Imagination Distorts Reality Myth and truth about Satan and Demons

A biblical look at myths and truths about Satan and demons

Imagination Distorts Reality

Myth and truth about Satan and Demons

In this article, I am going to attempt to debunk the myths and at the same time present the true nature of the devil and his fellow partners in crime, demons.

This article is written to briefly educate the everyday person, it is not an exhaustive study (meaning, I will not be sighting every bible verse on the subject.)

My reason for writing this article is by presenting the true nature of the enemy, so the enemy can be defeated at his attempts to invade and conquer ground in the lives of the ignorant of the truth.

Origen Of Satan and the demons.

Myth: God created Satan and His demons with their evil nature.

Truth: Lucifer (Satan and his demon) were created without an evil nature.) They created holy without blemish, lacking nothing. The heavenly creation and the earthly creation are parallel in their beginning. Angels and human created in the state of perfection, lacking no good thing.

Both creations had a free will to choose to obey God or disobey Him.

Lucifer was Gods crowning jewel of His creation of the heavenly hosts (angels).

His nature was perverted when he became prideful and lead an armed rebellion to dethrone God.

Scripture support this teaching:

Satan fallen nature:

“You [d]had the seal of perfection,

Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

13 “You were in Eden, the garden of God;

Every precious stone was your covering:

The ruby, the topaz and the diamond;

The beryl, the onyx and the jasper;

The lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald;

And the gold, the workmanship of your [e]settings and [f]sockets,

Was in you.

On the day that you were created

They were prepared.

14 “You were the anointed cherub who [g]covers,

And I placed you there.

You were on the holy mountain of God;

You walked in the mist of the stones of fire.

15 “You were blameless in your ways

From the day you were created

Until unrighteousness was found in you.

16 “By the abundance of your trade

[h]You were internally filled with violence,

And you sinned;

Therefore, I have cast you as profane

From the mountain of God.

And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub,

From the midst of the stones of fire.

17 “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty;

You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor.

I cast you to the ground;

I put you before kings,

That they may see you.

18 “By the multitude of your iniquities,

In the unrighteousness of your trade

You profaned your sanctuaries.

Therefore, I have brought fire from the midst of you;

It has consumed you,

And I have turned you to ashes on the earth

In the eyes of all who see you.

19 “All who know you among the peoples

Are appalled at you;

You have become terrified

And you will cease to be forever.”’”

Isaiah 14:12-17New American Standard Bible (NASB)

12 “How you have fallen from heaven,

O [a]star of the morning, son of the dawn!

You have been cut down to the earth,

You who have weakened the nations!

13 “But you said in your heart,

‘I will ascend to heaven;

I will raise my throne above the stars of God,

And I will sit on the mount of assembly

In the recesses of the north.

14 ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;

I will make myself like the Most High.’

15 “Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol,

To the recesses of the pit.

16 “Those who see you will gaze at you,

They will [b]ponder over you, saying,

‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,

Who shook kingdoms,

17 Who made the world like a wilderness

And overthrew its cities,

Who did not [c]allow his prisoners to go home?’

Scripture sporting the holy and perfect nature of mankind at their creation:

Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

God gave mankind one commend to obey:

Geneses 2:15 - 17

15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. 16 The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not [n]eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

Mankind nature perverted buy their disobedience:

Geneses: 3

The Fall of Man

3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from [a]any tree of the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” 4 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! 5 For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves [b]loin coverings.

8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the [c]cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” 11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 14 The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,

Cursed are you more than all cattle,

And more than every beast of the field;

On your belly you will go,

And dust you will eat

All the days of your life;

15 And I will put enmity

Between you and the woman,

And between your seed and her seed;

He shall [d]bruise you on the head,

And you shall bruise him on the heel.”

16 To the woman He said,

“I will greatly multiply

Your pain [e]in childbirth,

In pain you will bring forth children;

Yet your desire will be for your husband,

And he will rule over you.”

17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’;

Cursed is the ground because of you;

In [f]toil you will eat of it

All the days of your life.

18 “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you;

And you will eat the [g]plants of the field;

19 By the sweat of your face

You will eat bread,

Till you return to the ground,

Because from it you were taken;

For you are dust,

And to dust you shall return.”

20 Now the man called his wife’s name [h]Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. 21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.

22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”�" 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.

Myth: Satan and his demons can be redeemed, by putting away their evil deeds and becoming good for the salvation of their souls.

