The Devil Hates Everything Dear to God

By A. W. Tozer

. . .For the devil sinneth from the beginning.  For this purpose
the Son of God  was manifested, that he might destroy the
works of the devil.             --1 John 3:8

   I have observed among spiritual persons in the
Christian fellowship a tendency either to ignore the
devil altogether or to make too much of him.

   Both attitudes are wrong!

   There is in the world an enemy whom we dare not
ignore. We see him first in the third chapter of Genesis
and last in the twentieth of Revelation, which is to say
that he was present at the beginning of human history
and will be there at its earthly close.

   This enemy is not a creation of religious fancy, not a
mere personification of evil for convenience, but a being
as real as man himself. The Bible attributes to him
qualities of personality too detailed to be figurative, and
reveals him speaking and acting in situations hard and
practical and far removed from the poetic imagination.

   He is said to be a liar, a deceiver and a murderer who
achieves his ends by guile and trickery. While he is not
omnipresent (omnipresence being an attribute of God
alone) he is ubiquitous, which for his purpose amounts
to the same thing.

   Satan hates God for His own sake, and everything
that is dear to God he hates for the very reason that God
loves it. Because man was made in God's image the
hatred with which Satan regards him is particularly
malevolent, and since the Christian is doubly dear to
God he is hated by the powers of darkness with an
aggravated fury.

   In view of this, it cannot be less than folly for us
Christians to disregard the reality and presence of
such an enemy.

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Yours in Christ,
Paul N. F.