Satan’s Achilles’s heel: hubris. Satan contends with the Son of God, is overpowered, and is ultimately defeated at the cross (Col 2:15). It’s a classic bait-and-switch. Because of his pride, Satan never sees it coming. He lacks omniscience. Pride is his most highlighted characteristic. Satan is smart, but he’s stupid and a loser. While the storyline of Scripture is silent on the precise time of Satan’s personal rebellion and from where his motivation stems, it is quite clear on his nature—he was blinded by pride.
After working through the proper exegetical and
biblical-theological motions, we now have a sturdier foundation upon which to
establish a few implications that help us to discern the person and activity of
Satan:
1.
Satan is not omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent,
nor eternal.
There was a time when Satan was not. In contrast,
there was never a ‘time’ when the Son of God was not, i.e. the Son is eternal.
Satan is created and contingent just as humans are (Col 1:16-17). In Job 1:6,
the Lord asked Satan, “Where have you come from?” to which he responded, “From
roaming through the earth.” He is physically positioned in the universe. He is
not omnipresent and, thus, is unlikely to be personally tempting individual
Christians. In Matthew 4 and Job 1-2, he fails to know the future and his
potency is shown to be limited by God.
2.
Satan exercises his otherworldly dominion by
way of a hierarchical, geographical, and militaristic strategy.
In Matthew 4, Satan legitimately offers Jesus the
kingdoms of the world. These kingdoms seem to have a geographical and
governmental nature. This offer is textually grounded in Deuteronomy 32 and
Psalm 82. But through the cross, Jesus took back the authority forfeited in
Adam (Col 2:14-15). Therefore, in Matthew 28:18, Jesus states that all
authority has been given to Him. In John 12:31 we’re told Satan is the “ruler
of this world,” which rings of realm and region. Then, there is that peculiar
reference to the “prince of the kingdom of Persia” in Daniel 10:13, 20. This
dark prince opposes the angel Gabriel and the angelic prince Michael. It’s
hierarchical. Experientially, this rings true. The nature of spiritual warfare
varies depending on the continent and culture (North America, Asia, Africa,
etc.). Satan leads a hierarchy of demons (Mt 12:24), a divergent and highly
capable army, which implies he is leading an otherworldly ‘outfit’ that
personally tempts persons (Col 2:15, 1 Pt 5:8-9) depending on the sinful
sensibilities of a given culture.
3.
Satan can manipulate matter, weather systems,
and bacterial life.
We see in Job 1 that Satan is able to manipulate
matter and weather patterns and, in Job 2:8, he infects Job with a skin
disease. His purpose is to afflict Job, and for our machinations, we note he is
capable of feats not afforded to humans.
4.
Satan can influence and sway legal proceedings
and governmental structures.
In Revelation
2:10, Jesus states that Satan is in the process of influencing Smyrna’s legal
proceedings by throwing a collection of Christians into prison. Likewise, in
Job 1:17, he manipulates the Chaldeans, encouraging them to steal Job’s
livestock. Though we are not told how he exerts his influence, we surmise he is
the agent of these activities.
5.
Satan aggressively seeks to trap
individual
Christians.
1 Timothy 3:7
says he seeks to trap elders. He is spoken of as a federal head type of figure.
His minions study individuals and then seek to tempt and twist them in
accordance with particularized patterns of sin. They cater and concoct a
seemingly irresistible elixir of poison just for you. Television, social media,
fast food, biology, age, and gender are all thrown into the recipe.
6.
Satan is more skilled at deception than any
other created being.
John 8:44 says
his nature is to lie. If his mouth is moving, he is lying. He is the original
liar and, therefore, the father of lies. Every lie was and is birthed in him.
However, deception is all he has in his arsenal against Christians. As
Colossians 2:15 teaches, this side of Calvary, Satan can accuse, but he
knows—and his rebel realm know—that he has been reduced to utter fragility at
the cross.
7.
Satan is able to kill Christians.
He is able to
kill you physically (Job 1-2), but not eternally (Rom 8). In Job 2, when Satan
goes a second time to the LORD in the divine courtroom, he asks permission to
kill Job, but God denies his request. I take that to mean Satan could have
killed him, but God would not allow it. Everything Satan does comes crashing
down on his own head, eventually crushing his skull (Gn 3:15) unto the glory of
the Son of God and for the Christian’s good.
8.
Satan is the Lord’s lackey for the Christian’s
holiness.
In 2
Corinthians 12:7, Paul says his thorn is “a messenger of Satan,” and yet the
Lord kindly uses the thorn (against Paul’s will!) to produce sanctification and
spiritual power in Paul’s ministry. How kind of the Lord to give Paul his
thorn! Satan plays the pawn in God’s economy, and the thorn stays against
Paul’s will. Thus, Satan is ever-regulated by Romans 8 and, therefore, is
providentially powerless to wound Christians in any resurrected or eternal
sense. Neither Satan nor death, neither “angels nor rulers … nor powers … will
be able to separate us from the love of God” (Rm 8:38).
9.
Satan will be thrown into hell in the end.
Satan can and
surely has read Matthew 25:41, which states he will ultimately be thrown into
hell. That is what I mean by “Satan is so smart, he’s stupid.” This is his end,
yet he rages against all “born of God” (1 Jn 3:9). He lies. He accuses the
brethren (Rv 12:10). But he cannot succeed in bringing a guilty sentence upon
the Christian anymore (Col 2:14).
10. Satan is resistible.
James 4:7 says, “Resist the devil, and he will flee
from you.” He will flee from you, Christian. Resist him. If Christians resist
temptation, hold firm the promise of resurrection, and do not give in, do not
accept the enemy’s lies, and do not give into his accusations—Satan will
eventually depart. He is limited. He is finite. He will eventually move on to
easier prey.
CONCLUSION
My aim in this essay was to use the person of Satan as
a test case. Rarely do scholars pull down the walls of their respective domains
to set exegesis, biblical theology, and dogmatics in motion in a singular
treatment. In the final analysis, we are not told precisely how or why Satan
does certain things, but when we analyze the pertinent texts and take into
account all of the data, we see what he does and what he is capable of. The Christian,
then, is broken over the plight of the unregenerate, properly sobered, and
bolstered that Jesus so decisively routed Satan at Calvary.
--- Sam Bierig
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