Inside Out Living

As I was reading in Luke chapter 4 yesterday, I was struck by Jesus continuing to silence the demons that he was casting out of people. These demons were declaring his identity as the Son of God and he was silencing them. That observation led me to a couple of questions:

Why would the demons who Jesus cast out announce that He is the Messiah? Should not the goal of the demons be to prevent faith in Jesus?

And then why would Jesus rebuke them for doing so? Doesn’t this help his goal?

As I pondering these questions I thought, might it be that they (the demons) are attempting to short circuit faith and trust in the heart and mind of those who come to Jesus. The demons knew who Jesus was, and yet they did not love and trust him. They had chosen to make Satan their lord long ago and are putting their hope and trust in him that he will overthrow Yahweh. Could it be that part of the demonic strategy is to replace faith and trust with mere head knowledge of who Jesus is?

Sadly how many people have bought into this lie and stop at just knowing who Jesus is and assume that they are ok. Faith in Jesus is more that belief in his identity, it is an active trust in his finished work on the cross and that we are a new creation in him. Faith is living our lives as if everything that Jesus said and did were true. Are you living your life differently because of who Jesus is and what he has done for you? Or are you one who believes and yet does not live in a way that demonstrates your faith and trust in Him?