God’s Sovereignty Over Satan and It’s Significance

 

             When it comes to the conflict between God and Satan, we often think of it as a battle between two equals. But such is not the case at all. It is not a fair fight. God always has the upper hand and wins in the end. In fact, He has already defeated the devil with Christ’s death on the cross and resurrection. The head of the serpent has been crushed we could say and the rest of him will be stomped when Christ returns. It is important for us to understand that while Satan indeed is our cunning and dangerous enemy who “prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8), he is limited in what he can do.

            He is limited first by being a creature. Satan is not like God. He is not omnipotent or all powerful as God is. He is not omniscient, knowing everything like God does. He learns from careful study and observation of us. Not from reading our inner thoughts. Remember he is a fallen angel. So, he would not know anything more than any other angel or created being for that matter. And he is not omnipresent as God; being everywhere at once. We know this to be the case because when he shows up to the meeting of the angels that took place in Job 1, the devil responds to God’s question of where did he come from or basically, what had he been up to, with “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it” (v. 7). He had to “roam” and “walk” about on the earth, indicating that he is not every place at the same time. He has to travel to different places much as we do. Probably none of us have had the devil himself torment us or tempt us. More likely, it has been one or more of his demons who “roam” and “walk” about on the earth as well.

            Satan is also limited by God’s sovereignty or reign over him. One thing else we notice in Job’s account is that the devil is not able to do anything without God allowing him to. When Satan challenges Job’s faithfulness, claiming that it is only on account of the many blessings the Lord has bestowed upon the man that he serves Him, we see God grant the devil permission to affect all his possessions. But He sets a boundary that the devil cannot cross in doing so. That boundary is touching Job himself. He tells him, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand, only do not send forth your hand towards him” (Job 1:12). God certainly had the power to stop Satan from messing with Job’s stuff, servants, and children. He has stopped other evil actions from taking place (Genesis 20:6; 31:7). If God didn’t have the power to stop the devil in anything he does, He wouldn’t be God and Satan would be more powerful than Him which clearly is not the case as seen by Satan’s continual failures to thwart or stop God’s plans. So, it must be said that everything Satan does, God has had to permit him to do so. Then, after Satan literally wrecks all of Job’s possessions and the man still does not sin or give offense to God (v. 22), he challenges God to afflict Job with physical pain, thinking that will cause him to turn against the Lord (2:4-5). Once again, God has to grant the devil permission to attack Job’s health. And, even then, God sets a boundary for the devil that he cannot kill him (v. 6). Likewise, Jesus says to Peter in Luke 22:31, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat.” Notice that Satan had to DEMAND to do this to the disciples. He couldn’t just outright carry it out. God remains in complete control over all things, including the devil and his dastardly deeds. He is subject to God’s sovereign rule as is the rest of creation, though it is unwillingly for him of course.

            This is why Martin Luther referred to Satan as being “God’s devil.” God has him basically on a leash, only allowing him to go so far. This doesn’t mean that the devil isn’t dangerous then. A dog on a leash still can bite and do great harm. Nor does it indicate that God approves of everything the devil does and condones his wickedness. As Habakkuk 1:13 says, speaking of God, “Your eyes are too pure to see evil, and You cannot look on trouble.” James also makes this clear, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone” (James 1:13). However, God does delight to take the evil Satan intends to do and turn it around to bring about the greater good of His purpose. Joni Eareckson Tada points out, “God permits what he hates to achieve what he loves.” We find countless examples of this throughout Scripture. For instance, God’s allowance of Joseph’s brothers to carry out the wicked jealousy of their hearts against him to bring Joseph to a place where he would in essence save his family so that they would be preserved through the famine for the promised seed of the Messiah to still come through them. Joseph even acknowledged such looking back when he told his brothers, “you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to do what has happened on this day, to keep many people alive” (Genesis 50:20). We also have Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” he writes about in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. Whatever this was, he describes it as being “a messenger of Satan to torment me-to keep me from exalting myself!” (v. 7). Now, here’s the interesting thing. Does Satan want to keep us from exalting ourselves? Of course not! He’s the pinnacle of pride. It’s the very reason he was kicked out of heaven in the first place and arguably his chief characteristic (1 Timothy 3:6). Paul recognized that while Satan was behind this “thorn in the flesh”, God had allowed it in His sovereignty for a different purpose than Satan himself had. God desired to keep Paul humble as it could be so easy for him to become prideful on account of this vision he had of heaven that he just described earlier in the chapter. And the greatest example of this of all would have to be God’s allowance of Satan to enter in Judas Iscariot’s heart to influence him to betray Jesus for Him to go to the cross and save His people (Luke 22:3-4). Surely the greatest good (salvation) being brought about as a result of the greatest evil ever committed (the murder of God’s own dear beloved Son).

