New Time – Old Tactic

I’ve heard it said: Wouldn’t it be great if Satan were still to show up as a talking snake? … then we could run away screaming or call animal control.  Fact is: While Satan’s approach has changed since his day in the garden with Eve, his deceitful tactic remains the same.  We are told that he disguises himself as an angel of light; and, terrifyingly, he comes to us as an agent of reason.

When the ‘father of lies’ comes to tempt us, instead of immediately banishing him with truth, we have a tendency to invite him in, ask him to make himself at home, and engage in conversation with him to hear his perspective.

Note: Christ did not enter into conversation with Satan when He was tempted in the desert.  Instead, He responded, “It is written…”  Yet, God’s Word isn’t always our first response.

Satan spoke the first lie in human history, “You will not certainly die.  God knows that if you eat it you will be like Him, knowing good and evil.”  What Satan said is not completely untrue, but it is twisted truth.  Yes, Eve would be like God in that she would know good and evil; she would remember what it was to be wholly good and she would watch sin mangle her innocence as she converted to a child of wrath; she would feel evil seize her heart and separate her from God’s holy presence; and, she would certainly die.

You see: Satan doesn’t always slither in, hissing out hate.  Instead, he takes what’s true and twists it slightly, posing as a voice of reason and sense.

Not “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:2)

Not “grow up into the stature of the fullness Christ.” (Ephesians 4:13)

Not “consider yourself dead to sin and alive in Christ.” (Romans 6:11)

Not “put off the old self and put on the new self, which, in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth.” (Ephesians 4:24)

Not “walk in love as Christ loved you and gave Himself up for you.” (Ephesians 5:2)

Not “forget what lies behind and reach forward to what lies ahead.” (Philippians 3:13-14)

No, the lie preoccupied us and we spent a lot of valuable time striving to be the best version of ourselves we can imagine.

Satan will always ask us to consider ourselves instead of Christ.  “Eve, consider how you can be like God...”

Satan hates that we are one with Christ and, though he cannot make it untrue, he will try to divorce us from our identities in Jesus.  In Christ, we have everything we need for life and godliness.  As we clumsily and, at times, inconsistently work out our faith into action, there is His grace, power, peace, strength, hope, patience and steadfast love to sustain us and compel us forward.

My friend: What lies are you entertaining?  How are you considering your weakness, needs and desires over considering the goodness and sufficiency of Christ in your life?

Listen: Let’s kick Satan off our couches.  He is an uninvited guest of which our slain Savior’s blood gives us victory and the power to stand firm against.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.

Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army

Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel