As we go about our daily Christian walk, we find that temptation can at times be overwhelming. Sin can often look very appealing to the eyes. The lust of the flesh is everywhere; the desire to obtain wealth and material goods is overwhelming. We can often get caught up in the ways of this world, through our pride, lust, greed, the attitude of competition, the "Do unto others before they do it to you" mentality, which goes against the teachings of Jesus Christ which is love, patience, kindness and giving. Not to mention the correct attitude of "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," this is the way Jesus expects us to live.

But living for Jesus Christ, in today’s world can be very difficult and often goes against the grain of the norms of today’s society. We as Christians often find ourselves at odds with our family, friends, coworkers and even our employers and business associates. We as followers of Jesus Christ can often find ourselves at conflict with someone because we strive to do that which is right in the sight of God. We often find that the pressures of this world are relentlessly bearing down on us, tempting us to go the way of the world.

Yes sin and the ways of this world is very attractive! It is pleasant to the eyes. It is like a fast shiny new sports car! It looks good and it rides nicely. It is so appealing looking that one want’s to jump on in and take it for a ride. This world and its ways can hook a person, once one partakes in its pleasures; it is hard to turn back. Just like that sports car, once a person gets that feel for the ride and that need for speed, that individual does not want to stop, he’s hooked and does not want the ride to end. That’s how sin and the ways of this world works. The pleasures of this world and the lust of the flesh can blind a person to the real reason that man has been placed here on this earth, The only thing that almost all people are concerned about is having a good time and making lots of money.

Satan, who is the enemy of mankind and of God, can be compared to a slick salesman. He will lay the sales pitch on an unsuspecting person. Like that beautiful shiny new sports car sitting on the showroom floor, Satan can make sin and the ways of this world look very appealing. Satan did just that very thing almost six thousand years ago in the Garden of Eden. In Genesis the second chapter verses 16 and 17,God had commanded the first man and woman, Adam and Eve not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that if they did eat of it that they would surly die. He told them that they may eat of any tree in the garden but of this tree they were not to touch the fruit of it. Now going into the third chapter of Genesis, like the slick salesman, Satan came along with his sales pitch. Persuading Eve to take the tree of the knowledge of good and evil for a test drive, as it were, in the same manner that a salesman will persuade the potential buyer to test-drive that shiny new sports car, to get them to purchase it.

Adam and Eve fell for Satan’s sales pitch, he hooked them; he made sin appear to be desirable and they took of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the world has been disobeying God ever since. "Now the serpent [Satan] was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he [Satan] said to the woman, ‘Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree in the garden?’ And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of every trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘you shall not eat it nor, shall you touch it, lest you die.’ Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surly die. ‘For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate" (Genesis 3: 1-6).

Now Satan is the destroyer, his goal is to destroy all humanity. He is a sadist, taking pleasure in the suffering of human beings. Nothing makes him happier than to watch humans, through his influence murder and war against one another. To kill in warfare by the thousands and even by the millions as we have seen in the two world wars and other wars during to Twentieth Century. Satan watches with great joy, as people die a slow painful death through disease and starvation. Satan is not merciful; he takes great pleasure in our sufferings. He wants to wipe out the human race.

Why? Why is Satan so determined to eliminate the human race? Why does Satan hate man so much that he takes joy in our suffering and death? The answer to this is because Satan hates God! And because God created man in his image and likeness (Genesis 1:26). Man is to one day become children in His Kingdom to inherit with Jesus, all things. Jesus, who now sits at the right hand of the Father (Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 3:1), is an heir and we as God’s children are to be co-heirs with Christ Jesus (1John 3:2; Romans 8:14-17; Ephesians 1:14; James 2:5; Revelation 21:7).

Before he was known as Satan, he was an archangel who stood over the Throne of God, and His name was Lucifer. Now Lucifer was perfect in every way, until lawlessness was found in him and he rebelled against God, taking a third of the angels with him. "His [Satan’s] tail drew a third of the stars [Angels] of heaven and threw them to the earth…And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon: the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. He was cast to the earth and his angels were cast out with him" (Revelation 12:4, 7-9).

This fall of Lucifer can be found in Ezekiel 28, even though the 28^th chapter speaks of the King of Tyre, that same chapter is also used to describe Lucifer and his fall. Take a look starting at verse 12, "Thus says the Lord God: ‘You were the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God. You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of the fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity [lawlessness] was found in you. By the abundance of your trading you became filled with violence within, and you sinned. Therefore I cast you as a profaned thing out of the mountain of God; and I destroyed you O covering cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones. Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendour.’ "

Lucifer after his fall in his arrogance was determined that he would ascend above God and take God’s place. (Isaiah 14: 12-15) "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit on the mount of the congregation, on the farthest side of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the pit." Jesus, who was in heaven at the time of the fall of Lucifer confirms to his disciples (Luke 10:18) what He witnessed, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven." Lucifer, whose name then became Satan, meaning "adversary" after his failed attempt to overthrow God, became filled with hatred and violence. Wanting to destroy God and all that is God!

