{"id":506,"date":"2018-06-26T11:14:20","date_gmt":"2018-06-26T11:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/?p=506"},"modified":"2018-06-26T13:53:48","modified_gmt":"2018-06-26T13:53:48","slug":"satan-hell-bent-destroying-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2018\/06\/satan-hell-bent-destroying-life.html","title":{"rendered":"Why is Satan So Hell Bent on Destroying Your Life?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"unsplash-logoChristine
Christine Donaldson<\/span><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For the Apostle Paul, he knew that every natural battle we face has a spiritual source behind it because he knew what his Scriptures (our Old Testament) taught about the reality of spiritual warfare. Satan was an angel created by God (Job 1:3) who is described as a cherub and the highest of all created beings (Ezekiel 28:14). Satan was not your garden variety angel, he held a very prominent position in God\u2019s hierarchy, and with references to musical instruments made in Ezekiel 28 most scholars believe that Satan was in charge of the worship in heaven, a very prominent position indeed. Yet pride (Ezekiel 28:17) led him to lead an unsuccessful rebellion against God Almighty and the devil and his minions were cast out of heaven. Satan\u2019s ultimate defeat has already been decided but time still remains on the clock because Jesus\u2019 second coming has not yet happened. We\u2019re now in the in between, battling against an enemy who knows his doom is sealed but isn\u2019t going down without a fight. As the book of Revelation puts it,<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTherefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He\u00a0is\u00a0filled with fury, because he knows that his\u00a0time\u00a0is short.\u201d Revelation 12:12<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Those are the forces arrayed against us, the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms that Paul describes in Ephesians 6:12. Why does Satan attack us if his fight is against God? For the same reason divorced couples will use their children as pawns to hurt one another. The best way to hurt someone is to hurt someone\u00a0they love. Humankind is the pinnacle of God\u2019s creation (Psalm 8:5), His crown jewel of creation, being formed in His image (Genesis 1:27). God proved His love for us once and for all when He sent His son Jesus as a sacrifice to reconcile us to Himself. Knowing this, it makes perfect sense that Satan in his furious rage tries his best to destroy humankind with every weapon available to him. To hurt us is to hurt the heart of God. So we are caught in the crossfire of a war that has raged since the beginning of time. But as Paul writes in Ephesians 6:10-18, we are not left defenseless. But defending yourself against the attacks of the enemy will only be as successful as your ability to see those attacks coming.\u00a0The first step to spiritual warfare is to see the spiritual behind the natural, to see the attacks of the enemy coming so you can successfully defend yourself and those you love.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the Apostle Paul, he knew that every natural battle we face has a spiritual source behind it because he knew what his Scriptures (our Old Testament) taught about the reality of spiritual warfare. Satan was an angel created by God (Job 1:3) who is described as a cherub and the highest of all created…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":607,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[31,188,27,19,213],"class_list":["post-506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-next-steps","tag-bible","tag-devil","tag-god","tag-satan","tag-warfare"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy is Satan So Hell Bent on Destroying Your Life? - Next Steps<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The motivation behind Satan's unrelenting desire to destroy your life is something all too familiar to humankind.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2018\/06\/satan-hell-bent-destroying-life.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why is Satan So Hell Bent on Destroying Your Life? 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Josh graduated from New Orleans Seminary with a Masters of Divinity and a Doctor of Ministry. Josh has been involved in full-time ministry for over twenty years. He enjoys hiking, beach volleyball, reading, playing anything competitive, and rough-housing with his kids. Josh, his gorgeous wife Robin, his outrageously handsome boys Zeke, Shepherd and Lincoln and his princess Elle, live in northern Virginia. Josh also blogs on Patheos as New Wineskins: an Apologist for the Modern Church and you can find links to all his content on joshdaffern.com. 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