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Are Demons Real?
Demons, are they real? What are they?
1 Peter 5:8, 1 Timothy 2:3-4
Demons, are they real? What are they? Well, God in His word tells us that there are demons, and we often refer to them as evil angels. And we might wonder, well, where did they come from? Did God create them? Yes, he did create them, but it’s good to know he didn’t create them to be evil. He created them as he did the other angels. They were created all as angels. Angels of God created to serve him, to do his bidding as well.
But it’s clear from scripture that God created the angels to be similar to Adam and Eve, as in that they had a free will. They could choose to obey God or to choose to disobey God. And unfortunately, some of those angels chose to rebel against God. And we think about their ringleader, the devil or Satan, as he’s referred to, rose up to take God’s power, wanting it to be his very own and turned against God, and he brought with him many other evil angels that did the same. As a result, God had to send those angels out of heaven. They could no longer be in God’s perfect presence with him, and in fact, he created a place for them to be consigned to that place of hell. But for the time being, for now, he has allowed them to roam this earth until he chooses to destroy it.
One thing I said in there, though, was concerning the leader of the evil angels, the devil. You know, what about him? The Bible tells us this concerning the devil. It says
Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)
In those words, God is telling us that the devil is on the attack. First of all, he’s our enemy and he’s trying to devour us. And how does he do that? Well, he does it by trying to tempt us to sin. You might wonder, though, what’s in it for the devil? Why is he trying to do with this? Is it just that misery loves company and he wants more people with him in hell? Well, it seems bigger than that. As you recall, I mentioned that the devil wants to overthrow God and he hates God. But he can’t because God is the creator of all things. God is far more powerful than the devil is. The devil can’t attack him directly. And so what does the devil do instead? He attacks what God wants.
The devil knows the will of God, that God wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:3-4) And so that’s why he seeks to tempt people, especially Christians, to lead them astray from their Savior and to bring them to be with him forever in hell. The amazing thing, though, is that God has defeated the devil and he has taken away all of his power. Maybe we can imagine a veterinarian when it comes to a fierce animal, maybe declawing that animal or defanging that animal. That’s basically what God has done when it comes to the devil. And he has done it through his son, Jesus Christ.
How did God take away the devil’s power? It was by sending Jesus to suffer and die for our sins on a cross. Now that those sins have been paid for, the devil has nothing to hang over our heads, no sin to say you deserve wrath and punishment for this. No. We can now say that sin has been paid for in Christ. You have nothing against me, devil. In fact, I have victory in Jesus because of what he has done for me.
Yes, it is good for us to know that demons exist, evil angels exist, and they are there, desiring to tempt us and lead us astray from God. And we need not fear them. We need not be afraid of them because God has overcome the devil and all evil angels. And even more, he has sent his angels to protect us against these evil forces, to keep us close to him and our Savior, Jesus forever. Amen.
