Lesson 29: God’s Enemy, Satan (part 1)

Read: 2 Corinthians 11:1-15 - www.bible.com/bible/59/2cor.11.esv

Why is it important we know who Satan is? The simplest answer is we need to know who our enemy is.

Satan is the greatest enemy we face as a believer. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 5:8 he is a “roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Some tell us all we have to do is tell him “no,” but could they be as nonchalant if they were just saying “no” to a vicious, hungry lion standing before them without the benefit of thick glass or a high, sturdy fence to separate them?

We need to understand who this enemy is as we face him in our everyday lives. We need to be able to recognize him when he approaches us. We need to see him for who he truly is – an enemy who has only one goal for us, our destruction.

He is an enemy who takes no prisoners. He doesn’t want to have our company when he gets to hell. All he is interested in is our death before we can be saved; or, if we become a child of God, he wants to see us defeated and ineffectual so we can’t be any more trouble to him.

How are we to recognize him? He does not come to us as a lion or a red monster with horns and a forked tail. Paul tells us he disguises himself as an “angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14) so he can win our confidence, or at least gain our interest.


The Bible tells us more about our enemy. He is the deceiver. Jesus called him the “father of lies” (John 8:44). Let’s take a closer look at exactly what Jesus said. He called them children of Satan because they lied. Jesus equates lying with murder. He reminded his listeners Satan’s first contact with the human race (Eve) had been to tell her a lie which was intended to result in her death. He hasn’t changed – his lies still have only one result in his mind, our death.

Does Satan always lie? Yes – always. You might point out he quoted Scripture to Jesus when Jesus was in the wilderness. This is true, but he took it out of context and implied it meant something it did not mean. Does Satan ever quote Scripture to us in the same way? Absolutely! We must always be watchful when we try to use a Scripture to rationalize something we know we shouldn’t be doing. It is the same thing as Satan did with Jesus. Scriptures are never meant to stand alone or in opposition in any way to any other Scripture.

For example, if an alcoholic who has become a Christian takes the verse “Go into all the world and preach the gospel” as his justification for walking into a bar, he should be afraid. Walking into the bar is not “fleeing temptation” as we are commanded to do.

Sometimes God places us in the lions’ den for a purpose (Daniel 6), but the alcoholic will never feel the need to rationalize if he is truly sent by God on a mission. In such a case, the alcoholic would fear walking into a bar and would seek God’s will. Having won the peace of God in his prayerful search, he would then proceed in fear and trembling, and discover God’s protection in the face of the “hungry lions” was enough to save him from destruction.