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This is a continuation of the series on The Body.
God let satan have a go at Job. God’s Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by the devil. Paul called his thorn in the flesh a messenger from satan.
Do God and satan work together?
Initially this was a very troubling thought until I studied their relationship a little closer.
So first of all, let me be clear. God is completely in charge of everyone and everything. He is All Power. Satan is not.
God loves us. Satan does not.
Any so called power satan has is limited. He is an angel, so he can do things we humans cannot do while we are on earth. He can roam the earth. He can disguise himself. He can tempt.
But he cannot get into God’s Holy Temple. Remember our bodies are God’s Temple.
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of The Holy Spirit, Who is in you, Whom you have received from God? You are not your own .. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Now the real question is whether God would even allow satan to get in the yard outside our temples, knock on our door or throw rocks at our window. And if so, why?
Remember …
God loves us.
God always has a Plan for our good.
God teaches us and guides us.
He then tests us.
He provides resistance training.
God refines us.
He prunes us.
He redeems us.
He restores us.
Now comes the new thought. Is it possible that all those things are also true about God’s relationship with satan?
When we view satan as a rebellious child who constantly gets in trouble instead of a powerful enemy, other things change.
God could have eliminated satan. He didn’t. Instead He talked to him. Check out the book of Job.
He rebuked him at times.
He disciplined him and made him leave places he didn’t belong.
He warned the rest of earth dwellers about him.
He let him try his tactics with the humans, so he could see his ways were not going to work. The rebellious satan failed over and over again.
Even when he took his best shot at God Himself in Jesus’ Body, he failed.
Meanwhile God continued to show him up close and personal what Love looked like. He showed him how He loved. He showed him how humans loved Him (God).
He showed him humans who obeyed Him and those who did not. He showed him the joy that came with obedience and the hell that came as a result of disobedience.
He showed him how He, God, could love those who had sworn to be His enemy.
But God wanted the same thing for his rebellious angels He wanted for humans thought to be evil.
God said through the prophet Ezekiel,
“As surely as I live, I do not want any who are wicked to die. I want them to stop doing evil and live. Stop! Stop your wicked ways!”
Ezekiel 33:11
God took satan along with Him and let him use some of the powers he had as an angel to provide tests and resistance training for His humans.
But it was also to show satan how limited his powers were. In fact, when humans obeyed God and let Him speak for them, satan ran away.
God let satan play in the yard outside the human bodies with Him closely watching. But satan could not create or destroy life. He could only lie, cheat, steal, tempt, accuse and condemn.
He could only bait the humans to barricade themselves in and try everything to save their bodies. He tried to wear them down and entice them to let him in.
But every time a child of God stood firm, knowing the battle truly belonged to God, satan ran away.
James said,
“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
James 4:7
How you use your body is not only a testimony to other humans, it is a testimony to God’s rebellious angels. This is what Love between God and his child looks like.
Can satan ever go home to heaven? The predictions are not hopeful, but then again, we must consider how far we believe God’s Grace extends. Nothing is impossible with God.
God uses His Holy Fire to refine and purify. When all that is not of God is removed from his rebellious angels and humans, perhaps only then will we see the perfection God created from the beginning.
In the meantime, be on guard for the rebellious angel. He still roams the earth and his first target is your body.
Peter, who had some first hand experience warned,
“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
1 Peter 5:8
God is still working on satan … and all of us.
