“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, 32 but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Luke 22:31,32
For those who believe that Satan is the evil equivalent of God it is a foreign idea that Satan is actually an agent of God's discipline. In the life of the unbeliever Satan is an agent of wrath but God holds no wrath for his own, rather, the Lord disciplines those whom he loves (Hebrews 12:3-11).
If there is only ONE authority in heaven and earth then it should come as no surprise that God has full and absolute authority over Satan and his hosts. Luke 22 contains a remarkable picture of how the Lord uses the fractured purpose and evil intent of the Devil. The words of Jesus tells us that Satan has requested, DEMANDED even, for the opportunity to 'sift the apostles like wheat'. Sifting wheat is a GOOD thing and the Holy Spirit's role in sifting us is to point out weakness and give us the power to strengthen that which is weak.
Satan, an expert in human dynamics, knows that there must be a tearing down process as well - a deconstruction. In his lust for power (he has very little since Christ 'plundered his house') he requests of God to play in the 'tearing down' part. We would expect God to say "No!" but He doesn't. Instead, Jesus prays to the Father and insures that the faith of the apostles will be made strong. Jesus will USE the fallen 'ape' to continue the process of transformation. As we see so many times in the history of redemption, in the struggle between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, what Satan has purposed for evil the Lord has purposed for good.
The difference between the craven apostles on the night that Jesus was betrayed and those same men who stood boldly and preached before strangers and enemies on Pentecost was the 'sifting like wheat'. Satan had to ask permission and he was never outside of God's good purpose to establish the pillars of the church. Could God have transformed the apostles without Satan? Of course he could... but he didn't. It pleased the Lord to use the rebellious angel and therefore showed the world that God is glorified in all things. The apostles did not need to know of any schemes or methods to combat demonic attack, they only needed to trust the sovereignty of the Father and the authority of Jesus Christ.
God. "To walk out of his will is to walk into nowhere" C. S. Lewis, Perelandra
Bob, Thank you for your research. I am trying to more fully understand the presence and activity of evil. Our very "theologically grounded" church of 12 years has come under serious attack but when I attribute any of the struggle w/in our midst to the enemy, I am met w/ hostility, rejection, or corrective warnings by some of the elders. Having grown up in a third world country, I am wide open to believing in the very, very, real and powerful presence of the enemy, Satan, the Devil, Lucifer, the great red dragon, the prince of this world...but don't want to give him more credit or power than he actually has nor do I want to leave him in a little red suit holdin a pitch fork in cartoon land! In my search for support and understanding I found a good article by R.C.Sproul jr entitled, The Devil in the Details. I would love to know what you think.
ReplyDeleteExcellent! And completely truthful to the scriptures.
ReplyDeleteThink of Job... God gives Satan an EPIC project... to BREAK him.
Think of God sending an evil spirit to afflict Saul.
Think of the Son of God's own testing in the desert...
Satan is in a sense NOT God's enemy... an enemy presupposes some level of threat. Rather, he's a tool... He's God's rod.
Ironically, many people tend to actually create an IDOL of him by branding him as God's nemesis... Preposterous!