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Good Friday morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
My wife and I live in Florida, and home construction is a major part of life and the economy of this State. We’ve noticed the first step in home construction is when the bulldozer comes and clears the land of bushes, trees, and anything that might get in the way of constructing a new home. Then they dig deeply into the sand to pour a solid foundation, upon which they will lay heavy cement block walls, and finally a very heavy roof. While the house is built on sand, the solid foundation, the strong walls and the roof will provide safety and protection for the those who will live in these homes, from strong summer thunderstorms and even possible Florida hurricanes.
Today, I’m inviting us to look at our lives and how we have constructed the “personal house” in which we live our lives. The other day we discussed the truth that as God designed humanity, He has given to each of us a physical body, and internal soul and spirit. Today, let’s consider that the ‘personal house’ we have each built is comprised of our world view, our values, our morals, our guiding life principles. It is the truth system which guides our thinking and our decisions. It’s our beliefs which protect us in times of danger.
So, how strong is the ‘personal house’ in which you live when you turn on the TV and in pours media distortions or lustful advertisements or violent entertainment? How strong is your ‘personal house’ when you are confronted with the violent storms of injustice or dishonesty, or vulgarity or violence, or hatred or persecution?
Let’s open our Bibles to John chapter 8 again today, and listen in as Jesus and some religious leaders are engaged in a very strong conversation. Jesus said: “You belong to your father the devil and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44) Let’s dig deeply and pour a rock solid foundation for life here. The “father” Jesus is speaking of is the devil, Satan himself. There is no biological link between Satan and any human being, so here Jesus is using the word “father” in the sense of influence, authority, leadership.
Let’s add 1 John 3:8 and 1 John 5:19 for a fuller understanding of the point that Jesus is making. “He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.” “We know…that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.”
Ok my friends, so what is Jesus warning us about here? Do you see the devil, Satan, has been an evil power in our world from what Jesus calls ‘the beginning’. Every human being since the days of Adam and Eve, in every place in our world, has found themselves trying to find their way, trying to live life in the darkness of an evil saturated world. Has that been your experience? No segment of any society is exempt. Everywhere we look we see the residue, the decaying evidence of evil.
So as you and I build what I am calling our ‘personal house’ of our values, our beliefs, our life principles, our world view… those things that provide the framework for how we live life, we have a choice: we can either assimilate the world systems into our lives or we can build a ‘personal house’ that rejects the evil, wickedness, the wrong of our world, and Jesus will help us build that God honoring house. If we do the latter, then we are like a lighthouse standing firm in the storms of life and projecting a beacon of hope and strength and maybe even survival help to those who are overwhelmed or are at least vulnerable in the storms, because they have not built a strong, safe, fortress.
Jesus was taking on the religious leaders in this confrontation, because their job, their role in society, was to help people build strong ‘personal houses’ for their lives so they could be lighthouses rather than clap-board shanties in the storms. But these religious leaders were distorting God’s truth, denying Jesus and His truthful message, imposing legalistic requirement and rituals on the people, and actually diverting people away from God and His help rather than drawing the people to God. That’s why Jesus was so strong in His accusations.
Jesus defined Satan well. Do you see the words? “Liar and father of lies”; “evil one”; devil”; murderer”. Why would Jesus say such things about Satan? Because it’s true! Satan or Lucifer, is an angel, created by God, when He created all the other angels, before Genesis 1. God created them holy and good. In eternity past, the angels and God were evidently all that existed. And somewhere along that eternal past history, Lucifer began to become jealous of God, desiring the adoration, the praise that God was receiving from the angels.
Most Bible scholars believe these words in Ezekiel 28 are God’s description of that season in ancient history: “You were anointed as a guardian cherub angel, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mountain of God, you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you…” (Ezekiel 28:12-17)
The words “fiery stones” perhaps describe other angels. The words “widespread trade” perhaps describe Lucifer’s widespread influence among the other angels. “guardian cherub” is a rank, perhaps the highest rank of all the angels. Gabriel and Michael, the other two angels named in the Bible, may be of the same rank. We know Gabriel told Zechariah “I stand in the presence of God and have been sent to speak to you…” (Luke 1:19)
The words “the day you were created” indicates a specific moment in eternal history when God chose to create angels. “You were blameless” indicates God created the angels holy and good. “The holy mountain of God” refers to the holy place where God was with all the angels He created. Perhaps that is what we today call ‘heaven’. “Till wickedness was found in you” suggests there was a moment in time when in this holy angel Lucifer, something unholy began to take root, and it grew to wickedness and sin. God took action and expelled Lucifer out of heaven. And rather than destroying him, God allowed him to continue to exist and Lucifer, Satan, became the enemy of God, determined to do anything he could to oppose God.
