July 3, 2019
An Overview of Satan and His Cohorts
Let’s begin with a brief summary from one of our theologians, “. . . God’s work of creation includes both a visible and an invisible universe. The latter encompasses the realm of created spirits, especially angels. Some of the inhabitants of this sphere are evilspirits: Satan and his demons. These were not created evil but became so through the exercise of their God-given free will. The corruption of the old creation began with the introduction of sin into the spiritual universe by these powerful spiritual beings, who then became actively involved in the initial and ongoing corruption of the visible universe. These evil spirits are thus a contributing factor in the proliferation of sin and evil among human beings” (Cottrell, 170).
Thus, as many Christians know but are not studying much less fighting, there is a spiritual warfare to wage against the enemy. Satan and his demonic forces depress nations and communities harm Christian congregations, wreck whole families, and devastate individual lives. They seek to pull us away from our Creator and certainly do not want us to have a close relationship with Him as Father. They do not want the Gospel to go forth into the nations, and they do not want you to believe it and live it out.
If the satanic powers are working to that extent in the world and that intensely in our own spiritual lives, we would be foolish to not fight back. Have you wondered why you get into ruts and cannot get out? Have you asked yourself why you cannot overcome a certain temptation or way of thinking? Have you had similar questions about others, maybe family and friends? The answer may be that you or your loved ones are not engaging in the spiritual warfare that is raging all around us.
The Scriptures have much to say on the subject of Satan and his demons; what they are up to and how Christians should be responding to their attacks. We have been spending some time in The BLEND opening our spiritual eyes to these things and getting us thinking about the spiritual battle we must fight. We have several biblical principles to consider. For now, let me mention a couple.
First of all, we need to identify the enemy. We use the titles Satanand Devilfor the being who has led the rebellion against God. He is the enemy of both God and man, the adversary, the accuser, the deceiver, and the evil one. The angelic beings who have followed Satan in his rebellion against God and his opposition to mankind are called fallen angelsand most often, demons. They are disruptors, evil spirits, and impure spirits. It has been said, “That the demons are called spiritsas such indicates their basic metaphysical nature as a part of the invisible universe. That they are called eviland uncleanindicates their basic moral nature” (Cottrell, 172).
Secondly, we must always keep in mind the fact that Satan and the demons were created by God. They are not equal to God and are not divine. They are powerful spiritual beings but are merely creatures. Col 1:16 teaches us that Christ is creator of all things, including the invisible sphere where Satan and his cohorts reside.