Satan's Most Hated Time of the Year, Easter

Happy Resurrection Weekend to everyone! Every Easter is a great opportunity to witness to those around us because we never know who might need to hear the good news that Jesus Christ died for our (every single human being) sins and who raised Himself from the dead to show us that there is hope beyond this life of secularism and darkness. So, if there is someone you know who hasn't been to church in a long time or who hasn't been at all, give them a call or text and invite them out to worship with you tomorrow. Besides celebrating Jesus' death and resurrection, I also like celebrating this holiday because it serves as a reminder to Satan that he is fighting a losing (and lost) battle.

Since the beginning of time, being crafty and conniving as he is, he has devoted his life to trying to take over the throne of God. He lost that battle while serving in Heaven, he lost that battle when he couldn't stop the birth of Jesus from happening, and he also lost that battle even up to the crucifixion. Stay with me on this:

In Genesis 3, we find him in serpent form tempting Eve with the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. After God confronts him, He places a curse on Satan:

"So the Lord God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel." (Genesis 3:14-15)

Remember, God is the only One who is omniscient so Satan only knows what he's been told or has heard. Once Satan hears "He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel", he realizes that someone is coming who will exist only to put an end to him once and for all. His only thought process from then on out, in order to try and take over the throne of God, is to try and stop the One who is trying to put a dent in his plans. Remember what happened in Matthew 4:1-11? Satan tried his hardest, even using scripture, to try and thwart the plans of God. He tried to get Jesus to just give it up when he said,  

"Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me." Matthew 4:8-9

After the Lord rebuked him, he fled fast. Do you remember the scenes from The Passion when Jesus was walking to His crucifixion and in the crowd you see the devil following Him? That is exactly how I picture the scene to be because even up to the part where Jesus is surrounded by the two thieves, the soldiers yell, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself" (Luke 23:37) and moments later you hear one of the thieves say, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us” (Luke 23:39). Even while Satan was tempting Jesus in the wilderness, he tried to get Jesus to throw Himself down and call the angels to rescue Him. See how "save yourself" sounds just like the very words that came from Satan's mouth? Why? Because he was there the entire time during the crucifixion of Jesus and was using others to try and discourage Him from going through with it. Thankfully, it didn't work. 

Not only was the death of Jesus accomplished, He had one more thing to do in order to "seal the deal." To resurrect His own body. Satan had really thought that this death, orchestrated by him, was going to put an end to the One who was going to bruise his head, but what he didn't realize, was that he was actually an instrument used in carrying out God's Will. Satan tried to get Jesus to give up, while also wanting him to go through with it for the sole purpose of dying, but what he didn't realize was that His death would lead to His resurrection. Remember, God alone is Omniscient. 

Dying on the cross wasn't what bothered Satan; resurrecting Himself to only ascend to the Father is what upset him. Why? It would prove Jesus to be more powerful than what Satan had originally thought. One who could resurrect Himself could put an end to him. Satan only exists because God created him. God has the power to destroy Satan if He chose to do so, but God can not destroy Jesus because Jesus is God manifested and therefore, God can not destroy Himself.

So why is this Satan's most hated time of the year? Because, as Christians, we celebrate it to remind ourselves that God is still in control through the evidence of things not seen: the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus defeated death and gave the devil a good reason to be scared. Writing her commentary on the book of Revelation, Cynthia Sowa, when describing the benefits of reading Revelation puts it perfectly when she says, "...it heralds his [Satan's] doom." The death, resurrection, and return of Christ are subjects that Satan can not bear to hear because, in his mind, he still thinks that he can get away with what he is doing. His ultimate goal is to try and overthrow God and with his mindset of nothing but pure evil, he will do everything in his power to do so because that's just who he is. Some things I can not explain and neither can anyone else but God Himself. That is just the mystery of who God is. All in all, aren't you glad that we serve a Risen Savior who chose to leave His Heavenly Home, come down here to earth disguised as an ordinary guy, to die on the cross for sinners like us, so that we should have the opportunity to live in Paradise with Him? Think about it. He died for YOU. He died for me. The least we could do, is give our hearts to Him. Have you done so?