I found a great verse today regarding Satan--the enemy, the accuser. [Yes, Satan is a Bible fact—demons, too!]
Christians tend to believe that he is either 1) so powerful that they have no hope of overcoming him, or 2) he doesn't really exist. Both are incorrect—he does exist, and he is under our authority.
In Ezekiel 28:1-10, God speaks to the natural, human ruler of Tyre, a powerful city state. Then, in verses 11-19, He speaks to the spiritual, demonic ruler over Tyre. You can tell from the context that He is directly addressing Satan, the archangel formerly known as Lucifer.
He talks about how beautiful and perfect he was, until unrighteousness was found in him.
What was that unrighteousness? According to Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14, it was pride—pride of beauty, and wickedness—his intent to place himself above God.
Of course, both chapters tell us that he will be punished—he will be thrown into the pit and cease to exist forever.
But I what I particularly love about Ezekiel 28:14-19 is that it is written in THE PAST TENSE! These are quantum realities!
'"You were the anointed cherub who covers, and I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; you walked in the midst of the stones of fire. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until unrighteousness was found in you. By the abundance of your trade You were internally filled with violence, and you sinned; THEREFORE I HAVE CAST YOU AS PROFANE FROM THE MOUNTAIN OF GOD. And I HAVE DESTROYED YOU, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire."Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I CAST YOU TO THE GROUND; I put you before kings, that they may see you. By the multitude of your iniquities, In the unrighteousness of your trade you profaned your sanctuaries."Therefore I have brought fire from the midst of you; It has consumed you, and I HAVE TURNED YOU TO ASHES ON THE EARTH IN THE EYES OF ALL WHO SEE YOU. All who know you among the peoples are appalled at you; you have become terrified and YOU WILL CEASE TO BE FOREVER."'
Hallelujah! God has finished His works and has entered His rest...from the foundation of the world! [Hebrews 4] And one of those works was the obliteration of the enemy—turned to ashes!
He's already ashes! Think of him like that, and remind him of Luke 10:19:
"Behold, I have given you authority to TREAD ON SERPENTS AND SCORPIONS, and OVER ALL THE POWER OF THE ENEMY, and NOTHING WILL INJURE YOU."
Then, of course, there's 1 John 4:4...
'You are from God, little children, and have overcome them [evil spirits, ref v.1-3]; because GREATER IS HE WHO IS IN YOU than he who is in the world.'
An aside...I think the kings He's referring to who see satan as defeated are us! Revelations 18:23 says he deceived the nations...but we are told to see the unseen and overcome him! We are one Spirit with the King of kings and the Lord of Lords, and Romans 5:17 says we are to reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ!! This is just my opinion, but who else would He be showing?
Defeated
If you've seen the movie Troy, you'll remember that after Achilles killed Hector, he dragged him around in front of the city.
This reminded me of Colossians 2:15...
'When He [Jesus] had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.'
In ancient times, this is what you did with a defeated enemy. Sometimes you dragged their dead bodies behind your chariot, sometimes you dragged them in chains behind your chariot. The point was the display—this king is defeated, there' a new king in town.
Sometimes it was a defeated foe—the display was to reassure the people that they need no longer fear him, he would never again terrorize them.
Either way, it was a show of strength and victory. And it's a perfect picture of Jesus' defeat and humiliation of Satan.
1 John 3:8 says 'The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.' Why? Didn't He already have authority over the devil? Didn't He know that he was already ashes?
Yes, but He came to transfer His authority—His Name and the power in His Blood—to us. He came to defeat him for us! He came to give us what He already had...perfect victory and authority over the enemy.
Praise God...and remind Satan that he's ashes! Take your authority over him and sweep him out of your life!
