The Enemy

Last night I was finishing Return of the Jedi. Normally I'll put in a movie, and finish it three or four days later because I end up falling asleep. So last night I was watching the final battle between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader.

Luke defeats his enemy after their second fierce battle. After being attacked by the Emperor and then saved by Vader, who is Luke's father, Vader is mortally wounded. They are on a large space station that is about to be destroyed and so Luke now grabs his dying father and drags him to a space ship to get them off of the station.

As they prepare to board the ship Vader asks Luke to remove his mask. When the intimidating face of Darth Vader is removed we see a very pale, bald man, with scars on his head. There is nothing intimidating about him at all.

We have a real enemy, just like Darth Vader. The devil is real. The Bible says in 1 Peter 5.8, "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." He prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. He is real, and he is dangerous. C.S. Lewis said, "The mistake Christan's make in talking about Satan are that we either joke about him or we ignore him." We can't afford to do that. Luke couldn't ignore Darth Vader or joke about him not taking him seriously, if he had, he would have been killed. The same is true of us.

We have a real enemy who would like nothing more than to devour us because we are servants of his number one enemy, God. We cannot ignore him and pretend he doesn't exist, if we drop our guard even for a moment, we will be taken out. We are told to be alert, to be ready for battle. If we stand firm in battle, we will be victorious.

Twice the Bible tells us to resist Satan. Here in 1 Peter is says to resist him and that, "After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you." (1 Peter 5.10) In James 4.7 it says, "Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."

It is not our resistance that makes us victorious, but our submission to the power of God. 1 Peter 5.6-7 says, "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you." It is not us or our abilities that Satan fears, but God's. God has already defeated Satan.

Because of the cross of the Savior and the empty tomb of the risen Lord, the mask of Darth Vader has been removed from Satan to revel a pale old man. Jesus has won the battle; Jesus has defeated Satan. When we submit to His power and stand firm in His victory, Satan must flee from us, because Satan cannot stand before the power of Christ.

Be on the alert, stand ready for battle, we do this by submitting to God and surrendering to His victorious power. Satan cannot stand before the warrior of God and must flee. Be that warrior.

Peace be with you