How many of you believe that Satan really exists? It was the French poet Baudelaire who said, “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.” Now why would Satan want us to believe that he doesn’t exist? So that we blame God, and lose faith in him and others.
There is a war going on and God wants us to fight in it. Now, I’m not talking about Iraq or the war on terror I’m talking about something bigger, much bigger, I’m talking about the war of Good vs. Evil, and trust me this thing is for real. Here is how it unfolded:
391 …The Church teaches that Satan was at first a good angel, made by God: “The devil and the other demons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their own doing.”
Like humans God had given angels free will and so Satan along with a group of other angels chose to reject God, because of this a war started that caused God to banish Satan and the demons into nothingness, which later became hell.
414 Satan or the devil and the other demons are fallen angels who have freely refused to serve God and his plan. Their choice against God is definitive. They try to associate man in their revolt against God.
So as soon as Satan and the other fallen angels were sentenced to hell, they vowed to fight and revolt against God’s plan, and that brings us to the first temptation.
Genesis 2:16-17 – The LORD God gave man this order: “You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and bad. From that tree you shall not eat; the moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die.”
Genesis 3: 1-5 – The serpent asked the woman, “Did God really tell you not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?” The woman answered the serpent: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; it is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, ‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die.'” But the serpent said to the woman: “You certainly will not die! No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is bad.”
So before Adam and Eve fell to temptation we had eternal life in the kingdom of heaven. Because of sin, because of Satan death was brought into the world. So now in life we try to follow God’s plan in order to achieve eternal life in his kingdom of heaven. But how do we fight evil, how do we fight temptation? Well, there are a couple of things we need to know. There are a few things we need to believe. First thing to believe is that:
Satan Does Exist
We can read about it in the bible, we can read about in the catechism, we see it on television and we read about it in newspapers every single day. God does not put anything out there that is bad, all of God’s creations are good.
Wisdom 1:13; 2:24 – “God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living. . . . It was through the devil’s envy that death entered the world”
So when something bad happens, don’t blame God, God doesn’t make bad things happen to people. By choosing evil, by listening to Satan, by giving into the bad, bad things happen. We see Satan in the bad decisions that we make.
God is more powerful
Some of you might be going, “Well, duh Chris who doesn’t know that?” Well if you think about it, not a lot of people. If people knew that, more decisions for good would be made. Sin would be a rare thing.
Job 42:1-2 – “Then Job answered the LORD and said: ‘I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be hindered.’”
If you haven’t ever heard the story of Job I recommend you check it out. It’s in the Old Testament and it talks about a man who has everything; but, loses it one day to misfortune. Job knows God is powerful
Job 1:21 – “Naked I came forth from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I go back again. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD!”
Job knows that he should fear God because God is powerful, and Job knows that because God has this power if he remains faithful to God he will receive a great reward. So sometimes we are tempted by the devil, sometimes Satan will try to get us to do wrong, but we need to remember whatever Satan offers us is nothing compared to what God will give us.
Know Your Faith
A lot of the time I will ask someone, “What’s your faith?” and they’ll tell you, “I’m Catholic or I’m Christian but I don’t practice.” Living out your faith goes a lot farther than saying that you are Catholic you have to live it. Being a Catholic that doesn’t practice is like being a soldier that doesn’t fight. And we need to learn how to fight evil, we need to learn how to fight Satan, so it’s important to arm yourself by knowing your faith.
With Baptism we are liberated from sin, we are set free.
1237 Since Baptism signifies liberation from sin and from its instigator the devil, one or more exorcisms are pronounced over the candidate. The celebrant then anoints him with the oil of catechumens, or lays his hands on him, and he explicitly renounces Satan. Thus prepared, he is able to confess the faith of the Church, to which he will be “entrusted” by Baptism.
When you are baptized you are starting on your way to living God’s plan; however, it is important not to stray off the path and that is why it is also important to know your scripture.
2 Timothy 3:16, 17 -“All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”
As Timothy tells us, “…that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” and that’s how we are going to fight Satan. Jesus was able to fight off Satan by knowing scripture when he fasted in the desert.
539 …Christ reveals himself as God’s Servant, totally obedient to the divine will. In this, Jesus is the devil’s conqueror: he “binds the strong man” to take back his plunder. Jesus’ victory over the tempter in the desert anticipates victory at the Passion, the supreme act of obedience of his filial love for the Father.
As the Catechism tells us Jesus was able to remain loyal to God and turn around what Adam had done. Jesus was able to resist temptation which insured victory when Jesus died on the cross for our sins. We also can defeat Jesus when we arm ourselves with the virtue of Temperance, scripture and faith in God.