What a comfort it is for us to know that God holds the reins over what the devil does and seeks to turn upside down what he intends for evil against us to bring good out of it. As Randy Alcorn has said, “If God can use for good ‘a messenger of Satan,’ then surely he can use for good a car accident or your employer’s unreasonable expectations.” I honestly don’t know how we could ever bear the evils taking place all around us and what we specifically may face without such a truth. If the all wise good and loving God isn’t sovereign over the devil and evil, I would fear any alternative. But, thankfully, we can rest assured that He remains on His throne and is not taken surprise by anything the devil does and is not powerless to stop it or redirect it. And how great is it that He can turn what is meant for evil into good and even permit it to occur in order to be used for His much greater better purposes? Only our God can do that. Which is another reason why He alone deserves our praise and worship. This truth should bring us to our knees in humility and trust of Him, especially when dealing with the devil and his evil in this world.

Love in Christ,

Pastor Lee

Commonly Misunderstood and Misapplied Verses: Matthew 25:31-46 A Litmus Test for Salvation?

  

          For a little bit now, we have been looking at several commonly misunderstood and misapplied verses or passages in the Bible to seek to understand what they actually mean so that we don’t fall prey to those misunderstandings and misapplications ourselves (or continue to hold to any of them if we already have). It is my hope that such has been a benefit to you. Before we turn the page from this series of articles (and there are so many others we could continue with!), I want to look at one more that seems to be making the rounds a lot today. I’ve been especially hearing it in political debates over certain policies. The passage is Matthew 25:31-46 regarding the final judgment where Jesus speaks of Himself separating the nations into two groups at His return. He compares this to a shepherd separating the sheep from the goats and putting one group on one side of Him with the other on the opposite (v. 32). The ones in the position of the sheep are invited to come into God’s kingdom that they have inherited and which has been prepared for them (v. 34). Those in the place of the goats on the other hand will be told to depart from Jesus to go into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (v. 41). These represents believer who will enter into eternal life and unbelievers who will undergo eternal punishment (v. 46). And Jesus points out that the major characteristic of those on the right who are welcomed into the kingdom are that they fed, gave drink, housed, clothed, and visited Him when sick and in prison (vv. 35-36). When they question when they had done that, He points out that it was whenever they had done it to the least of His brothers that they had done it to Him (v. 40). On the other hand, the ones on the other side are characterized has not having done the same to Jesus because they did not do such to the “least of these” (vv. 42-45).

            Often, this passage is taken to be speaking of the need to care for the poor. Or, it is argued that this teaches that the treatment of the poor is what matters most to Jesus, above and beyond any other concerns. I even heard a politician recently say that this treatment of the poor is what we will be judged and saved by! Is that what this passage actually says? Not when we look at the details of it in light of what the rest of Scripture teaches.

 

The first thing we need to understand here is that this passage is NOT speaking about the poor, needy, and suffering GENERALLY of the world but of other Christians in PARTICULAR. Jesus is clear in the passage that He specifically refers to "these brothers of Mine" (v. 40). Who would Jesus' brothers be? Earlier in chapter 12 where His biological brothers and mother are reported as wanting to see Him, He points out that it is His disciples who are such. "But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, "Who is My mother and who are My brothers?' And stretching out His hand towards His disciples, He said, 'Behold My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother" (Matthew 12:48-50). The same is the case in Matthew 23:8 and 28:10. Also, when Jesus talks about "the least of these" in other contexts, He usually refers to His disciples. We see this in Matthew 18:6, 10. The ones which He speaks of that the sheep fed, gave drink, housed, clothed, and visited are persecuted believers who are in great need and suffer on account of that persecution. Some of which will be put in prison on account of their faith.

 

There are two points Jesus is making in this parable: One is that Jesus is so connected with His people that however you treat them can be said to be how you treat Him. That’s seen in Him equating Himself with His needy followers that whatever was done or not done to them is the same as if it were done or not done to Him. This has something to say to those who think that they can have Jesus while having nothing to do with His church. He so much identifies with the church that to neglect the church is in essence to neglect Him. At least, that’s the way He takes it. We notice this as well when He appeared to Saul also known as Paul on the way to Damascus. He didn’t ask him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting My church?” or “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting My followers, disciples, or people?” No. Instead, it was, “Saul, Saul, why are You persecuting Me” (Acts 9:4, emphasis mine). According to Jesus, to persecute Christians who belong to His church is to persecute Him. So, however you treat believers is also how you treat Jesus.

