Restoring What Was Lost: Satan Is a Squatter (Part 3 of 16)

Series: Restoring What Was Lost, Part 3 of 16

Scripture Texts: Genesis 3:17-19; Luke 4:6

Over the past two weeks, we have traced humanity’s fall from two vantage points: first, the forfeiture of Adam’s inheritance, and second, the selling of humanity into slavery to sin. But there is a third dimension to the catastrophe of Eden that must be understood before we can fully appreciate the scope of Christ’s redemptive work. We must address the adversary himself, Satan, and the nature of his claim over this world.

The biblical testimony is clear: Satan exercises a temporary, illegitimate rule over the earth. He is not the rightful owner. He is a squatter, an occupant without legal right, dwelling on property that does not belong to him. And as we will see in this series, squatters get evicted.

The Deception in Eden

Satan’s strategy from the beginning has been deception. In the Garden of Eden, he did not conquer humanity by force. He conquered by cunning. Genesis 3:1 tells us, “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.” His approach to Eve was not a frontal assault but a whispered question designed to sow doubt: “Yea, hath God said?”

Through that deception, Satan convinced Adam and Eve to disobey God. The result was catastrophic, not only for the first couple, but for all creation. The ground was cursed. Death entered the world. And Satan, through humanity’s rebellion, gained a measure of control over the earth that God had entrusted to Adam.

Paul describes Satan’s resulting position in 2 Corinthians 4:4: “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (KJV). And in Ephesians 2:2, he is called “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.”

Make no mistake: Satan did not earn this position. He stole it through deception. He is a usurper, not a sovereign.

Satan’s Audacious Claim

Perhaps nowhere is Satan’s illegitimate claim more brazen than in the temptation of Christ. In Luke 4:5-6, Satan shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and declares: “All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it” (KJV).

Notice the audacity of this claim. Satan asserts that the kingdoms of the world have been “delivered” to him. There is a grain of truth in this, through Adam’s fall, Satan gained a measure of influence and control. But the claim is fundamentally dishonest. Satan did not receive the earth through any legitimate transfer. He conned humanity out of it.

The prophetic Scriptures unmask Satan’s illegitimacy. In Daniel 7:25-27, we read of a figure who “shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws.” But the passage does not end there. It continues: “But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High.”

Satan’s rule has an expiration date. His dominion will be consumed and destroyed. The kingdom will be given to the saints, not because they earned it, but because Christ reclaimed it on their behalf.

Christ’s Victory Over the Squatter

Christ’s mission on earth was, among other things, to destroy the works of the devil and to restore the inheritance that was lost through Adam’s fall. First John 3:8 states it with unmistakable clarity: “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil” (KJV).

And Hebrews 2:14-15 describes the mechanism of that destruction: “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (KJV).

Christ defeated Satan not by matching force with force, but by submitting to death and conquering it from the inside. Through the cross, Jesus disarmed the powers and principalities, making a public spectacle of them (Colossians 2:15). Through the resurrection, He demonstrated that death, Satan’s ultimate weapon, had no power over Him.

The eviction process has begun. On Calvary, Christ paid the price. In Revelation, He takes possession. The catastrophic events described in the Book of Revelation, the seals, the trumpets, the bowls of wrath, are the eviction proceedings. Satan and his followers are being removed from the property that was never rightfully theirs.

The Squatter’s Fate

Revelation 12:9 describes what is coming: “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (KJV). And Revelation 20:10 reveals his final end: “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”

The squatter will be evicted permanently. His temporary rule will come to a final, decisive end. And the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever (Revelation 11:15).

Living in the Light of This Truth

If Satan is a squatter, then his power over the believer's life is illegitimate. If Christ has already secured the title deed through His death and resurrection, then the eviction is guaranteed. The enemy may rage, but his time is short. He may deceive, but his lies have been exposed by the truth of the gospel.

Paul reminds us of the spiritual warfare we face: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12, KJV). But this wrestling is not a fight for ultimate victory, that victory has already been won. It is a holding action until the King returns to claim what is His.

Take heart, believer. The squatter’s days are numbered. The true Owner is coming back. And when He does, every illegitimate claim, every deception, and every chain will be broken forever.

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This is Part 3 of the “Restoring What Was Lost” series by Dr. Peter J. Carter. Next week: “The Work Started on Calvary.”