Message Two
God, Man, and Satan
Scripture Reading: Job 1:6-12; 2:1-7; Matt. 12:26; Heb. 2:14; Rom. 16:20; Rev. 12:5, 7-11
I. The entire Bible is a record of the things concerning God, man, and Satan; therefore, in our reading of the Bible, we need to know not only the things concerning God and man but also the things concerning Satan—Gen. 1:1, 26-28; 3:1, 4, 15; Isa. 14:12-14; Ezek. 28:12-19:
A. Satan was an angel and an anointed cherub created by God before God created the earth; he was the highest among the angels—vv. 12-15; Job 38:4-7:
1. Satan was the "Daystar, son of the dawn" (Isa. 14:12), one of the first angels created by God at the "dawn" of the universe, appointed by God to be the head of all the angels (Ezek. 28:14; Jude 9).
2. The anointed cherub was appointed by God to rule over the preadamic universe (Luke 4:6); the anointed cherub was the one closest to God, and having both the kingship and the priesthood, he held the highest position in God's creation (Ezek. 28:13).
B. Satan's rebellion against God is revealed in Isaiah 14:13-14 and Ezekiel 28:15-18:
1. Satan rebelled against God because of the pride in his heart; his heart was lifted up because of his beauty—Isa. 14:13-14; Ezek. 28:17.
2. Satan's intention was to overthrow God's authority and to exalt himself to be equal with God; in his rebellion against God, Satan wanted to be on the same level as God—Isa. 14:13.
C. Because of his rebellion, Satan became God's adversary, God's enemy—Zech. 3:1-2; Rev. 12:9a; 20:2a:
1. Satan means "adversary"; as God's adversary, Satan opposes God—Job 1:7, 12; 2:1, 6; Rev. 20:2.
2. Enemy refers to the foe outside of God's kingdom, whereas adversary refers to the foe from within God's kingdom.
3. Satan is not only God's enemy outside of God's kingdom but also God's adversary from within God's kingdom, rebelling against God.
II. The scene in Job 1 and 2 depicts two councils held in heaven concerning Job—1:6-12; 2:1-7:
A. Because of His loving concern for Job, God held two councils in the heavens to talk about Job—1:6; 2:1.
B. The "sons of God," the angels, came to present themselves before Jehovah, and Satan, the adversary, also came among them—1:6; 2:1; 38:7; cf. 1 Kings 22:19-23; Psa. 89:5-8:
1. After he rebelled against God, Satan was condemned and even sentenced by God—Isa. 14:12-15; Ezek. 28:12-19.
2. Satan's right to enter into the presence of God has not yet been taken away from him—cf. Rev. 12:10.
C. In His wisdom and sovereignty God did not execute His judgment on Satan but has given Satan a certain limited time to do something to meet some negative need in the fulfillment of His economy:
1. God could not and would not ask any of His many excellent angels to do what was needed to damage Job in order to strip him of everything so that he might be full of God—Job 1:1, 8, 11-12; 2:3-7.
2. Satan was the unique one in the universe who could and who would fulfill God's intention of stripping Job of his possessions and ethical attainment—v. 3.
3. The scene in chapters 1 and 2 of Job shows us that Satan remains free to be purposely used by God as an ugly tool to execute God's severe dealing with His loving ones—cf. Luke 22:31-32.
III. Satan has his kingdom, the authority of darkness—Matt. 12:26; Acts 26:18; Col. 1:13:
A. Satan has his authority (Acts 26:18) and his angels (Matt. 25:41), who are his subordinates as rulers, authorities, and world-rulers of the darkness of this world; hence, he has his kingdom, the authority of darkness (Col. 1:13).
B. Satan is the ruler of this world and the ruler of the authority of the air—John 12:31; Eph. 2:2:
1. The spirit (v. 2), in apposition to the authority of the air, refers to the aggregate power, the aggregate of all the evil angelic authorities, over which Satan is the ruler.
2. When we were dead in offenses and sins (v. 1), we walked according to "the age of this world" (v. 2), the modern appearance, the present course, of the world, the satanic system.
3. The rulers, the authorities, and the world-rulers of this darkness are the rebellious angels, who followed Satan in his rebellion against God and who now rule in the heavenlies over the nations of the world—Dan. 10:20.
