Who is the Devil?

Most all cultures in the world understand that there is evil and evil spirits in this world. Our western culture, even in our churches, look at them more as a myth than anything else. We basically believe there is a God however He is the one that does the good and the bad. The Bible is very clear that God is good and the devil is bad. We are instructed to equip ourselves with the truths of the Bible so that we can endure the devils attacks against us.
The Bible gives us much information about the devil and evil spirits. It also reveals his tactics against us and informs us how to recognize him and how to defeat him in our lives.
God created Satan. His name was originally “Lucifer” which means, “son of the morning”. He was one of God’s most beautiful creations. He was created with musical instruments in his body. He was given great wisdom. These are scriptural facts describing Lucifer before he was cast out of heaven.
There are other scriptures that may point to this line of thought. In heaven we know, through the scriptures, that Michael and Gabriel are arch angels. I believe that Lucifer was also an arch angel, making three arch angels. We can assume that one third of the angels were under the command of each arch angel. One day pride entered into Lucifer’s heart and he decided he should sit as God. He conspired with the third of the angels under his command and they all followed him in his attempt to take over heaven. God cast Lucifer out of heaven to the earth. Many of the spirits that were cast out with him were cast into hell, which some of them will be released during the seven years of tribulation that is coming on the earth.
We see Satan in the Garden of Eden tempting Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. He tempted them with the same sin that got him kicked out of heaven. He told them if they would eat the forbidden fruit they would be like God. The reality was they were already like God because they were created in God’s image and likeness. Satan’s greatest scheme against you is to confuse you about your identity. We also see him entering into Judas Iscariot right before he betrayed Jesus. He also placed thoughts in the minds of a couple named Ananias and Sapphira, in the book of Acts, that got them both killed.
Jesus came to this earth to redeem man from all their sins and reconcile them back to God. Jesus’ blood now justifies us before God making us righteous in His sight. All those who accept Jesus into their heart are given, as a free gift, His righteousness. God also places us in Christ. Our new identity, as a Christian, is in Christ. We are now righteous and accepted by God as His sons and daughters, which also makes us heirs of God.
Satan is a spirit and he can put thoughts in your mind. You can hear his thoughts. This is how he controls the world. He rules this world through man. He deceives them in their own mind and controls them and manipulates them to do his evil works on the earth. He also has power to afflict you with sickness, disease, and pain. He is very real and has great power to do many supernatural things.
The truth of our new identity in Christ empowers us to resist his great lies. When we accept Jesus into our hearts God give us a brand new spirit, a new heart and He puts His Spirit in us. When we renew our minds to these powerful truths it equips us to rule and reign over Satan and his entire evil kingdom.
To answer the question, “Who is the devil?” he is God’s enemy. He hates God and hates mankind who God created in His own image. Therefore he is your enemy. He is very real and has great spiritual power to deceive you, kill you, steal from you, and destroy you. Your only hope of any peace, joy and love on this earth is in Christ. Jesus delivered us from Satan’s power and translated us into His kingdom of light. Jesus stripped Satan of his power to condemn us by redeeming us from all sin and forever forgiving us. Jesus also empowered us to undue the devils work in the lives of others. He gave us power over all devils and power to cast them out. The devil is very real and very powerful however against a believer who has equipped themselves with the armor of God he is no threat to us. We will defeat him every time.
After the rapture of the church Satan will enter into a person the Bible calls the “anti-christ”. He will rule this world for seven years. At the end of seven years Jesus will return to this earth with all His saints and defeat the anti-christ and his armies at the battle of Armageddon. After the battle Satan will be cast into hell for one thousand years. At the end of the thousand years he will be released from hell to return to the earth for a short season. He will gather an army against King Jesus who is now reigning on the earth. God will reign down fire from heaven and defeat Satan’s army. After this, Satan will be judged and cast into a lake of fire for all eternity.
 
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