 

The second point made in this parable is how you treat God's people reveals whether you have saving faith or not because true faith will result in a love and affection towards Christ's followers leading you to care for and serve them. Jesus can’t be indicating that doing such makes you saved or earns you salvation because the Bible is clear that our salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone and not by any works whatsoever we have done or could ever do (Ephesians 2:8-9). To turn the treatment of believers into factoring into the basis of our salvation, even in the slightest, would be to contradict everything else Scripture says about our salvation. This evaluation by our Lord of the two groups the nations can be divided into is not to DETERMINE who is a sheep or goat but to DEMONSTRATE the identity of each. It is best to see the treatment of those in Christ's family as being FRUIT or evidence of one who has been saved by God's grace alone through their faith alone rather than the ROOT or cause of such. A true believer will demonstrate their faith by caring for other believers and seeking to minister to them when they are in need. The unbeliever without faith would not have such concern because they wouldn't view them as their own family.

 

Now, does this mean that we should not be concerned for the poor, needy, and suffering of this world or neglect to do good to them? Absolutely not! Just that this passage is not speaking of such here and should not be used to guilt people into supporting or not supporting a particular political position. The question for us from this passage is not "Are we tangibly caring for the poor and suffering of the world?" but "What is our relationship to the church, God's people, and what does that say about our faith?" We can talk about the importance and need to help the poor from another passage that actually deals with such. But this passage is not that and therefore shouldn’t be treated as if it does.

 

Love in Christ,

Pastor Lee

Commonly Misunderstood and Misapplied Passages: The True Giant-Slayer in 1 Samuel 17

It’s a story just about all of us are familiar with. Many of us have heard it since we were little in Sunday School. We can think back to the Bible storybooks read to us early on and seeing the pictures of the small shepherd boy with the sling and stone in his hand standing in front of the towering giant of a man. It quickly became my son John’s personal favorite Bible account. And no matter how old we are now, it continues to capture our attention whenever we hear or read it again. Of course, I’m talking about the beloved, wonderful, and unforgettable narrative of David and Goliath found in 1 Samuel 17. How many sermons have we heard or books read that encourage us to be like David and defeat the giants in our lives with just a small stone of faith? Or to discover the champion in you to slay the giants of worry, fear, doubt, bitterness, ingratitude, and a host of other things? Some have even gotten creative to take the five stones and connect them to five ways you can go about killing such “giants” you may face. I admit that’ll preach. It has! The only problem is, it is not the point of the passage at all. And to apply it in such a way actually winds up missing it’s much greater point with the far better application it holds for us. So, what’s the story of David and Goliath really all about?

First, we have to realize that this is not a showdown between the man David and the giant Goliath. Oh, it’s much more than that! Goliath curses David “by his gods” in v. 43 and David acknowledges that he comes in the Lord’s name and not his own (v. 45). He states it will be God who delivers the giant into his hands so that all will know that He is God who does not save by sword or spear and that the battle is His instead (vv. 46-47). The author of the account even appears to go out of his way to emphasize Goliath’s mocking or derision of God’s people which is a mocking or derision of God Himself who the people belong and the defender of them (vv. 10, 25, 26 (2x), 36, 45). So, this actually is between the one true God Yahweh and the false gods of the Philistines. Like was seen in the Exodus with God defeating the so-called gods of the Egyptians with the plagues He brought upon them (Exodus 7-12; 12:12 in particular), His making the statue of the Philistine god, Dagon, in their own temple fall down to “eat the dust” as the serpent (1 Samuel 5:3-4; Genesis 3:14) and later with Elijah on Mt. Carmel with the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:20-40). In every single one of these cases, God shows Himself supreme and utterly defeats the gods which do not exist. This is not the defeat of and victory over Goliath by a small shepherd boy as it is the defeat of and victory of the false gods of the Philistines by Yahweh God Himself. He just used the weakness of David to show His mighty strength as He loves to do (1 Corinthians 2:27-29; 2 Corinthians 12:9).

