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A number of well-loved books share a common theme: an epic battle between good and evil. In The Lord of the Rings, for example, Aragorn and company wage war against the powerful but evil Sauron; and in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Aslan the lion battles the White Witch.

These great stories also share a number of other elements that make them gripping and intriguing. One is that their battles have universal and grave consequences. If Frodo fails in his mission to destroy the ring, and if Aslan does not come to conquer the Witch, then all is lost for everyone. There is a do-or-die element to these stories.

Another common component is the oppression of people by an evil tyrant. Times are tough and desperate. In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the citizens of Narnia live in constant fear of their ruler, the White Witch, who makes it winter all year round, but never Christmas. The story is somewhat different in The Lord of the Rings, as the evil Sauron is not quite in control of Middle Earth, but he is rapidly gaining strength and is on the brink of complete domination.

Still another theme, which binds together many of these well-loved stories, is the presence of a promised hero who will save the oppressed. This is especially the case in Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Many of the Narnians have lived in hope for a very long time, because of the prophecy that one day the great and mighty Aslan will come to Narnia and right all wrongs and turn winter into spring. Aslan’s victory, according to another prophecy, will happen when two daughters of Eve and two sons of Adam arrive in Narnia and sit on the four thrones at Cair Paravel. This is why when Mrs. Beaver meets Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy for the very first time, she exclaims, “So you’ve come at last! At last! To think that ever I should live to see this day!”1

Good versus evil, oppression, deliverance, powerful enemies, promised saviors, and do-or-die battles are all components that wonderful epic stories have in common. Yet, there is something else they share: to one degree or another, they reflect reality. Perhaps this is why such stories are so popular. They express truth in the form of art, which we can relate to, and which we long to experience ourselves.

While we may be unaware of it, there has been a cosmic battle between good and evil since the time of Adam and Eve in the garden. Since the entrance of the first sin into the world, humanity has been enslaved and oppressed, subject to all sorts of misery, including death. Against this background, God has promised to send a savior to rescue his people.

The four Gospels teach that Jesus is this promised savior. Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Mary, is no ordinary man. He is the one the Old Testament prophets said would come to deliver God’s people.

The Need for a Savior

Evil first entered God’s good universe when an angel opposed God and subsequently was cast out of heaven. The Bible tells us very little about the fall of Satan, but it does seem that pride was a root cause of his rebellion. Also, it is clear that he took many angels with him. Fallen or rebellious angels are commonly called demons.

In his hatred for God, Satan sought to destroy the apex of God’s creation, human beings, who are made in the image of God. The evil one cunningly tempted the first two human beings, Adam and Eve, to rebel against God by eating the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3). Tragically, Satan was successful. Adam ate the fruit, bringing sin and its consequences into the world (Romans 5).

The situation in Narnia under the White Witch somewhat captures humankind’s situation since Adam’s fall into sin: living under an evil tyrant in a place where it is always winter and never Christmas. The Bible teaches that all men are by nature living under the tyrannical rule of Satan (Eph 2:2; 1 John 5:19). Furthermore, the Bible teaches that all humans are sinners, and are therefore under God’s wrath and curse and are “liable to all miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell forever.”2

Our own experience confirms these truths. This world is full of suffering, evil, oppression, and death: infanticide, betrayal, rape, murder, genocide, and abuse. We do not have to look outside ourselves, however, to see these things. We have personally suffered misery and pain to one degree or another. We have caused others to suffer by our words and actions. And what is more, we are all going to die.

Appreciating the need for a savior can be obscured, however, by God’s goodness. We have good jobs, great marriages, healthy children, and nice homes. Who needs saving? When life is good, we should enjoy it and praise God for it. But the fact remains, we live in a sinful, fallen world, and sooner or later, our world will crash in on us. We lose our job, health, or family. Then all of a sudden, we are reminded that all is not well here. We are awakened to the fact that we need a savior. We need someone to deliver us from sin, misery, death, and Satan. We need a hero to make all wrongs right and to turn winter into spring.

Thankfully, God, in his goodness and incomparable love, has promised to save us from sin and death. He did so right after the fall, when he said to Adam and Eve, in Genesis 3:15, “I will put enmity between you [the devil] and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” In this verse, God promises that a descendent of Eve will one day come and destroy the devil: “he shall bruise your head.”