When God put man on this Earth, Satan knew that man was to become through the development of righteous character, the very sons and daughters of the Most High. The book of Psalms states in chapter 82 verse 6 that man will become gods, "I said that you are gods, and all of you are children of the most high." Most mainstream Christians would say calling ourselves gods is blasphemy, but the Word of God says otherwise. Here is what Jesus has to say about this issue. After arguing with the Jews they were going to stone Jesus for making Himself equal to God. (John 10:33-35) "The Jews answered Him [Jesus] saying, ‘For a good work we do not stone You, but You being a man make Yourself God.’ Jesus answered them, ‘Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, "You are gods?’ " The Bible shows that the children of God, will become gods and that this is not blasphemy, for Jesus Himself stated that "You [Man] are gods," members of the God family. For this reason Satan hates humanity. For man was created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26) and will be as God. Don’t take it wrong, we will never replace or have the same power as God. God will be our Father and Jesus our Elder Brother. As children of the Most High, we will still be subject to the authority of the Father. No wonder Satan despises man!

As for now man has been made a little lower than the angels (Psalm 8:5; Hebrews 2:7). When Jesus returns, all that serve and obey Him will not only be granted eternal life, but they shall be kings and priests in his kingdom ruling with Him. (Revelation 1:5,6) "And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first born from the dead and the ruler over the kings of the Earth. To Him who loves us and washed us from our sins in His own blood and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father." Not only are we going to be kings and priest, but also we will even judge the angels! (1 Corinthians 6:3) "Do you not know that we shall judge the angels?" Now here is another reason Satan and his demons hate the human race. Not only are we going to be children of God, inherit eternal life, become kings and priest ruling with Jesus, but also we are going to judge the angels. That includes Satan and his fallen angels.

For this reason Satan is more determined to get rid of the human race. For Satan knows that the wages of sin is death for eternity (Romans 6:23), and when judged by man, Satan and his demons will be found guilty and sentenced. "For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them unto chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgement" (2 Peter 2:4). Satan and his angels are the enemies of God, and God says his enemies will be burned to ashes (Malachi 4:3). Now after the thousand years’ millennial period and the Great White Throne judgement are over Satan is to be cast into the lake of fire along with all the unrepentant sinners. "Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth. Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, who’s number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. The Devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they shall be tormented day and night forever and ever" (Revelation 20:7-10). Satan will be cast into the lake of fire, the same place as those whose names are not in the book of life. Satan will be consumed by fire with all those who are rebellious towards God. Now you can see why Satan is determined to rid himself of us. No judges! No judgement! Satan knows his punishment, and if he is going down, he wants to take as many people with him as he possibly can.

Now Satan pretty much has this world under his control. He has deceived the whole world. People are following after false gods; there are even many who follow a false concept of Jesus, worshipping Him in vain. (Isaiah 29:13: Matthew 15:8,9). People are living as they please, following the attitude of Satan. Satan broadcasts wrong attitudes. He and his fallen angels influence people to be filled with pride, envy, greed, selfishness, stubbornness, and to be filled with all manner of hate and malice. The Devil cannot force people to do his will, we must choose to go after him and this world has been doing a pretty good job of serving him. For the Word of God calls Satan "The god of this world" (2 Corinthians 4:4).

Because man has fallen under the influence of Satan and his fallen angels and is easily taken in by his suggestions does this mean he is sitting back taking it easy because he figures man is doomed. Certainly not! Besides wanting to destroy the entire human race there is a small group of people that Satan has taken a very keen interest in. This small group of people are scattered throughout the world. They are of every race, colour, nationality, and speak various languages. They are of every profession and income level. This small group of individuals is a small fraction of the world’s population of over six billion people. These people are called Christians and Satan is very interested in them! Even though there are about two billion people who profess to be Christians only a small fraction of these people are True Christians. This group of True Christians is referred to as the "Little flock" (Luke 12:32) that live the Christian lifestyle rejecting the ways of this world and rejecting the false concepts of Jesus and the Father. Rather these Christians obey every word of God. They seek to learn and to teach His truths (Acts 17:11) and reject all the paganism’s added to Christianity over the past few hundred years. Satan is very interested in this small group of True Christians whose numbers may be only a few hundred thousand True Believers. Satan hates all Christians, but this very small group of Christians he hates even more because they also keep God’s true Sabbath and other holy days, such as Passover, Days of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles.

What is his interest? Because Christians are those people who do not accept the ways of this world, Satan is determined to get these people to turn from God and to get them back into the world that they came out of. Why? Because these are the people, who if they overcome Satan and the world, will receive eternal life, become kings and priests in God’s soon coming kingdom and they are the ones who will judge the angels. Yes, Satan and his angels are very interested in Christians. Like God, they too want a relationship with Christians, but this relationship is not a honourable one, nor is it not unto salvation that they are looking for. God gives grace, forgiveness, mercy and life. What Satan wants, is to take away salvation and to murder the Christian. Satan is not forgiving nor is he merciful, he is a sadistic murder.

