Step 21: Satan – God’s Enemy, Our Enemy
Do you ever wonder about all the evil in the world? Where it comes from and who is behind it? Do you hear a loud voice within you telling you to go ahead and enjoy things you know to be wrong?
According to the Bible, Satan is behind all evil. He is God’s enemy. His main purpose is to turn all people away from God and make them disobey His laws and sin against Him!
We hear about Satan right in the first book of the Bible, Genesis. God has given Adam and Eve a beautiful garden – The Garden of Eden - to live in and enjoy. But God tells them not to eat the fruit of a certain tree in the middle of the garden. “If you eat it, you will die”, He warns them.
At the first opportunity, Satan comes to tempt them – “Did God tell you not to eat this fruit? You won’t die. Go ahead and eat it.” Satan is called a ‘liar’ in the Bible. The fruit looks delicious, as all the wrong things do. But Adam and Eve have a choice before them. To obey God or to obey Satan. God has given them free will.
Sadly they choose to reject God’s command! They obey Satan instead of God. At once, they know they are separated from God by their one sin. And they lose everything! First they lose their fellowship with God and His closeness and friendship with them. They also lose all His care and protection of them in the Garden of Eden.
Satan is triumphant! He now has them under his control. He binds their souls with his chains and makes them his slaves – slaves of sin. They and all their descendants will be born sinful, obey Satan and will die without hope!
How terrible if Satan’s plan had worked completely! All of us would be sinners following him all the way to hell. Hell is a place God has prepared for Satan and his helpers, who are called ‘demons’ or ‘evil spirits’.
But we know how much God loves us! He did not leave us in Satan’s clutches. Praise God! Our Redeemer came to free us from Satan’s bondage.
Prayer: “Lord God, please help us to choose to obey You and not Satan in our lives.”