Satan is Vanquished

"I was sexually abused as a child."

I listened to a friend share his testimony when these words came out of his mouth. He didn't embellish them; he didn't use them as a tear-jerker. It was a statement in the middle of many other difficulties of his life. A statement I'm confident was preceded by years of spiritual healing to even get to that point.

Anger flared up within me as I thought, "How dare you, Satan - another child you tried to drag down into your pit."

Hours later I sat curled up on a couch talking to another friend. She shared her struggles in raising two adopted children. Again, no embellishments, no graphic details; just statements of fact. Again, my anger flared as I heard her talk about the children's icyness toward Christ; their cold-hearted rejection that revealed Satan was clinging tight to their souls. His claws were dug in deep and he had no intentions of loosening his grasp anytime soon.

The next morning I heard the song "Sing to the King" by Charles Silvester Horne. The line "Satan is vanquished and Jesus is King" struck me. I thought of my friends' stories from the night before. I can get angry about the lies that Satan twists into the minds of people and the pits in which he traps them. I can fight against their alternate realities with the power and truth of God's reality. The battle against Satan is a righteous war to wage; even Christ Himself became angry when He encountered the workings of Satan within the Holy Temple.

But here's the deal - Satan has been defeated. Jesus' resurrection sealed the deal on that battle. All of Satan's lying efforts to pull you away from that truth are only an attempt to take you down with him. His deceptions keep you from the freedom and abundant life found only in Christ. If he can do that, he may have already been defeated by Christ but he will still win the battle within you.

And another part is this - even in the ugliness of sin and spiritual attack, God is glorified. Let me repeat that - God is glorified. When you wage that battle and come out victorious with Christ on the other side, His power, His truth, and His glory radiate to all around. My friend would never be where he is today if he hadn't fought through that spiritual battle. My other friend wouldn't feel God's unsurpassable comfort during her struggles if she wasn't in the struggle. And through all of it, God is glorified and we can say Amen.