Western culture has a reluctance to acknowledge Satan’s presence which demonstrates that the devil is able to disguise himself well. Somehow, he has convinced us that he is a cartoon character (a man dressed in a red suit, horns and carrying a pitchfork), or a football mascot (Red Devils, Blue Devils, Sun Devils), or just a philosophical metaphor for evil (the dark side of “the force” or the secret desires of human nature). The reality is that the Devil is not a metaphor for evil. He is a powerful enemy who committed treason against his Creator and convinced a third of the angels along with him. The Bible is very clear that He is a real being as we see him appear in scripture in the very beginning in Genesis 3 tempting the woman, and bringing about the fall of mankind. He seems to be a powerful enemy, and yet, we see in the book of Job that he is answerable to God, and cannot do anything that God does not permit him to do. With that permission, God has a specific plan and purpose for those events. We must understand that as followers of Jesus Christ we have a powerful enemy, but that enemy is not God’s counterpart, nor is he the counterpart of Jesus Christ. Both are superior to that enemy. As we resist the Devil through our understanding of the Word of God (Psalm 119:11), he will flee from us (James 4:7-8)
