Born into a War
Each of us is born into a battle that has been raging for longer than we can imagine. It is a battle where an unscrupulous enemy will do anything and everything in his power to prove that the only God of this universe is a liar and that he (Satan) does not deserve to be thrown into the lake of fire for all eternity.
The human race was born into this battle. God has provided us with all that we need for this life and godliness if we just choose to honor Him as God, take Him at His Word, and accept His Son, Jesus Christ, as our salvation, not just for the penalty of sin, but as our very life. Isn’t that amazing provision? He promises us that He will never leave us or forsake us once we choose Him as our Lord, and He says that there is nothing in this world, seen or unseen, earthly powers or heavenly ones, that can separate us from His love. Again, amazing, right?
Christ in Us Becomes a Target
Because Jesus Christ comes to live in each of us by His Holy Spirit, sealing us as a promise, we become targets of Satan’s hatred in this great rebellion that he has been waging against God and His Son. Satan hates humanity as a whole because it is God’s creation and God says that He loves the world. (This is the reason why He gave His only Son, Jesus, to pay the price that no human being born into sin could ever pay).
One way that Satan can wage war against God is to hurt His humanity, getting people to destroy each other, mutilate their bodies in defiance of how God created them, have sex with other people outside of the boundaries He prescribed in the Bible, kill their own babies, and much, much more. Satan also wages war on Israel since God still has plans for Israel, which we know from Biblical prophecy. He still hopes to destroy all Jews and thus prove God a liar.
The Organic Body of Christ
Finally, there is the Church, the Body of Christ. Since Jesus Christ comes to live in every believer and every believer is a part of the organic Body of Christ, when Satan attacks believers overtly or covertly, he is actually attacking Christ Jesus Himself. When Jesus confronted Saul on the way to Damascus, he didn’t say, “Why are you persecuting My people?” or “Why are you persecuting my churches?” Instead, He said, “Why are you persecuting Me?” All of the attacks that Saul was making against the believers of his time were against Christ Jesus Himself since those believers are a part of His Body and He resides in each one.
What was true then and has been true for two thousand plus years is true today. Satan is still trying to justify himself and prove God a liar. He uses mankind to do this, and you and I are a part of that battle. As in warfare in the earthly realm, there are casualties of war. In this battle that we are born into, we often do not realize that we have been wounded, even wounded severely, until after the fact. We are too busy growing up and surviving to really process what is happening to us as children. It is only when we become adults and the wounds start to fester and affect our lives and relationships that our eyes start to open to the severity of the wounds.
It is only when our eyes start to open to the truth of our lives that we can start to heal. This means engaging in the battle. This means trusting our Chief, the Lord Jesus Christ, with the most vulnerable and painful places in our hearts. This means giving our whole selves to Him so that we are not used by Satan any longer in our wounded, dissociated condition. The Lord Jesus has already won the victory.
Are you ready to step into His victory for your sanctification and His glory?
For more information about the battle, listen to a podcast by Doug Riggs here.
To find out more about The Lazarus Mandate & how we might be able to help you personally or with training, click here.
