Good weekend to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
When you consider the dramatic, destructive power of lies, deceitfulness, distortion of truth in our world, does it make you wonder where such destructive power is rooted? Does it cause you to ask WHY? What is the ultimate purpose of deceit and why does God allow it? In a powerful declaration by Jesus one day, God answered those questions, so let’s take a closer look!
As we’ve seen in the past few days, Jesus made some very powerful, remarkable statements recorded in John 8 including “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness.” (John 8:12) and “If you hold to My teachings, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31,32) Believe it or not, in the very same conversation, Jesus was having with those who opposed Him, Jesus said this: “You belong to your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. 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)
Oh my! This is one of the most definitive, descriptive statements found anywhere in the Bible about Satan’s character and behavior. Jesus, of course, is THE authority on Satan. Why do I make that claim? May I give you three very important reasons?
First, Jesus, God the Son, actually CREATED Satan, as Jesus created all the angels, according to Colossians 1:15-17. That creative act of God may have been one of the very first things God did, long before Genesis 1, and the record of His creation of our universe and planet earth. Jesus created all the angels HOLY and for the purpose of honoring God at all times and with every aspect of their existence. (Ezekiel 28:14,15)
Second, Jesus was an eyewitness to Satan’s transition from a holy Cherub angel to a wicked, evil angel, leading a rebellion in heaven, trying to dethrone Almighty God according to Ezekiel 28:17 and Isaiah 14:13,14.
Third, Jesus was eyewitness to and personally involved in the expulsion of Satan from God’s presence when Satan was cast OUT of heaven. I see this important truth recorded for us in Isaiah 14:12,15; Ezekiel 28:16; Luke 10:18.
Now I realize that those are three very powerful statements about the relationship between Jesus and Satan which may be news to you, so I urge you NOT to rush past them, but be sure you understand them as fundamental truth which impacts our world today, everyday! Why do I say that? Evil Satan, thrown out of heaven, is totally opposed to God, God’s Truth and God’s people, always and everywhere.
Satan is the king over the kingdom of darkness and his kingdom has tremendous, evil destructive power here on planet earth. The kingdom of darkness is not interested in the rocks or trees or animals, only human beings. Satan and his kingdom are determined to make every person’s life miserable by drawing EVERY human being away from God, God’s truth, and especially the lifesaving Gospel of Jesus during our lifetime here on earth. Satan’s ultimate objective is that every person will spend all eternity with Satan and his demons in eternal torment in hell.
So how does Satan accomplish such destructive purposes with you and me and all human beings, everywhere on our planet, in every generation through all time? Oh, my friends DECEIT is one of Satan’s most powerful, sly, and very destructive tactics. If the dark kingdom can draw us to DOUBT God and God’s truth, that opens our hearts and minds to alternatives and the dark kingdom is in the business, FULL TIME, of planting alternative ideas in the minds of evil people all the time.
And now with social media and global communication in the hands of almost every person, rumors, and crazy ideas, and fake news, and slander and malice and outright lies can fly around the world in a viral tsunami, in the blink of an eye. You and I have seen it happen many times. As a result, deceit takes root, panic ensues and the darkness overwhelms hundreds of millions of people within minutes!!
Now my friends, did you notice Jesus said: “He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he [Satan] lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”? (John 8:44) Jesus carefully selected the word ‘murderer’ when classifying Satan’s ultimate objective with all humanity. Why would Jesus choose that word? Because Satan hates the fact that Jesus’ death and resurrection make our deliverance from our sin bondage possible! You see the ultimate objective of our sin nature is self destruction!
Yes, our sin rooted selfishness breeds both arrogance and self hatred. The dark kingdom’s desire is that every person’s life be ended as quickly as possible, before they have a chance to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ and be rescued from their sin. Thus, Satan’s kingdom is a death culture kingdom! Anything and everything in our world that causes death is rooted in Satan’s desperation to see people die without Jesus!
Now don’t rush past that my friends; rather I urge you to look around your city and ask yourself, ‘what things contribute to death in my city’? Here, I’ll start the list, and you build on it: Alcoholic beverages; drugs; pornography; abortion; gambling; hatred; jealousy; anger; bitterness; unforgiveness; family breakdown; gangs; violence…now what else do you see in your city which leads to death? Do you see that Satan, in His hatred of Jesus and people, is the author of ALL of it?
Jesus wants us to understand this profound moral, ethical, spiritual war which began in the garden of Eden, has continued every day, in every place in the world since the beginning. Satan and his entire kingdom of darkness are determined to ruin your life and lead you to kill yourself and as many others as possible! Jesus is determined to keep offering you and every person LIFE, in fact abundant life.
So, I leave you with this one verse today. Jesus said: “The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, but I have come that you might have life and have life abundantly.” (John 10:10) Thieves are masters of deceit, led by the ultimate liar himself, Satan! So, who are the thieves stalking you? What’s your truth defense? So, I end today with this question: are you prioritizing EVERY day, the development of your discernment capability so you can discern truth from false; right from wrong?
As always, some great “life lessons learned” notes are ready for you to dig even more deeply into this important topic and Scripture. Of course, a worship song is also ready for you and yes, I’ll be here ready for you on Monday. I hope you and Jesus will have an important weekend together.
Today’s Scripture: John 8:44.
Choose below to read or listen.
 |  |
Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
Archived back issues of “Walking with Jesus” and other resources are available by clicking here to open our ‘home page’ (or go to HOME at upper right of this page).
Share with friends. Subscribe below for daily “Walking with Jesus”.