WHO IS YOUR MASTER?

 

                God has given man the opportunity to choose to serve either Christ as master or Satan as master. There are many contrasts in the Bible concerning Jesus and Satan that should help us make our decision. It is an obvious truth that you cannot serve both Christ and Satan. "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." (Matthew 6:24) The choice of Christ as master is the choice of life. The choice of Satan as master is the choice of death. "I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live." (Deuteronomy 30:19) Jesus is unique. There has never been anyone who compares with Him. Satan, on the other hand, is the one who stands up against humanity to provoke and destroy. The Scriptures draw sharp contrasts between Jesus and Satan. This helps us better understand the choices we are to make in this life.

 

          Jesus is the Son while Satan is a father. Jesus is the son of a woman named Mary. The angel said, “She shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21) He is the son of Mary and He is the Son of God. Peter and the apostles said of Jesus, "We have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." (John 6:69) While Jesus is the Son, Satan is a father. He is the father of all wickedness. Hear the words of John 8:44, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” Your life is controlled either by Jesus the son of God, or by Satan the father of wickedness. The choice is yours! No one can make this choice for you. God created you with a free will and He will not force you to choose Him. But remember, bad choices bring eternally bad consequences! 

 

          Jesus is sinless, but Satan sins from the beginning. Jesus never failed to honor God. He never wandered from the path of righteousness. Peter said, He “Did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.” (1 Peter 2:22) Satan, on the other hand, sinned from the beginning. John said, "He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning." (1 John 3:8) Satan is a sinner and sin comes from him. Sin is his self-chosen life.  You can have in your life Jesus, who never failed to honor God or Satan, who sinned from the beginning. The choice is yours! No one can make this choice for you. God created you with a free will and He will not force you to choose Him. But remember, bad choices bring eternally bad consequences! 

 

          Jesus brings good things to our life; Satan brings misery and troubles. Jesus Christ is responsible for all the good and for only the good in our lives. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” (James 1:17) One of the Devil's tricks is to convince people that God does not help them in their time of trouble. Since God is good it is better to be hungry in the will of God than full outside of the will of God. Everything good in this world comes from God! Satan, on the other hand, is responsible for all the misery experienced by humanity. All you have to do to understand how Satan brings misery is to read the first few chapters in the book of Job. Satan went into the presence of God. (Job 1:6) He accused Job of serving God for what he got out of it. (Job 1:9-11) He took away all of Job's possessions and his children; he afflicted Job's body and even turned his wife against him. (Job 2) Job made the choice to stick with God. He said, “Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.” (Job 1:21-22) You can have in your life Jesus, who is responsible for all the good and for only the good or Satan, who is responsible for all the misery experienced by humanity. The choice is yours! No one can make this choice for you. God created you with a free will and He will not force you to choose Him. But remember, bad choices bring eternally bad consequences! 

 

          Jesus wants God's word in our heart. Satan wants God's word taken from our heart. Jesus said, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” (Mark 16:15-16) The desire of Jesus is that the word of God be implanted in every human heart. The commission which Jesus gave the apostles to set up His kingdom among men involved the sharing of the glad tidings of reconciliation to God through Jesus, our one mediator. Jesus desired that people be instructed in the meaning of His death, burial and resurrection. The life, the person and the work of Jesus Christ must move from the pages of the Bible into our hearts. On the other hand the Devil will do all he can to prevent this from happening. In the parable of the sower we learn that the Devil comes imme­diately to take the word of God out of the heart. “And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.” (Mark 4:15) You can choose to have in your life Jesus whose desire it is that the word of God be implanted in every human heart or Satan who will do all he can to prevent this from happening. The choice is yours! No one can make this choice for you. God created you with a free will and He will not force you to choose Him. But remember, bad choices bring eternally bad consequences! 

 

          Each per­son must choose either to serve God or Satan. You can have in your life Jesus who has heaven to offer or the Devil who has nothing to offer eternally. The choice is yours! The place for Jesus is with us. The place for Satan is behind us. There is no greater walk than "walking hand in hand with Jesus." On the other hand, when the Devil tempted Jesus he was told, “Get  behind Me, Satan!” (Luke 4:8) The Devil has no place in the life of a person who is serving God. Whom will you serve? It should be our goal to "serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear." (Hebrews 12:28) To be saved from sin hear the gospel (Romans 10:17), believe in Jesus (Mark 16:16), repent of sins (Luke 13:5), confess Jesus as Lord (Matthew 10:32), and be baptized into Christ (Romans 6:3-4) Jesus is "the Christ of God." Therefore serve Him faithfully.

 

Charles Box, Walnut Street Church of Christ, 306 Walnut Street, Greenville, Alabama 36037