Quite a few people think of God and Satan as opposites engaged in a tug-of-war of good versus evil. That’s just not so.
We know God is more powerful because God created the universe and Satan didn’t. We also know God is more authoritative because in the book of Job, Satan brings disaster upon Job only with God’s permission, and he couldn’t go beyond the limits God placed on him (see Job 1:6-12, 2:1-6).
The book of Revelation tells about the Lord Jesus coming back to earth and taking Satan up like a plush doll and casting him into a pit for a thousand years (Revelation 20:1-3). There is no thrilling Jackie Chan-style fighting there. Satan is locked up until God releases him for a short time, but then he unceremoniously casts the Devil into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:7-10). If this were a WWF tournament, the fans would demand their money back!
What Do You Think?
a. When we think of who is the most powerful, we often think in terms of fighting or brute strength. Are you assuming that God and Satan are of average human build?
b. Can we sensibly compare any individual’s power to the power of someone who created all things from nothing, who knows all things, has no beginning or end, and sees the sweep of eternal past and future?
