The World is at War

(Notes from a radio broadcast in 2022 – Pastor Robert Jeffress)

The Story of our World

Humanity and Earth were created by God and everything was perfect in the beginning, with no pain or death.  But Satan entered the picture and created an epic battle between good and evil.

Satan is not a comic book character in a red suit with a pitchfork and horns.  He is very real and is a powerful adversary to be feared.

We are in a real-life drama.  This is no joke.  We are at war with Satan and we must watch out for his cunning tactics. 

Who is Satan?

Satan is a created being.  He is not the opposite or the equal of God.  God is eternal whereas Satan has a beginning and an end.  Satan is not omnipotent or all-powerful like God.  He is limited, which will be his downfall.

In the beginning, God created him as a special angel who was to protect the holiness of God by acting as God’s gatekeeper.  He was given great wisdom, skill, grace, and beauty.  But he eventually became prideful and rebellious, so God cast him from Heaven because Satan credited himself (rather than God) for all of his amazing attributes.  He is now God’s chief antagonist.

Satan’s Manifesto

Satan’s manifesto is to keep us apart from God.  He will have us believing that our own agenda is pleasurable and most certainly preferable to God’s plan for humanity.  Satan assists unbelievers by whispering the life-defining lie:  “I want something different than what God wants for my life.”  Every sin is based on this foundational thought, and it was the basis for the first sin in the world.  It is a rebellion that exists in every human heart.

Satan will accomplish his goals by building a rival “shadow kingdom” to God’s Kingdom.  This involves helping individuals to become selfish and to desire the freedom to do what he or she thinks is best for their life.  Because Satan himself is prideful, he loves it when he can take credit for people rejecting God.  He actually thinks God cannot pull off the events described in the Book of Revelation.  Instead, he believes that if he keeps trying, one day he will conquer everything.  He is desperate to get people to believe this, but the truth is that he has no power over God.   He only has us, and we are his salvation—and his targets.  He thinks he can overcome if he has legions of supporters.

War of the Worlds

The war Satan launches is described below.  It will be THE war of the worlds.

Round 1:  Deception

Satan and his angels arrived on earth just in time to see God’s creation.  God made man in His own image.  Genesis 1:26 tells us everything was good and perfect.  God gave instruction to Adam and Eve for living in perfect harmony.  But then they sinned, believing it was ok to go against God’s instruction.

Satan’s attempts – As Adam and Eve procreated and populated the earth, Satan now had to look at a multitude of little Gods!  He was filled with hatred.  But then he had a sinister thought: what if I could take God’s Kingdom and turn it into MY kingdom!  In order to execute this plan, Satan would lay out a plan to make life apart from God desirable and preferable.  That is, make it look like God’s plan is limiting and oppressive to people.  People would then do whatever they want to do, right or wrong.  This plan would ensure that God’s word is dismissed and people would believe they are self-sufficient.  Satan encourages self-sufficiency, because then who needs God?

God’s counter point – God saw that Adam and Eve had sinned, but He was moved with love and compassion for them.  Ephesians 2:4-5 says that God’s love and goodness for everyone means that no matter what you do, God still loves you.  But because of Adam’s sin against God, we have all inherited a sin virus.  Death is proof of this because it is the consequence of sin.  Satan is to blame because people believe his lies.

Round 2:  Deliverance

God has a deliverance plan to rescue us!  He visited Planet Earth in the form of His Son, Jesus Christ.  It was an elaborate plan to send His Son into a war-torn planet.  The death of Jesus on the cross saved us all through the shedding of His precious blood.  This means that we can all be saved and serve God instead of becoming a slave to Satan.  We learn in 1 Corinthians 6 that through the death of Jesus, we are not “our own” but instead redeemed and welcomed into God’s family.  The prepayment of our sins by Jesus obligates us to follow Him if we want to get to Heaven; however, it is our choice to follow either God or Satan.

Satan’s attempts – God’s plan of redemption increased Satan’s hatred of all mankind.  But, he had to make everything he did look good and appealing, while concealing his all-consuming hatred.  He did everything he could to stop God’s plan to deliver His people.

· Failure #1:  Satan went to Joseph, the father of Jesus, to stop his marriage to Mary once Joseph had learned of her pregnancy.  Joseph did what God asked.

· Failure #2:  After the birth of Jesus, Satan directed King Herod to have all the baby boys in the region killed so that he could get rid of Jesus.  But Jesus was spared.

· Failure #3:  When Jesus was starting His ministry, Satan was right there trying to entice Him when He was tired and hungry after 40 days and 40 nights.  Jesus responded to each of Satan’s questions just as God asked Him to.

· Failure #4:  After 3 failures, and when Jesus was successfully ministering to large numbers of people, Satan tried to get the Jewish leaders to kill Jesus prematurely, to thwart God’s plan of redemption for the world.  But Jesus was able to delay the Jewish leaders.

God’s counter point – There is good news and bad news.

· The good news:  When Jesus rose from the dead after the crucifixion, Satan’s grip on the world was forever broken.  Colossians 2:15 says that Jesus disarmed the Roman powers and authorities and “made a public spectacle of them” when He rose from the dead after they killed Him.  Mankind has freedom from human rules because God has better ones!  Easter Sunday (the celebration of the resurrection) is D-Day for all of us!

· The bad news:  Satan did not wave the white flag, and the Book of Revelation tells us that Satan will be in the presence of God once again for the final round of world conflict.  Revelation also tells us that God wins!  But for now, God allows Satan to roam the earth to determine what is in the hearts of the people.  It is our choice to transfer from Satan’s Kingdom to God’s Kingdom.

Round 3:  Desperation

Satan is alive, but not well, on Planet Earth.  He suffered a mortal wound when Jesus rose from the dead and proved He was the Savior of the world.  The Book of Revelation tells us that Satan will be thrown into the lake of fire during the ultimate judgment at the end of the millennium.  Right now we are in the “church age”, which refers to the time period between Jesus’ time on earth and the end time events.  We currently live in the in-between time where we all have a chance to decide which side of the war we are on.  If we don’t follow Jesus, we will be both witnesses and victims to this final event.

Satan’s attempts – He is gathering as many followers as possible.  His goal is to blind unbelievers to God’s offer of salvation and to destroy the faith of believers.  Satan is the “Father of Lies” and will keep trying to deceive you, out of desperation because he knows God is the ultimate authority—and his desperation continues because he already knows his fate.  Even so, he wants to disrupt God’s plans in favor of his own.  He wants to rob you of joy while influencing you to give up your rewards in Heaven.  The goal is to get you to exchange your rewards in Heaven for pleasures here on Earth. 

God’s counter point – We can turn the tables on Satan’s personal attacks against us.  When Satan has control over someone we know and love, we need to help the person.  Verses 3 & 4 in 2 Corinthians 4 help us to see that Satan has put a veil over God’s truth and hopes to persuade anyone and everyone that he is still in control.  But we know better.  This stresses the importance of being on the lookout for Satan’s desperate attempts.  If you watch closely, you will be able to identify situations under Satan’s control.  But remember, God helped Satan surrender his position in Heaven by casting him out.  Even though Satan still maintains his original splendor, wisdom, and beauty, he is exceedingly dangerous and he has a mark on your back.  He wants to destroy your future, your faith, and your family (John 10:10).  Say no to sin and yes to God.  This is the only way to live a worthwhile life full of peace and joy, knowing your eternal salvation is secure.