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In a recent discussion on the subject of sin and evil, I made the passing comment that the devil was the servant of Christ. That immediately raised a question in one person, upset by the idea that he and the devil might somehow be on the same side. I reassured him by explaining that the devil does not serve Christ willingly, but inevitably. Indeed, he could not continue to exist apart from the good pleasure of Jesus Christ, Who upholds the world and everything in it by His Word of power. And so, since Jesus allows the devil to continue to exist, even he must have some place and purpose in the divine scheme whereby God is working all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28). The devil cannot go anywhere or do anything to advance his wicked schemes and to infest the world with evil apart from the sovereign will of King Jesus. Even the devil himself, the very embodiment of evil, is restrained by the good pleasure of God.
Certainly this does not exculpate the devil, no more than anyone who commits evil is excused from guilt, simply because God is able to use their evil for good (Gen. 50:20). The devil, we know is capable of a great deal of evil. Not just the gory, head-spinning, projectile vomiting evil that Hollywood delights to portray, but the more garden variety evil: deception, lies, gossip, malicious injury, adultery in all its forms – indeed, all the many ways that people break the Ten Commandments and subject themselves to the ravages of disobedience and sin. In addition, the devil has a wide range of resources at his disposal, in a world fallen in sin and subject to corruption in all its forms, to make life miserable for a good many people. And he delights to do so, as witness the story of Job. The devil simply could not leave well enough alone with Job, but wanted him to be more miserable and more miserable still. But God restrained him, and as strongly as he restrained the devil in the days of Job, the Lord Jesus restrains him even more tightly today. For as we read in Matthew 12:22-29, Jesus has actually bound the devil, limiting his powers to roam and devour, and making him subject to whatever the pleasure of King Jesus is willing to allow. He may delight to persecute and torture the followers of Jesus, but Jesus allows him to do so in order to strengthen our faith and increase our joy (1 Pt. 4:12-19). The devil rejoices in tragedy and violence, but Christ can use even such horrors to advance His saving purposes (Lk. 13:1-5). If Jesus did not restrain the devil and make him serve only God’s Kingdom purposes, count on it, there would be much, much more evil in the world than is presently the case.
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Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture references are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Why There Isn’t More Evil
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