And Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was – Mark 1:34.
Halleluyaaah! Jesus came to earth to destroy the work of Satan to establish God’s Kingdom and to free us, all of humankind, from Satan’s power (1Jn 3:8, Matt 12:28, Lk 4:16). One of the main themes in Mark’s Gospel is Jesus’ constant aim to defeat Satan and his demonic powers. Jesus puts into action the principle behind this spiritual conflict with Satan and his powers in His use of phrases like “bind the strong man,” that is, Satan and “spoil his house,” which is setting free those who are slaves to Satan or “possessed” by demonic powers and reclaiming their lives for God’s kingdom.
Jesus overcomes the enemy by driving out the demons or evil spirits. “Driving our” or “casting out” means that Jesus is exercising His authority to force demonic powers to give up control of people whose lives and bodies have been in Satan’s control. Beloved, is your life, church, nation, or family under Satan’s control? Are you living in sin and rebellion against God’s Words and commands?
As a result of humanity’s sin, pride, and rebellion, Satan exercises a great deal of authority on the earth (Jn 12:31). Indeed, as Jesus’s disciples, we are in spiritual warfare, even though ‘we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places’ (Eph 6: 10-12). Demons are spirit beings that have personality and intelligence. As members of Satan’s kingdom, they are part of a highly organised empire of evil that has authority over “the prince of the power of the air” (Eph 2:2). As agents for carrying out Satan’s purposes, demons are enemies of God and humans (Matt 12:43-45). Demon spirits are evil, filled with hate and under Satan’s authority to kill, steal, and destroy. Christians must, therefore, wage continual warfare against Satan and his demon spirits to overcome their schemes, controls, manipulations, and temptations.
Many accounts in the Bible make it clear that it is common for demons to dwell in the bodies of some people who do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ (Mk 5:15, Lk 4 41; 8:27). The evil spirits make slaves of the individuals they “possess.” They use the possessed individuals’ voices to speak and influence them toward evil, immorality, and destruction. Demons are the real power behind the gods and idols of false religion (1 Cor 10:20).
The Good News is that a Christian cannot be demon-possessed because God’s Holy Spirit lives within each faithful follower of Jesus Christ. God’s Spirit and demons can never live in the same body, just as light and darkness cannot co-exist (2 Cor 6:15-15). The demon may, however, influence the thoughts, emotions, and actions of Christians who fail to follow and respond to the leading of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus began to foretell His death, Jesus tells off Peter, saying, “Get thee behind me, Satan: thou are an offence unto me; for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men” (Matt 16:23). The Peter in many of us are an offence and enemy to God because we reject and rebel against God’s words to promote human agendas.
The Bible taught us that the carnal or natural man is an enemy of God. Like Peter before Jesus in Matthew 16, Peter was a natural man who chose to be influenced by the passions, desires, and appetites of the flesh rather than by the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Beloved, are you such a person that can comprehend physical things but not spiritual things, for they are foolishness unto you? (1 Cor. 2:14).
Jesus promised His followers that we would have authority over the power of Satan and demons. As we confront them, we must rely on Jesus and use His authority to break the power that demonic forces want to force upon us and others. Jesus said, “In my Name, they shall cast out devils” (Mk 16). There are demons, but Jesus cast them out, and He gave His Church authority to do so. It is time to arise in the power of the Holy Spirit to cast out demon spirits and every unclean Spirit – enemies of God and humans. We break in asunder and cast out every dirty sickening hand, declining, afflicting, and crippling and sickening the church, homes, marriage, and leadership in Jesus’ mighty name.
Recent Comments