The Radiant Mission
The Radiant Mission
138. The Truth About Satan—A Myth or a Real Enemy?
The figure of Satan has been distorted by pop culture into a cartoonish villain with red horns and a pitchfork—a caricature that makes him easy to dismiss. But is this accurate? We cut through cultural misconceptions to reveal what Scripture actually teaches about our spiritual adversary.
Diving deep into biblical accounts from Genesis to Revelation, this Coffee Talk episode uncovers Satan's origin as a once-beautiful angelic being whose pride led to his fall. You'll discover the surprising truth about his continued access to heaven as an accuser until Christ's resurrection, and the connection between the mysterious "watchers" of Genesis 6, the Nephilim, and the origin of demonic spirits.
Most importantly, you'll learn why understanding Satan matters for your spiritual life. Far from appearing frightening, 2 Corinthians reveals he "masquerades as an angel of light," making his primary weapon deception rather than terror. From the Garden's subtle "Did God really say?" to today's false teachings and distractions, Satan's tactics haven't changed—but neither has their effectiveness when believers are unprepared.
The good news? We're not fighting for victory but from victory. Through Christ, Satan is already defeated. We unpack practical ways to stand firm through the armor of God, active resistance, and submission to God. You'll walk away with a sobering yet encouraging perspective: Satan is real and strategic, but in Christ, we have everything needed to stand against his schemes. This isn't about fear—it's about clarity, preparedness, and confidence in our victorious Savior. Share this episode with someone who needs this biblical perspective on spiritual warfare.
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Welcome back to the Radiant Mission Podcast. My name is Rebecca Toomey and today we are continuing in our Coffee Talk series, which is a short series of meaningful, thought-provoking conversations, really designed to start your morning with faith, truth and maybe a warm cup of something comforting. So today's question it might feel like a heavy one, but it is so important, especially with what we've been talking about on here lately, and that is who is Satan? Who is Satan? Is he a real enemy or is he just a myth, an idea that people use to explain evil in the world? Some imagine a cartoonish figure you know the red horns, pitchfork tail and others think of him as nothing more than a symbolic force. Nothing more than a symbolic force. But the Bible tells us something entirely different and much more sobering. Satan is real, he is active, he is deceptive and he's incredibly strategic in how he operates. And while we don't need to fear him, we do need to understand who he is and how he works. So let's go ahead and dive right in.
Speaker 1:First, we're going to talk about culture versus scripture and how Satan is seen, so let's start with the cultural view. We've all seen caricatures Satan as red horned villain sitting on someone's shoulder. You know a scary voice in horror movies, a Halloween costume, or maybe the concept of Satan is just completely dismissed as superstitious and outdated. But in scripture Satan is no joke. He's not a metaphor, he's not a costume. He is a created being, a fallen angel, who rebelled against God and continues to oppose everything good and holy. And he doesn't usually look evil honestly. In 2 Corinthians 11, 14, it says Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. In other words, he's not trying to frighten you, he's trying to deceive you. He will twist the truth, he'll offer half lies, he will present sin as good and rebellion as freedom, and from the very beginning this has been his method. In Genesis 3, we see him in the garden subtle, persuasive and deceptive. His very first line was did God really say that's all it took to plant doubt.
Speaker 1:Next, let's talk about who is Satan, origin, his fall and the role in scripture. The Bible shows us that Satan wasn't created evil. He originally was a beautiful, powerful angelic being. Some believe he may have been a worship leader in heaven or a guardian cherub. And, by the way, if you want to hear more on some of this and dive a little bit deeper, go back to the beginning of the radiant mission. In our very, very first series we talked about spiritual warfare and we dove quite a bit into some of this, so feel free to circle back there Again.
Speaker 1:Today's episode is a short one, so I'm not going to get into all the details. So let's look at Ezekiel 28, 12 through 17. It describes this fall. You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Isaiah 14, 12 through 15 adds you said in your heart I will ascend to the heavens, I will make myself like.
Speaker 1:The Most High Ride was Satan's downfall. He wasn't content to just worship God, he wanted to be God and because of that he was cast out of heaven. And a lot of people ask or think and this is a very common thing to think is okay well, how did he go from the garden of Eden to heaven? And I myself have had to dig into this quite a bit, especially after. I don't know if you guys listened to the episodes that I did with Nathan Riley. We talked a little bit about that in the first episode. I believe it was about the serpent and Satan being the same person or different people. I myself am not the source of truth for anything. So, please, the whole goal and the whole point of this series is to invoke questions, is to get you thinking, is to get you in prayer and asking the Lord to guide you, and he has continued to guide me since that initial conversation where we talked about this. So here is what I am presenting and talking about today, about this, because what I have discovered is that there is a fascinating and potentially misunderstood part of Satan's story.
