This past Friday, I was headed home after an errand to the local Best Buy store. I finally had to upgrade my iMac that I have had close to 10 years now. Andrew convinced me that now that I am focusing on ministry work rather than corporate stuff, I could get by with a small 13″ laptop. I used to love the small computers and so that is what I did. I was at Best Buy to pick up a case for it so I could avoid as many scratches as possible. It was a successful trip. He also had an extra screen, keyboard, mouse and whatever else I needed to use it as a full size computer at my desk… Anyway…
…I got in the car, headed out of the parking lot and as I waited for the light to turn green, I noticed a small Honda in front of me. The car itself wasn’t necessarily remarkable in any way, but the license plate caught my attention right away. It started with the numbers “666.” Indiana now has an option to purchase a “black-out” plate – it’s white letters on a black background and it seemed appropriate that this guy would have it.
Then, on the trunk of the Honda, painted around the logo, was an image of Satan. There was an upper body with shoulders, a pitchfork, The Honda logo almost appeared to be suspenders and then the lower body under the logo. It was hideous. In fact, I was outraged. Now I assume that from the title of this post you know there was a word next to the 666 numbers, but I would lose all our readers if I had written the actual word in my post tonight. So, please know that the plate was even worse than it appears to be. But you can use your imagination – it started with an “F”. I can’t even believe that the state of Indiana would allow such as thing to be displayed on a license plate.
Biblically, the mark of Satan is “666.” Biblically, the number “6” deals with imperfection, or incompletion. On the other hand, the number “7” signifies completion, wholeness. The creation story happened in seven days. Many of the sacrifices and other Old Testament rituals required seven days to be complete. One of the very dangerous things about Satan is that there is usually an element of truth in the things that he says. But he always fall short of the perfection of God – hence the number “6”.
I think of the perfect number as “777” – perfection in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We are told in Revelation that the number of Satan is “666”, meaning that the false Trinity, which is revealed in Revelation always falls short of the perfection of the Holy Trinity. As I said, what caught my attention first in my encounter with the gray Honda was the “666” of the license plate – it was a dead giveaway.
The driver was somewhat erratic and, frankly, I thought about what it would be like to have an alteration with the guy. I realize that people don’t have to believe in Jesus but to be so outwardly hostile with blatant displays of Satanic emblems and evil are something that I don’t think I have ever run across before. I was truly shocked.
What causes someone to be so obvious in their hatred of Jesus? Was it the way they were raised? Or are they angry with God for some reason? The loss of a loved one? The loss of a job? Problems with addictions? There are so many reasons that someone could deny the existence of God or turn from God, replacing Him with Satan. So I am trying not to judge but the displays of the dark side were so evident that it was impossible to ignore.
Thankfully, the Bible is full of God’s plan for the world; in fact, the entire cosmos. Anyone who takes time to read the entire document, and believes, knows that God will prevail and vanquish evil. Then, we will live in eternal joy and peace with Jesus and the rest of the Trinity in heaven.
Our verse for tonight is from the apostle John’s first epistle. John had been one of the disciples who comprised the inner sanctum of the most loyal and trusted followers of Jesus. Later in life, he became the pastor at the church in Ephesus, the most theologically advanced church that Paul had founded. John was also the person who Jesus entrusted His Mother to on the cross. So John was very familiar with Jesus and His teachings.
This makes tonight’s verse even more noteworthy. John tells us, in 1 John 3:7-10, “Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.”
These are strong words coming from John. My encouragement this evening is that we, as believers, with God’s help, have to be on our guard against the advances of Satan. Satan wants to attack us and thwart the efforts of believers to help advance the kingdom of God. My prayer is that we will always walk in the light and be wonderful emissaries for Jesus – rebuffing the advances of Satan. After all, we know the result… God wins, and so do we! Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…