Have you ever wondered how the devil became the ruler of this world? I’ll give you a clue, he didn’t do it by force.

He did it by shifting the allegiance of man from God to himself. When the serpent told Eve, “You surely will not die,” it forced an immediate choice. Would Eve believe God or would she believe the serpent?

So now Eve was faced with more than one choice. The first choice was would she obey God’s command to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? The second choice was would she believe God or the devil?

Her choice to obey or disobey God would rest on whether or not she believed God’s words were true or the devil words were true. She chose to believe the serpent.

Adam and Eve Choose Their Master

Eve chose to believe the serpent over God and willfully rejected the command of God to not eat of the fruit of the tree. She rejected God and put her trust in the devil. In her heart, she switched sides. She was rejecting the rule of God and submitting to the rule of Satan.

Eve was deceived by the devil, but Adam could have stopped what was taking place by taking authority over the serpent and command him to leave the garden. It was in his God-given right to exercise authority over the devil.

1 Timothy 2:14 clearly states that Eve was deceived but Adam was not. With his eyes wide open he chose to reject God and His command to believe and submit to the lies of the enemy. Both Adam and Eve chose the serpent over God.

Adam and Eve Become Slaves to Sin and Satan

When Adam and Eve chose to disobey God, they came out from under His protection and blessing. They lost the authority to rule over the earth and every living creature. Satan now ruled over them. He was now the one exerting his authority over man.

As we saw in last week’s post, Satan is called the god of this world. He is in no way equal to God since he is a created being. We can see his desire to be worshipped by one of the requests he made to Jesus while He was tempting Him in the wilderness.

8 Again, the devil *took Him to a very high mountain and *showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; 9 and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus *said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’”

The devil was attempting to pull the same scheme on Jesus that he had on Adam and Eve. You don’t have to die. You can have the authority to rule the world back. The only problem would be that Jesus would now be under the authority of the devil rather than God.

Jesus did what Adam should have done. He commanded the devil to go. He said, “Go, Satan! For it is written, YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD AND SERVE HIM ONLY.”

In the book of Romans, Paul gives us insight into how Satan got to be in charge of the world. Paul writes:

Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? (Romans 6:16)

In submitting to satan and his lies Adam and Eve became slaves to both sin and Satan. Death entered their lives and the planet because of their willingness to believe and follow the serpent. Paul says:

1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. (Ephesians 2:1-2)

In these verses, Paul shows us the impact of sin upon the former lives of believers and the spirit that is behind the rebellion against God.

All Sin is Rebellion Against God’s Commands

The plan of Satan remains the same as it was in the garden of Eden and in the days of Jesus. He wants us to rebel against the will of God and fall under his control.

It’s common for many people to point out that they are just human and have shortcomings. They may say that have faults or made mistakes. Each of these concepts downplays the actual role of sin.

Adam and Eve did not just make a “mistake,” they willfully chose to reject God’s commands and chose to believe and act upon the word of the devil.

There are three major words for sin in the Bible. Each of these words has the implication that there is a standard of righteousness that God has established. Here are the three words and their meaning:

• Hata - to “miss the mark” or to “fall short of God’s standard

• Pesa - “rebellion” or “transgression”

• Awon - “iniquity” or “guilt” speaks of a “twisting of the standard or deviating from it.”

Each word speaks of what God has commanded and man’s response to His commands. Each of these words are much more than a mistake. It is a willful decision to go against God’s command or twist it into something other than He meant it to be.

Sin Gives Place to the Devil

Paul warns the Ephesians not to give place to the devil. He says,

BE ANGRY, AND YET DO NOT SIN; no not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. (Ephesians 4:26)

Sin opens the door for the enemy to work in our lives, even the life of a believer. The enemy encourages us to sin knowing that when we choose to disobey God we come out from under His protection.

Various authors of the Bible warn us of the dangers of taking the devil lightly.

Paul warns Timothy that those who desire to be overseers in the church must not be a new convert:

...lest he become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. (1 Timothy 3:7)

Peter warns about the devil seeking to devour believers. He says:

Be sober of spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)

Paul tells all believers to put on the full armor of God to stand against the schemes of the devil. He says:

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:10-17)

Paul recognizes that the enemy is active even after Jesus overcame Him through the cross and resurrection. Satan is still alive and actively seeking to resist the work of God on the earth.

We should never fear the enemy. He is a defeated foe. In the same manner, we must never take him for granted because he is still seeking to exert his control over the lives of believers. Paul gives us some great insights how to do this.

His first insight is to be strong in the Lord and the power of His might. We never take the devil on in our own wisdom or strength. We must face Him in the power of God.

Second, we must put on the armor that God gives us to fight the battle. God’s armor comes from Him and is freely given to all who believe in Him. Let’s see what each piece of armor is and how it can help us.

Truth - this is reality from God’s perspective. It is only when we walk in the truth that we can experience the freedom God has for us.

Righteousness - We reject our own self-righteousness and wholly depend upon Christ’s righteousness. We also live a life of righteousness in Christ.

Gospel of Peace - We are at peace with God and know that He fights for us. The good news is that through Jesus Christ we are overcomers.

Faith - Everything that we have in our Christian life comes through faith. We believe God and walk in His way.

Salvation - We are convinced that there is salvation in no other name than Jesus. We can stand confidently against the accusations and lies of the enemy.

Word of God - God’s word is the foundation of all we believe. We stand on the word of God and keep it as the bedrock of our faith.

Third, we must resist the devil with everything the Lord has given us. We are fighting against the enemy in the power of God and are told to stand. We must never back down. When the enemy comes our way, we must send him fleeing.

Now is the Time to Stand

The writer of the book of Hebrews tells us to get rid of the things that entangle us and hinder us from walking in the victory that Christ has won. He says:

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. (Hebrews 12:1)

So often we have things in our lives that do not glorify God and hold us in bondage. As believers, Christ has called us to freedom. He died to set us free from every besetting sin. Nothing should control us.

Paul said:

All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. (1 Corinthians 6:12)

If you find yourself bound by anything in your life, it is time to rise up in the power of Jesus Christ and enforce His victory in your life. I will leave you with Paul’s advice to the Romans. He said:

12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! 16 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.

Choose today to resist the enemy. Stand in the power of Jesus Christ and the devil will flee from you.