Truth: Nowhere in the bible is their evidence that fallen or good angel can chance their status on earth or in heaven. From studying the bible for many years my hypothesis for the reason why Satan and his demons can be redeemed but mankind can is as follows:

Satan and his demon warred against God, try to dethrone Him from reining over all his own creation.

Scripture to support this view:

Revelation 12: 7-8

7 And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, 8 and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven.

Where mankind after being tricked by Satan had disobeyed a command of God

So even thou there are serve conquests for their disobedient actions, God creates a plan of salvation so mankind can have the chose to be redeemed.

Scripture to support God plan of redemption set up.

Geneses 3:15

15 And I will put enmity

Between you and the woman,

And between your seed and her seed;

He shall [d]bruise you on the head,

And you shall bruise him on the heel.”

Many schoolers believe that this verse has duel meaning:

1) The natural order of hostility between mankind and the animal the snake.

2) God plans for the Christ to come in to the world to carry out god’s plan of salvation for mankind. in the carrying out this plan, Satan will bruise Christ’s heel on the cross in the form of death,

3) And through paying for man’s sin through his own death, Christ crushed the head of Satan power over mankind and the earth through Christ resurrection from the dead.

Scripture that explains God’s god plan of redemption of man:

John 3: 16-21

16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His [e]only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the [f]only begotten Son of God. 19 This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

Myth: Jesus and Satan are equals in power and authority

Truth: Jesus is God who took on the flesh of mankind to accomplish the salvation of mankind.

Satan is a created being by God.

Scripture that supports Jesus being the God who created all things:

John Chapter 1:1-5

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 [a]He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. 5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not [b]comprehend it.

Demon acknowledge Jesus have power and authority over them:

Jesus Casts Out Demons

Mathew 8:28-32

28 When He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way. 29 And they cried out, saying, “[a]What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before [b]the time?” 30 Now there was a herd of many swine feeding at a distance from them. 31 The demons began to entreat Him, saying, “If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.” 32 And He said to them, “Go!” And they came out and went into the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters

Myth: Satan and demon are all knowing, they can read peoples thoughts and see the future.

Truth: Satan and demons are not all knowing as God is, but they have limited knowledge.

Scripture supporting angels don’t know the return of Christ:

Mark 13:32

32 But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.

Myth: Angel appears as horrific creatures.

Truth: Satan and demons appear as angels of light

Supporting scriptures:

2 Corinthians 11:13-15New American Standard Bible (NASB)

13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.

Myth: The Satan and his demons can be manipulated to serve a person desire, through witch craft, or satanic ritual or sacrifices, or worship.

Truth: Satan has one nature is consist of: deception, steel, destruction, murder.

Scriptures reveal the nature of the devil:

1 Peter 5:8 ( destroyer)

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

John 8:43-45New American Standard Bible (NASB) ( Speak lies and murders)

43 Why do you not understand [a]what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks [b]a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of [c]lies. 45 But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me.

Luke8:11-12 (steels)

11 “Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God. 12 Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved.

Satan Freed, Doomed

7 When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, 8 and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the [c]seashore. 9 And they came up on the [d]broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the [e]saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and [f]brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Myth: if you invite a foreign spirit to enter your body you will receive supernatural abilities to accomplish your goals in life.

Truth: You will open yourself up to demon possession. Demon will try to trick people by posing as a diseased friend or relative who want you to allow them to use your body so they can communicate with someone they love who is still alive. Or pose a as a spiritual guide need to be obtained by a gamer in a rule playing fantasy game.

Myth: You can control your world through casting spells, or by directing your path through fortune teller, have astrologer plot your life by the movement of the stars, getting advice through a medium who get you answer by speaking to the dead.

Truth: you are summit your life to demonic control.

The bible for bids all the activity mention above, and call it sin.

Scriptural support;

Leviticus 20:27New American Standard Bible (NASB) (speaking to the dead)

27 ‘Now a man or a woman who is a medium or a [a]spiritist shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones; their blood guiltiness is upon them.’”

Exodus 22:18New American Standard Bible (NASB) (sorcery)

18 “You shall not allow a sorceress to live.

Isaiah 47:13-14 (prophets condemn astrology )

Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee. Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it.

Deuteronomy 18:9-14English Standard Version (ESV)

Abominable Practices

9 “When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering,[a] anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer 11 or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, 12 for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you. 13 You shall be blameless before the Lord your God, 14 for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do this.

