Satan: The Original Usurper

The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.

The apostle Paul writes to Timothy: “I do not allow a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; instead, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and transgressed” (1 Tim. 2:12-14).

Satan is a usurper by nature. That is, he seizes authority not rightfully his. He rises up against God in an effort to displace his creator as the object of worship. He’s also a usurper by proxy, acting through intermediate means to attack God and God’s people. For example, he incites David to number his troops (1 Chron. 21:1; cf. 2 Sam. 24:1). He fills the hearts of Ananias and Sapphira to seek undue credit for an otherwise good deed (Acts 5:1-11). He takes control of Judas Iscariot, inspiring him to betray Jesus (Luke 22:3; John 13:27). And he gives the antichrist his power, throne, and authority in the last days (Rev. 13:2). 

But the earliest example of Satan operating as a usurper by proxy is his temptation of Eve in the garden. Paul alludes to this tragic event in his instructions to Timothy, urging the young pastor not to grant women authority over men in the local church. Paul is not prohibiting women from speaking or praying publicly in the church, for we see women like Phoebe, Priscilla, and the virgin daughters of Philip taking active roles in the community of faith. 

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Christ’s Second Coming in the Psalms

This is the 12th in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon.com. 

The second coming of Christ often is linked with the moral struggle between God and his creatures. Psalm 2 is a good example. The psalmist describes the world’s rejection of God’s sovereignty, and then declares God’s purpose: 

“I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.” I will declare the LORD’s decree. He said to me, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance and the ends of the earth your possession. You will break them with an iron scepter; you will shatter them like pottery.”

Ps. 2:6-9

God fully intends to respond to the nations’ rebellion against him. He installs his Son as king of the earth. Consequently, the kings of the earth are exhorted: 

So now, kings, be wise; receive instruction, you judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with reverential awe and rejoice with trembling. Pay homage to the Son or he will be angry and you will perish in your rebellion, for his anger may ignite at any moment. All who take refuge in him are happy.

Ps. 2:10-12

Another prophecy of the second coming is Psalm 72, likely a coronation prayer used when one Davidic king dies and another comes to power. But it’s more than that. It looks forward to the ultimate Davidic king – Messiah – and his reign on earth. Messiah’s dominion is “from sea to sea” (v. 8). Kings and nations serve him (v. 11).

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Satan: Master of Disguise

The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.

The apostle Paul writes: “For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no great surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will be according to their works” (2 Cor. 11:13-15, emphasis added). 

Paul continues to expose the “super apostles” in Corinth for what they are: deceitful workers who disguise themselves as apostles of Christ. They present a triple threat to the church as they proclaim “another Jesus,” “a different spirit,” and “a different gospel” (2 Cor. 11:4). And yet, the church welcomes them with open arms. That’s because the “super apostles” successfully disguise themselves as true apostles. They don’t necessarily oppose the apostle Paul, but they claim to have eclipsed him in spiritual gifts and public ministry. 

For example, their speaking skills are far superior – or so they say – and their boldness in the church projects a contagious confidence that Paul seems to lack, as evidenced by his humility and self-inflicted poverty (2 Cor. 10:10; 11:5-10). If that isn’t enough, Paul’s physical presence is “weak” (2 Cor. 10:10), no doubt in part from the beatings, stoning, shipwrecks, and other hardships he faced as he carried on his apostolic ministry.

The “super apostles” likely are physically fit and attractive, while Paul, if alive on earth today,  would never make it on Christian television. In all of this, the false apostles are rotten to the core but come wrapped in the clever disguise of eloquent purveyors of the gospel.

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He Will Judge the Nations

This is the 11th in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon.com. 

The second coming of Jesus is implied in hundreds of Old Testament prophecies that center on future judgment of the world and a coming kingdom of righteousness. Jesus and the New Testament writers elevate these ancient prophecies and apply them to the unfinished but guaranteed future work of the Savior.

One challenge of messianic prophecies is their compressed view of the future. We see predictions of a Suffering Servant who is despised, rejected, and sacrificed for our sins (Isa. 53), along with visions of a Davidic king who comes in power, judging the world and setting things right (Ps. 110). 

Are the Suffering Servant and Davidic king separate individuals, or are they one person conducting two major campaigns to redeem a sinful and fallen world?

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Satan: A Cunning Seducer

The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.

The apostle Paul writes to the Corinthians: “But I fear that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may be seduced from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if a person comes and preaches another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or you receive a different spirit, which you had not received, or a different gospel, which you had not accepted, you put up with it splendidly” (2 Cor. 11:3-4, emphasis added).

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul depicted Christ as the last Adam and second man in order to show how Jesus’ death and resurrection reversed the effects of the Fall and secured a glorious future for us (1  Cor. 15:45-49). Borrowing from that analogy in his second letter, Paul now likens the church to a second Eve. As Adam and Eve became one flesh (Gen. 2:24), Christ and the church are joined in a covenant relationship. 

The image of salvation as betrothal between Christ and his followers is consistent with first-century Jewish marriage customs involving two separate ceremonies: the betrothal,  and the nuptial ceremony that consummates the marriage. Usually, a year separates the two events, yet the betrothed young woman legally is regarded as the man’s wife and obligates herself to remain a virgin. The contract is binding; only death or a formal bill of divorce may end it. If the betrothed woman cheats on her husband, she is considered an adulteress. She may be banished under Roman rule or stoned under Old Testament law (Deut. 22:23-27). 

Since Paul spent considerable time planting the church in Corinth, he feels a personal responsibility, as spiritual father, to ensure the church’s faithfulness to the Lord. But in his absence, Corinthian believers have welcomed seducers into the church – self-proclaimed “super apostles” who teach “another Jesus,” “a different spirit,” and “a different gospel” (2 Cor. 11:4-5). 

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