Young man: “Satan isn’t really like a person, right? I mean there’s evil in the world, and there’s such a thing as evil–as a force. But Satan, if he did exist, would be just one person. He would be limited. He couldn’t be everywhere at once or anything. So what could he really accomplish in the world?”
Old man: “I saw this action/adventure film on the American Movie Channel recently called Highlander. I’m sure you’ve heard of it. There’s this small group of people who live forever (unless someone chops their head off). So they’re all trying to chop off each other’s heads because, for some mysterious reason, there can only be one of them left on earth before the movie ends. You see these people living for centuries and the consequences of such a long life. They try to remain in the background of society but they accumulate wealth and wisdom like nobody’s business. The advantage their lifespan provides them over mere mortals is pretty astounding.
So it gets you thinking, doesn’t it? Satan has been around, not for hundreds of years, but for multiplied thousands of years, or perhaps longer. And he also has the capabilities of an angel: speed of travel, ability to change form, and ability to communicate and influence on levels we don’t understand. He also has one third of the population of angels at his disposal to cultivate and nurture evil over the millennia. And he has one more thing going for him–us, we’re such easy targets!
You might want to consider reading Jesus’ conversation with Satan. You’ll find it in Matthew chapter 4, and Luke chapter 4 as well. For me, I can’t read those chapters and come away believing anything other than Satan is a person. An angelic person. A dark and evil angelic person–who opposes God.
The good news is, God is love, and two thirds of the angels remained loyal to God, as well as the Holy Spirit, and God’s own Son the Christ of course. And then there’s God Himself, who opposes Satan. And then there’s even more good news: the work God’s Son did on the cross to defeat Satan.
So yes Satan’s a person.
But his outlook, is bleak.”
[Image via Lawrence OP – Creative Commons]