Satan in the Bible is every Christian’s spiritual enemy. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Ephesians 6.12 KJV
Today it can be easy to relegate Satan and demons to the category of myth and fantasy, but that would be a mistake. Jesus believed in a real, spiritual devil who tempted him to sin, but without success.
What does the devil look like?
Forget Hollywood’s depictions of a devil that are designed to sell tickets and to scare us. Christians have nothing to fear from Satan IF we remember that “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” 1 John 4.4 KJV
In fact, If you’ll read that section in First John you’ll see that Satan’s work involves anything that tries to take us away from faith in Christ. That can include actively choosing to follow Satan, or to simply stop following Christ. Most Christians find it easy enough to avoid the first, but how easy it is to fail on the second! One preacher pointed out that the devil doesn’t have to tempt us at church. He gets much better results in our bathrooms beforehand while stressed families are getting ready for church!
James said that if we Christians resist the Devil, he will flee from us (James 4.7). If you’re a Christian who for some reason doesn’t believe there is a devil, or if you ignore him completely, then you’ve given him his victory in your life already. You can’t resist something that you don’t believe even exists. “Without faith, it’s impossible to please him”. That includes faith in God, AND in his word. Satan in the Bible is a real, living, SPIRITUAL force for evil. Christ in you is GREATER than Satan. If you’re struggling with that idea while reading this, then you’re experiencing exactly that spiritual conflict right now. Take authority and resist him. He MUST flee from you if you do.