Footnotes:

Myth and truth about demon possession.

In Television shows and movies, we see a lot theatrics that are attached to demon possession which are not affirmed by the demon possession accounts recorded in the bible.

Nowhere In the bible do we hear of demon possessed people moving object without physically touching them. Causing people to sail across a room without being physically touched. Nowhere in the bible do we read a demon possessed person levitating above a bed.

Nowhere do we read in the bible that using religious objects to cast out a demon has weakened a demon’s hold on their victim.

Truth about what has taken play when a person has been demon possessed:

Physical infirmities the possessed have suffered unable to hear or speak.

Physically trying to harm the victim by causing them fall into a fire pit or fall or down in the water.

Cause them to go naked in a hostile environment that will cause damage to their exposed body.

Cause them to be chained like an animal to prevent the possessed person from attacking other people.

Possessed people have superior strength able to break free of metal chains.

Scripture that support these truths:

Matthew 8:28-34New American Standard Bible (NASB) (supper strengths and violence)

Jesus Casts Out Demons

Luke 11:14(demon made a man mute)

14 And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute; when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed.

Mark 9:20-27 (demon who throw the possessed boy in to water and fire to harm him)

20 They brought [n]the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth. 21 And He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22 It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!” 23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.” 24 Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, “I do believe; help my unbelief.” 25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was [o]rapidly gathering, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You deaf and mute spirit, I [p]command you, come out of him and do not enter him [q]again.” 26 After crying out and throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out; and the boy became so much like a corpse that most of them said, “He is dead!” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and he got up.

Myth: Christian can be demon possessed. Many Christian Television ministries believe this and are casting out demons out of their church member. I don’t believe these exorcisms are real, I think they are cheap polar tricks, to draw in a paying crowed.

Truth: when a person has given their life to Christ, the bible teaches the God puts His cell of owner ship on their forehead. When person receives salvation, they receive the Holy Spirit who take up residence in their soul, making what was once dead spiritually alive in fellowship with God.

So how can an inferior spirit in power and authority come an invade a temple of a superior spirit.

Ephesians 1:11-14New American Standard Bible (NASB)( Satan cannot seal what belongs to God)

11 [a]also we [b]have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, 12 to the end that we who were the first to hope in [c]Christ would be to the praise of His glory. 13 In [d]Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation�"having also [e]believed, you were sealed in [f]Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is [g]given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.

1 John 4 1-6

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. 4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Myth: our salvation is maintained by our good works.

Truth: salvation is a free gift to whoever will put their faith in it and receive it.

Mankind does not possess within himself the ability to full fill the righteous conduct to keep the ten commandments. So through abiding with Christ, and the reading of the word, and the holy spirit renewing our minds. and continuing to confess our sins. God is at work maintaining our salvation.

Scripture to support these teaching:

Ephesians 2:8-10New American Standard Bible (NASB)

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and [a]that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Philippians 1:6King James Version (KJV)

6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Myth: demon can be expelled by chanting prayers, touching demon possessed person with religious objects, dousing them with holy water, or even reciting the world of God.

Truth: It is only by faith in the authority of Jesus Christ can a believe exercise the authority to command a demon to vacate its victim’s body.

Scriptures to support this teaching:

Luke 9:1-2New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Ministry of the Twelve

9 And He called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases. 2 And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing.

Matthew 17:18-20New American Standard Bible (NASB)

18 And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured [a]at once.

19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” 20 And He *said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith [b]the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.

Danger: do not try to cast out a demon without having strong faith in the Authority of Jesus over Demons. For if the demon world has not witness your life be submitted to the authority of Jesus Christ, then when you try to command him to leave, he will say to you, I the authority of Jesus but I don’t know who you are and I don’t recognize your authority. They you will most likely have demon possessed person giving you a beating within inches of losing your life.

Scripture to support this teaching:

Acts 19:13-18New American Standard Bible (NASB)

13 But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.” 14 Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 And the evil spirit answered and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” 16 And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived in Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified. 18 Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices.

I am closing the study with one more very important truth , if a person who has had a demon expelled from their body, and they do not run to Jesus for the salvation of their soul, and the Holy Spirit does not take up residence in their body make it his temple, the demon would come back and find the house empty and he will go invite several more demon to move back into the body he was expelled from .

The person who was freed situating will be ten time worse than the previous time.

I hope this study was informative and a blessing.

Written by Stephen J. Vattimo

July 5 2017