            The real battle here actually goes back much farther than David and Goliath and points into the future of something much greater to take place. To truly understand what’s going on, we have to go all the way back to the book of Genesis. To Genesis 3:15 to be exact. What is known as the first proclamation of the gospel. When God is delivering His declaration of judgment upon the serpent for the role he played in leading Adam and Eve to sin, He said, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.” Basically, there will be war between the serpent and the woman from this point on that will continue throughout the generations to come. That is until one specific descendant of the woman will defeat the serpent (bruise him on the head) even though the serpent will temporarily wound him (bruise him on the heel). Precisely what will take place with Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. Satan will wound him in the role he plays with His death but it proves not to be fatal as seen in His resurrection. And, through such, He defeats the devil. All of the Bible can be said to be the unfolding of this prophecy. If it helps, you can think of this as the thesis statement of the Bible. When I was in college and seminary, my professors required me to have a thesis statement in every paper I wrote. A short summary in one or two sentences that stated what I intended to argue in the paper. (As you can imagine, I always struggled with these. I’ve never been good at being concise as my sermons and newsletter articles often attest to!) This means that the story of David and Goliath must be read in light of this promise. We must ask ourselves then how this connects to the storyline of the ongoing war between the seed of the woman and the seed of Satan pointing forward to that one Seed who will ultimately defeat him.

 

            You see, David not only was chosen by God to be anointed king but also to continue the line of THE anointed king, the Messiah, and establish His royal linage (2 Samuel 7:12-16). And there are several parallels to note between the two kings that God in His providence must have orchestrated so that David and his activity serve as a type or shadow of who Jesus would be and what He would do to redeem us from our sin. This was to help the people recognize Him when He came. For instance, both are shepherd-kings born in Bethlehem who can be said to be a “man after God’s own heart”. Jesus says in John 10 that He is the good shepherd and earlier that the Father has given those who belong to His flock to Him. Both are unimpressive by the world’s standards. David was viewed as the least likely to be king among his brothers. So much so his own father did not call him in from the field for consideration when Samuel came to anoint one of them king (1 Samuel 16:11). His brothers and King Saul never expected him to come out on top facing this giant (17:28, 33). Isaiah 53:2 tells us of Jesus, “He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should desire Him.” Nathaniel at first couldn’t believe that anything good could ever come from Nazareth where Jesus was raised (John 1:46). They both possess a zeal for God and concern for His glory. That is what led David to step up to accept Goliath's challenge in the first place (1 Samuel 17:26, 36). Certainly, that is true of Jesus as the disciples recognized after witnessing Him overturn the tables in the temple (John 2:17). They both endured contempt by their brothers. Jesus’ own brothers at first did not believe in Him and thought Him to be crazy (John 7:5). None of David’s brothers thought him serious to take on Goliath. David and Jesus were filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit (1 Samuel 16; Isaiah 62; Luke 4) and both are said to “come in the name of the LORD” (1 Samuel 1:45; Psalm 118:26; Matthew 21:9).

 

            And Goliath doesn’t resemble our pride, lust, fear, failure, or any of the things he often is connected to but that sinister snake who first appeared back in the garden of Eden. Like him, the giant is the enemy of God and His people. He pridefully mocks and derides God. (Again, a major emphasis in this account.) And, perhaps even more striking, is the fact that we are told that Goliath’s armor in Hebrew is actually described as being “scale-armor.” What animal has scaly skin? A snake, right? And of all the places that stone could have hit on that mammoth of a man, God has it go smackdab in the middle of his forehead. Certainly no coincidence! Remember that prophecy in Genesis 3:15? Where was it the Seed of the woman is said to bruise or crush of the serpent? His head. Jesus later defeats the devil not with five smooth stones but two planks of wood and three nails. And just as David used Goliath’s own weapon to finish him, it could be said that Jesus used Satan’s own weapon of death to defeat him. This is a picture of the gospel in miniature. A coming preview if you will of the greater work David’s greater Son would do against the devil himself.

 

            Here’s the true application for us today from this story. Jesus has already defeated the giant who opposes and mocks Him and His people. We can be confident that we share in that victory if we belong to Him through faith like the Israelites shared in David’s victory as their champion. You see, what we need is not to be strong and brave like David but to have Jesus as our champion. Don’t try to fight the giant yourself! He is too big and too strong. You don’t stand a chance against him! Rather, we must trust in the One who has already defeated him. Who knocked him down with His death and resurrection and will come to finish the job chopping his head off so to speak when He returns.

 

Love in Christ,

Pastor Lee