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Every December we’re surrounded by warm lights, familiar carols, and reminders that Christmas is a season of peace. But the Christmas story doesn’t lift us out of reality—it drops us right into the middle of a war. Scripture tells us that believers face three deadly enemies: the world around us, the flesh within us, and the devil beyond us.

In John 8:39–47, Jesus pulls back the curtain on that third enemy and reveals what we’re really up against.

The Devil Is Real, Ancient, and Fallen

Jesus doesn’t speak of the devil as a symbol or metaphor. He speaks of a real spiritual being—one Scripture calls the slanderer, tempter, deceiver, and father of lies. And Jesus says he has been active “from the beginning” (John 8:44), pointing back to the garden of Eden where the serpent first whispered lies to humanity.

But Satan wasn’t created evil. Like all angels, he was made holy—but he refused to “stand in the truth.” Pride and rebellion led to his fall. Now he wages war against God and His people.

The danger today isn’t just that people deny Satan’s existence—though many do. It’s also that Christians underestimate him. Scripture describes demons influencing bodies, tormenting minds, deceiving hearts, and luring souls away from God. Satan isn’t all-powerful, but he is powerful, experienced, and relentlessly deceptive.

Satan is like a master fisherman—he knows which bait works for which fish. And he’s patient.

Why the Devil Is So Dangerous

Deception is Satan’s primary weapon. In John 8 Jesus confronts the Pharisees—men who believed they were loyal followers of God. But their rejection of Jesus revealed a terrible truth: they were listening to the enemy instead of the Father.

Satan’s strategy hasn’t changed. For some, deception looks like superstition—trusting charms, crystals, or rituals to ward off evil. For others, it looks like disbelief—assuming the spiritual realm is fiction. For many, it looks like distraction—lives so cluttered with entertainment, stress, and self-focus that spiritual realities never register.

And perhaps most dangerous, Satan deceives through religion without Jesus. The Pharisees could recite Scripture, attend worship, and keep their rituals—but they didn’t love or obey God’s Word. They were religious, but not redeemed.

As C.S. Lewis warned, we can fall into two errors: thinking too much about the devil, or not thinking about him at all. Scripture calls us to clarity, not obsession; vigilance, not paranoia.

How We Resist the Devil

Jesus gives the simplest and most powerful answer:

“Whoever is of God hears the words of God.”
—John 8:47

To “hear” God’s Word in Scripture is to treasure it, trust it, submit to it, and obey it. The only way to resist the father of lies is to cling to the truth.

And that truth isn’t just ink on a page—it’s a Person.

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”
—John 1:14

Jesus is the Word made flesh. He is the serpent-crusher promised in Genesis 3. He faced the devil head-on in the wilderness and never sinned. He marched to the cross, and what looked like Satan’s greatest victory became his ultimate defeat.

Through His death and resurrection, Jesus “disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame” (Col. 2:15).

Satan is defeated—but still dangerous. Like a dead serpent whose nerves still twitch, he can still bite. He cannot damn a believer, but he can distract, discourage, and deceive.

So we resist him the same way Jesus did: by clinging to God’s Word and to the Savior who fulfilled it.

Christmas Is a Declaration of War

The first Christmas was not a silent night—it was an invasion. The Son of God stepped onto the battlefield to rescue His people. He came not only to forgive our sin, but to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8).

As we enter this Advent season, remember:
You have an enemy beyond you—but you also have a Savior who stands before you, behind you, and in you.

Resist the devil. Treasure the Word. Cling to Christ. The war is real, but the victory is certain.