The devil was created as an angel of light. He was the covering cherus around the throne of God. And yet, it wasn’t enough. The last part of Ezekiel 28, and Isaiah 14:12-16, talk about this. The devil was given free will, and decided that he would try to be like God. A third of the angels rose in rebellion; we see this pictured in Revelation 12. But, God won; God is all powerful, and nothing could defeat Him.
Jesus is “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” (Rev. 13:8) God set the plan to redeem mankind in place before the world began. However, He wanted to show that nothing else would work. No human system is perfect. The lambs slain in the Old Testament only covered sin. They were a picture of Jesus Christ. Except, He did more than that. He took away our sin.
Jesus defeated sin and death. He has charge over everything. He is all powerful, all present, and all knowing. The devil is none of these.
However, because of the many demons on his side, he is still a powerful force. A force that can defeat us easily if we’re not careful. The world’s system and our flesh aren’t the only things we fight. Some people give the devil too much credit, when they can sin really well on their own. Indeed, the devil won’t be around to tempt people in Jesus’ kingdom, yet there will still be people who sin. (Rev. 20) However, the devil is still powerful, despite his limitations.
Hebrews 12:1 tells us to lay aside every weight – that is, things which hold us back – and that sin which “doth so easily beset us.” In other words, the things that make us sin most easily. For some, that sin is a certain addiction, for others, fame, for others, money. But, each of us has weights, and we also have specific things that tempt us.
The devil knows what those things are. He does know enough to do that. He knows all our weaknesses. So, we need Jesus to defeat him.
