“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.” -Eph. 6: 10-12
This is a war that we cannot see, so we often miss it entirely. Sometimes, Christians and even non-Christians can feel the effects of spiritual warfare, but certainly not always. This is a battle that is raging on 24/7. It began near the very beginning of time when the archangel, Lucifer, rebelled against God and was thus kicked out of his place in Heaven. This is a battle between God and Satan, angels and demons, good and evil; and it is all being fought over one thing–your soul. Mine too. I once heard someone speaking on the topic, and they said something quite profound. To paraphrase, they mentioned that since Satan cannot directly hurt God, he will hurt God vicariously though hurting the thing that God loves most deeply: mankind. Mankind is the peak and epitome of God’s creation. Mankind is the only thing in all of creation that God sent His only Son, Jesus, to earth in order for Him to die in their place to save them. That is the display of God’s love towards mankind, and that is the same mankind that Satan is seeking to destroy; since he cannot directly destroy God. Satan knows that he has already been defeated and his days here on earth are limited, due to the cross of Christ; however, his goal is to take as many human beings with him to hell as he possibly can. The more he takes with him, the more he takes away from God.
What is incredibly unnerving to me is how little spiritual warfare is truly spoken of and preached about in churches these days. I feel like culture has more to say about the topic than the church does. All you need to do is watch movies, TV shows, and music videos; and you will soon catch on to what I am saying. This should be concerning to the church. The day we start relying on Hollywood to feed us information that the church should be responsible for teaching, is the day that church leaders have officially failed their people. Not only do non-believers seem to have a disconnect with the true and important knowledge regarding spiritual warfare, but many church-going Christians do not seem to be much better off in their knowledge. The demons are not all in our heads, like skeptics would want us to think; they are out here, prowling the earth, seeking to devour the souls of whomever they can.
The church needs to find a solid middle ground for this topic. I know of too many Christians who do not give any thought to spiritual warfare at all. On the flip side, I know of too many Christians who credit every single bad thing that happens in their lives as a “spiritual battle” and “the devil out to get them.” Both of these camps of thought are dangerous places to settle. On the one hand, some are not giving Satan and his demons enough credit for the power they possess and the destruction they can impose on a person’s life. On the other hand, some are giving Satan and his demons way too much power over their lives, and are probably very well blaming the enemy for things that he is not responsible for. Satan and the demons are definitely incredibly powerful; however, they are not all-powerful. Since we live in a fallen world, bad things are going to happen simply because of sin and the Fall; certainly not always because of spiritual battles. This is where the church needs to walk that fine line right in between the middle of these two ideas; for that is where we will find biblical principles concerning spiritual warfare. Above all, it is time for the church to stop being silent about this topic. Satan is real. His demons are real. Evil is real. Hell is real. The battle for your soul is real! Hopefully the church wakes up soon and realizes that, since these things are real, it is really important to bring the topic of spiritual warfare to light.
“Diabolical forces are formidable. These forces are eternal, and they exist today. The fairy tale is true. The devil exists. God exists. And for us, as people, our very destiny hinges upon which one we elect to follow.” -Ed Warren, Demonologist
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