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Recap of February 20, 2011 (Ephesians 6:10-11)
1. Paul closes out his section on the worthy Christian walk which covered Ephesians 4:1-6:9. In 6:10 he begins the final topic of the book, that of spiritual warfare. Rather than walk, he now tells them (and us) to stand in the victory over sin and Satan which God has provided (vv. 11, 13, 14).
2. Concerning the existence of Satan and demons, C.S. Lewis famously wrote in The Screwtape Letters, the following: “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors…” Developing the theme further, John White in the book, The Fight, writes: “C. S. Lewis’s remark, that humanity falls into two equal and opposite errors concerning the devil, is now more famous than the book (The Screwtape Letters) in which it is found. The errors, according to Lewis, consist either in taking the devil altogether too seriously or in not taking him seriously enough. The devil welcomes a Hume or a Faust with equal zest. He is equally delighted by an atheist, a liberal theologian or a witch. And, it may be added, he feels as happy with a Christian whose mind is preoccupied with demons all day long as he is with one who never gives them a thought. But he is living and virulent. His supreme objective is to hurt Christ and Christ’s cause.”
3. Satan is a created being (Ezekiel 28:11-19); as such he is not the evil equivalent or opposite of God. Satan is neither omniscient, omnipresent, nor omnipotent. Ezekiel also tells us that Satan is of the class of angels called cherubim. He is a fallen angel (whose fall is described in Isaiah 14:12-14) who through pride sinned against God by coveting His position. Many believe that a third of the angels followed him in his rebellion based upon Revelation 12:4.
