The Devil, Satan, Lucifer, Beelzebub, the serpent, the beast
...Whatever, Whoever...
It No Longer Exists!

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The devil, Satan, or whatever you want to call him, or it, is not just a "defeated foe," but that entity - whatever it was - has been completely destroyed and has no place in the New Covenant.

I believe it is fundamental to understanding the gospel of the Kingdom of Christ to understand this.

It is also important to understand why people WANT or NEED the existence of this entity to be a present day reality. If the "devil" has not been destroyed, it changes the simple truth of the Kingdom of Christ and keeps people from finding the Kingdom.

Most people's understanding of the "devil," "Satan," or whatever, has come from what I call a "Hollywood version" of the Bible. Movies such as "The Exorcist," "The Omen," etc., are not Biblically sound teaching, but people actually believe that stuff. This message is not intended to correct "Hollywood christianity," but rather, to state that whatever that entity was - it is no longer in existence today.

Romans 16:20:

And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

Hebrews 2:14-15:

Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death hemight destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

John 11:24-27:

Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.

I Corinthians 15:20-28:

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith, all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.

And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

Revelation 21:1-5:

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

Has death been destroyed?

"And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?"

Jesus is emphatically stating what most men object to today. "No, death is all around us. It has not been destroyed!"

"And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?"

How about this? "Yes, Lord. I may not understand exactly what You're trying to tell me, but Yes, Lord, I believe you. By faith in you, I believe you!"

Remember from this point on, I Corinthians 15:26:

"...the last enemy to be destroyed is death..."

Don't you dare take my Satan away from me!

Years ago I found myself in a discussion with a lady and my response to her was that, "Whatever Satan was, Jesus had already destroyed that entity, 2000 years ago." Her response was so fierce, it will be something I will never forget. I thought she was going to have be physically restrained. She was furious! She was screaming. I was quite embarrassed for her. Her anger at my statement caused me to reply that I was sorry that I had taken away her "god."

The devil, or Satan, or whatever she wanted that entity to be called, was so important to her belief system that she held that entity in such esteem that it was a "god" to her. The importance of the existence of the "devil" was eye-opening for me. This lady was a professing "Christian!"

I have come to realize how important the concept of "Satan, the devil, etc.," is to people and why this entity MUST exist in their worlds today. Most people need someone or something to blame their problems on. And if they have someone or something to deflect what should be their own blame, then that gives them some sort of reconciliation in their minds.

"Satan is the god of this world."

This concept is a doctrine developed by the "state preachers" and it does one thing, very well. It convinces people that God has ordained Satan to be the "ruler of this present world." Now, if God has ordained it, you cannot and should not fight against it. This gives rise to all sorts of problems and ultimately attacks the simplicity of the gospel of the Kingdom of Christ.

The simplicity of the gospel of the Kingdom of Christ is that Christ is King and that the Laws of God, the Commandments of God, the Statutes of God and His perfect Will is what we should be striving to implement in our lives and in our communities.

"Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven."

Pretty simple, right?

But if Satan is the god of this world - and God Himself has ordained it to be so - then the pure waters of the Kingdom of Christ have instantly become muddied.

The proof is easily seen. Christendom has become entangled in a huge debate as to when and where "to draw lines in the sand" as it relates to interacting with man's "governments" or the concept of "living peaceably with all men."

Some are bold enough to claim that the Bible commands that "we obey all the laws of the land." While others claim, "When they tell me I can't preach John 3:16...." So we find ourselves in constant turmoil with who to obey, when to obey them, etc., etc.

"All the laws of the land" has devolved into the understanding that this refers ONLY to man's "laws." Apparently, "all the laws of the land" does not include God's Laws. No one has ever told someone they may not preach John 3:16 (at least not in America), so we are brought back to the belief that "all the laws of the land" refers to man's laws and not God's.

Just 40 years ago, the great majority of "preachers" would have come out against sodomite marriage. I'd say 99% against - to 1% for. But today, sodomite marriage is up for debate among so-called Christians. I'd say it might be nearing 50% for and 50% against. How does this happen?

It is a natural progression of things. If "Satan is the god of this world" - and God has ordained it to be so - and they are not telling a "preacher" he can't preach John 3:16 - then what's the reason for opposing sodomite marriage, or sodomy in any form?

