Exposing Satan’s Plans Against You Part 3
Exposing Satan’s Plans Against You
Part 3
Review:
WE know between Gen. 1:1 God created and Gen. 1:2 “earth was without form and void (wasteland) - a lot of time must have elapsed.
We know that Satan and his followers were cast down out of heaven to the earth and their presence is what made the earth formless and void.
God created man in His image and in a special place on the earth that God created for him called the garden of Eden. This garden was the ultimate expression of beauty and peace.
Outside the garden was so different. It was without order and and the blessing contained in Eden. God placed man in the Garden with a mission.
When you are in submission to God’s mission, you become commissioned for the GREAT COMMISION.
“Be FRUITFUL and MULTIPLY; (replenish) FILL THE EARTH and SUBDUE it.” Gen.1:28
4 THINGS identify their commission:
Be fruitful - productive. Ill Jesus’ only destructive miracle was cursing a fig tree for not having any fruit. Even though it was the time of year the figs would not have been ripe, He at least expected the fruit to exist and be forming.
“If a man abides in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.” Jn 15.
Multiply – they were to have children and extend the boundaries of the garden. Because they had delegated authority they could extend Eden to cover the earth.
Fill the earth – reveals God’s target was all of earth. You can only imagine the earth had Adam and Eve not sinned!
Subdue it – Outside the Garden was chaos and under the influence of Satan and his demons. For this reason, a military term is used to describe their assignment. In a sense they were born for war that would bring the earth under their control in submission to God.
The reason they needed to subdue the earth was because it was under the influence of the powers of darkness. God could have destroyed the devil Himself, however He chose to defeat darkness through His delegated authority, made in His image, who were lovers of God by choice.
Ill. We see this similar thing with Israel. God gave them the Promise land – basically it is yours, I’ve given it to you. There are squatters there who think it is their land. They will resist you but don’t fear I am with you. I am going to give the land to you little by little, so that you can handle it.
This too was a huge assignment just like the assignment given to Adam and Eve. The original plan has never been aborted. It has been fully realized in the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. He said,
“All authority has been given Me in heaven and earth. God therefore. . .” Mathew 28:18
Jesus fulfilled His promise to the disciples when He said,
“I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.” Mtt. 16:19
Kingdom means King’s domain.
Their authority depended upon their relationship with God. As long as they were under God’s authority they had His delegated authority!
When you are in submission to THE mission, then you become commissioned FOR THE GREAT COMMISION.
Ill. Remember the Roman soldier who asks Jesus to come and heal his servant? Jesus agreed to go with him. Then the soldier said, “Lord it is not necessary for you to come to my house. I know how this thing works because I myself am a man under authority, and I have soldiers under authority to me. I say to one go and he does what I say.” Jesus replied I have not seen great faith like this in all of Israel. “Go they way, as you have believed so be it unto you.” The servant was healed that very hour.
Because the Roman soldier recognized and honored Jesus’ authority and he knew how authority worked, he knew all Jesus had to say was a word – and it would be done. Just give the word and You don’t have to go to my house – just give the command!
THE FALL
Satan didn’t just force his way into the garden and take possession of Adam and Eve! He couldn’t because he had no dominion or authority over them. Man was given authority and power to take dominion over the earth. He would have to deceive Adam and Even some way to get to their authority.
He walked upright and talked their language in the form of a serpent, not like a snake. He talked and seemed to make sense about eating forbidden fruit.
He has to get them to agree with him against God.
When we agree with the devil we empower him.
Paul wrote “You are slaves to the one whom you obey.” Rom. 6:16
With that one act man fell from ruler over the planet to a slave and possession of satan. Satan is still after God’s throne.
4000 years later Satan tempts Jesus (2nd Adam) in a similar way. Listen to what he says to Jesus.
“All this authority I will give to You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I will give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”
Luke 4:6
Satan is saying, “I know what You came for Jesus. You want to get back the authority over the earth that Your boy surrendered to me. Just worship me and I’ll give it back to You!”
