I have a confession. I really like that classic country song “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” by Charlie Daniels. Whenever it comes on, I turn it up. The lyrics tell a humorous story about the devil betting Johnny for his soul in a battle of fiddles. With a rousing chorus that makes you want to jump up and stomp your foot, it’s one of the best country songs ever recorded…but its comedic caricature of the devil teaches us almost nothing truthful about God’s enemy, Satan.

Is there really a devil? That’s a common question. Surprisingly, a significant number of people who profess the Christian faith and affirm the inerrancy of Scripture doubt the existence of Satan, a personal spiritual being who rebelled against God and works to corrupt God’s good creation. Regardless of self-identifying as Christians, many people think of Satan as merely a symbol for human evil or an aspect of the human psyche rather than a living entity, and therefore, as a means of excusing ourselves for our own wickedness.

Caricatures like the one in “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” create an image that makes the idea of an evil angelic being too ridiculous to take seriously. Some question why God would create a spiritual being he knew would oppose him in the first place (of course, you could ask the same question about humans, too). Others may agree that the devil is a personal being, but think of him as God’s equal opposite, or that he’s the king of Hell, or that it was to him that Jesus paid a ransom for people’s souls. Yet, the Bible clearly teaches that there is indeed a devil, that he is a powerful, malevolent spirit, and that he actively opposes God through lies, death, and destruction.

The Bible also teaches us that Jesus Christ has already defeated the devil and that Satan and his minions will be condemned to eternal torment in a lake of burning sulfur (Revelation 20:10).

The serpent in the garden

The devil makes his first appearance in the Bible in the form of a snake (Genesis 3:1, Revelation 12:9). Immediately, the devil demonstrates that he is a singular, personal being by entering into a conversation with Eve. His very first words were in the form of a question intended to cast doubt on God’s truthfulness and disorient his listener: “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1). Sadly, it worked. Both Adam and Eve chose to listen to the devil and disobey God. They ate the fruit from the one tree God had commanded them not to eat from, believing it would make them “like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). At the heart of many sins and troubles in our world today is this question: “Did God really say…(fill in the blank)?”

When God asked Eve what she had done, she responded truthfully, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” Indeed, the devil had tricked her, but God also rejected this first use of “the devil made me do it.” God’s word was sufficient for the man and woman to repudiate the serpent’s deception; instead, by their own wills, they chose to listen to him.  

Adam and Eve’s disobedience would mean separation from God: they could no longer enter God’s perfect presence, as sin cannot come near the absolute goodness of God. When they died, their souls would not go to God, but would be kept away from him. Because they were the only two human beings at the time, their sin not only set them apart from God, but it also made all the people who would come after them sinful. As for the serpent:

The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel" (Genesis 3:14-15).

In this judgment, God makes his first promise of salvation for his people (verse 15), that a Savior would destroy the work of Satan (“he will crush your head”). On the cross, Jesus did just that.

Jesus believed in the devil

After John baptized him, the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tested. After 40 days and 40 nights of fasting, the devil came to tempt him. As in Genesis, Matthew 4 describes this as an encounter between two individuals: Jesus on the one hand, and “the tempter” on the other. Satan tempts Jesus in three ways specific to Jesus, calling into question God’s Word (that Did God really say? question again) and Christ’s identity as God’s Son. In his most brazen act of rebellion so far, the devil offers Jesus, the Son of God, the second person of the holy Trinity, “all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor…if you will bow down and worship me” (Matthew 4:8-9). According to the Old Testament, this is exactly what the devil wanted all along: “I will raise my throne above the stars of God…I will make myself like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:13-14). To each of these, Jesus did what Adam and Eve had not done; he responded with God’s Word, and to this last temptation he said: “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only’” (Matthew 4:10).

Jesus called the devil a thief, a murderer, and the father of lies:

He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies…The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (John 8:44 and John 10:10).

He assured his disciples that they had access to his power over the devil: “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you” (Luke 10:18-19). Indeed, he told them that Satan unwittingly plays into God’s plan:

You heard me say, “I am going away and I am coming back to you.”...I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe…for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me (John 14:28-31, emphasis added).

The god of this age

The apostles urged believers to be mindful of the devil, but to always remember the power Jesus gives us to resist Satan. Peter warned, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith” (1 Peter 5:8-9). Paul described Satan as “The god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4) and implored believers not to give the devil a foothold in their lives through anger, unforgiveness, and other sinful behaviors (Ephesians 4:25-27 and 2 Corinthians 2:10-11). And James said, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

The devil in the world today

How do we discern the work of the devil today? As we’ve seen, the Bible describes Satan as a deceiver, tempter, accuser, robber, killer, and destroyer. Indeed, as the Scriptures say, almost all the woes of this world can ultimately be ascribed to his power and influence as the god of this age. Yet we can seldom identify his specific, personal machinations in the evil and disasters we observe. However, one way we can discern the work of the devil in our world today is to watch for that age-old question, “Did God really say?” When we consider the popular ideas of our time, we must ask ourselves, what do they say about God, about what God says in his Word, about his creation, and about human beings? If they call into doubt God’s very existence, twist his words, malign or misrepresent his creation, or describe human beings as anything less than created in God’s image, then we can be sure that the serpent’s question, “Did God really say?”, is the kernel of those ideas.

So the Bible clearly tells us that there is indeed a devil and that he is a personal, spiritual being. He’s no cartoonish character who can be beaten in a duel of fiddles. Jesus defeated him in an act of perfect love, his own death on our behalf. As Jesus said, the Bible talks about the devil being cast from heaven to the earth, where he is essentially a prisoner until Christ returns to fully usher in his kingdom. Then, as we noted earlier, he will be cast into the lake of burning sulfur. The book of Revelation describes more actions the devil will take in the future, but these are beyond the scope of this brief essay. Suffice it to say, they will be the last desperate acts of a defeated foe. In World War II, the Allies defeated the Axis powers years before the war finally ended. So it is with Satan. He’s beaten, but remains dangerous for the time being. However, he has no hold on those in Christ.