Satan and demons are not fictitious beings. Though we find many caricatures of them, they are real characters in life—in our lives.
The biblical authors don’t blush when mentioning them, nor do they belittle their power. The Bible speaks with authority and frankness about both Satan and demons.
Three Ways to Think About Satan and Demons
So how should we think about Satan and demons?
The wrong answer would be “not at all”—for that would leave us naïve and vulnerable to their schemes. Another wrong answer to that question would be “all the time.”[1] They are not the main characters in your life, or in the story of the Bible.
Instead of denying their existence or obsessing over them, the Bible implicitly teaches us to think about Satan and demons seriously, soberly, and seldom.
1. Think About Satan and Demons Seriously
First, we need to consider Satan and demons seriously. Satan is a real living, working actor in Scripture and in our world, with a host of evil agents in his train.
The Bible doesn’t care to introduce Satan to us in plain terms. He’s included in narratives but not given the spotlight. We hear of him at the very beginning of the Bible, complicit in the evil that plagues our world. Aside from that, there are two debated passages, one in Ezekiel 28 and the other in Isaiah 14, that seem to recount his own sin and fall from his position in heaven. We read about him in the book of Job and briefly in Zechariah. Most importantly, we hear about his final judgment in Revelation. The Scriptures unabashedly mention Satan and his work often, but they tell us very little about him in the grand scheme of the story.
Where the Scriptures are mum, we would do well to curb our curiosity. God has a reason for not giving us Satan’s full biography. Rather, we can accept in humility and faith what God has told us. “By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life” (2 Peter 1:3). God has promised that he has already given us all that we need to know in order to live a godly life, and this does not include all the details we might desire about Satan.
However, the biblical authors in both the Old and New Testaments speak about Satan and demons candidly. If we are to align our worldviews with what the Bible teaches, we must acknowledge them as true characters in the story of reality, true actors in our own lives.
Satan and demons are real. To be wise in our faith and warfare, we must seriously consider their activity in the world and in our lives. We must have a category for their presence and work, just like the Bible does.
2. Think About Satan and Demons Soberly
Second, we need to think about Satan soberly. People derive thrills from haunted houses filled with demonic characters, or horror movies where evil spirits wreak havoc on people. If we truly understood the nature of these beings—that their goal is only to steal, to kill, and to destroy—we would not be so easily entertained by them. Those who have genuinely encountered demonic activity are not entertained, but oppressed and tormented.
Jesus describes Satan as a “strong man” (Mark 3:27), and the stories of how he or one of his angels may overcome a person will chill you to the bone (Mark 5:3-5). Satan is powerful, more powerful than humans, and described as cunning (2 Corinthians 11:3). He’s liable to “outwit” us, the Scriptures say (2 Corinthians 2:11). Scripture even warns us against mocking Satan, saying that not even the archangel Michael does so (Jude 1:9).
Satan is not a four-inch angel on your shoulder. He’s the mastermind behind things like genocide, gang rape, suicide, and the like. As Jesus is the hero to which all our fairytales point, so Satan is the frightening beast in all our stories who we hope is destroyed in the end. He is the dragon, the serpent, the seducer, the accuser, the betrayer, the destroyer, the tyrant, the murderer, the liar. He ravages and pillages lives, and he seeks to destroy souls.
We do well to not just take his existence seriously but think of him soberly. When the Bible mentions him, pay attention. Where Scripture warns about him, take heed. Where God’s Word describes him, align your perspective with its portrait of him.
3. Think About Satan and Demons Seldom
Let’s take Satan and demons seriously and think about them with sober minds. But let’s not give them the honor of too much attention. We must think of them, but think of them seldom. For, as previously mentioned, the Bible doesn’t give them the spotlight.
There are at least two ways we may erroneously give them the spotlight.
Don’t Forget that Kind Jesus Reigns
First, in hyper-focusing on their pervasiveness, power, and plans, we might elevate them to a position that’s too high. Satan is not Jesus’ rival—not if we mean his equal.[2] Satan is a mere created angelic being. Hebrews 1:4 clarifies for us that Jesus is altogether higher than the angels, for he is God’s Son, who is uncreated, and has existed as a Person of the Godhead eternally. Demons are subject to the power and authority of King Jesus.
If we begin to diminish our estimation of Jesus’ power in light of our emphasis on Satan and demons, we’ve drifted from the truth. If the thought or study of Satan and demons leaves us regularly frightened, we’ve lost sight of King Jesus. He must fill our vision. When Jesus does fill our vision, the fear of his enemies will drain out of our hearts.
Don’t Forget that Human Beings Do Evil Too
Second, we may overthink satanic activity in a way that diminishes our estimation of our own participation in evil, and of the wickedness of the human heart. Demons are not the only cause of evil—we cannot blame them for our sin saying, “the devil made me do it.” The Bible describes the human heart as “deceitful above all things and desperately sick” (Jeremiah 17:9 ESV) and says that “the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Genesis 8:21 ESV). Frighteningly, the wickedness that pervades our world flows not primarily from the fangs of demons, but from the wellsprings of the human heart.
When we over-attend to the powers of darkness, we risk undermining the authority of our Lord and shifting blame from humanity to demons. Surely they are at play in our sin and in all the darkest corners of society. But God holds us responsible for our sin.
If you are encountering demonic activity or this topic is by necessity prominent in your life right now, ask God for the wisdom to keep the thoughts of Satan and demons bound and limited by the confines of his Word and to keep them from running rogue in ways that would distort a proper estimation of them.
Don’t Fear Satan and His Demons
Satan and demons are real and active in our world and in your life. Take them seriously. Satan and demons are powerful forces of evil scheming severe destruction in individuals, communities, and nations. Consider them with sober mind. But Satan and demons are created beings destined for destruction when King Jesus returns, and they are not the only ones responsible for the evil we see. Don’t let them take center stage in your thoughts or life. Focus on their Judge, the Lord Jesus.
For in the same chapter where we are introduced to Satan, we hear also of his final judgment in a prophetic word. The prophecy comes as part of God’s curse on Satan for the way he rebelled against God and deceived humanity. God says to Satan, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (Genesis 3:15 NIV). When Jesus, the offspring of the woman born to rescue humanity, died a sacrificial death on a cross, Satan “struck his heel.”
Yet, Jesus rose again from the dead, for death had no power over him (Acts 2:24). He secured victory over sin and death and all the powers of darkness; he won the decisive victory over Satan. When Jesus returns to rescue all who belong to his kingdom and judge the world, Satan’s head will be crushed. This is God’s promise for his children in the meantime: “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (Romans 16:20 NIV).
If you do not belong to Jesus, we plead with you to seek him now and ask him for the salvation he freely gives, that you might be transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light (Colossians 1:13-14). If you do belong to Jesus, fear not the powers of darkness. Take them seriously, and be sober minded and watchful, but remember that your God reigns.
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[1] “There are two equal and opposite extremes into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.” (The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis, p. 9).
[2] “For still our ancient foe
does seek to work us woe;
his craft and power are great,
and armed with cruel hate,
on earth is not his equal.”
(Martin Luther, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God)