Though the Lord Jesus Christ caused the destruction of Satan when He died on the cross, Satan is still free, and still has much power. He is like a criminal who has been pronounced guilty, but not executed yet. What is he doing today?
Do you know what a person is? You have seen a great many persons, but not all are alike. God is a person, yet He is very different from human persons. He does not have a body as we do. Those who have died and gone to Heaven are persons, yet they do not now have bodies. A person is one who can think, and feel, and will, or decide to do things.
God did not create Satan as he is now, for certainly Satan is very bad indeed. Where did Satan come from then? Surely he could not make himself, and besides we know that God created all things. The answer is that Satan was not always what he is now. When he was made by God he was like everything else that God ever made—perfect and good.
After the Tribulation, in the Battle of Armageddon, Christ is going to return to the earth. When He came for believers, you remember, He met them in the air. Now He returns to the earth, and His feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:1-4). He will take the Antichrist captive, and will cast him, and those who worshipped his image into the lake of fire (Revelation 19:20). Then He will set up His Kingdom here on earth.
When believers have been raised from the dead, or taken up fromthe earth in changed bodies like the Lord Jesus', there will be left here only those who are not Christians. Can you imagine what the world will be like on the day when the Lord comes? Some boys and girls will have disappeared from school. Some shopkeepers, bankers, bus conductors, and ministers, and mothers, and fathers will be gone. There will be great fear in the hearts of many of the unbelievers who are left behind, surely.
