While participating in a small group study with a few brothers in the local congregation I attend, one of them made a comment that stood out:
“Satan is trying to plunder whatever he can in his losing battle – and that’s us.”
The idea that Satan’s goal is to plunder our souls is no surprise. 1 Peter 5:8 admonishes us to “Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.” His desire is to destroy us, and he is willing to whatever it takes, say whatever he needs to say to convince us that his way, the way of the world is better option (John 8:44).
It was the “losing battle” that really drew my attention. Any true cinephile or bibliophile despises spoilers. They want to find out for themselves, they want to be surprised – they want to get to the end and find out he was dead the whole time (it’s been over 20 years, surely you all know by now…). Yet, that’s not how God wrote the scriptures. He gave us the outcome. Jesus referenced it in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats in Matthew 25: “Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” (v. 41) Perhaps even more connected to the quote above is how Satan’s rebellion against God will ultimately be crushed:
When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle. Their number is like the sand of the sea. They came up across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the encampment of the saints, the beloved city. Then fire came down from heaven and consumed them. The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. (Revelation 20:7-10)
Satan is in a battle for our souls. One he knows he is going to lose, and he is determined to take all of us with him. Our advantage? We also know what our fate is if we choose to serve God and follow Jesus or if we bow the knee to the temptations we encounter every day (check out that whole Parable of the Sheep and the Goats when you have a moment – Matthew 25:31-46). It just continues to emphasize the importance of guarding our hearts from the devil’s attacks on our souls every day.
Satan is going to lose. Don’t let him take you down with him.
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