T HE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
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Satan’s Personality. The names and acts ascribed to Satan in Scripture com mence with “ Abaddon” and end with “ the Wicked One.” All sorts of acts are ascribed to him. He walks, talks, fights, oppresses, binds, tempts, etc. His personality is proven by such passages as Gen. 3:1; Job 1:6; Luke 10:18; - Acts 5:3; 1 Pet. 5:8. Satan’s Position. He is the acknowl edged ruler of this world (John 12:31;- 14:30; Matt. 12:24, 26). The prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2 :2). He is called the “ Dragon” (Rev. 12 :7 ); god of this age (2 Cor. 4 :4). These four titles are very suggestive as to the scope of his authority. Satan’s Power. As ruler of earth and air, and having access into the heaven- lies, Satan has power second only to God Himself. This power must be wrested from Him by the Man whom God has sent into the world. Satan walks up and down over his kingdom, the earth (Job. 1 :7). He stands in the presence of God (Zech. 3 :1). He binds on earth (Luke 13:16). He exercises power over man (Acts 26:18). He works with signs and lying wonders (2 Thess. 2 :9 ). He deceives the whole world (Rev. 12:9). Humanity is in his grip. He lords it over the children of men. He drives like a taskmaster. With the forces of air and earth, with demons and fallen angels and wicked men and - women under his sway, to do his bid ding; a stranger to mercy, giving no quarter, he is indeed a hard, harsh, cruel tyrant, the unchangeable foe of God and man. Satan appeared probably in the role of an angel of light (2 Cor. 11: j»4), his most subtle manifestation. His first suggestion is, “ Satisfy your hunger. Your desire for bread is natural and legitimate. Show your power as the Son of God. Make bread of stones.” This is the test of His Deity— “ If thou be the Son of God.” This parallels
This portion of our lesson projects us into a crucial crisis in the life of our Lord—-the beginning of His battle with the prince of this world. In 1 John 3:8 we are told “ For this purpose was the Son of God manifested that He might destroy the werks of the devil.” To redeepa a lost world He must be able to overcome Satan. The conflict is to be continual until the enemy is bound in prison. The scepter was put into Adam’s hand and he was earth’s ruler, God’s representative on earth. Satan came and through subtlety won his heart from God, and the scepter passed from Adam to Satan. When Jesus, . the seeond Man and the last Adam, is accredited as God’s Son, He proceeds to challenge Satan in his own stronghold— the wilderness—with the wild beasts. (Mark 1:13.) This was the essential opening of the campaign which was to decide who was to be the ruler of this world. Only by victory over Satan can Jesus vindicate God’s character and His own claims. It is essential to remember that while Jesus is truly God, it is as man He was tested in this combat, though a man “ apart from sin.” Great violence can be done to our Lord if we fail to emphasize the words “ apart from sin” as it should be rendered in Heb. 4:15. Forty is the period of probation and corresponds to the forty years of Israel’s testing in the wilderness. Moses and Elijah fasted to meet God, but Christ fasts to. meet Satan (Deut. 8 :3). -The fast strengthens Him in spirit, but weak ens Him in body. The battle occurs at the close of the fast when hunger was heavy upon Him. The lesson will lose its significance if the doctrine of Satan is not clearly un derstood. In fact, the whole Bible is a riddle impossible of solution if the per sonality and Rower of Satan are not recognized.
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