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Today, I want to tackle one of the biggest deceptions that might just be unknown to man. I want to tackle the age-old topic of Good vs. evil. I am sure this has been written about a million times and it surely has been depicted in countless movies or endless types of entertainment. But today, I am going to talk about the only Good vs. evil battle that will ever really matter for you and me. As I write this I want to speak to a particular audience and speak with love, and compassion, yet, boldly to you. If you are someone who revels or takes joy in aligning yourself with evil or darkness, then this blog is hand-typed for you. I am sure, with your current alignment with the Evil One, you might chuckle at this, laugh, or maybe even get angry. My hope is no matter what you feel as you start to read this that you stick around and here is why: at the end of the day, you and I are human beings who must ultimately choose our allegiance before this life is over because after that we face the Truth of what happens next. For this reason alone, I plead with you for just a few minutes of your time to hear me out. I trust that someone will, so here we go.
In this life, we have been sold a bill of goods. If you google search “what does it mean to be sold a bill of goods?” the first thing that popped up for me was this: “Deceive, swindle, take unfair advantage of.” What I mean by this is we have been sold in this life that Good vs. evil is an even fight. It is depicted as an epic battle where any side could win-a true back-and-forth titan of a war that could go either way. Many times, the evil side is depicted as getting the best of the good side with winning the fight in clear sight. And often, we like to think maybe the evil side is the “cool” side to root for. And worse yet, the side to align with or identify with. The one we hope pulls out the victory. The one we think is the most fun. After all, the goody two-shoes side is boring! Am I right?
I am here to boldly proclaim Good vs. evil is not even a fair fight. If you are on the evil side, you have been sold deception that you could win this battle. That you could end up on the winning end of eternity. But the Truth is the very Evil One that you are aligning with is lying to you. He is leading you to the slaughter. Satan can’t win. And here is the kicker…he knows it. Let me repeat that… Satan CANNOT win and HE KNOWS IT. Instead, He wants to sell you the bill of goods that evil and sin are fun, have power, and all the pleasures you can think of. He will even convince you that he has the power to give you all of your heart’s sinful desires. Sadly, for a season (this life) he just might give you that power, but this life pales in comparison to the eternity to follow. Newsflash: we all will die in this life and then next is eternity. As you head into eternity, all the power and glory given to you in this life will be pulled out from under you so that you can face eternity separated from God. Or quite bluntly, eternal death! Satan will be nowhere to be seen when you are dead in your sins and in a place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:49-50).
The last thing Satan wants you to do is consider God’s Word because there he is exposed. Satan’s future, and ultimately how weak he is, is written in the Scriptures for all to see. It is there in clear sight. The Bible is the best-selling book of ALL TIME and yet, Satan hopes that you never read it. The biggest reason he doesn’t want you to read it is because there is redemption for you and me through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. But he also doesn’t want you to read it because it shows that he, not only has nothing on God, but he must answer to God. He must do what he’s told and he knows his destiny. When he is up against God, he can’t even put up a fight! When God decides to act, He will pummel Satan into oblivion and all those he deceived who aligned with him will suffer the same fate. Don’t be deceived.
Enough of my rant. It is now time to let Scripture speak. Let us see how Satan and evil measure up against the ONE true, living God! Here it is for all to see and hear! I beg of you to let this truly sink in and ask yourself, who am I aligned with?
In Job 1: 6-12, Satan is brought before God and God asks him where he’s been. Satan states he has been walking the earth doing then what he still does today and that is seeking to devour us with his wickedness (1 Peter 5:8). God asks him about Job who is faithful and righteous in God’s sight. Satan can’t touch Job and admits that God is protecting Job. Satan goes as far as to say to God that if God took away the blessings he gave Job Job would curse God. Notice, that Satan didn’t say, “Hey God, if I take away Job’s blessings that you gave him, he would curse you.” No, instead, Satan knew he had no power to take anything away from Job. Satan has to get God’s permission even to test Job’s faith. Why? Because Satan has ZERO power over God. NONE! It’s almost as if Satan is whining to God about Job since he has no power in the situation at all because of God’s protection. So, God grants him permission to test Job but then tells Satan he cannot touch Job. Satan walks away from this meeting having the power ONLY to do what God allowed. It sounds like a fair Good vs evil fight to me right…what do you think? Not even close! How would you like to watch a good boxing match where one boxer would have to give permission to the other boxer before the other boxer was even allowed to throw a punch? Well, my friends, that is what you have in Job 1. (Shaking my head in awe of my God…this is not even a fair fight!)
Let’s not stop there, we’re only getting started. Let’s head to Matthew 8:28-33. Jesus comes upon two demon-possessed men. The demons, minions of Satan, know they are in trouble. Not only do they not have any power to do anything with Jesus, but they also know they must do WHATEVER he commands them to do. And here is the kicker here as well…they know what fate their future holds. For they say to Jesus in verse 29…and behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” What time do you think they are speaking of? How about the appointed time when God will wipe them out?! That’s the time they are speaking of and they know it. It gets better folks! The demons go on to BEG Jesus. Verse 31- And the demons BEGGED him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.” Jesus says, “Go.” And without any hesitation, they rush to enter the pigs. Why? Because they had to. They are no match for the King of kings and Lord of lords. They do what they’re told! At least your kids will put up a fight when you tell them to clean their room or do the dishes! These demons had to beg Jesus…um they had to “BEG” Jesus… and then had to scurry to do exactly what He told them to do. (Dare I ask if this Good vs. evil confrontation was a fair fight? Shaking my head in awe of my God…not even close!)
