Christian Foundations
DEVOTIONAL ARCHIVE
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
The Truth about the Devil
“The time of judgment for the world has come, when the prince of this world will be cast out.”
(John 12:31)
Martin Luther had it right when he wrote the words of the hymn, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”: “For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe—his craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal.”
If you are a Christian, then you need to know that you have an adversary out there. He wants to trip you up. He wants to drag you down.
We should never underestimate the devil. He is a sly and skillful adversary. He has had many years of experience dealing with humanity. That’s why there are some important things we need to remember about the devil—things that the devil doesn’t want us to know.
We need to understand that Satan is nowhere near to being the equal of God. God is omnipotent, which means that He is all-powerful. God is omniscient, which means that He is all-knowing. God is omnipresent, which means that He is present everywhere.
In sharp and direct contrast, we need to know that the devil does not reflect any of these divine attributes. Although he is very powerful, Satan is not omnipotent. Nor is Satan omniscient. He can’t know everything you are thinking. His knowledge is limited. Finally, he is not omnipresent. While God can be everywhere at the same time, Satan only can be in one place at one time.
Most important of all, we need to know that the devil was soundly defeated at the Cross. There he lost his stranglehold on the life of the human race. As a Christian, you have been set free by the power of Jesus Christ.
Copyright © 2008 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
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