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8). That is right, Satan seeks to destroy all Christians. Like a lion he will first seek out the weak and this is where it is very important to be on guard! The follower of Jesus Christ must first have faith that God will help him/her overcome sin daily. We must go to the Father daily in prayer of true repentance, asking for His protection and guidance. "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you" (James 4:7). Satan finds it difficult to take on those who are strong in the faith. Like the cowardly parasite that he is, he will then move to find a weaker person, so for this reason we must earnestly pray for those who may be weak in the faith. Ask God to give them strength as well, so they may not be overtaken by the Devil. Even though someone may be strong in the faith this does not mean Satan will give up, he is a predator who will stalk his prey waiting for an opportunity to strike and kill. Weak or strong in the faith, it does not matter. We are on his hit list, and he will do what it takes to bring us down. That is why we must be vigilant, always watching and always praying that we do not become Satan’s victims.

In John 15:18,19, Jesus tells his followers that they will be hated by the world, "If the world hates you, you know then it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." Most Christians know firsthand the hardships that they must endure, some suffer more persecution and some suffer less. Nonetheless, all True Christians suffer some amount of trial, tribulation and persecution. Some Christians in today’s world are imprisoned and yes even murdered for their faith in Jesus Christ! In this sin-sick world we need to go on our knees ask the Father through Jesus Christ to forgive us of our sin, ask for guidance and direction. We need His help to overcome Satan and sin. If you are willing to ask sincerely for His help, He is loving and gracious enough to grant it. For God wants to help all of His children, he does not want us to parish. He want’s to grant you life and a life full of blessings and happiness.

We are told in Ephesians 6: 10-18 by Paul, "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in power in His might. Put on the whole armour of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age. Against spiritual host of wickedness in heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness and having shod your feet with the preparation with the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints."

Satan is a very powerful spirit being he transmits his evil influence into the thoughts of every human being (Ephesians 2:2) causing all to sin. Every person except Jesus has given into his influence (Romans 3:23), this is why the Christian must be on guard at all times. Even though we have God’s Spirit, we are still human; Satan can still whisper thoughts of pride, hatred, envy, lust and other bad and destructive attitudes into our minds. This is why we need to put on the Armour of God as stated earlier (Ephesians 6:10-18). Through God’s Spirit we can overcome Satan and sin. We need to be in constant communication with God and to go on our knees daily before Him and ask for the faith and strength to overcome Satan. Remember God is much more powerful than Satan is, He can crush Satan like an ant! God will help us if we ask Him to, but God cannot help us if we do not go to Him. If we do not humble ourselves before Him and seek to do His will, He cannot help us. Likewise Satan is only successful at his dirty deeds if we give into his influence. Satan cannot force us to sin, he only influences, gives us the wrong messages. It’s up to us whether we are going to give in to Satan or to do the will of God.

Satan is very clever! He will try anything to make us stumble. Following Jesus is a one way trip; once we follow Him and receive His Spirit there is no turning back. "And he who does not take up his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me" (Matthew 10:38). Once a person has converted and turns away from the world and its influences, Satan moves in quickly to try to discourage the believer by putting stumbling blocks before that person. He may cause friends and families to turn against him/her or by causing that person to lose his/her job because of their faith. With the loss of a job this causes a financial crisis, which in turn can end up in bankruptcy leading to the loss of a car, home, or both, and ones credit rating. This in turn can lead to anger, frustration, stress and depression; after all of this that person may be tempted to return to his or her old lifestyle. Jesus warns in verse 39 that "He who finds his life [turns away from Jesus] will lose it, and he who loses his life for My name sake [follows Jesus, forsaking the ways of this world] will find it." What Jesus is saying is that those who turn away from Him to seek the sinful pleasures of this world and its riches will have their part in the lake of fire. But those who are faithful and are persecuted perhaps rejected by everyone around them for the sake of following the only true God will have eternal life.

In Mathew 10:28, Jesus states "And you all will be hated for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved." Satan will bring on the persecution tempting us to reject Jesus Christ and to reject God the Father. Jesus warns in verse 33, "But whoever denies Me before men, him I will deny before the Father." We must be very careful in our walk with Jesus as not to deny that he is the Son of God and not to turn away from serving Him and living a righteous lifestyle. If we turn away and deny Jesus than we are in big trouble because he will deny us before the Father, and what we don’t want to hear from Jesus at His return is "I never knew you; depart from Me you who practice lawlessness!" (Matthew 7:23). We must in faith fearlessly follow Jesus not denying Him but confessing Him, even if it costs us everything. Jesus says in Matthew 10:32, "Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before the Father who is in heaven."

Copyright @ 2002 By Troy Craig

All scriptures quoted are from the New King James Version bible

Thomas Nelson Inc. Publishing