4. This indicates that the devil, Satan, has his kingdom in which he occupies the highest position and in which the rebellious angels are under him.
IV. Through His ministry on earth and His death on the cross, the Lord Jesus was victorious over Satan—1 John 3:8; Matt. 27:51-53; Col. 2:14-15; Heb. 2:14:
A. In His earthly ministry the victorious Christ defeated the devil and destroyed his works—Matt. 4:1-11; 1 John 3:8:
1. For Him to accomplish His ministry for the kingdom of the heavens, the Lord Jesus had to defeat God's enemy, the devil, Satan—Matt. 4:1, 11:
a. This He had to do as a man; hence, He stood as a man to confront the enemy of God—vv. 6-7.
b. The devil's temptation of the first man, Adam, was a success; his temptation of the second man, Christ, was an absolute failure—v. 11.
2. In His ministry on earth the Lord Jesus destroyed the works of the devil—1 John 3:8:
a. In 1 John 3:8 the Greek word translated "destroy" may also be translated "undo" or "dissolve."
b. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might undo and destroy the sinful deeds of the devil, that is, condemn, through His death on the cross in the flesh, sin initiated by him, the evil one; destroy the power of sin, the sinful nature of the devil; and take away both sin and sins—Rom. 8:3; Heb. 2:14; John 1:29.
B. In His crucifixion the victorious Christ cast out the ruler of this world, destroyed the devil, caused the rulers and authorities to be stripped off, and nullified death—12:31; Matt. 27:51; Heb. 2:14; Col. 2:15; 2 Tim. 1:10:
1. In His work on the cross, Christ cast out the ruler of this world and judged the world—John 12:31:
a. The ruler of this world was cast out when Satan was cast out by Christ's work in His death; simultaneously, the world system related to Satan was judged—1 John 5:19.
b. The base of Satan's rebellion was shaken, and the strongholds of Satan's earthly kingdom were broken—Matt. 27:51.
2. In His crucifixion Christ destroyed the devil—Heb. 2:14:
a. In verse 14 the Greek word translated "destroy" can also be rendered as "bring to nought, make of none effect, do away with, abolish, annul, discard."
b. In His humanity and through His work on the cross, Christ has destroyed the devil—John 3:14.
3. In His work on the cross, Christ caused the angelic rulers and authorities to be stripped off, to be made a display of openly, and to be triumphed over by God—Col. 2:15.
4. In His work on the cross, Christ nullified death, making it of none effect, through His devil-destroying death (Heb. 2:14) and death-swallowing resurrection (1 Cor. 15:52-54)—2 Tim. 1:10.
C. Through the gospel of the kingdom, God brings people under the ruling of the heavenly authority so that they may become His kingdom, those who are ruled by His authority—Matt. 24:14; Rev. 1:5-6.
V. As believers in Christ Jesus and children of God, we need to learn to be victorious in Christ over Satan—Eph. 6:12; 1 Pet. 5:8-9; 1 John 5:18:
A. We should not be ignorant of Satan's schemes—2 Cor. 2:11:
1. The Greek word translated "schemes" means "plans, plots, designs, wiles, intentions, purposes."
2. The evil one, Satan, is behind the scenes in everything and works in everything, even in the church life.
B. We need to put on the whole armor of God so that we may be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil—Eph. 6:11:
1. The devil has not only evil intentions but also deceptive stratagems to work out his intentions; these stratagems are his evil plots.
2. Putting on the whole armor of God enables us to stand against the stratagems of the devil—v. 11.
3. One of Satan's stratagems against the saints of the Most High is to wear them out (Dan. 7:21, 25); when we see that Satan is wearing us out, we will have the power to withstand and oppose his wearing-out tactics.
C. We need to be watchful against our adversary, the devil, who "as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking someone to devour"—1 Pet. 5:8:
1. To be watchful is to be vigilant as in warfare, as with soldiers on the frontier.
2. The word watch in 1 Peter 5:8 implies fighting; we are involved in a warfare, and we need to be vigilant.
3. If we are vigilant, we will withstand our adversary, being firm in our faith—v. 9:
a. To withstand is not to resist nor to struggle against but to stand firmly, like a rock, on the ground of our faith before the roaring devil.
b. Your faith in 1 Peter 5:9 refers to the believers' subjective faith, their faith in God's protecting power and loving concern.
