If we are not careful, there can become this notion that if a person decides to be a follower of Christ, then everything is downhill from there.
In other words, everything is going to be perfect in our lives with no problems. I will agree that the Christian life is, by far, the best life a person can live — free from guilt and the power of sin in one’s life, with the natural benefits of living a clean life and, in the end, eternal life. However, this notion is far from the truth, for when we accept Jesus into our lives, in essence we are declaring war on the great enemy of our soul — the devil himself.
He also is called Satan or Lucifer, and is described in Scripture as one who is against God and all he is trying to accomplish through us to make this world a better place.
Jesus told the religious leaders of his day that they were following their father, the devil. One of the ways was that they were like thieves, which, according to John 10:10, was coming “only to steal, kill and destroy.” Satan tries to steal, kill and destroy our joy our freedom and our faith.
Satan also is described, in Luke 22:31, as one who desires to test us, trying to bring us to spiritual ruin. In 1 Peter 5:8, we are told that the devil is like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour who is not alert to what’s going on. In other words, he would like to wipe us off the face of the Earth.
There is, however, great news for those who desire to follow Christ. Though our connection with Jesus, we can be victorious over our enemy. In John 10, Jesus as the good shepherd, unlike the thief, gives us protection and life to the full. The Scripture also teaches us that “the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” In Ephesians 6, we are told that we have access to the armor of God that we can put on to take our stand against the devil’s schemes.
The truth of the matter is that we do have an enemy, but a greater truth is that we always can be victorious in our battles. In the end, our battles will be over and the enemy will be destroyed.