Why would Satan want Jesus to bow to Him? To get God’s throne.
God declared to Satan way back in the garden of Eden on the day man fell due to sin. “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise your head, and thou shalt bruise His heal.” Gen. 3:15
Satan did not understand what God was going to do in declaring that He will use the woman’s seed to give him a mortal head wound to kill him.
“Seed of the woman?” - mystery, hidden wisdom.
Satan thinks it must be Cain and Abel so he causes strife.
Satan listens to prophecy and gets clues. Abraham was prophesied to by God that his seed would be slaves in a foreign land for 480 years. When that time comes he knows a deliverer would be born. He inspired Pharaoh the thought to kill all Hebrew male children 2 and under.
Moses was born and hid and protected by God.
4000 years later Satan knows a deliverer is coming from prophecies. He does not know anymore about the future than you or I do from prophecy. So at the time he believes a king will be born king of the Jews, he gives Herod the same idea – kill all the Hebrew males 2 and under so that will eliminate a take over by the Jews of your kingdom.
Satan is not omniscient but he watches and makes an educated guess. Many make the mistake that Satan is the opposite of God. No he is a created being and is in no comparison to God. “There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof is the way of death.”
Back in the garden of Eden, Satan denied God’s Word in front of Adam and Eve. “You shall not surely die!” They bought his lie and chose to obey the devil instead of God and ate what God said not to. When they made that choice – they changed masters. The Word of God says,
“Know ye not that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are to whom you obey?” Rom. 6:16
Trials are designed to help us determine who we trust, who our master will be. Are we going to trust God when disappointments come, when loss comes, when criticism comes, or worse when betrayal comes?
God chose the redeem man with a man.
Think about it like this. An innocent lamb’s blood could not equal a human’s blood, man, the highest creature made by God.
All a lamb’s blood can do is provide a temporary covering over man’s sin but it cannot remove it.
“For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sin.” Heb. 10:4
Atonement = covering
Yom Kippur – a yearly sacrifice
It would have to be man’s blood to pay for man’s sin. There is no other way!
God Himself stepped down from glory to earth as a man.
Phil 2 tells us He emptied Himself of His rights as God and took upon Himself the limitations of man. While Jesus never stopped being God, He did take on human flesh to complete the assignment that man failed to finish.
Satan was defeated by a Man – the Son of Man = God the Son
Son of Man – term used by Jesus describing His humanity.
Son of God – used to describe His divinity.
Jesus defeated Satan by living a sinless life and with His sinless death He made an overpayment for the wages of sin forever!
His resurrection has conquered everything including death, hell and the grave! As we join our life to His and accept His sacrifice as ours we now enjoy His victory over the enemy.
Our focus must not be on our unworthiness but His worth.
Not our unfaithfulness but His faithfulness. Not our inability but His ability.
Our identity begins with a revelation of Him not us. When we see what He has done on our behalf we begin to see our great worth.
Concl:
God took a great risk in giving us free will and choice of whether to serve Him or ignore Him.
Our freedom of choice is so valuable to God that He actually has to restrain Himself from manifesting His Presence in a way where our freedom of choice would be removed!
There is coming a day when God will reveal Himself in fullness and even then the devil and demons will bow the knee and declare He is Lord.
For now, God has chosen to veil Himself to see who will voluntarily worship Him. So the question is, “Do you want to volunteer to submit yourself to Him now while He is invisible?
PRAYER OF CONFESSION:
Heavenly Father,
I bow and submit my life into Your hands. Please take the remainder of my life on earth, and use it to make a difference in this world. Help me see that there is more freedom in Your kingdom, than outside it. There is more freedom under Your rule, than in doing as I please.
Your kingdom operates different than the world. In Your kingdom we rise by going low, we receive by giving, and we live by dying to ourselves. May Your kingdom come and destroy the kingdom of darkness through my life and service to You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.