Do you know who your enemy is? Often times we assume that the devil is our only enemy and that is partly accurate but, we have two additional enemies, the world and our flesh. We know more about the additional enemies because essentially, we live in the world and we know ourselves. We know and understand our fleshly desires and the lure of the world and we overcome with coming to Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (New King James Version)17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
God has told us that if we surrender our flesh and will to Him, that He will make the changes in our life. He will take away sinful desires and will give us His heart. Our flesh enemy can be brought under submission everyday by waking up in the morning and telling God that you surrender your flesh and will to Him and that you are putting them into submission to Him. If we focus on the cross daily and continue to “press onward toward the mark of the high calling” as Paul wrote, we can leave the world behind us.
But what about our other enemy? Do you really know our other enemy? The Bible is filled with descriptions and names of our enemy. In part one we will look at the physical and mental state of our enemy. In part two, we will explore his names and what they reveal to us.
So what does the enemy look like?
Read Ezekiel 28:12-19 (New King James Version) [excerpt v12-17]
12 “You were the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. 14 “You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. 15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you. 16 “ By the abundance of your trading you became filled with violence within, And you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing Out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones. 17 “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor;I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, that they might gaze at you.
In the beginning, our enemy was very special to God. God made him so beautiful and with a great purpose. He was a musical creation (v13 explains, timbrels and pipes), it is said that Lucifer led God’s worship in Heaven; this made him very unique. It also said that he was an “anointed cherub who covers” (v14); he was a great creation, far from the guy in the red suit and pitch fork that many would have you believe. God makes everything beautiful!
So we know what he looks like physically, but let’s face it, we don’t see him with our natural eyes! So it’s not like we would know him if we saw him, that is why God has given us tools, such as the Spirit of discernment. God’s Spirit of discernment helps us to know by spirit if something is of God. Remember we don’t battle that which is seen we battle that which is unseen. Consider a blind person, their 4 other senses are heightened because one is lacking. Because we lack spiritual eyes, God gives us His spirit so that we may know that which is of Him and that which is not of Him. God also, mentions that Lucifer was very wise, which surely comes in handy now for his tricky ways. But for all his wisdom and beauty, Lucifer was proud and truly he was insecure.
Let’s look at his state of mind which brings about his fall.
Isaiah 14:12-15 (New King James Version) The Fall of Lucifer
12 “ How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,[a] son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! 13For you have said in your heart: ‘ I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit.
If you are already highly favored, loved, created with care, beautiful and wise, why then would you need to be puffed up? Should you not feel satisfied with all that you have and have been given? The very heart of Lucifer is what gives the devil his characteristics and consequently he tries to sell you the same ideology. How often do you tell yourself “what I have isn’t enough”, “can’t I have more”? That is what he sold to Eve. They [Adam and Eve] could have anything and everything in the Garden, but the one thing they couldn’t have the devil tried to make them focus on. Kind of like, the one thing the devil could not have, God’s throne, though he had access to everything else, that’s what he wanted. He convinced Eve of the same. You have everything you could ever want but why not more? If you read both the passage in Isaiah and Ezekiel, you will see that once he fell, nothing changed about him. Not his thoughts, will, or looks. And what truly makes the devil mad is knowing that the one thing he wanted, has beeng iven to another, Jesus Christ! Who has been given the name above every name, who sits at the right hand of God till judgment, where he will reign forever and ever!
The passage in Isaiah and Ezekiel explain Lucifer’s defeat. God has already had the victory over the devil. The Devil has waged war against us because God Love’s us. He already knows his end. The devil knows the Word of God, he even quotes it (mostly misquotes, but that’s his way of twisting God’s Words), he knows he can’t win, so his goal is to take as many of us with him as possible. It is written in the bible that the pit was made for the devil and his minions, it never said that it was meant for human beings, yet when satan gets a hold of us we end up with him. God would have it so that none of us would suffer; hence the reason He sent Jesus to pay the penalty for us, and conquer sin and shame!
I hope that this post gave you a little more insight into our enemy. As stated before the next part will take a look into his names, which ultimately reveals more about his character and schemes to corrupt the nations. Let us remember, that while it is smart for us to know who our enemy is, it is much better to know who our Savior is. We must learn to focus on the cross and through that we have begun to defeat the enemy. Part 2 is coming soon!
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