If Satan is the god of this world - then whether we want to admit it or not - this gives man an excuse to shift the blame to God Himself.

"God, you created Satan, you set him over this present world, it's your fault. Satan's just doing what Satan does. This is all to be expected."

"The devil made me do it"

Probably, only people over the age of 50 will remember where this saying came from. It came from a comedian from the 70s named Flip Wilson. He made this famous in a skit he used to do in which the punch-line was, "The devil made me do it." Youtube "Flip Wilson, The Devil made me do it," it's actually pretty funny.

Through the years, I've had conversations with a lot - and I mean a lot - of people who have told me they have had actual fights with the "devil." They have told me they have actually SEEN the devil and have had fights with him.

When I hear things like this, I think to myself:

"There are 6 billion people on this planet, and the "devil," who is not God - is not omnipresent - and of all these 6 billion people on this planet - Satan finds you so valuable an opponent to him that he picked you out for a fight?"

Of all these 6 billion people that Satan could fight against - and I know a lot of people who have had a personal confrontation with Satan. WOW! I wonder what the percentages are on this? They'd have to be astronomical.

Why is this personal devil so important to people? Once again, it's the blame game. If God has ordained Satan to rule the world today - then we have something to blame our faults on - besides ourselves.

"God, if you'd just keep the devil away from me, and keep him from tempting me, I could serve you. But since you ordained Satan and he's just being Satan, I'll keep falling into his temptations."

God Destroyed Satan 2,000 Years Ago

I realize there is much debate even over what Satan, the devil, that old serpent, Beelzebub, Lucifer, the beast, etc., etc., was/is or what have you. What I am saying is simple. Whatever that entity was, whatever the original reason behind his creation and existence, whatever purpose he served - has ended. The entity - whether spiritual, physical, whatever, has been destroyed.

In Romans 16:20, Paul tells the first century believers that Satan would be "bruised under your feet" and it would happen "shortly."

It would happen - "UNDER THEIR FEET" and it would happen "SHORTLY."

BRUISE

Strong's = συντρ βω syntríbō, soon-tree'-bo; from G4862 and the base of G5147; to crush completely, i.e. to shatter (literally or figuratively):—break (in pieces), broken to shivers (-hearted), bruise.

Look at Romans 16:17-9

Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; andavoid them.

For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.

Now look.

"I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil..."

So God is going to crush completely - Satan - the evil one - so as to make this all very simple. He's going to remove the obstacles, remove the outside influences (even "demonic influences if one desires to use that phrase) - He is removing all of that and getting it out of the way.

He said this "crushing completely" would happen "UNDER THEIR FEET" and that it would happen "SHORTLY." For the futurists out there - this is a double-whammy advocate for the fulfilled Bible prophecy position. You will "Wrest the Scriptures to your own destruction" by trying to make this a futuristic fulfillment. (II Peter 3:16)

Examine the fall in the garden. Adam blames Eve. Eve blames the serpent. Is there an argument there? Is there a deflection of blame? Maybe.

But what about today? Temptations are everywhere. That's easily seen. But it's not from the "devil." Many people say that the evil in the world today can only come from something like "the devil, Satan, etc." But what does the Bible say?

Galatians 5:19-21

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

If these are the works of the flesh - WHO NEEDS THE DEVIL? I will not deny that some people have the "spirit" of the "devil" today, but that entity, whatever it was, is gone.

What is being shown in the New Covenant age, whereby Christ Himself, through His own works, defeated ALL enemies and has put all things under His feet, is that man now is without excuse.

Romans 1:19-20

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

The excuses are gone. The "devil" is gone. "Satan" is gone. The plan of God has been revealed to all mankind - the simple gospel of the Kingdom of Christ has been revealed. Jesus is King. It is the responsibility of every living, breathing creature to conform to the Laws, Commandments, Statutes and perfect Will of His Kingdom - right now.

"Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven."

Revelation 11:15

And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become thekingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

The pure awesomeness of the advent of Christ, the Messiah and King has been lost to us. The real effect of His actual walking this earth is not a concept that we understand, the same way those who walked with Him did. Somehow we MUST capture this in our own lives.

