by Garrett Glende
Continuing on in the study through Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology, we come to a portion that I believe many of us lack a clear understanding of. Perhaps this is because the nature of the issue is completely spiritual, so it seems almost irrelevant to our daily lives. However, this could not be further from the truth, as the doctrines of angels and of Satan and demons have immense consequences for our daily living. Grudem deals with the topics in two separate chapters, but I have chosen to combine them into one article because of how closely linked the principles of application are.
The inclusion of these issues at this point in the book stems from the theme of creation. This is the first important point to understand about angels, Satan, and demons. They are all created beings. Explicitly, this means that God has complete sovereignty over them, just as He does the rest of His creation. Spiritual beings never rival God in His power or deity because they lack the very essence that makes God who He is. Angels are defined by Grudem as “created, spiritual beings with moral judgment and high intelligence, but without physical bodies.” Colossians 1:16 tells us that “by [God] all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities…” This is an all-inclusive declaration of the totality of God’s creative act. He has indeed created all things, including angels. The purpose of God in creating these angels is diverse, but we are given clear pictures of the ways that angels act in Scripture. We see a beautiful picture of worship in Revelation 5, the Apostle John describing the scene:
“Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, ‘worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”
From this passage, we see that angels spend much of their time worshiping Christ. Specifically, they praise Him for His worthiness as the sacrificial Lamb of God. Because of this, they attribute to Him all power, wealth, wisdom, might, honor, glory, and blessing. Scripture also shows us that angels are used directly to carry out God’s plan. They bring about judgment on the enemies of God as well as provide blessings to God’s people. One example of the ministry of angels is seen in the life of Christ Himself. Throughout His earthly ministry, Jesus was helped and comforted by angels from God. After He was tempted in the wilderness by Satan angels came to minister to Him (Matthew 4:11) and while He was suffering in the garden an angel was there to give Him strength (Luke 22:43). It was during these two crucial points in Jesus’ life on earth (the initiation and climax of His ministry) that God saw it fit for angels to intervene. From these passages, we can infer that angels surely have some sort of special abilities that have been given to them from God. They are unique beings, specially and purposefully created by God to carry out His works.
Angels are not the only spiritual beings that inhabit the spiritual realm. God has also created angels who have fallen from their original state. We call these beings demons. Grudem defines them as “evil angels who sinned against God and who now continually work evil in the world.” They were at once in communion with God, being completely sinless, but followed the rebellion of the chief of all demons, Satan himself. Satan was the first being to sin, thus bringing evil into existence. Since God’s purpose is to magnify Himself, specifically His holiness, Satan does all that he can to oppose this work. His desire is that people be blinded to the hope of the gospel and the glory of God. The main way that he tried to do this was to stop Jesus from accomplishing the Father’s will. As we see Jesus getting closer to the cross, we see Satan’s attacks intensify and Jesus draws away from the crowds to go to the Father in prayer. The main tactics that Satan will use against people today are lies and deception. He wants people to believe something other than the truth about God and himself. So long as people are unaware of his influence over their lives, they will not see the greatness of God and the problem of their own sinfulness. Satan also tempts believers so that their usefulness for the kingdom is limited. The Christian’s witness in the world is hindered when Satan causes “doubt, guilt, fear, confusion, sickness, envy, pride, [and] slander” to enter into their lives. He is not the cause of all of the evil in the world, for our very natures are prone to sin. We don’t necessarily need to be tempted by Satan to fall into sin because our own flesh wages war against us. However, we must be aware of his influence in the world so that we can properly fight against Him.
This is the real challenge that we face as Christians. We must understand that the battle we face is not against the things of this world, but against spiritual forces (Eph 6:12). Satan and demons are real and we must be on guard against them. It’s important to understand the different ways that Satan works so that we can recognize attacks when they come. Just as Satan’s works increased when important events in God’s plan were taking place, so he works in our lives today. Whenever we endeavor to do something meaningful (at least more than usual) for God, we should be especially alert to attacks from the devil. He does not want our plans to succeed and will try hard to stop us from bringing glory to God. This is particularly relevant to our church today, as we seek to plant a church in San Jose. Obviously this would be an advancement of the gospel around the world, something that Satan despises. He will surely bring about trials in the life of our church, so each and every member must be walking in the Spirit and clothed in the full armor of God in order to withstand his attacks. On our own we will fail, but God has given us the power of the Holy Spirit to stand firm in the face of temptation, knowing that God has ultimate control over Satan and his demons. This battle is not between two equally powerful opponents. God will ultimately crush the devil, as He promised in Genesis 3:15, and there will cease to be evil in the world. Praise God for He alone is God and there is no one like Him!