The Bible has many names for Satan, such as "devil", "evil one", "serpent", and "tempter". The Old and New Testaments are filled with references to Satan. In Matthew 12, Jesus describes Satan as a powerful ruler over a demonic kingdom. His goal is to keep people from hearing, understanding and believing God’s Word and the good news that Jesus died and rose again to give you eternal life. (see John 3:16-17) Satan is a powerful enemy, but we are not in a tug-of-war between God and Satan. He is not God’s equal as he is a created being that has been given some freedom for a period of time to show to the rest of creation how horrible sin really is. God is in control and He has already won the battle. You can turn to the book of Revelation to find out how it will end. In the meantime, you and I are given the opportunity to choose which side we really want to believe.
Some people have difficulty in believing he exists and others have a preoccupation with the satanic world and all it represents. C. S. Lewis wrote many years ago: "There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They (the devils) themselves are equally pleased by both errors." (excerpt from The Screwtape Letters) As Christians and followers of our Creator and Redeemer, we need not be afraid. We know the One who holds Satan’s leash securely in His nail-scarred hands. But just as Adam and Eve had to face the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and make a decision, each of us needs to make that same decision. Our tendency is to go with whatever feels good, looks good and sounds good. This is called "iniquity". It’s a condition we are born with because we are Adam’s children. No one can take away our iniquity except Jesus Christ. You can’t change your own heart any easier than you can change the color of your skin, but you can choose a better way whenever it is presented to you if you have an understanding of the consequences of your choices.
Even though we inherited sin and the death penalty, we have not lost our freedom of choice. We are not robots, forced to walk in a certain path. We are able to think with intelligence, which is one of the ways we were created in the image of our Maker. So let’s look at some of the areas of life that will bring us death in comparison to the bountiful life we’ve been promised through Jesus Christ. You will find these things listed in Galatians 5:16-26. YOUR CHOICE
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Now that you have
accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior AND your Lord, you have chosen to
be on the winning side of the most severe battle ever waged. It is the
battle between good and evil … right and wrong … and the
battleground is in the mind of each individual in the world. With Jesus
Christ as your Commander in Chief, you have the promise of victory. But
the enemy of Jesus Christ and all those who choose to side
with Him, is Satan, the great Deceiver. His hatred toward
the truth of God is so intense that he will do everything in his power
to convince us that his lies are absolute truth. By that deception, we
can be lured into a false understanding of a wonderful gift given us by
our Creator - the gift of "choice"!
Satan is like a mean dog
on a leash. If you get close to him he can hurt you; but his Master can
always rein him in. We need to recognize and be wise to his intents.
The Bible tells us
in Romans 5:12 that we have inherited the tendency to sin and because of
sin, we were under the penalty of death. "Therefore,
just as sin entered the world through one man, (Adam), and death through
sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned."