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Response
The book of 1 Peter 5:8 advises, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (ESV). This verse is found in the concluding chapter of the book, followed by Peter’s urging to resist the devil and stand firm. While we focus on following God’s commands, it is crucial to comprehend why the devil opposes us and how to confront his assaults.
One explanation for Satan, whose name signifies “adversary” or “one who opposes,” being labeled as our adversary is his enmity towards God. Although the Bible does not offer a detailed narrative of the events between God and the devil in the distant past, Isaiah 14:12–14 and Ezekiel 28:12–18 provide some insights. These passages hint that the angel now known as the devil defied God, prompting other angels to join the rebellion, resulting in their expulsion from God’s presence. Unable to challenge the Almighty, the devil shifts his focus to humanity, God’s beloved creation.
This situation raises challenging questions. We may ponder why God allowed the rebellion or why He created Satan in the first place. Since the Bible does not explicitly address these inquiries, we find ourselves akin to toddlers trying to grasp quantum physics. What we do know is that God designed everything with a purpose, including the angel who turned into the devil “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”, (Revelation 4:11).
It is crucial to recall that God initially created Satan as a holy angel before his rebellion. Moreover, God’s foreknowledge of an event does not imply that He causes it to occur. At best, we can only ponder why He brought anything into existence.Similar to reading a suspense novel, understanding the ways of God may only come at the end when God restores all things (Revelation 21:1-6).
Until the grand denouement, we live with unanswered questions in the middle of the ultimate suspense story. There is more to be said about our adversary. The term devil originates from the Greek word diabolos, which means “slanderer” or “accuser.” This notion is conveyed in Revelation 12:10, which portrays the devil seeking to accuse us as guilty before the Ultimate Judge, like he did to Job (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-6) and Joshua the high priest “And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.” (Zechariah 3:1).
The devil is also known as the “father of lies” “You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” (John 8:44) and is responsible for leading the world astray “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” (Revelation 12:9). He deceived Eve into rebelling against God (Genesis 3:1-7), and he continues to feed the world lies. The devil even attempted to deceive Jesus.
The widespread persecution of Christians, both in the past and present, can also be attributed to our adversary, the devil. First Peter 5:9 mentions suffering, and the entire letter was written to encourage persecuted believers. The devil uses persecution as a means to discourage Christians. The assault is emphasized in Revelation 2:7, where the church of Smyrna is warned that “the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you.” Also, Revelation 12:17 predicts that the dragon will wage war against “those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.”
The devil is our adversary because he opposes all that God is and does. Humans are created in God’s image «So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. », (Genesis 1:27). Humans represent the pinnacle of God’s creation, and humans are the object of God’s love «For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. », (John 3:16). Furthermore, Satan opposes even more vehemently all those who are bound to Christ. Our battle is not against politicians, new atheists, or anyone else who combats Christianity; it is fundamentally a spiritual conflict (Ephesians 6:11-12). Like vigilant soldiers, we must remain alert and armed with spiritual weapons.
Our armor against our adversary the devil comprises God’s truth, His gift of righteousness, salvation, the peace of the gospel, the unshakable Word of God, and our faith in Christ (Ephesians 6:14-17).
