What You “THINK & DO” About Evil Matters! (Part 5)
This is the fifth article about understanding the process of our thinking and reason and now I would like to shift gears into the action we should be engaged in regarding dealing with evil. How and why we think makes all the difference in how and why we should act. From my experience, most Christians don’t have a good thinking and reasoning process engaged in their lives and thus bounce from one idea and sermon to another. Our soul was meant and designed by God to function on our acquired knowledge, experience and wisdom in order to have a successful life. But what happens when we fail to follow through with an actionable lifestyle based on these God-given principles? That is what we will be dealing with in the next few articles.
Keep in mind one of the three major parts our soul thrives on, which we have already dealt with in previous articles, is being anchored in God’s truth. To have our soul anchored “primarily” in human reason, science or evolution corrupts our pathway to God and the life he predestined us to live. As the apostle John stated in the book of John, Jesus desires and planned for our “Abundant Life” yet there are roadblocks to such a wonderful life. Satan himself has been in the middle of our hindrance to God’s best all along and as long as there is breath in him he will continue doing so.
John 10:10
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
This thief that John is referring to is Satan. He hates God and all he stands for, especially God’s special creation in mankind. His plan is to steal and destroy mankind’s relationship with God and wound the heart of God in doing so. As Genesis states, man is the only creation made in God’s image and thus the target of Satan’s anger and wrath. His plan is to first corrupt man’s thinking, primarily about the character and intention of God, and secondly destroy man’s desire to trust God.
In the book of Ephesians, Paul encapsulates the transformation process of being born again so believers would know why humanity is so messed up and how man is redeemed from Satan’s plan. Paul wrote this great book while in a Roman prison because he wanted the young Christian believer to know how and why a person finds and trusts in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Paul then proceeds to show how a person keeps from drifting back into a life of corruption. Paul does not want to assume each born again person understands these truths.
In chapter two Paul identifies the hidden reason for our rebellion and sin. Satan and his diabolical plan to wound the heart of God with man’s corruption is at the core of this war. Though man sees the outcome of our rebellion to God, we often miss the true reason for our downfall. The reason? Satan can’t compete against God so he looks to hurt God through mankind. Satan also wishes to hide his manipulation of humanity and thus keep ruining life after life.
Ephesians 2:1-2
Once you were dead, doomed forever because of your many sins. You used to live just like the rest of the world, full of sin, obeying Satan, the mighty prince of the power of the air. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.
Paul discovered that all the hate he had in his life before he surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus was really the work of Satan. Satan is truly at the heart of all our rebellion and sin. This doesn’t excuse our actions, it only explains what started them in the first place. Again, in the book of Genesis, we see Satan’s manipulation of Adam and Eve’s thinking and reason that led to their downfall. Reading the whole of chapter three we can see Satan’s diabolical corruption of Man’s thinking and action.
Genesis 3:1
Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”
The apostle John wrote that one of the main reasons that Jesus came to earth was to destroy the works of Satan. His manipulation of man’s rebellion sets the stage for his control and thus delivers us to Satan’s power and desires. When you look at the brokenness of mankind world-wide it is easy to see a master plan of deception and influence.
1 John 3:8
The one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.
In the book of Ephesians chapter five, Paul makes a simple statement that many in the body of Christ don’t guard themselves because they don’t see the danger awaiting them. This danger is the first step in giving Satan a foothold in our lives and attempting to corrupt the good that God has deposited through Christ.
Ephesians 4:27
Do not give the devil an opportunity.
The first stage of our conflict with Satan is realizing he is looking for an opportunity. If we are blind to his intentions and we drop our guard, he gains the upper hand and trips us up. How does he do that? Always remember Satan works the same game he did with our first parents, Adam and Eve. He gets us to question God’s character and intention. He gets us to question the goodness of God so that he can advance into his second stage of attack which is trying to discredit the words of God.
Paul goes further into this conflict with Satan and evil in chapter six of Ephesians when he states we need to take a stand against Satan’s evil plans…….if we don’t we will not prevail.
Ephesians 6:10-11
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
So, the first thing we should be doing against evil is realize Satan’s schemes. He is at war with us because we are made in the image of God and God loves us. Satan is actively trying to undermine God’s desire for humanity and particularly in each individual. Ignorance of Satan’s intentions is not an option if we hope to win this battle with him. Our only hope is to understand what the word of God tells us we should do to combat this diabolical plan.
Questions:
1) Are you aware that Satan hates you as a Christian? If not, he will gain an opportunity to hurt you and your walk with God.
2) Are you aware that the word of God has the answers to Victory? If not, you are fighting a losing battle.
In the battle to win the war…
Pastor Dale
Pastor Dale: This is so true. We must walk in the world, but not “be of the world.” So much that is evil in the world is considered good because Satan has deceived so many. As Christians we must recognize that Satan is real, as real as God is, and that his desire is just the opposite of God’s, he desires to destroy each individual, and humankind as a whole. I look forward to future writings where you will help us to see how we can stand firm ourselves, and how we can effectively deliver the good news of God’s great love to a world that so needs it.
Hi Rob
Couldn’t have said it better …. thanks!
Pastor Dale