Jesus Christ changed everything - to the point it was called "shaking the heavens and the earth" which was a removing of those things that are shaken, so that those things which cannot be shaken will remain. (Hebrews 12:27) His impact on His followers was such that it was said of them,

"These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;

Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.

And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things."
(Acts 17:6-8)

He changed the Old Covenant world in many ways. Most think the only change was in the sacrificial system of lambs. While extremely important, this was only one part of the monumental change that occurred with the passing of the Old and the establishing of the New.

The Old Covenant world seemed to have some sort of supernatural fallen angel that had the ability to harm people - physically and spiritually. He changed that.

In the Old Covenant world, men died and stayed in the grave awaiting resurrection. He changed that.

In the Old Covenant world, God allowed men to set up kings for themselves. He allowed good kings and bad kings. He even set up good kings and set up bad kings. Though NEVER the perfect Will of God - he allowed it in the Old Covenant world. He changed that.

In the New Covenant world, He has taken it all back to Himself. "Satan is NOT the god of this world." He's been destroyed. Secular government is not set up by God. MEN set up their secular governments in rebellion to the King of kings and Lord of lords. He doesn't allow that - any longer - He changed that.

I want to be perfectly clear on this point. IT WAS NEVER THE PERFECT WILL OF GOD for His people to set up "kings like all the other nations." I Samuel 8 describes how the people demanded a "king like all the other nations" - against the objections of the prophet. The prophet warned of all the things that would happen to the people if they did this. But they wouldn't listen.

God then allowed them to have an earthly "king." Why did God allow this? To me, it's simple.

1) So that men would have a history that shows them what happens to them when they set up their own governments with their own earthly kings. (Hosea 8, is another example.)

Set the trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an eagle against the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed mycovenant, and trespassed against my law.

Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee.

Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue him.

They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off.

2) To make the way clear for a King Who would one day come and restore things back to the way they were supposed to be - BEFORE - their colossal failure described in I Samuel 8. (Isaiah 9:6-7)

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called

Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and toestablish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

3) Everything in the Scriptures point to the fact that not only is Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords - but He is the LAST of the Kings that God allows for His people. THIS IS THE GREATEST CHANGE FROM THE OLD COVENANT WORLD, TO THE NEW COVENANT WORLD.

Revelation 11:15

And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become thekingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

What does this look like under the New Covenant? How was it before I Samuel 8? Yahweh was King. His Laws, Commandments, Statutes and Perfect Will was the rule. Godly judges were chosen to "rule" - "measure" actions that required judgement according to the Commands of God.

Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. (Hebrews 13:7)

Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you. (Hebrews 13:17)

I Peter 2:9-10; 1-14:

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the King, as supreme;

Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.

If you happened to be born during a time when God ordained Civil Government was the "Law of the land" then blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.

Sadly, the case is not today. We do not live with God ordained Civil Government. We live with man created secular government. And we are reaping the fallout from the rebellion because it rains on the just and the unjust.

We cannot blame the "devil." We cannot blame God. We have no one but ourselves to blame. Is this the first time in the history of man? Of course not. What's the remedy?

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (II Chronicles 7:14)

David said,

If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? (Psalm 11:3)

It begins with a change of mind.

If a collective group of people would obey II Chronicles 7:14 - how quickly do you think God would keep His Word? I have hope that it would be speedy, to the point where we might see the hand of God in our own generation.

If a collective group of people will NOT obey II Chronicles 7:14 - then what?

It falls to the individual to respond as Joshua did. (Joshua 24:14-15)

Now therefore fear [Yahweh] the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served onthe other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye [Yahweh] the LORD.

And if it seem evil unto you to serve [Yahweh] the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which yourfathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the [Yahweh the ] LORD.

It will more than likely be a rough road for the individual, as many examples are found in the Scriptures when individuals choose to serve Yahweh - against the stream. For this cause, many people - good hearted people - faint over the "what if's" of following Yahweh when the majority does not and will not take the initial step of faith required.

It is incumbent on the individual to never lose hope in the simple promise of II Chronicles 7. Yahweh did great things when an individual stood. Yahweh did great things when 3 stood. He did great things when 300 stood. He did great things when 3,000 stood.

It seems apparent today that we are in the stages of the individual stand - and not the collective. Take this charge and understand that it applies to you - the individual - who believes and shares the faith of Joshua.

Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (Ephesians 6:13)