The Battle between Good and Evil

Undoubtedly, Satan wasn’t too pleased when he heard about God’s promise to send someone to crush him and take away his newly acquired minions. His displeasure, though, was translated into action. He decided to fight back. The battle lines were thus drawn, and the war over humanity began in earnest between God and Satan.

Throughout the period leading up to the fulfillment of God’s promise, if we would have pulled back the curtain to peer into what was going on behind the scenes, we would have seen the devil doing his best to eradicate the seed of the woman. He began with the ungodly Cain murdering his righteous brother Abel. Yet, the hope carried on in Eve’s third son, Seth. Satan changed tactics and used marriage between the godly and the ungodly to wipe out the godly seed (Genesis 6). This approach nearly worked, as the newfound alliance diluted the true religion, causing humanity’s wickedness to flourish, to the point where God decided to destroy humanity from the face of the earth. There was, however, one righteous man, Noah. God delivered him and his family from the flood, thereby keeping the hope of a future savior alive.

From the numerous peoples that came from Noah, God chose Abraham. The promised deliverer would be one of his descendents. A difficulty arose, however, in that Abraham’s wife, Sarah, was unable to have any children (a consequence of the fall). As nothing is impossible with God, Sarah conceived and gave birth to the promised child, Isaac, in her old age. Isaac’s wife, Rebekah, also had a hard time conceiving, yet God is faithful, and she eventually gave birth to twin boys, Esau and Jacob.

The promise carried on through Jacob. He had twelve sons, so the question of an heir was not an issue. Survival during the seven-year famine, however, was. To keep them and the promise alive, God used the wicked actions of ten sons to send one son, Joseph, to Egypt, so that he might be in a position to save them all from the severe famine. With Joseph being Pharaoh’s right-hand man, Jacob and his family moved to Egypt, where after a long period of time, his family turned into a nation, containing as many people as the stars in the heavens.

At this juncture, Satan executed a violent assault on Israel in order to nullify God’s promise. We learn in Exodus 1 that Pharaoh first enslaved the entire nation of Israel and then ordered the killing of all Hebrew male babies. Killing all the males would have effectively destroyed the nation, as the remaining girls would have been assimilated into the Egyptian culture and people. The continuing line leading to the coming savior would have then been wiped out. God countered this attack through the Hebrew midwives who refused to carry out Pharaoh’s orders, and by raising up Moses to lead his people out of Egypt.

While in the promised land, God chose Jesse’s youngest son as the one through whom the savior would come. The Messiah would be a son of David. For a time, things went fairly smoothly, with just a few bumps in the road; but a tense moment occurred after the death of Ahaziah, the seventh king after David. Upon his death, Ahaziah’s mother, Athaliah, killed all the royal heirs—that is, all the sons of David. She murdered all of them, except one. Unbeknownst to her, little Joash was rescued from among the king’s sons who were being put to death. Satan was again frustrated after another close call. But though he lost another battle, he was far from giving up the war.

During the reign of Ahaz, Syria and Israel combined forces to blot out the house of David and set up their own king in Jerusalem (Isaiah 7). God promised to Ahaz that their attempt would fail: “It shall not stand, and it shall not come to pass” (Isa 7:7). To confirm his promise, God gave a sign: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isa 7:14).

Further attempts were made by Satan to wipe out the line of the promised one: the exile due to the people’s apostasy, the mixed marriages of the Jews who remained in Jerusalem, and the decree to exterminate the Jews during the time of Esther. All of them were unsuccessful, which set up a climactic battle, wherein Satan launched another violent assault to destroy the one who was supposed to destroy him. We will turn to this in a moment.

The point to be grasped is that there is a cosmic battle between good and evil. The Bible often describes it as the battle between two kingdoms: the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness. When we speak of the kingdom of God we do have to distinguish between God’s kingdom in a redemptive sense and his kingdom in a providential sense. God is and always will be king and ruler over the world. As Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged, God’s kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and he rules over all (Daniel 4). This is God’s providential kingdom. But God’s kingdom is also used in a redemptive sense, and it is this kingdom that is contrasted with the kingdom of Satan or darkness. This kingdom refers to God in time and history securing redemption and breaking the power of evil in this world.

