Is there Really Such Thing as a Devil?
Short Answer: "Yes." The Bible and Christ Himself speak repeatedly about the person of satan...and not as a metaphor or parable. Thus, you cannot believe in Christ and not believe in satan.
Does that seem 'hokey' to you?: I know alot of people think it's silly or superstitious to think there's a devil. I think it's that way because
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The church in the old days used satan for scare tactics. Perhaps their efforts made satan and demons seem like some kind of bogey man (is it "boogey" man or "bogey" - I don't know), which seems silly to the modern mind. In truth, though, he's more - and less - than that. I'd say that he is the yin to God's Yang, but that makes him equal, and he just isn't - as even he knows.
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satan is crafty. He doesn't care if you believe in him or not - just as long as you stay separated from God by not believing in Christ and the Cruxifiction / Resurrection. His aim is to get back at God, and the best way to do that is to keep you from Him (since you are God's first love). The craftiest trick satan has pulled yet is to convince society that he doesn't exist.
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he also puts up counterfeits for every one of God's truths and gifts. Instead of Love, he offers lust; instead of Salvation, he offers christian religion and false religions; and instead of Absolute Truth, he offers politically-correct relativity. All of these things are smoke screens that keep many from focusing on where we would find God. They are the lies that complicate the process of Salvation and make it seem insurmountable. Thus, most of these deceptions are destructive to us - which it is his mission to accomplish.
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Even satan himself knows his time is short. God's word speaks of the day when satan will be cast down forever. In the mean time, God also makes it crystal clear that we have nothing to fear from him at all if we are Christians who call on Christ. That's why I say above that satan is less than a bogey man. He's foolish and irrelevant to us as Christians, because Christ has conquered him already and Christ's victory is extended to us when we call on Him. The name of Christ sends him running like the scalded dog that he is.
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