Lesson #4 - Satan - a Roaring Lion or a Raving Loser?

Welcome back to lesson #4. You are doing very well in your Bible studies and we are so pleased that you are continuing to grow in your new relationship with the Lord. In our last lesson, we looked at the importance of prayer in our lives. In this lesson, we want to look briefly at our enemy - Satan.>

1) Right away, I want to assure you we will try and be as brief as possible. We don't need to give Satan any more space than is absolutely necessary. We will seek to answer three questions:
a) who is he;
b) what is trying to do; and
c) how can we win over him.

2) Who is he? Some people think that is a cute cuddly Teddy bear dress in red long underwear with a long tail and a pitchfork. But that is not the picture that the Bible gives us of him.






3) Satan started off as someone very special. Look up Ezekiel 28:14. What name does God give to Satan?
Answer anointed cherub

4) Read verse 15 and see how God describes him. What was he like in the beginning?

Answer perfect in your ways

5)Right - but then something went terribly wrong! Satan was filled with the sin of.....well, you find the answer. See Ezekiel 28:27.
Answer pride

6) Because of his sin, God had to take serious action. What was that action? See Ezekiel 28:17b. Answer threw him down to the earth

7) So now we know that he was a good angel and then he became proud and was kicked out of heaven by God. So then what is He trying to do now? Well check out 1 Peter 5:8. What is satan called here?
Answer a roaring lion

8) And what is he seeking to do to you? Answer devour or destroy you

9) Why you ask is he trying to do that? Because you now love Jesus and have given Him control of your life. Before you became a Christian, Satan was really the ruler of your life. But now, Jesus is in complete control.

10) The crazy thing about it is that when Jesus died on the cross and rose again, He defeated Satan for good! But Satan has not given up yet. His main purpose is to try and get your attention off of God and onto yourself. Or even to sin!

11) How does he do that? Read Matthew 4:1-11. What did Satan do to Jesus here? Answer he tempted Jesus

12) Temptation is not wrong or sinful. Jesus was tempted and yet He did not sin. I like to think of temptation as the worm on the fishing hook. The only time the worm causes the fish trouble is when he opens his mouth and bites it. Ouch! That smarts! Just like temptation - temptation is a regular part of our Christian life. It only hurts if we "bite"!

13) But do we have to bite? The "worm' often is very tempting and a very strong pull in our lives. Look up James 4:7. What two things can we do to avoid giving in to Satan - or in other words - sinning?
Answer submit to God - resist the devil

14) But how can I do that? Read Philippians 4:13. What is the answer to this question? Answer through Christ's strength

15) You see - you are not strong enough on your own to win against Satan. But Christ is!
He is omnipotent - or all-powerful. There is no one stronger than Him.
We never have to worry about Satan taking over in our lives. Why is this so? Read 1 John 4:4. Answer because the Holy Spirit, who is God, lives within us and is stronger than Satan



16) So while we are to watch out for Satan's tricks to get us to sin and get us away from enjoying our fellowship with God, we do not have to be afraid of him, because we are on the winning side.



17) So then you can get on with my growing up in Jesus. You do not have to be defeated because your strength is from the Lord and He is the Captain of the winning side. And you are His team-mate! How does it feel to be one of the winners? Great huh? So now on to the finish line! Go ahead you can make!