In The Lord of the Rings, the hobbits live blissfully unaware of the great battle to save Middle Earth from the evil Sauron. Many people are like hobbits and do not understand or see the great battle waging between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan, a battle over the allegiance of people’s hearts and lives. But though they do not know it or admit it, the battle goes on. This is why believers must put on the whole armor of God daily: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12).

Jesus is the Promised Savior

The climactic battle between the two warring kingdoms began with the birth of Jesus, because he is the promised savior. With the appearance of his nemesis, Satan gathered his forces together for the showdown. Before we look at this part of the story, however, we want to demonstrate from the Gospels that Jesus, the son of Mary, is indeed God’s promised savior.

The events surrounding Jesus’ birth provided the first clues that he is the savior. Shortly after the birth of John the Baptist, the forerunner to Jesus, John’s father, Zechariah, prophesied, saying in reference to Jesus that God had “raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophet from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us” (Luke 1:69–71).

When an angel appeared to Mary to tell her that she would conceive and have a son, he said to her, “You shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:31–33).

Later on, as Joseph was thinking about quietly divorcing Mary because she had become pregnant, an angel appeared to him and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matt 1:20–21).

After his birth, Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem. While there, Simeon took the child into his arms and blessed God, saying, “My eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples” (Luke 2:30–31).

Jesus’ public ministry provided further clues that he is the savior. Right from the beginning of his ministry, Jesus proclaimed openly and with authority that “the kingdom of God is at hand” (Mark 1:15). In other words, it was time for the messianic kingdom of God to be established. The long-awaited kingdom was coming, because the long-awaited savior and king had come. It was time to dethrone Satan and take away his power over people. It was time to see Satan fall like lightning from heaven (Luke 10:18).

Jesus’ message of the nearness of the kingdom was confirmed by his casting out demons. In Mark 1:23–26, Jesus confronted a man possessed by an unclean spirit. Most of, if not all, the people witnessing this confrontation did not know who Jesus was or that he was the promised Messiah. The unclean spirit, however, knew exactly who Jesus was: “I know who you are—the Holy One of God” (Mark 1:24). He also knew what Jesus had come to do—that is, to redeem his people and conquer the reign of evil in the world. This is why the unclean spirit was defensive and said, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?” The demon recognized the nearness of the kingdom of God and was frightened. Jesus responded to the demon by commanding him to come out of the man. In so doing, Jesus demonstrated his power and authority over the kingdom of evil. He did this time and time again (Mark 1:32–34, 39). In fact, the abundance of unclean spirits during Jesus’ time on earth was undoubtedly a result of his presence. The climactic battle between God and Satan had arrived.

Jesus’ many miracles of healing also confirmed that he is the promised savior. Throughout the Gospels, we see Jesus healing the sick, making the blind see, cleansing lepers, and so forth. When John the Baptist was in prison, he began to wonder if Jesus was really the Messiah. So he sent his disciples to ask Jesus if he really was the one. Jesus responded, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them” (Matt 11:4–5). Jesus was saying that he was indeed the Messiah, because he was doing the things that the Old Testament prophets said the Messiah would do (Isaiah 35; Luke 8:14–17).

Jesus’ healing power highlighted the fact that he saves from sin and all of its consequences. To the paralytic man who wanted healing, Jesus said, “Son, your sins are forgiven” (Mark 2:5). Some of the scribes and Pharisees wondered what right Jesus had to forgive sins. And so Jesus said to them, “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’?” (Mark 2:9). Jesus’ miracles of healing demonstrated that he has power over the cause of sickness—namely, sin. In other words, he is the promised savior of sinners (and thus has the right to forgive sins), because he is able to save people from the consequences of sin: misery, sickness, and death.

Jesus’ other miracles provided further evidence that he is the promised savior. After showing Nathanael his ability to know things that no ordinary person could know, Nathanael cried out, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” (John 1:49). Upon his feeding the five thousand with five loaves of bread and two fish, the people said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” (John 6:14). Although the people misunderstood Jesus’ mission, they were right that Jesus is indeed the promised savior. And so his birth set the stage for the climactic battle between God and Satan.