Speaker 1:By Genesis 3, we see him in the garden as the serpent. You know he's already in rebellion, but in later books like Job and Zechariah, satan still has access to heaven. He appears before God to accuse and challenge his people. Job 1.6 says one day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan also came with them. Revelation 12.10 refers to Satan as the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God, day and night. So what does this mean? It tells us that even after his initial fall, Satan still had limited access to the heavenly realm, where he acted as a prosecutor or accuser. But there came a time when that access was cut off. Revelation 12, 7 through 9 describes a dramatic moment likely after Christ's death and resurrection. There was a war in heaven. Death and resurrection. There was a war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and the dragon was hurled down, that ancient serpent called the devil or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. At that point, satan was cast permanently. He no longer had access to the throne. He was confined to earth, raging because he knows his time is short. He was confined to earth, raging because he knows his time is short.
Speaker 1:Now let's talk about my favorite part in all of this the watchers and Genesis 6 and the Nephilim. This is lesser known Hopefully I mean, if you're listening to this podcast, it's not now but it's incredibly important part of this story the watchers and the Nephilim. Genesis 6, 1 through 4 tells us the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful and they married Any of them they chose. The Nephilim were on the earth in those days and after. So who were these sons of God?
Speaker 1:Most early Jewish scholars and many Christian theologians believe that they were fallen angels. Ancient Jewish texts, especially the book of Enoch, calls these beings watchers, angels assigned to observe and protect humanity. But instead they rebelled. Jude 1.6 says the angels who did not keep their proper domain, and then also mentions he has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness. These fallen angels took human wives and had children with them, and they produced the Nephilim, which is a race of hybrid giants. This wasn't just rebellion. It was a spiritual assault on God's creation and possibly even attempt to corrupt the bloodline through which the promised Messiah would come.
Speaker 1:Genesis 6-5 tells us that wickedness had become so widespread that God sent the flood to destroy the earth. Only Noah, a man described as blameless in his generation, and his family were preserved. So then, that leaves the question where did the spirits go? What happened to the Nephilim after the flood, since we are told that they existed then and after their physical bodies were destroyed, but many believe, as I do, that their spirits became demons, the disembodied, unclean spirits that we see in the New Testament. You know all those demons that Jesus is casting out. They are restless, they're corrupt and they're constantly seeking to dwell in physical bodies or harass physical bodies, as we might say Unlike fallen angels, who operate at a higher level of power and hierarchy. In Luke 11, 24 through 26 and Mark 5, it gives examples of demons seeking out places or people to inhabit. So when we start to talk about spiritual warfare, we are talking about the combined efforts of Satan, fallen angels and the demonic spirits born from that ancient rebellion. But these forces are real, you guys. They're active and they're hostile towards God's people, which is why it's so important to understand, so that you know how to be on the defense, or really not the defense, but how to be proactive against spiritual warfare.
Speaker 1:Let's talk about what is Satan doing today. What's he up to? Jesus said it best in John 10, 10, the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. That is Satan's mission. He wants to steal your identity and peace. He wants to kill your faith and hope and he wants to destroy your relationship with God. He doesn't always come with fear or violence. He often comes with distraction, confusion, self-help spirituality and seductive, false teaching.
Speaker 1:1 Peter 5, 8. Warns be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. So how should believers respond? We're not powerless, you guys. We're not fighting for victory. We're fighting from victory. Fighting for victory. We're fighting from victory. James 4, 7,. Submit yourselves to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 1 John 4, 4,. Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.
Speaker 1:Ephesians 6 tells us to put on the full armor of God, the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the spirit and prayer. Colossians 2.15 says Jesus disarmed the powers and authorities and made a public spectacle of them triumphing over them by the cross. The victory has already been won. So is Satan real? Yes, he is not a myth, not a metaphor and not a joke. He's a fallen angel, a deceiver and an enemy of everything good and holy. But he's also defeated. Jesus crushed him at the cross and one day Satan will be thrown into the lake of fire forever.
Speaker 1:Romans 16, 20,. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. So don't fear him, but don't ignore him either. Stay grounded in scripture, stay alert and stay close to Jesus. Grounded in scripture, stay alert and stay close to Jesus. Thank you for joining me today. If this episode encouraged or challenged you, share it with a friend and be sure to come back for the next episode of Coffee Talk. I'm wishing you a radiant week and I'll see you next time. Bye, everyone.
