8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. (1 Peter 5:8-9)
The Devil is Real
The devil is as real as you and me. He is not a myth. He is not a fairytale character fabricated to scare children into being good. He’s a literal being who at his very core hates you and wants to destroy your life.
The devil is a created being who rebelled against God and was cast from heaven. He is first of all God’s adversary. He sought to exalt himself above God and make himself god, but was soon cast to the earth.
The most common term for the enemy is Satan (54 times in the Bible), which means adversary. He is one who withstands God and us. He is also called the devil (34 times) which means slanderer or accuser.
The Bible clearly reveals the reality of the devil. He’s not an impersonal, invisible force as described in Star Wars as the dark side, but is an actual spiritual being who hates you with a passion.
Many today refuse to believe that the devil exists and seek to explain his work in psychological terms. They believe that the people of Biblical times were not as knowledgeable as we are today and had to have some way of describing what was happening in people’s lives.
Don’t be fooled. The devil and his demons are real. They’re so real that Father God sent Jesus Christ to confront the devil head on.
Jesus Came to Destroy the Works of the Devil
One of the reasons that Jesus came to earth was to destroy the works of the devil
For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.(1 John 3:8).
This is one of my favorite verses on the subject. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. The Greek word for destroy is the word “luo.” It means to “loose, untie, release.” The idea is that Jesus came to set you free from every single work of the enemy in your life.
Here are just a few of the things that Jesus came to bring to an end to in your life. There’s no possible way to list them all, but you get the picture. He came to give you:
- Beauty for ashes
- The oil of joy for mourning
- The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness
- Innocence instead of guilt
- Forgiveness instead of condemnation
- Health instead of sickness
- Wholeness instead of brokenness
- Reconciliation rather than alienation
- Truth in place of error
- Freedom in place of bondage
- Hope in place of despair
- Acceptance instead of rejection
- Peace rather than fear
- Glory rather than shame
- Eternal life instead of death
- Sonship verses slavery
- Light instead of darkness
- Adoption verses orphanhood
- Security in place of insecurity
- Unity verses division
- Family rather than broken relationships
- Love verses hatred
- Purpose verses meaninglessness
- Fullness verses emptiness
This is just a short list of all the things Jesus came to give you. What an incredible list of wonderful gifts that come to us as free gifts through Jesus Christ. But before He could purchase them for us, Jesus had to face the devil and overcome Him.
Jesus Faces the Devil
The very first act of Jesus’ ministry was to face the devil in the wilderness.
16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. (Matthew 3:16-4:1)
God is not afraid of the devil. There is no comparison between God and the devil. God is the uncreated eternal one who brought all things into existence by the power of His word. Satan is a created being who chose to rebel against God, thus becoming His adversary.
Satan’s rebellion was not a challenge to God and it failed completely and resulted in his fall. Being banished to earth Satan decided to fight against those created in the image of God to see if he could rule over them.
His deception of Eve led to the rebellion of both Adam and Eve against God’s command to not eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They wanted to be like God and in following the council of the serpent rose up to eat of the tree to become like God.
It failed miserably and brought them under the authority of the enemy. In following the devil, Adam and Eve gave up their God-appointed place as rulers of the earth and Satan now became the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4)
Jesus came as the second Adam. He came to legally win back control of the earth that the first Adam lost and reverse all of the aspects of death that were the result of his sin. Jesus came to submit Himself totally to God and through obedience and take back dominion of the world under God.
Jesus had to face the devil and put him in his place. He had to overcome every temptation the devil sent his way and walk in total obedience to the Father so that the devil had no hold on Him. That way He could offer Himself as a pure and spotless lamb on the cross, die in your place, and overcome death through the resurrection.
The devil had no power over Jesus. His rule only comes through sin. Since Jesus wholly obeyed the Father, the devil’s power was broken.
The Devil Has Plans for You
Maybe you’ve heard the famous Scripture in Jeremiah that tells you that God has a plan for your life?
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11)
Well, the devil also has a plan for your life and the Apostle Paul wants you to be aware of it so you won’t be ignorant of it and be able to stand against it and win.
so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes. (2 Cor 2:11)
The word schemes is translated by the Greek word “noema.” The focus of this word is thoughts. In this verse we’re talking about the thoughts of the devil toward you.
Whereas God has only good thoughts toward you, the enemy only has evil thoughts. God has thoughts of peace and the enemy thoughts of reaping chaos, separation, division, and strife. The enemy wants every evil work to be active in your life. He has no good thing for you. Everything from his hand is evil.
God wants to give you a future, The enemy desires to rob you blind and leave you joyless without expectation of anything good coming into your life. God’s plans are filled with hope, the enemy’s are filled with despair, discouragement, hopelessness, with a fatalistic view on life.
stand firm against the schemes of the devil. (Eph 6:11)
The word for schemes in this verse is different than the one in 2 Corinthians 2:11. It’s the Greek word “methodia,” which conveys the idea of systematic thought that implies a logical pattern of steps. The worst part is that these systematic schemes all have an evil intent of bringing about your destruction.
