Who Is the Devil?

WHO IS THE DEVIL? 

Satan is the devil. In the Bible, the human “flesh” is where Satan drives humans to oppose and disobey God. 

Those who live according to their flesh have their devil in their minds to gratify their flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life.

Satan is a liar who works on the human mind to create all the wants and desires in humans that always blind the eyes of unbelievers, making them not seeing the ultimate truths of all things.

“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:4

Satan creates doubt about the Word of God in vulnerable circumstances, such as anger, frustration, and loneliness.

To fight against Satan, humans must believe the whole Bible, and not just part of it. The truth is that evil is something that God allows, but doesn’t condone, for the sake of “freedom of will” that was given to humans from the beginning of creation.

Paradoxically, the “physical” evils can be a manifestation of the goodness of God. For example, in the Scripture, Jesus saw a man blind from birth, and He told his disciples that the man’s blindness had nothing to do with the sin of the man or that of his parents. Rather, his blindness “happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” (John 9:3) In other words, man’s sin can demonstrate the goodness of God, who’s always ready to forgive.

The bottom line: Physical evils, such as sickness, famine, war, and death, are the results of moral evil. They exist because humans have sinned: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

But God Himself took the consequences of sin, so every person can have access to His forgiveness and His salvation.

The Instructions

The Bible is the Word of God. Through the Bible, God speaks to all humans if they’re willing to listen and to believe. In other words, the wisdom expressed in the Bible is God’s divine instructions to mankind.

God’s Word isn’t just for the Israelites, but for all believers and even unbelievers.

Why?

It’s because God’s Word expresses the “absolute truths” of living—making the most out of life, as well as avoiding any disorder and disharmony in life that may bring about premature death. To meet this tall order, human wisdom is often inadequate and incomplete. The biblical wisdom, expressed in God’s Word, may show humans how to live life to the best and the fullest, as well as how to “conquer death”, which inevitably comes as the end of anything and everything.

Biblical life instructions

Some of the biblical life instructions are specifically for all believers—they teach them how to pray, how to form a good relationship with God through trust and obedience to His Will.

“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22: 37-40

But many of the biblical life instructions are also for unbelievers because they simply teach all and sundry—irrespective of their faith or belief—what’s right and wrong, what’re sins and what’re virtues in their daily lives. That is, these instructions correct them when they’re wrong and teach them to do what’s right and righteous. Given that all these instructions are inspired by God, all major and significant life areas are addressed in the Bible as God knows that all humans need His instructions or guidelines on how-to-living in a world of fancy and fantasy, as well as of sins and evils.

The Helper

Reading the Bible may be a daunting task for many: they simply don’t want to read because they don’t know where to begin. But the Holy Spirit will show humans where to begin, and what to look for, while giving them wisdom to understand as they continue their daily reading.

The Presence

God’s Word is the compass for the faithful journey of all humans. But they also need the roadmap, which is His Presence, to tell them where they should be going next.

"Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you. For everryone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8 

So, humans need to ask, seek, and knock to find God’s Presence, and the Holy Spirit will help them.

His Word

To live in God’s Presence, humans should read God’s Word every day so that He can be present in their hearts.

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105

To maintain and sustain God’s Presence, humans should meditate His Word. More importantly, they should memorize some of them so that they can easily recall and remember them at any time in their daily lives. 

Stephen Lau