Evil One in the Garden of Eden in the first place. Let’s take a look at how Jesus communicates His understanding of these things:
17 "The seventy-two returned with joy and said, ‘Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.’ 18 He replied, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’” (Luke 10:17-20)
Here again we see Jesus’ authority. He conquers. Here He also talks about unclean immaterial beings who have opposed God and can be described as evil spirits. He also mentions the chief of these evil spirits, one He names here as Satan, but there are other names throughout the Bible that describe the Evil One as well.
Let’s look at another passage that sheds some light on who Satan is:
42 "Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God, I have not come on my own; God sent me. 43 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. 44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.’” (John 8:42-44)
This passage tells us Satan’s number one attack method: lies. This was true in the garden when he lied to Adam and Eve, it was true in the desert when he lief to Jesus, and it’s true of us today when he lies to us about Jesus’ true identity and our own. With that in mind, there are some important truths about Satan to remember.
5 truths about a liar:
1. Satan is not omniscient, omnipresent, or omnipotent (Job 1:6). Satan is a created being, and he is physically positioned in the universe.
2. Because Satan is not omnipresent Satan exercises his dominion by way of a hierarchical and geographical strategy (Daniel 10:12-14; Mark 5:1-20; Matthew 12:43-45). Certain Scripture passages tell us that other evil spirits are in certain places to attack and fight.
3. Satan manipulates through lies and deception (Genesis 3:1-5; Matthew 4:1-11; John 8:42-44; 2 Corinthians 11:13-14). He lies about what we deserve as well as about who we are.
4. Satan will be thrown into hell in the end (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:14-15). We already know what his end will be.
5. Satan is resistible (Ephesians 6:10-17; Isaiah 4:7). If Christians hold firm in the promise of the resurrection without accepting the enemy’s lies and accusations, he will depart.
Now, since we know that evil is simply whatever is opposed to and opposite of God, it’s important to call evil what it is:
Since God is life, taking a life is evil.
Since God defends the innocent and vulnerable, attacking them is evil.
Since God designed sex, violating that design is evil.
Since God is truth, lies are evil.
Since God is love, destroying people is evil.
At the bottom of all of this, we can see that human nature itself is evil. One deception that might be the most diabolical that has affected people from ancient times up until now is this scheme…
13 “For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15)
There will be people who lie about God, pretending to be His servants and pedaling a false version of righteousness. The lie is that Jesus is nice but unnecessary, an example not a substitute, and salvation is earned not a gift.
Since God gifts salvation, works-based religion is evil. It opposes His love and sacrifice at the core. So, evil, call it what it is.
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