Satan is not creative. He never has been. He doesn’t build, he doesn’t invent, he doesn’t breathe life. That’s God’s territory. What Satan does is take what God made good and twist it until we barely recognize it anymore. That’s his entire playbook.
Look at the world we live in.
- Sex, designed for covenant and intimacy, twisted into lust, pornography, and exploitation.
- Freedom, meant to set us free in Christ, twisted into addictions that enslave us.
- Worship, created to glorify God, twisted into entertainment and emotional hype.
- Truth, eternal and unshakable, twisted into “my truth” and “your truth.”
The enemy doesn’t need new ideas. He only needs to bend God’s design just far enough to confuse us.
Twisting From the Beginning
Genesis 3 is the blueprint. Satan didn’t come to Eve with a brand-new doctrine. He didn’t deny God outright. He just bent the truth.
“Did God really say…?”
That’s it. A question. A seed of doubt. Eve listened, Adam followed, and humanity fell. One twisted sentence wrecked everything.
Isaiah warned about this same pattern:
“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness.” (Isaiah 5:20)
The fingerprints are always the same. Satan takes God’s words, God’s design, and God’s order, and he calls it something else. He blurs the lines until evil looks good and good looks evil.
Even when Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, he didn’t come up with something new. He quoted Scripture, twisted, out of context, bent just enough to look right. And Jesus exposed him every single time by answering with the full Word of God (Matthew 4).
Modern Twists We Swallow
Fast forward to today. Satan’s playbook hasn’t changed, but the stage has. He’s twisting things right under our noses:
- Love → Lust: God designed sex as holy and powerful inside covenant. Satan twisted it into a billion-dollar industry that cheapens intimacy and wrecks families.
- Identity → Confusion: God calls us image-bearers. Satan whispers lies until people can’t even recognize themselves anymore.
- Church → Show: The church is meant to be the bride of Christ. Satan twists it into performance, celebrity culture, and business.
- Freedom → Bondage: We chase “freedom” online, in substances, in self-expression — but most of what’s called freedom today looks a lot like chains.
- Truth → Opinion: “Your truth, my truth.” A million versions of “truth” that cancel each other out. But Jesus said plainly, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6)
The lies always sound close enough to truth to pass. That’s the danger.
The Swastika: A Visual of Twisting
Want a picture of how complete this twisting can be? Look at the swastika.
For thousands of years it was carved into temples, painted on pottery, and used in cultures around the world as a symbol of blessing and life. In Sanskrit, svastika literally means “well-being.” It pointed to prosperity, to the sun, to cycles of life.
But now? Say “swastika” and no one thinks of blessing. They think of genocide, death, and hate.
That’s Satan’s trick in one image. He took what once stood for life and twisted it into a global symbol of destruction.
Twisting Isn’t Winning
Here’s the good news: Satan’s twisting isn’t the final word. He can’t create, and he can’t win.
The cross proves it. To the world it looked like defeat. Jesus beaten, humiliated, hanging on wood. Satan must have thought it was his ultimate victory.
But what looked twisted became the greatest victory in history. What looked broken became the plan of salvation. Satan thought he flipped the story. Jesus flipped it back and crushed him with it.
How to Spot the Twists
So how do you and I fight back? How do we recognize when good has been bent out of shape?
- Know the Word — Jesus answered every twisted half-truth with Scripture. If you don’t know the real thing, you’ll fall for the counterfeit. READ YOUR BIBLE! EVERY DAY!!
- Check the Fruit — Does it bring life or destruction? Peace or confusion? God’s design always produces life. Satan’s twists always kill something.
- Test the Source — Who benefits if you believe it? God’s truth glorifies Him. Satan’s lies glorify self.
- Stay Anchored — Don’t let culture, feelings, or opinions define reality. Anchor yourself in what God has already said.
Untwisting the Lies
So let me ask you: where have you been living under a twisted version of God’s truth?
- Have you let love become lust?
- Have you settled for religion instead of relationship?
- Have you let “my truth” drown out the truth?
It’s time to name the lies for what they are. To stop swallowing what sounds almost true. To call evil “evil” again, and good “good.”
Because Satan twists. But Jesus untangles.
