The devil as the source of tragedy

Greetings to you, dear friends! Grace to you and peace from Father God and our Lord Jesus Christ!

During these past days we have been discussing how our sins and the sins of others cause different tragedies in society. Also we talked about how repentance and life in compliance with God’s Word brings healing, blessing and prosperity. Today I would like to talk about the devil as the source of tragedy.

We have already established that the devil also causes suffering for people. The Bible calls him ‘god of the present age’ and our adversary.

 «Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith…» (1 Peter, 5:8-9).

You might want to ask why the devil (and not God) is the ruler of this earth. The answer is that God entrusted the rulership of the earth to humans for a time and He cannot take it back before the set time.

 «May you be blessed by the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’s; but the earth He has given to the children of men» (Psalm, 115:15-16).

God Who has created heaven and earth has blessed people living on earth and gave him the rulership rights. Afterwards a man who walked under God’s rule had to govern this earth. But, unfortunately, the man gave these rights to the devil. The devil openly spoke about it to Jesus when tempting Him in wilderness.

«Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him,„All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours» (Luke, 4:5-7).

Did you notice that during the temptation the devil told Jesus that all the kingdoms had been given to him? Who gave him all of it? Was it God? No, it wasn’t! It was Adam and Eve who disobeyed God.

«Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?» (Romans, 6:16).

We become the slaves of the one we obey. Adam and Eve had a choice. But since they gave themselves to be slaves of sin and death, death (the devil) started ruling over people and everything that was entrusted to them. By his choice the man made the devil his god; for this reason he controls the lives of people, families, cities and countries. The devil is the specialist in three areas: stealing, killing and destroying.

 «The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly» (John, 10:10).

The devil is a thief, and even though he tries to mask his actions, the fruit of his rule are obvious on earth: they are death, poverty, tears, misery and tragedy. Here is why the Bible calls us to pray this way: “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”.

If people will pray for it, then the fullness of God’s original purpose will be established on earth. There are no tears, no poverty, no hatred, no illness, and no death in heaven where the fullness of God’s will exists.

We will continue tomorrow! God bless you!

Pastor Rufus Ajiboye