D. The best way for us to be victorious over Satan is to live in the mingled spirit—1 Cor. 6:17; 1 John 5:18:
1. There is only one place that Satan cannot invade—our spirit—2 Tim. 4:22.
2. Whether or not we are under Satan's authority is not determined by the things we do; rather, it is determined by whether we are in the spirit or in the flesh—Gal. 5:16-17.
3. As long as we remain in the mingled spirit, we will be kept, and Satan will have no way with us—1 Cor. 6:17; 1 John 5:4-5, 18-21.
VI. "The God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly"—Rom. 16:20:
A. The crushing of Satan is related to the church life—the strongest means by which God overcomes Satan—vv. 20, 1, 16b.
B. The Greek word rendered "your" in Romans 16:20 is plural; this points to the Body—12:5:
1. Romans 16 does not refer to the Body in a universal sense but to the local and practical expression of the Body.
2. Dealing with Satan is a Body matter, not an individual matter.
3. Satan can be crushed only under the feet of the practical expression of the Body in the local churches—12:5; 16:1, 4, 16b.
4. It is only when we have a proper local church as the practical expression of the Body that Satan is crushed under our feet—v. 20.
C. It is significant that the One who crushes Satan under our feet is the God of peace—v. 20:
1. The God of peace is the Sanctifier; His sanctification brings in peace—1 Thes. 5:23.
2. When we are wholly sanctified by Him from within, we have peace with Him and with man in every way—v. 13; Rom. 6:19, 22; Heb. 13:12.
3. The peace of God guards, mounts guard over, our hearts and our thoughts because the God of peace patrols before our hearts and thoughts in Christ, keeping us calm and tranquil—Phil. 4:7.
VII. After the man-child is raptured to the throne of God, there is war in heaven, Satan and his angels are cast down to the earth, and the kingdom of God is manifested—Rev. 12:5, 7-11:
A. The man-child consists of the overcomers, who stand on behalf of the church, take the position that the whole church should take, and do the work of the church—2:7b, 11b; 12:5:
1. The man-child is always engaged in fighting against God's enemy, Satan, continually on earth.
2. Heaven is waiting for the man-child, the overcomers, to arrive so that a war may be waged to cast Satan out of heaven:
a. The war waged by the overcoming believers against Satan is actually the executing of the Lord's judgment upon him—John 12:31.
b. Eventually, through their fighting, Satan is cast out of heaven—Rev. 12:8-9.
B. The devil, the accuser, is now accusing the believers before God day and night, but the overcoming believers who constitute the man-child and who have been opposed and slandered by God's enemy, Satan, overcome him—vv. 10-11:
1. They overcome him "because of the blood of the Lamb"—v. 11a:
a. The blood of the Lamb, which is for our redemption, answers before God all the accusations of the devil against us and gives us the victory over him.
b. We need to apply this blood whenever we sense the accusation of the devil—Rom. 3:25; 1 John 1:7.
2. They overcome him "because of the word of their testimony"—Rev. 12:11b:
a. The word of their testimony is their word that testifies that the devil has been judged by the Lord—John 12:31; Heb. 2:14.
b. Whenever we sense the devil's accusation, we should declare with the uttered word the Lord's victory over him.
3. The overcomers do not love their soul-life—Rev. 12:11c:
a. Not loving our soul-life is the basis for overcoming Satan, for our victory over Satan.
b. Not loving our soul-life means that we are willing to give up our own soul-life and that we do not care for our own soul-life—Mark 8:34-35.
c. Satan is afraid of only one kind of people—those who do not love their own soul-life—Rev. 12:11c.
C. The man-child is related to God's most important dispensational move—Matt. 6:9-10; Rev. 11:15; 12:10:
1. God wants to end this age and bring in the age of the kingdom, and for this He must have the man-child as His dispensational instrument—v. 5.
2. The rapture of the man-child brings an end to the church age and introduces the age of the kingdom—vv. 5, 10.
3. The rapture of the man-child to the throne of God, the casting of Satan to the earth, and the declaration in heaven signify that the man-child will bring the kingdom to the earth; this is God's greatest dispensational move—vv. 5, 9-10; 11:15.