Is the devil real? It is interesting how present experiences can influence our point of view on this question. In the early seventies I had an experience that impressed upon me how great our God in Jesus Christ truly is. Even though I was saved in my teens, it was not until then that I understood where the men God used to write the Bible were coming from. After having personally experienced His awesome presence, I could not even begin then to see the devil as a threat to the child of God.

At the time I was fairly certain that I could convince love ones and friends that what I had experienced was real and that the Bible was true. Most were unfazed, and others probably thought I was confused. To me the truth of the Gospel was obvious, and I assumed the change they saw in me would be enough to convince them of it. It did not take long for me to learn that other forces were also at work, forces that the Bible also had much to say about. At one point I even felt the sense of what the scriptures taught on the pervasive presence of evil in the world. It is simply a matter of perspective.

As time progressed, I sought to understand the Scriptures more and to understand the sovereignty of God and His wisdom in permitting the devil to continue in this earth, with some success. In a time when preachers were mostly sin and devil conscious, many of us were seeing the importance of acknowledging the finished work of Christ upon the Cross. Scriptures like this one seemed to literally jump of the page:

Colossians 2:9-15:

“For in Him (Christ) all the fulness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.”

NASB

Think of it! Your are complete IN HIM! The invisible evil forces that rule in this world have been disarmed, overcome and publicly humiliated. Every accusation that has been made against God has been put to rest. His motives that had been questioned first in the garden can no longer be doubted, as He proved His love and perfect intentions for humanity by His sacrifice on the Cross. Every accusation against those who trust in Him is eradicated as well, for they become identified with Him in baptism. Their old life has been buried, and they are raised with Him into the new!

All of this actually happened the moment I surrendered my heart and life unto Christ. I began to experience it immediately, but without full understanding, I could not live in the fullness of it. Our minds are the actual battleground in this war, which in Christ has already been won. In one sense the growth process of the Christian is related to our increasing ability to accept the fact that we have become entirely new and righteous by the work of Christ on the Cross.

Jesus Christ was manifested that He might reverse the damage done by the devil. (1 John 3:8 Darby and Amplified Bible).

Hebrews 2:14-15:

“Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”

NASB

From these Scriptures we see that the [...]