I remember a popular song by the Paynes called, "The Conversation" that described a hypothetical conversation between Satan and Death surrounding the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. In part of the song, Death tells Satan that "The greatest kings and rich men have walked through my dark door. This Jesus, He's no different. He's just a mortal man. And I make this vow to you, He won't escape my hand." Of course, we know that Jesus changed everything about mortality when He came on the scene, and His resurrection is still shaking Satan up, today.
There is nothing Satan hates more than resurrection. He hates everything about Christians (godly living, Bible study, faith, etc.), but most of those things he can distort into salvation by works or undo by temptation. Resurrection, however, is untouchable. He can lie about it, but in reality, it cannot be denied, undone, or manipulated. This is not to say he will not try to prevent it, label it falsely, or persuade us it happens through our own power, but when Jesus rose from the grave, Satan's fate was sealed. He cannot reverse the resurrection. He knows his time is short (because generations are moments to God), and his motivation is revenge against the God who defeated death. His only way to carry out any sort of attack on God is by attacking His children. Satan considers no part of our lives off limits, but I firmly believe he will fight nothing more than any sort of resurrection work God intends in us. Satan, of course, despises any soul that is born again, but he also hates any resurrection work in your life as a result of salvation. If you desire a personal resurrection - to more devotion to His Word, to a return to being a faithful or more active member of the local church, to overcoming the death that results from addiction - Satan is outraged, and it is game on. If God is working to resurrect a dying marriage, Satan doesn't pull any punches. And if a church is experiencing resurrection from death by works unto life in Christ, it is no holds barred. Resurrection in us means God is glorified, and God's glory is what Satan has despised from the beginning.
Satan knows that every resurrection requires a death. Forgiveness requires repentance and the death of sin. We will never enjoy newness of life until we are "baptized into death" (Romans 6:24). It has been my experience that we are usually fine with the "life" part of that verse, but the "newness" ruffles feathers every time. The death of our preferences, our traditions, our opinions, our comforts, our works - everything must be on the table, because when Jesus died, He left nothing of Himself. His work on the Cross was a complete sacrifice, and every part of Him was placed in the tomb. Satan knows that "living Christ" requires death on our part, so he is working feverishly to cultivate the old desires, ideas, and methods. He convinces us that our lives are our own...that our success or happiness is when we get what we want. He nourishes the ownership mentality in churches, too, because he knows that resurrection will only ever result from complete surrender to God's will, and a resurrected church will resurrect individual lives in the community it is called to reach.
So, just a quick heads-up, today. Be mindful that spiritual warfare is real and presently very active. As in the song I mentioned, there is much conversation surrounding any person or church that is nearing resurrection. But, don't lose heart, for the glorious thing is that the song ends with "He is risen!"
"Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." ~ John 2:18-19
"Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." ~ Romans 6:4
