Does Satan have power?

“A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:10-12 NLT

Our Enemy
We are in a fight, or you could call it a war. We live in a world with a lot of chaos and strife. We live in a sinful world full of sinners; however, despite our shortcomings, we have an enemy that is fighting against us.
Genesis 3 gives us the account of the fall of man. However, Adam and Eve had some help. Satan or the serpent played a part in the fall.

“The devil” is the name given in Scripture to the chief of these fallen angels. He is also known as Satan.…he is the opponent, the one who opposes the cause and the people of God…..Several other terms are used of him less frequently: tempter (Matt. 4:3; 1 Thess. 3:5), Beelzebul (Matt. 12:24, 27; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15, 19), enemy (Mart. 13:39), evil one (Matt. 13:19, 38; 1 John 2:13; 3:12; 5:18), Belial (2 Cor. 6:15), adversary (1 Pet. 5:8), deceiver (Rev.12:9), great dragon (Rev. 12:3), father of lies (John 8:44), murderer (John 8:44), sinner (1 John 3:8). (Erickson, 2013)”

We see Satan has different descriptors above temper, enemy, adversary, and deceiver…. It gives us a clue to who we are dealing with daily.

As believers, we have our sinful flesh to wrestle with, but we also have to combat the deception that Satan throws at us to distract our focus from God.

Deception is one of the main ways Satan tries to get us to turn away from God. As we read in Genesis 3, Satan sprinkles his lies with truth. He even quoted scripture when he tempted Christ. (Matt 4:1-11).

We must remember who our enemy really is and how he operates. Satan’s goal is to oppose God in every way. He does this by coming for us, God’s people.

However, Satan’s power is limited; God is the only all-powerful One. Satan can do nothing that God does not allow. We see this illustrated in the book of Job.

The Fight
As stated earlier, we battle daily with our flesh and the devil. Thankfully, God does not leave us alone to fight. God gives us the strength to combat Satan and fights our battles for us. However, we have a role in the battle. God has given us the strategy to outsmart Satan’s tactics.

Ephesians 6 tells us to put on the armor of God, which is the belt of truth, body armor of God’s righteousness, For shoes, put on the peace, the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God and praying in the Spirit. (10-18 NLT)

“So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.” James 4:7-8 NLT

When we face evil and don’t know what to do always take it to God in prayer. He has an answer for when you don’t know what to pray. “And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.” Rom. 8:26 NLT

The End
In the end, the battle is already won. Christ secured the victory on the cross.

“Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. Hebrews 2:14-15 NLT

“You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.” Col. 2:13-15 NLT

“I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.” Eph 1:19-23 NLT

So as we struggle daily, we know we are in a war. We are in a battle with our own sinfulness and the darts of the devil. It is crucial to keep in mind who and what we are fighting and, all the while, remember that God has given us Himself and His Word to combat whatever Satan throws at us.

Remember, Christ has already won the war.

References
Christian Theology (2013) by Millard J. Erickson