Luke 8:26-39 They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most-High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!” For Jesus had commanded the impure spirit to come out of the man. Many times, it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places. Jesus asked him, “What is your name? ” Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him. And they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss. A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he gave them permission. When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left. The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.
The man whose story was told in this verse of scripture was much more savage and ferocious than anyone any of us has most likely ever seen in our travels down life's highway. This man was without a doubt in the clutches of Satan and that had caused him to be shunned by the people of his village, turned him into a brutal maddened lunatic that had to live outside of town in caves. When Jesus and his followers landed on the shores of Gerasenes and encountered this madman Jesus restored him to his former self and he was able to return to his family, friends and his place in the community.
Satan uses, to this day, this same manner of "Demon Possession" on mankind. He does so today in a much subtler way that is not so conspicuous to those around us. One of his most favorite tools used today is to convince people that we are the result of millions of years of some kind of evolutionary process and not created by God. People follow this most dangerous methodology of Satan because it frees them from any moral bridle and allows them to live according to their own set of rules and the world’s view of right and wrong. This road that Satan has laid out before us is a one-way dead-end street that leads to an eternity deprived of a relationship with our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus. It causes us to build our lives on precepts that will deprive us of our dignity, gratification and the promises of God of a life of victory.
Satan has these unsuspecting people in his control the same way he controlled the madman in our scripture text today. Maybe not as obvious as seen in this timeless Bible story but controlled by Satan none the less. We have the greatest news that could ever be released and that is that Jesus will restore us to the way God intended us to live the same way he restored that demon-possessed man at Gerasenes. This exciting news is not something we should keep to ourselves; we should share it with all we come into contact with.
For those of us that have accepted Christ Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we know the peace and joy of a life surrendered to Christ and we should shout it from the rooftops. We no longer have to be bound by the slavery of Satan, no longer a prisoner to sin. Jesus will restore us from the evil that has us in its clutches.
On the 'Hill of Calvary" Jesus gave the ultimate sacrifice and shed His precious blood to free us from the bonds of Satan and sin.
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