What is our Adversary?

... Most of my life I believed that Satan was a fallen angel. Not only was he a
fallen angel, but he was the most powerful and brightest and most talented of al
l the angels... almost as glorious as God Himself... and that Satan was only a l
ittle lower than God who, until Christ came and defeated Satan on the cross, was
literally dominating man on the earth.. that on our own we stood no chance agai
nst this powerful fallen angel.
... I'm coming to see that the Hebrew word 'satan' was NOT translated.. it was t
ransliterated and brought directly into the English bible. It means, "adversary
" or "opponent". Somehow, somewhere, we turned a word that means 'adversary' in
to a NAME.. and then we capitalised that name: Satan. As time went on this mad
e up creature became 'mythological" and very powerful.
... In the 36 times it is used in the New Testament, it is always transliterated
from the Hebrew "Sawtawn." Its meaning is "an opponent" -- "the arch-enemy of
good." The root of the word means, "to attack."
... One thing I do know is that the only power in the universe is God... Jesus i
s the power of God. There are essentially two words for "Power" commonly used.
One refers to the power of God ( dounamis ) and the other is a 'priveleged powe
r' like 'the power of darkness'... which
in reality has no power in itself... the only power it has is the power we give
it.. and
then in our minds that thing may have power over us..but doesn't seem to affect
anyone else.
... so, even if there was a creature called Satan he has no power in himself.. b
ut the reality is that there is no fallen angel called Lucifer. I think the Kin
g James Version is one of the few who use that name (Isa.14).. and that passage
is referring to the King of Babylon.
... What then is our adversary? It's our minds.. the carnal mind is hostile to
the Spirit of God. Most of the 'bad influence' on our lives comes from within..
not from the outside. Paul referred to the 'vain imaginations': those illusionar
y worlds we create and live in.. created by our own minds as we try to produce o
ur own life apart from God.
... I wonder if the conversation between Eve and the serpent in Genesis 3 ( the
'hissing whisperer' ) was Eve talking to herself? We have a belief system based
on what we've been taught... Lots to sort out, but I'm wondering.
... We're called to be spiritual people.. living in and by the Spirit.
... I'm not saying there isn't a satan.. nor am I saying there are no demons or
devils..
I'm saying that my old mindset was probably distorted.. maybe even wrong.
... As James Stone brought out in his teaching series on the Biblical Concept of
Satan, he said, " The clearest description of the adversary is from the New Tes
tament. Perhaps, it is best seen in a statement of Jesus to Peter: (Matthew 16:2
1-23)
"Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was
Jesus the Christ. From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples, h
ow that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chie
f priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Pe
ter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this s
hall not be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, S
atan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of
God, but those that be of men." With thou savorest in "thou savourest not the th
ings that be of God, but those that be of man" -- meaning "the exercise of the m
ind (literal translation), Jesus seams to be indicating that "Satan" has somethin
g to do with the mind.
Paul also knew where the adversary to God would occur. He stated:
"For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is lif
e and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God" (Rom. 8:6,7)
With enmity meaning, "hostility; by implication, reason for opposition"
and the root of that word meaning, "hostile; usually as a noun, an adversary" --
Paul also connects the adversary with the mind of man.
Peter also knew the power of the adversary, the power of the uncontrolle
d mind. (1 Peter 5:8)
"Be sober ["to abstain from wine (keep sober), i.e. be discreet"], be vi
gilant ["to keep awake, i.e. watch"]; because your adversary ["an opponent"] the
devil ["a traducer; from a word meaning to throw"], as a roaring lion, walketh
about [ "to thread all around," also translated by KJV as "be occupied with"], s
eeking [to plot] whom he may devour [to drink down, i.e. gulp entirely, from the
root, "to imbibe"]"
Peter seems to be indicating that the adversary is an intoxicated mind i
n control of the soul.
... What do you think? Is another mindset being challenged? Something for the
Lord to
clear up for us, me thinks.