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reach and teach devotions

GENESIS 2

16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat[ of it you shall surely die.”





chapter 3:2-5

And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

3:2-5



LUKE 10:18

18 And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven."




ISAIAH 14:12-15

12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.



THE FALL GUY


Why did the serpent or devil hate God so much? Why did he influence them to disobey God?

Satan could have left Adam and Eve to their own devices. What did they ever do to hurt him? To understand Satan’s role in the fall of man, we must go back to pre-creation. God the Trinity was existed before anything was created. He is before all things. He is above all things.




Before creation there was war in heaven. Lucifer, one of the chief angels, rebelled against God and was cast out of heaven; Satan was so influential that a third of the angels of heaven followed him to his new home…hell. Satan hates God, but he can't hurt God, so who does he go after? Man, the pinnacle of God's creation.


Jesus said that the devil is the father of lies; he told lies to the angels he led into the rebellion in heaven. He fell because of his lust for power. And now he uses the desire for power to entice Eve. After Eve told Satan that she was forbidden from eating the fruit from the Tree of Life, Satan responds with the words, "Has God said?" Satan knew exactly what God had said. Remember, he doesn't change his tactics, he seeks to contradict God and his word and tell us that what God has said is not true.



Satan is the fall guy. And through deception he played a role in the fall of man. Another example of Satan being the fall guy, is in the book of Job. God says to Satan, "Where have you been?” How ironic. God knew who Satan was and where he had been. Satan was wandering around the world. The Bible says he roams around like a roaring lion; he is like a bear with a very sore head. After the first two chapters of Job, he is not mentioned. He is defeated through the testimony and faithfulness of Job. Again, he is the fall guy.



At the cross, he suffered a terminal defeat. The power of Satan was completely destroyed, his weapons of death and sin were smashed. Finally, at the end of time, Satan will be the ultimate fall guy, when he is sentenced to eternal punishment, him and his rebellious angels, who will have their own sentence of death.
Satan chose to rebel; he made the wrong choice; he sought power; he was proud. And he will pay…big time!



Remember that we have the weapons to defeat Satan: 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, Romans 16:19-20 and Ephesians 6:10-18. We cannot be like the sons of Sceva, who sought to fight him in their own strength. As a young Christian, I sought to answer the devil in my own power, but he defeated me, I was often left in tears and my faith in tatters.



How did Jesus defeat him? By speaking and using the word of God (see Matthew 4:1-11). Remember, the tactics of Satan are the same, the truth sadly is that they often are successful. But when he comes to tempt us, we have the Armor of God.



When Satan tempts Jesus, he misuses the Word of God; he misquotes Scripture; he takes verses out of context; How do we answer him? We don’t. We ignore him. Satan can only do what God allows him too. He is on a very short lease. We have the victory over him, by the power of the Holy Spirit and also when we praise God. Worship is a powerful weapon.



JAMES 4:6-8

6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.



How do we submit to God? We humble ourselves; we denounce our pride; we cannot fight the devil on our own; we have to submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. If we are submitted to God, we can resist the devil, and he has no option but to flee. Why? Because when he tries to tempt us, he meets not us, but Jesus who lives in us, by the Holy Spirit.



Don’t be the fall guy…trust God and let Him fight your battles.



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