The idea behind the word “methodia” is the crafty scheming of the devil in order to deceive you. Be aware that the enemy of your soul has a systematic plan laid out to bring about your destruction. His plan to destroy you is organized and structured and is always in action.
Your Adversary, the Devil
Whether you like it or not. Whether you believe it or not. You have an adversary that is opposed to you every moment of your life. There’s never a moment when he is for you. There’s never a moment where he'll do something to help you. He has an agenda for you life and it’s not good.
10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. (John 10:10)
Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)
Steal - The devil is a thief and he wants to rob you of every good thing that God intends for your life. He comes in secretly and without permission to take whatever he can find. He wants to steal your peace, joy, love, finances, and anything that will leave you destitute in any area of your life.
Kill - The devil is violent and merciless. He wants to kill everything in your life. He wants to kill your vision. You feeling of purpose. Your hope for the future. He wants you to lose all hope and possibility and may even try to convince you that taking your life is the only logical solution to your problem.
Destroy - The idea behind destroy is not extinction, it has to do with ruin and loss, not of your being but your well-being. He wants to leave you like Job sitting in heap of ashes with boils from the soles of your feet to the crown of your head scraping yourself with potsherd (see Job 2:7-8)
Devour - The devil wants your total ruin and destruction. He’s pictured like a lion greedily swallowing you up in one gulp.
God’s Plan to Defeat the Devil
God gives us insight into how we can defeat the devil. I ‘m only looking at the three things that Peter suggests in the verse which began this post. There are many more and they are covered throughout the EHV website.
8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. (1 Peter 5:8-9)
Be of Sober Spirit
To be of sober spirit is to be mentally self-controlled. It’s to think rationally and not foolishly. I already mentioned the fact that the devil is real, he’s opposed to you, hates you, and has a systematic plan to bring about destruction in your life. It would be foolish to ignore the warning of the word of God and think that you are not on the devil’s hit list.
You’re surely in his sights and he’s attempting to work in your life. That’s why Paul tells us that “we are not ignorant of his schemes” (2 Cor 2:11).
The word ignorant simply means that we lack knowledge on a topic. It has nothing to do with your intelligence or ability to think. It simply means you were unaware of something. Peter’s warning erases any doubt or questions about the enemy’s plan for your life. He’s seeking to devour you.
Know you have a choice of what you’re going to do with that information. Will you take it seriously or blow it off as some sort of myth? Will you take Peter’s advice and open your eyes to the reality that you have an enemy on the prowl looking for prey?
My advice is to take it as truth and take the next two steps that Peter suggests.
Be on the Alert
Peter wants you to be on the alert. That means he wants you to be awake, vigilant, and watching for the enemy’s attack. Understanding that the devil is seeking you out to destroy is not something of which you should be fearful. Jesus has overcome the enemy and you can too.
An example of this alertness is the United States Government. It has what is called a DEFCON level. DEFCON means the defense readiness condition of our nation. It’s how prepared the military is to respond to possible danger of attack from an enemy. There are five levels of DEFCON.
DEFCON 5 is the lowest and most natural state of protection during peacetime. This is the natural preparedness the country is in at all times. This includes satellites, radar, and other means to determine threats.
DEFCON 4 is given when there needs to be an increase of intelligence gathering like after a minor terrorist attack or finding evidence of a possible attack.
DEFCON 3 is serious and is only called into being when there is a definite threat against the nation. This is a heightened state of alert that prepares itself to mobilize while the Air Force is prepared to launch flights within fifteen minutes of warning.
DEFCON 2 heightens military preparation by ensuring that combat forces are ready for major operations within a few hours. We were only on this level once during the Cuba missile crisis.
DEFCON 1 is maximum military preparation and is thought to be used only in the case of imminent or actual nuclear warfare in America or one of its allies. We have never been on DEFCON 1.
As believers, we need to be on DEFCON 1 constantly alert to the work of the enemy. It’s when we fail to be attentive that the enemy sneaks in and works his lies and destruction into our lives.
This is not a paranoid outlook that is always seeing the devil behind every single thing that takes place in your life, but a sober-minded awareness that the enemy is present and would like to take advantage of you if he could.
So what do you do when you see the work of the enemy in your life? You take the third step Peter recommends.
Resist the Devil Firm in Your Faith
If you find the enemy working in any area, you are to resist him. That means you are to actively stand up to him in the power and authority of Jesus Christ. The word I like to use at EHV to describe this is repulse.
To repulse someone means to force them to stop attacking you. When the devil comes upon you like a roaring lion, it's not time to cower in fear. It’s time to rise up in the name of Jesus Christ and force the devil to stop attacking you.
James gives us a little more information about what happens when we resist the devil. He says,
7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)
The devil’s not stronger than the power you have in Jesus. You can stand up against the devil and send him fleeing. The only thing is that you must do it firm in your faith. You must stand and refuse to yield to any of his schemes.
The most succinct declaration of your authority comes from Jesus Himself. He declared,
19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Did you notice that He gave you authority over all the power of the enemy. You have what you need to stand strong against every work of the enemy in your life.
Be of sober spirit.
Be on the alert.
Resist the devil firm in your faith.
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