The Real Battle

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Ephesians 6:10-17 NKJV

Christianity is not a picnic but battle. All Christians are called to fight as the soldiers of Christ Jesus. A hymn starts like “Onward Christian soldiers marching as to war…” The fight is fierce and intense because the enemy is Satan the devil who is holding the world with the dark power and fearsomeness of deception and confusion. To fight the battle effectively, the first and foremost thing for the soldiers of Christ is to know who the enemy is. It is of no use if a boxer hits the air not the opponent, even if his punch is heavy like an iron hammer.

Who is our real enemy? Apostle Paul said, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Flesh and blood indicate people. Our fight is not against other people who could be co-workers at work, families, church members, or anyone in the world. We tend to think that all problems lie on others, so we quickly jump into conclusion and blame others all the time. Although it is so easy for us to blame everything on others, humans are not the real problems, let alone the cause.

The devil is described as morning star, son of the morning who determined to lift up himself like the Most High God (Isaiah 14:12-21, Ezekiel 28:1-11). In the Book of Job, God spelled out how secure in concealment and disguise and how self-sufficient and impenetrable the devil is (Job 40:15-41:34). The devil was made by God as the highest and strongest angelic being but he revolted and rebelled against the Most High. As a consequence, he has fallen down from heaven. Yet, still he is like a roaring lion looking for someone y to devour (1 Peter 5:8). Our Lord Jesus Christ confirmed that he is the prince of the world (John 14:30). Jesus Christ recognized the fact that He is sending out His disciples like lambs among wolves (Matthew 10:16, Luke 10:3).

All humans are victims, yes the victims of the devil who is the murderer and the father of lie (John 8:44). The devil disguised himself as the serpent [shining one] and deceived the woman and then the man also ate it (Genesis 3:1-6). So, all men and women born of Adam inherit the fallen nature by birth. In other words, the evil resides within the humans. That is how God sees us as the victims. That is why God doesn’t destroy humans all at once, not even the extreme manifestation of evil like Hitler. God could wipe out everything, especially the fallen humans, and recreate a whole new universe physically.

But God didn’t do it and won’t. Instead, God condemned the devil through His begotten Son Jesus Christ (John 16:11). God made Him sin on the cross in Calvary (2 Corinthians 5:21, Romans 8:3). Our God should have punished humans, but forsook His begotten Son Jesus Christ the Lord in the place of all humans on the face of the earth. That’s the way God restores you and me through the price of the Lamb of God. God condemned the devil and at the same time rescued us from the bondage of darkness and fear and death.

The death of our Lord Jesus Christ is the substitutionary death upon us. When He died we died with Him. When He was buried we were buried with Him. Likewise, when He was raised from the dead we were raised with Him and seated together in the heavenly places (Galatians 2:20, Romans 6:3-6, Ephesians 2:6). The center of Christianity is the cross of Jesus Christ the Lord, because it is the place where our old self died and we are put on the new life of God.

Therefore, the battle has already been won by the Lord Jesus Christ. We shall never forget the fact that the battle is not ours but the Lord’s (2 Chronicles 20:15). So, we fix our eyes on the supreme command in chief and take orders and obey Him. That’s the real battle. "Be strong in the Lord!"