The Climactic Battle

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem, wise men from the East went to Jerusalem looking for the one who had been born king of the Jews so that they might worship him. Upon learning from the chief priests and the scribes where the Christ was to be born, Herod told the wise men to go look in the little town of Bethlehem. He also directed them to bring back news of his exact whereabouts. Ostensibly, Herod wanted to know where Jesus was living so that he, too, might worship him. But in reality, he felt threatened by this newborn king. So to protect his dynasty, Herod decided to kill the child.

Satan was, of course, working behind the scenes for his own purposes—namely, to kill the seed of the woman. After countless failed attempts, he could now taste victory. With the help of the Hebrew Scriptures and the bright star, the wise men found Jesus. Having worshipped him and given him gifts, they were ready to return to Jerusalem to tell Herod, who would not waste any time in killing the young king. The war would soon be over and he, Satan, would emerge triumphant.

God, however, is not one to be defeated. He warned the wise men in a dream to avoid Herod. So they returned to their own country by another way (Matt 2:12). God also warned Joseph in a dream to take Jesus and Mary and flee to Egypt for a time, because Herod was seeking to destroy Jesus. This Joseph did (Matt 2:14). And just in time, too! Because Herod became furious that the wise men did not return to him, and decided to put to death all the male children who were two years old and under in Bethlehem and all its districts (Matt 2:16). The Apostle John graphically depicts this scene and Satan’s involvement in Revelation 12:3–5:

And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne.

Still, all was not lost for Satan. Although he had failed to keep the seed of the woman from coming into the world, there was still the opportunity to do to Jesus what he had done to Adam. Adam had led humankind into the kingdom of darkness. Jesus had come to lead us out. But if Satan could get Jesus to remain in his domain, then all would be well. And this is what he tried to do when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness.

Satan tempted Jesus, who was desperately hungry, to use his divine power to save himself by turning stones into bread. Although not a sin in and of itself, it would have been for Jesus, because it would have disqualified him from being our human mediator and savior. Appealing to Scripture, or rather twisting the meaning of Scripture, Satan urged Jesus to test God. Knowing that Jesus had come to take away his kingdom, Satan freely offered it to him, if only he will bow down and worship. Unlike Adam, Jesus resisted the devil at every turn, remaining faithful to his Father in heaven.

Destroying the devil, however, would require more work than simply resisting temptation. Jesus was going to have to go on the offensive and conquer Satan’s stranglehold over us. In Matthew 12:28–29, Jesus interpreted his exorcisms with these words: “But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.” Jesus was going to bind Satan (the strong man) and plunder his house (lead us out of Satan’s kingdom and into his own kingdom).

How Jesus did this exactly is nothing short of extraordinary. The devil was still desperate to eliminate Jesus. He enlisted Judas, unbelieving Jews, and Romans to execute Jesus. In so doing, he undoubtedly thought he will win. But just the opposite happened—Jesus willingly laid down his life in order to crush and destroy Satan. By suffering and dying, Jesus administered the fatal blow and sets us free! As he said, “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:31–32; see also Col 2:13–15).

According to Revelation 20:3, Satan is now bound “so that he might not deceive the nations any longer.” No more will Satan be allowed to entice us into sin, seduce us into error, and keep us under his influence. For he has been cast out as ruler and prince of this world. The seed of the woman has crushed the serpent’s head. The works of the devil have been destroyed. Consequently, all authority and power now belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is why the good news of the gospel can go out into the world to tremendous success. Indeed, Paul was sent to preach the gospel to the Gentiles “to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God” (Acts 26:18). Hence, all who believe and receive the gospel are rescued “from the domain of darkness” and brought into “the kingdom of God’s beloved Son” (Col 1:13).

Who is Jesus? Part of our answer needs to be that Jesus is the promised savior. He is the one that God has sent to conquer Satan, sin, and death. So if you want to be set free from Satan, sin, and death, then go to Jesus. If you want to serve God and receive eternal life, then follow Jesus. For he and he alone is the long-awaited Redeemer King.

1. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, 78.

2. Committee on Christian Education of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, Confession, 366. See also Romans 1–3.