Reset Part 2: Free Will
Welcome to part 2 of the “Reset” series! Last week, we looked at the story of creation and, more importantly, at the magnificence of the Creator! We should never forget how amazing it is that the One who created the universe and everything in it should care about us! Scripture tells us that not one sparrow falls to the earth that God doesn’t know about, and he cares about us so much more than a sparrow!
Today we will see a great contrast between the perfect God of creation and the sad weakness of man. Adam and Eve lived in a perfect environment, having every need met and walking in perfect union with God. Satan came in and tempted them with the most devastating of temptations – to eat the fruit of knowledge and be like gods – and it worked. This rebellion of Adam and Eve brought sin into the world, and sin in the world is the cause of every disease, illness, mental health problem, and every other bad thing we see or have ever seen.
But there was another consequence of this rebellion. When God originally created the earth, God instructed Adam to have dominion over the earth. In other words, Adam was given the title deed to the earth or the responsibility to oversee the earth. When Adam rebelled, that title deed was stripped from Adam, and Satan took it. In other words, Satan is currently the prince of this world. Many verses tell us this, but here it is in the words of Jesus.
“Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
John 12:31-32 (ESV)
“I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me.”
John 14: 30 (ESV)
We will find out in the book of Revelation how that title deed will be taken back, but for now, Satan is the ruler of this world. That explains a lot, now doesn’t it! Satan hates humans. The Bible tells us that he wants to deceive us, kill and destroy us, and condemn us. The thought that this fallen angel is the ruler of our earth is not terribly comforting, but knowing this is important, because it affects how we deal with life in a world gone wrong. The apostle Paul tells us how to overcome the evil of this world.
We can’t fight alone
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Ephesians 6:10-12, ESV
Please understand that you cannot fight Satan on your own. Satan is not all-powerful. He is not equal to God, a brother to Jesus, or any of the other nonsense we may hear. That said, he has been around for a long time, and he is a very powerful fallen angel. But God is stronger. “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4, ESV) IF (and only if) you have accepted Christ as your personal Savior, the Bible tells us that his Holy Spirit now lives in you. Claim the power of the Holy Spirit, and speak the name of Jesus over yourself, your home, your family, and every other aspect of life. Remind Satan and his minions, in the name of Jesus, that they have no dominion over you. If you are not saved, you are powerless against evil. But you can change this by acknowledging you are a sinner in need of a Savior, repenting (or turning) from your sin, and asking Jesus to be the ruler of your life.
Prepare for War
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.
Ephesians 6:13-18 (ESV)
You can’t fight a spiritual battle with a toothpick. We need to arm ourselves with the tools given to us by God:
- Belt of truth: Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44), but God is the father of truth. The Bible is God’s inspired Word, and it is truth. When we stand strong in the truth of God, we will be better equipped to spot the spirit of deception that is strong in this world.
- Breastplate of righteousness: As we will read in the “Free Will” link below, God gave us the gift of free will. This means he gave us the freedom to choose how we would live our life. We make many choices throughout our day that impact us and those around us.
We have two dogs that we allow to run freely in our screened pool area when the weather is nice. Unfortunately, they sometimes hear a noise and start barking like crazy dogs! We like our neighbors, so when this happens, they lose their outside privileges as a consequence for their actions. To avoid some of these incidents, I taught them the command, “make good choices!” This stops them in their tracks…usually.
I think we, as human beings, need to learn this same command. When we make bad choices, they not only have consequences (either immediate or long-term), but they also invite evil into our lives. In Ephesians 4:27, Paul tells us not to give Satan the opportunity to mess with us. Satan cannot “possess” someone who is saved, but he can certainly mess with them. When we are faced with a choice and choose righteousness, we slam the door on the enemy! The next time you are faced with a choice and are tempted to make a bad one, picture yourself slamming the door on Satan and running instead to Jesus!
- Shoes of the gospel of peace: Before ascending to Heaven, Jesus called all people to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ and the salvation he brings. As believers, we hold the secret to overcoming the evil of this world as well as the secret to avoid eternal separation from God and torment! When we understand the truth of grace, we should always be prepared to share that good news with others. Yes, it can be scary, but it is too important to let our fear take control. God will give you the words to use. We will discuss this more in a later devotional.
- Shield of faith and the helmet of salvation: Although Satan tricked Adam into giving away the title deed to the earth, God was not surprised. He already had a plan. Jesus came to earth as a human being, lived a sinless life, and died a horrific death, taking all of the sin of the world on himself. Jesus overcame sin and death when God raised him on the third day. In doing this, Jesus took the judgment for our sin and bought back the title deed to the earth. In the last days, Jesus will return as the rightful king.
There is a line in the movie “The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King” that I just love! Middle earth is under siege from one who is pure evil. His eyes are now set on Gondor and Minas Tirith, the city of the king. Currently Gondor is ruled by a steward named Denethor, but he is not the king. When visited by the wizard Gandalf, he resists Gandalf’s wise counsel because he knows that Gandalf is working with the true heir to the throne. Denethor lashes out at Gandalf, telling him that he will not bow to this heir. Gandalf’s response is this: “Authority is not given to you to deny the return of the king, steward!”
Satan, like Denethor, has no desire to give the earth back, but because of the sacrifice Jesus made, his authority will come to an end, and he will not be given a choice. When we live with that understanding, we can claim the victory of Christ over our lives and fend off Satan. This does not mean that life will become easy. The Bible tells us that we will have trouble. It does mean that Jesus will be with us in all situations and will see us through them.
It also means that we can have confidence in the finished work of Christ on the cross. Revelations 12:10 tells us that Satan accuses us before God day and night making the argument that we deserve eternal judgement. He torments us with that same accusation. It is true that we are all sinners, and we do deserve judgement, but when Jesus died on the cross, he took the penalty for all sin – past, present and future. No matter what we have done in the past or what we will do in the future, if we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, it is covered. This is not a license to sin, for if we truly understand grace, we will not want to sin. But we can be assured that God will not hold back his love for us because of our past or turn his back on us for making a mistake. - The sword of the Spirit and prayer: The Bible is the sword of the Spirit. It is our handbook for life in which God tells us how we can live a life that is physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually healthy. You wouldn’t go into a battle on the verge of starvation. Likewise, we need to be in God’s word on a regular basis so that we can get constant nourishment to fight the spiritual war. We also need to be talking to God throughout our day. Jesus frequently went off by himself to pray, and he was God! But Jesus was also human. He knew how important it was to be in constant communication with God the Father, and he wanted to set a good example for us. Jeremiah 33:3 tells us this: “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” (ESV) The more time we spend in prayer, the more God will reveal to us, and the more he reveals, the better equipped we will be when Satan comes knocking on our door.
Satan will try to attack you and those you love. He will attempt to deceive you, get you to question God, and lead you down terrible paths – just like he did with Adam and Eve in the garden. But we can rest assured that Jesus has already won the battle, and we can have confidence that he will be with us in any battle that we have to fight.
Songs of Victory
Overcome
Victor’s Crown
Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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