"The Adversary"
Giclee Print - See Order Form for Prices

Be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (I Peter 5:8)

Romans 16-20 Be wise in what is good, and innocent in what is evil. And the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.

Psalm 10: 9 He (the wicked one) lurks in a hiding place as a lion in his lair. In the hiding places he kills the innocent, his eyes stealthily watch for the unfortunate.

I was battling a bout of depression when I was creating this piece as well as assisting in preparing and laying a new concrete driveway at our house. Family crises, health problems, unexpected long-term visitors; life can get complicated and so many factors make it hard to sort out what is a spiritual battle, what is emotional, and what is physical. The adversary took on many faces and I was forced to battle him on many fronts.

Jesus took it for granted that people knew and experienced the devil's work. Why do we find it so hard to acknowledge that the devil exists and he wants us confused, tired, and defeated? What better way, than to make us think he doesn't exist and is merely a fantastic myth? He is a cunning foe. But praise God that at the cross, Jesus defeated the evil one and even though satan may be the prince of this world, greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.

The symbolism of the sheep and the goats are explained by Matthew 25: 31-33, "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats: and he will put the sheep on His right and the goats on the left."