We move on to an epic Good vs evil fight in Matthew 4:1-11. This is Satan himself vs Jesus. Surely, this should be a fair fight, right? I mean Satan himself is going to do this battle. Well, let’s take a look. Let’s break this fight down. Let’s start with Jesus. He has fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. So, He is about as humanly weak as He can be. Surely, this has to be an easy victory for Satan as he comes along to tempt him to try and get Jesus to sin. Satan tries tempting him 3 times with the last one acting like he has the power to give the Son of God all the world’s glory if Jesus will fall down and worship him. Each time he is rejected with no power to do ANYTHING against the God who truly is! Instead, Satan had to walk away empty-handed. Once again, his power against our God could do NOTHING!
Notice in each example above, that Satan and his demons, didn’t even try to fight. It’s not like they put up a battle and lose. No, they did whatever they were told! Could you imagine a movie where you showed up in anticipation of seeing a great Good vs evil fight? You buy your popcorn, candy, and drink. You sit down in your theater seat and the ending credits to the movie start rolling at the beginning of the movie to let you know that the movie is over…that the fight you were anticipating is already over before it even was able to begin because one side couldn’t even touch the other side. Think of all the fastest knockouts in any combat sport. God holds the fastest victory of all time that will never be touched because He doesn’t even have to get in the ring folks!
So, what does all this mean for you and me? We have a decision to make. (Yes, I started with speaking to just those openly aligning with evil, but the truth is we all need to consider who we truly align with) Do we align ourselves with the God of the universe or the Evil One? I have just scratched the surface of Scripture to let it speak to who will win this fight. Well, if you even want to call it that now. Scripture is filled with God’s victory over Satan, sin, and death. But there are eternal rewards or eternal consequences for us depending on what side we decide to be on. And make no mistake, if you decide to still side with the Evil One, please understand what Scripture says about you, Satan, and his demons. Philippians 2:9-11 says about Jesus Christ, his Son, “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above EVERY name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and EVERY tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” This means if you reject God and choose Satan, YOU still will bow your knee and so will Satan and his demons. The question is will you bow just like Satan and his demons where your fate is sealed and you are now faced with an eternity where there will be weeping and the gnashing of teeth or will you bow in celebration of the God who saved you from your sin, death, and who now claims you as his for eternity? Make no mistake, boldly, I say that we will do one or the other. For me and my house, we will choose to serve the Lord my God! I so urge you to consider this. To those who reject God, consider this a warning with eternal consequences at stake. If anything, don’t take my word for any of this. Instead, go on a journey for yourself to seek the Truth and follow it where it genuinely leads you.
I want to wind this down with a few final thoughts. When it comes to believing in the God of the Bible, we are without excuse. Romans 1:18-32 states that God’s wrath will be poured out on the ungodly and unrighteous (those without Jesus Christ) “who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.” I encourage you to go on to read the whole Scripture passage. You and I know deep inside that God exists. Why do we know this? Because we were created by the same God that put in us a knowledge to know Him. Our rejection of God or lack of caring to know the Truth or our desire to live in our sin will not bail us out or give us an excuse when our lives are over and we stand before our Creator. God has told us we know He exists and are held accountable to him, just like Satan and the demons are.
Another thought I would like to share is this: Jesus, while on the cross, dying for the sins of the world, declared the work required to forgive us of our sins completed when he says in John 19:30…”It is finished.” You and I can now be reconciled to God through our faith in Jesus Christ. On this website under the Eternal Life page, I walk you through what it takes to be saved by Jesus Christ from your sin. I hope you will consider this if you have never done so.
My last thought before getting to a couple of final Scripture verses is this: With God’s help and God’s help alone, we can defeat Satan and his wicked schemes. James 4:7 states it quite simply, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Interestingly when we call out to our God, submitting to him, and resisting the devil…he MUST flee from us! Sounds like another heavily, lopsided fight when God is involved on our behalf! Praise God!
Two final Scripture passages to wrap up. Revelation 5:5 states…”weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Jesus Christ), the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” Revelation 12:10-12 says this: “And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come for the accuser (Satan) of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb (Jesus) and by the word of their testimony for they loved not their lives even unto death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”
The power of evil vs. the Lion of Judah? My friends don’t go buy any popcorn, candy, or a drink to sit down to watch because the ending credits are already rolling on the movie screen. It is finished. Sin and death have been defeated through Jesus Christ, our Lord. When God speaks, the wicked will do whatever they are told and when they are told to do it. And this speaks for us too, HIS creation. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. The question is… will you do it before eternal death comes upon you or in celebration of the Lord who saved you from it?!
“Seek Truth, Cling to Honesty, Strive for Integrity” Have Character.
J. Noah Russell
