Many sects of Christendom, along with many other religions, believe that there is a being or monster called the Devil or Satan who is the originator of the problems which are in the world and in our own lives, and who is responsible for the sin which we commit. The Bible clearly teaches that God is all-powerful. [And with respect to God’s angels, we are told: “Are not all [the] angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14).] If we truly believe these things, then it is impossible that there is any supernatural being at work in this universe that is opposed to Almighty God. If we believe that such a being does exist, then surely we are questioning the supremacy of God Almighty. This issue is so important that the correct understanding of the devil and satan must be considered a vital doctrine. We are told in Hebrews 2:14 that Jesus destroyed the devil by his death; therefore unless we have a correct understanding of the devil, we cannot understand the work or nature of Jesus.
In the world generally, especially in the so-called Christian world, there is the idea that the good things in life come from God and the bad things from the Devil or Satan. This is not a new idea; it is not even an idea only limited to apostate Christianity. The Babylonians, for example, believed there were two gods, a god of good and light, and a god of evil and darkness, and that those two were locked in mortal combat. Cyrus, the great King of Persia, believed just this. Therefore God told him, “I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me...I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil (N.I.V. “disaster”): I the Lord do all these things” (Isaiah 45:5-7,22). God creates peace and He creates evil, or disaster. God is the author, the creator of “evil” in this sense. In this sense there is a difference between “evil” and sin, which is man’s fault; it entered the world as a result of man, not God (Romans 5:12).
God tells Cyrus and the people of Babylon that “there is no (other) God beside me”. The Hebrew word ‘el’ translated “God” fundamentally means “strength, or source of power”. God is saying that there is no source of power in existence apart from Him. This is the reason why a true believer in God cannot accept the idea of a supernatural devil or demons.
To continue reading this Bible article, click here.
Author: Duncan Heaster
Keywords: Satan, Devil, Evil, Evil angels, Fallen angels, God and Evil
Bible reference(s): Job 1, Job 2, Hebrews 1:14, 1 Chronicles 21:1, 1 Corinthians 5:5, 1 Corinthians 7:5, 1 John 3:10, 1 John 3:8, 1 Peter 5:8, 1 Thessalonians 2:18, 1 Timothy 1:20, 1 Timothy 3:6, 1 Timothy 3:7, 1 Timothy 5:15, 2 Corinthians 11:14, 2 Corinthians 12:7, 2 Corinthians 2:11, 2 Thessalonians 2:9, 2 Timothy 2:26, Acts 10:38, Acts 13:10, Acts 26:18, Acts 5:3, Ephesians 4:27, Ephesians 6:11, Hebrews 2:14, James 4:7, John 13:2, John 13:27, John 8:44, Luke 11:18, Luke 13:16, Luke 22:3, Luke 22:31, Luke 4:13, Luke 4:2, Luke 4:3, Luke 4:5, Luke 8:12, Mark 1:13, Mark 3:23, Mark 3:26, Mark 4:15, Mark 8:33, Matthew 12:26, Matthew 13:39, Matthew 16:23, Matthew 25:41, Matthew 4:1, Matthew 4:10, Matthew 4:11, Matthew 4:5, Matthew 4:8, Revelation 12:12, Revelation 12:9, Revelation 20:10, Revelation 20:2, Revelation 20:7, Revelation 2:10, Revelation 2:13, Revelation 2:24, Revelation 2:9, Revelation 3:9, Romans 16:20, Zechariah 3:1-2
Source: Bible Basics.
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.