CLAY CENTER — “Nigerian Christians are being targeted, driven from their homes, and killed,” said musical artist, Nicki Minaj. “Churches have been burned. Families have been torn apart. And entire communities live in fear constantly, simply because of how they pray.” Who is behind this?

Whenever we read about unthinkable evil acts like this and wonder who could be behind them – it always leads to the same place – The Devil! 

How could that be? It is a group of Muslims slaughtering the Christians, not the Devil, right?

The Devil does not do all the evil bidding himself, instead, his method of operation is to deceptively work through people to carry out his wicked plans.

The story of his existence and name comes from the Bible. Devil is diabolos in the Greek language, which means slanderer or false accuser. One Bible resource lays out other names he goes by, “Satan (adversary), the evil one, the tempter, Beelzebul, the god of this age, ruler of this world, dragon, serpent. Each title highlights a particular aspect of his activity: hostility, moral evil, deception, counterfeit authority.” The singular purpose of his existence, and all the demonic powers under his control, is to wage a ruthless global war against the ways of God and keep men and women, and boys and girls from Him at all costs. The Bible says, “that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world.” (Revelation 12:10)

Jesus is the only one to know the Devil from his very beginning, and is Jesus’ greatest enemy. He once spoke very clearly of the evil one saying, “He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44) The Devil is the enemy of all that is orderly, right, wise, beautiful and good. He is a powerful and brutal adversary that lives in the shadows stoking fear and doubt. His cunning and craftiness capture the minds of the foolish. For he is the embodiment of all that is evil, wicked and lawless. Wherever murder, corruption and deception abound – there lay the Devil gleefully applauding the work of his filthy hands. Wherever sexual immorality, hate and division flourish there the Devil sits orchestrating his twisted plans on the battlefields of earth and the human soul. “From within and without, burn it all down!” he says. “Destroy it all and drag it to hell where I will reign forever!”   

 Across the universe there has only been one that exceeds the power of the Devil, Jesus, the Son of God. About Him the Bible says, “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.” (Hebrews 1:3) Jesus came from heaven to earth and was born of a virgin on Christmas Day to go to war against His arch enemy, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8). How was that accomplished? Through His victorious death and resurrection.  

Understand this, despite the plotting liar and deceiver, and his demons, wreaking havoc and destruction all around us, for those in Christ, they do not need to fear. Through Christ they can resist the power of the Devil and overcome His destructive schemes. However, for those outside of Christ, it is serious. In the eyes of God, they are partners with the Devil, “Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil…” (1 Jn. 3:8)

Today, we acknowledge the existence of the Devil. He is a powerful enemy, but Jesus is greater and will one day destroy Him forever.

A prayer for you – Lord God, this unseen spiritual realm is a mystery, but in it we recognize the presence of the Devil, and also accept that if we live in sin, we are a child of the Devil. Today, we flee from sin, we flee from his power and to the mighty cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is King over all. In His name. Amen.

Clint Decker is president of Great Awakenings. Share comments at cdecker@greatawakenings.org and follow his blog at clintdecker.blogspot.com.