Divine Defense,
The Purpose Driven Strife
By Dr. Robert Jeffress

“Enemy-occupied territory—that is what this world is.” – C.S. Lewis
“There are no small parts, just small actors.” I consoled myself with those words of legendary movie director Alfred Hitchcock before my one big scene in the old television series “Dallas.” A few months earlier, I had read in the newspaper that the casting director for the popular program was looking for extras for an episode to be shot on location in the show’s namesake city. Since I lived nearby and enjoyed watching the program every Friday night, I took a chance and mailed in my photograph.
A few weeks later, I received a call informing me I had been selected and instructing me to be at a Dallas hotel early the next morning for the shoot. When I arrived, I was quickly introduced to the difference between major players and extras. Major players have their own trailers for dressing rooms; extras are told to change in the bathrooms located in the hotel lobby. But I wasn’t going to allow such a slight to diminish my excitement over my role in one of television’s highest-rated dramas.
The assistant director informed me and another extra that we were to play businessmen having lunch in a local restaurant. The main action in the scene was a conversation at the bar between two of the principal characters (Bobby Ewing and Cliff Barnes). Our job was to sit at a table directly behind the bar and look like we were carrying on a conversation, which led to yet another distinction between major players and extras. Major players actually get to speak out loud. Extras are only allowed to move their lips, to simulate speaking, so that their words do not distract from the actors’ dialogue (all that muffled background conversation you hear is dubbed in later).
We all assumed our positions. The director yelled “Action!” and we began playing our parts. After about 20 seconds, the director said, “Cut. Moving on.” The assistant director said to my lunch companion and me, “Thank you very much. Your check will be mailed in a few days.” And it was over. For an instant, I had been part of the legendary television conflict between the Ewings and the Barnes families that had begun many years earlier and would continue for years afterwards. One brief scene, a little bit of action, the promise of a check, and my part was complete. Not unlike life itself.
Whether you realize it or not, you have a part to play in a major drama that began years before you were born and will continue for years after you die. Compared to the two major characters in this epic, your role is relatively minor. Compared to eternity, your time on Earth’s stage is relatively brief. At your appointed time, you play the part assigned to you for 70-80 years and then exit. Your future reward depends on how well you perform your job.
But unlike my brief acting stint, the drama in which you have been cast is real. It is a story about a war that began years ago in heaven between the two most powerful (though far from equal) beings in the universe. The conflict involved a collision between two wills: the will of God and the will of His former chief of staff, Satan (originally named “Lucifer”). And it is a drama that is played out every day on the front pages of every newspaper, as well as within the inner recesses of every human heart. You will never comprehend the reason for the battles you face every hour of every day until you understand the origin of this war and the enemy’s goal in the war.
The reality of Satan.
Some people deny the existence of a literal devil. Ken Woodward in Newsweek magazine refers to Satan as “A merely trivial personification hardly adequate to symbolize the mystery of evil.” Others attempt to diminish Satan’s power by reducing him to a comic book character with a red suit, horns, and a tail who runs around poking people in the backside with a pitchfork. Some historians argue that this absurd caricature originated in the Middle Ages as an attempt to attack Satan by assaulting his oversized ego. How better to insult an ego maniac than to reduce him to such a ridiculous-looking personality?
If that was the goal, I’m afraid the plan backfired badly. Today, many people laugh at Satan rather than fear him (Think of comedian Dana Carvey’s “Church Lady” from the “Saturday Night Live” television program and her signature line: “Could it be Satan??”).
I believe the devil is delighted when people underestimate his power, either by denying his existence or diminishing his potential threat. If we are going to win this very real battle, which threatens everything and everyone important to us, we must understand the ferocity of our adversary.
As J. Dwight Pentecost reminds us, “No military commander could expect to be victorious in battle unless he understood his enemy. Should he prepare for an attack by land and ignore the possibility that the enemy might approach by air or by sea, he would open the way to defeat. Or should he prepare for a land and sea attack and ignore the possibility of an attack through the air, he would certainly jeopardize the campaign.”
No individual can be victorious against the adversary of our souls unless he understands his philosophy, his methods of operation, and his methods of temptation.
1. The Origin of Satan (Ezekiel 28:12-17)
“Satan is the opposite of God.” True or False? Sadly, many Christians would answer “True.” They view Satan as God’s evil twin. They picture both beings as all-powerful and all-knowing. They view their conflict as a supernatural game of tug-of-war in which each participant is straining to gain the advantage over the other while the rest of us sit on the sidelines, hoping that the “best man wins.” Nothing could be further from the truth.
Unlike God, who is eternal and has no beginning or end (“From everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God,” Moses declared in Psalm 90:2), Satan has both a beginning and an end. Satan’s origin is described in the Old Testament prophecy of Ezekiel.
We can piece together Lucifer’s story from God’s pronouncement against him in Ezekiel 28 and learn four important facts about his past.
- Satan is a Created Being (Ezekiel 28:15)
- Satan Held an Impressive Office in God’s Kingdom (Ezekiel 28:14)
- Satan Possessed Incomparable Wisdom and Beauty (Ezekiel 28:17)
- Satan’s Pride Led to His Downfall (Ezekiel 28:16-17)
2. The Fall of Satan (Isaiah 14:12-14)
The Bible does not explain how a perfect creature like Satan could have an imperfect thought that would lead to a wide-scale rebellion. Theologians refer to it as “the mystery of iniquity.” All Scripture tells us is that from somewhere in Satan’s heart arose the simple but insidious idea: “I want something different than what God wants for my life.”
This “battle of the wills” was the basis of the first sin ever committed in the universe, and every sin since that time. At the root of every act of disobedience in your life is a conscious decision to place your desire above God’s desire.
3. The Revenge of Satan (Genesis-Revelation)
As a result of Satan’s misguided “visioneering” about his future, God tossed him out of heaven along with an undetermined number of renegade angels who had decided they, too, were sick and tired of living under the tyranny of the Almighty.
By some accounts, as many as one-third of the angels chose to follow him in starting a new kingdom. Nevertheless, that means for every angel that said “yes” to Satan, two said “no.” The realization of the heavenly perks he and his followers had surrendered must have hit them as soon as they landed on planet Earth.
The dream of building a rival kingdom that will one day dethrone God is still alive in the heart of Satan and his followers. He is attempting to establish a shadow empire founded on the lie that life apart from God is both possible and preferable. And he is actively recruiting as many as he can to join him in his misguided efforts.
Although Satan is not omniscient and therefore cannot see the future as God can, he is thoroughly acquainted with the Bible (more so than many Christians). He knew of God’s plan to send His Son to redeem mankind. He was aware of Jesus’ claim that He would rise again from the dead. Satan is cognizant of God’s intention to break his stranglehold on the earth and dispatch him into the lake of fire forever.
But Satan has never believed God would actually succeed in His plan, just as many of us don’t really believe that we are going to die and stand before God to give an account of our lives. After all, if we really believed that, wouldn’t we live differently?
Full Passages: Ezekiel 28:12-17; Isaiah 14:12-14