Satan

In the movie “Backdraft” there is a scene where an old firefighter is mentoring a young firefighter. He intentionally lights a fire and as it grows. He says something to the effect that the fire climbs up the wall and across the ceiling……..not because of the laws of physics………but rather, because it WANTS to. This is, of course, just good theater. But, it provides a practical applicable basis for defeating the fire. Similarly, the idea of evil driven by intention is very useful in understanding Satan……..and protecting ourselves from him.

In our modern “open minded” society. We have redefined evil. In many cases we have defined it out of existence. One of the great unforgivable crimes in our world is to tell somebody that what they are doing is wrong. This is the source of much of the friction between the right and the left. The right sees something and says it is wrong. The left responds by calling the right one of the words in the “deplorable basket”.

When you hear the word “judgementalism”…….what is your immediate response? Is judgementalism good or bad? We are told every day that we have no right to lable the action of another as bad. We are told that judgementalism is bad. We are not allowed to call another person evil……. No matter what. We are not even allowed to say that he is bad. Think of the TV coverage of the last mass shooting. You probably heard about the shooter’s troubled childhood, about his emotional struggles, about his state of mind, how he lost his job……….but nobody ever called him evil. We have dumbed down evil to the point where it is almost a caricature. When was the last time that you saw somebody do something and said, “that is an evil act committed by an evil man”. As in the book “1984”, we have created our own version of “newspeak”……..a language where words describing unacceptable ideas have been outlawed. Even on the rare occasions where we acknowledge evil………the act must be extraordinarily heinous. 911 was evil. But lying on your CV, denigrating a co-worker, mistreating your spouse…..doesn’t rise to the level of evil……..perhaps exaggeration or frustration……….but not evil.

So what about Satan?……….. same story.
For the most part, our society has eradicated him. We rarely think about him. Many, perhaps most of us, deny his existence. Even if we consider him real……we reduce him to a caricature…….a red guy with horns, a tail, and a pitchfork.

I believe that God is an intelligent, emotional being who is active in our world……… who has a long range plan for our well being.

I believe that Satan, too, is an intelligent, emotional being who is active in our world…….. who also has a long range plan…….. for our destruction. In a word, Satan is evil with a plan…….for me and for you.

Satan is not an intellectual construct, an idea, a metaphor, or a symbol. In practice, he is a supernatural person with wants, needs, emotions………and a plan. The safest way to deal with Satan is to deal with him as you would a dangerous co-worker. In every interaction, remember that he is present and that his motive is to destroy you. The most dangerous way to deal with him is to deny his personhood……….to deny his existence……to deny his motive…….to deny the evil that he has planned for you………for all of us.

And that is where we are today. As you go through your day today you will interact with hundreds, maybe thousands of people……… some good, some evil, most in-between. The problem is that most of them…….good or evil…….from a practical application standpoint don’t recognize that Satan walks among with us……….. quietly and carefully executing his long range plan. It is very easy to be manipulated……….when you can’t see the person pulling the strings……… when you deny his existence.

Evil is real. It is not a random accident. It is not bad luck. It is not human nature. It is the work of a motivated, intelligent being who is carefully executing a long range plan………a plan with one goal…….your destruction.

And the LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the LORD, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it .”

Job, NIV