This is another in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon.com.
The Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Massachusetts is well into its third decade of operation and has yet to report a breakout. The center has earned its reputation as the most technologically advanced and secure prison in the world – even more secure than Russia’s notorious Black Dolphin Prison, or the ADX prison in Colorado, dubbed the “Alcatraz of the Rockies.”
Six hundred corrections officers guard Souza-Baranowski’s 1,500 prisoners. But just to be sure, the omniscient eye of a robotic watchman carefully monitors every inch of the facility. More than 40 graphic-interfaced computer terminals drive a keyless system that controls every aspect of the prison, from doors to the water supply. If that’s not enough, 370 high-definition cameras record everything. Plus, a taut-wire fence and microwave detection system guard the perimeter.
If you think you can simply snip a few wires or pull the plug on the entire system, think again. Souza-Baranowski is one of the only U.S. prisons designed to run entirely on solar and hydroelectric power. Oh, and for anyone trying the old-school method of digging out, the prison was built using the highest-strength concrete and tool-resistant steel available. Hollywood blockbuster Escape Plan to the contrary, not even Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone could bust out of this place.
A prison of this stature isn’t built overnight. It requires careful planning, thorough research, an advanced grasp of the sciences, and special insight into the minds of the world’s most diabolical criminals. For most inmates, Souza-Baranowski is their final stop; once inside, their fates are sealed.
Imagine the far greater mind of God that designed gehenna, the everlasting lake of fire and sulfur prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41), and a place into which they are cast to be tormented day and night forever (Rev. 20:10). This inescapable prison, which the world’s unbelievers share (Rev. 20:15), is both a fascinating and terrifying place.
Satan may rule a kingdom of evil spirits and rebellious people today. He may even prowl the earth like an uncaged lion. But he lays no claim to hell. And despite common beliefs that the evil one welcomes willing sinners into a never-ending fraternity kegger beyond the grave, hell is the final stop on Satan’s long descent into ruin. There, in the presence of God and his holy angels, the party ends. The evil one gets his comeuppance and forever loses the autonomy he thought he possessed.
In many snapshots of Satan throughout the Bible, it may appear he is an unbeatable foe. He entices the first man and woman to sin, thus plunging humanity into a cataclysmic fall, and placing the created order under a curse. He openly accuses God’s servants of unworthiness. He destroys Job’s property, kills his family, takes away his health, and turns his wife against him.
He tries wiping out the Israelites so there’s no chosen people through whom Messiah comes, and then he inspires King Herod to try killing the newborn king in Bethlehem. He harasses Jesus and the apostles, causes serious illnesses, controls Jesus’ betrayer, spreads spiritual blindness, deceives millions, divides the church, prowls the earth like a lion, and leads an all-out blitz against Christ and his church in the last days.
We may wonder when all this ends. But end it does.
God’s judgments have spanned human history. They begin in the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden (Gen. 3), and they end at a great white throne (Rev. 20). The Day of the Lord is coming, an event about which the Old Testament prophets and New Testament writers repeatedly warn (e.g., Isa. 2:6-22; Amos 5:18-19; Rom. 2:1-3). Jesus emphatically tells us a day is coming when all people are resurrected and judged, resulting in everlasting life or never-ending damnation (John 5:28-29).
But human beings are not the only ones to receive final judgment. Jesus makes it clear that a place is prepared for the evil one and his minions. A day has been set when Christ judges Satan and banishes him forever into the lake of fire. But first, the evil one is cast into the abyss.
Next: Satan and the Abyss