Revelation is the final book in the Bible, and was also written by the disciple John as he received a vision from God, mostly describing the future of our world and God’s future judgment of sin. It is written in language that uses many word pictures to describe real events both past and future. Most Bible scholars believe Revelation 12 describes a series of events that link this great historic moment in which God expelled Satan from heaven, with the moment Satan took with him many other angels, and the moment Jesus was born on earth, and Satan stood by determined to destroy Him so He could not accomplish His Redemption mission, which would provide salvation for humanity. You’ll want to read the whole chapter my friends.
May I just give you a glimpse here… Satan is described as ‘…an enormous red dragon… His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to earth.” That 1/3 of the stars, symbolizes 1/3 of all the angels God had created, who evidently chose to follow Satan in his rebellion and were thrust out of heaven with Satan. They came here to earth, invisible, yet in the New Testament when Jesus encountered some of them, they are referred to as ‘demons’ or ‘evil spirits’.
“The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. She gave birth to a son…who will rule all the nations…” That of course is a description of the birth of Jesus, and Satan’s determination to kill Jesus. No room in the inn, thus forcing Mary to give birth in a filthy animal stable was one way Satan tried to kill Jesus. King Herod’s slaughter of the baby boys was another way Satan tried to kill infant Jesus.
“And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down – that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.” (Rev. 12:7-9) Wow, now that is quite a graphic description of the battle which raged in heaven and Satan’s eventual expulsion, isn’t it?
Perhaps you ask, ‘why would God not simply destroy Satan and any angels who followed him, at this moment. Why allow Satan to continue to exist’?
That my friends is a fundamental question, for by allowing Satan to exist in all his evil, God knew that when He created human beings and gave to us a soul and spirit, and a mind to think, heart to feel, and will to choose, Satan would bring his deception and lies and try to turn human beings against God by tempting us to doubt God’s love and God’s truth. Satan would tempt us to selfishness and pride and the pursuit of pleasure regardless of how it may affect another person. Satan would tempt us to turn away from God and seek to build our lives independent from God. Look around your world my friends, is that what you see?
John recorded these powerful words of Jesus so we could have a much better understanding of the daily struggle we face in this evil influenced world. But my friends, let me close today with these powerful words which you’ll see if you keep reading in Revelation 12, John writes: “Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: ‘Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ (Messiah). For the accuser (Satan) of our brothers (fellow Christians), who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb (Jesus) and by the word of their testimony…” (Rev. 12:10,11)
Because of what Jesus Christ accomplished in His atonement death on the cross and His victorious resurrection from the dead, and His victorious ascension return to His reign in heaven, John was able to see a future picture of our day, today, my friends. Do you see it?
“Salvation” from our sin condemnation is available to us because of Jesus. “Power” to live free from Satan’s dominion and evil is ours, because of Jesus! “The kingdom of God” is available to us because of Jesus! And all this is possible because of “The authority of God’s Christ” as He sits enthroned at the right hand of the Father in heaven (Hebrews 1:3).
Satan is the “accuser of the brothers”. Satan delights in accusing you and me when we stumble and sin. But in that moment Jesus stands as our mediator, our advocate and proclaims that His shed blood has paid the full price so Almighty God can forgive us of our sin! Oh please see that my friends in 1 Timothy 2:5,6 and Romans 8:31-34!!
And finally do you see we, you and me, can be victorious, we can overcome Satan and his demons and his efforts to defeat us and draw us into his evil... we can overcome the devil by the name of Jesus our Savior, the power of Jesus and His blood shed for our deliverance, and also the power of our testimony, our story of Jesus our Savior and Lord, working in our lives as we walk with Him. Oh please my friends I hope you grasp the incredible, wonderful, powerful truths we have discussed today, and I urge you to spend some time talking with Jesus about all this.
Oh Lord Jesus thank You, thank You for the wonderful reality of Your rescue of us from Satan’s grasp, and Your helping us build a ‘personal house’ which can stand like a lighthouse in the evil storms of life, as Satan and his demons try to destroy the people of God in this world. Strengthen us today please Jesus!
Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Click to read today’s chapter: John 8:44; Revelation 12. (At the top you can choose a different translation.)
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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