The Battle that Rages

     God created His universe and all creatures in it (Gen 1:1), and He made all things good (Gen 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31). Mankind was God’s crowning creation, made in His image (Gen 1:26-27), and assigned responsibility to rule over this world (Gen 1:26-30). In addition to mankind, God created an order of beings that are called angels, who, like people, have the capacity to think, feel and act. At some point in time—and no one knows for sure when—there was a rebellion in heaven in which a special angel named Lucifer, of the class of cherubim, who, because of pride (Eze 28:11-18), set his will against the will of God (Isa 14:12-14) and convinced many angels to follow him (Rev 12:4). “The desire of Satan was to move in and occupy the throne of God, exercise absolute independent authority over the angelic creation, bring the earth and all the universe under his authority, cover himself with the glory that belongs to God alone, and then be responsible to no one but himself.”[1] After his fall, Satan then tempted Adam and Eve to set their wills against God by eating the forbidden fruit (Gen 2:16-17; 3:1-7). When that happened, Adam handed his kingdom over to Satan, who has been ruling this world since then (Luke 4:5-6; Rev 11:15). Satan rules as a tyrant who has “weakened the nations” (Isa 14:12), currently “deceives the whole world” (Rev 12:9), and has well developed strategies of warfare (Eph 6:10-12). Satan’s world-system touches all aspects of humanity, including politics, education, economics, music, art, literature, etc. It is this world-system that Christians are commanded not to love (1 Jo 2:15-16).

• "The kosmos is a vast order or system that Satan has promoted which conforms to his ideals, aims, and methods. It is civilization now functioning apart from God-a civilization in which none of its promoters really expect God to share; who assign to God no consideration in respect to their projects, nor do they ascribe any causality to Him. This system embraces its godless governments, conflicts, armaments, jealousies; its education, culture, religions of morality, and pride. It is that sphere in which man lives. It is what he sees, what he employs. To the uncounted multitude it is all they ever know so long as they live on this earth. It is properly styled “The Satanic System” which phrase is in many instances a justified interpretation of the so-meaningful word, kosmos."[2]

     At the core of Satan’s world-system is a directive for mankind to function apart from God, and when obeyed, people produce all forms of evil, both moral and immoral. And, to Satan’s advantage, everyone born into this world is born in Adam (Rom 5:12; 1 Cor 15:21-22) and possesses a fallen nature, called “the flesh”, which is inclined to operate independently of God and His will (Rom 6:6; Col 3:9; Gal 5:17, 19).

• "Torn inside with desires to do that which we know is evil and new desires to please God, we experience the rage of the battle.  The internal conflict manifests itself in everyday life as the believer is tempted to sin.  The source of this conflict is the old sin nature, which is the root cause of the deeds of sin.  In the conflict the believer is not passive.  He has a vital role in determining to whom he will give allegiance—the old nature or the new nature.  From the moment a sinner trusts Christ, there is a conflict in his very being between the powers of darkness and those of light.  The one who has become a member of the family of God now faces conflicts and problems that he did not have before."[3]

     At the moment of faith in Christ, the believer is transferred from Satan’s kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of Christ (Acts 26:18; Col 1:13). However, though saved, we still possess our sin nature, continue to reside in the devil’s world and face constant pressure from the enemy. The flesh, the world, and the devil make up the threefold enemy-front every Christian faces; a front that seeks to diminish or destroy her/his walk with God. But Christians are not defenseless. God has given us new life (John 10:28), placed His Holy Spirit within us (John 14:17; 1 Cor 6:19), and equipped us with the armor necessary to stand against our enemy and to accomplish His will (Eph 6:10-17).  Christians defy and disrupt Satan’s kingdom by submitting to God (Rom 12:1-2), learning Scripture (2 Tim. 2:15; 3:16-17; 1 Pet. 2:2; 2 Pet. 3:18), living by faith (Rom 10:17; Col 2:6-7; Heb 10:38; 11:6; 1 Pet 5:9), being filled with the Spirit (Eph 5:18), walking by means of the Spirit (Gal 5:16, 21), praying for others (Col 1:9; 2 Thess 1:11), and sharing the Gospel of Christ (1 Cor 15:3-4). The Christian who is advancing spiritually will influence the thoughts and lives of others through biblical discussion; and this is done in love and grace (Eph. 4:14-15; Col 4:6), not by argumentation (2 Tim 2:24-26). When we learn God’s Word, obey His commands, and show love to others, we are rebelling against Satan’s world-system and sowing the seeds of spiritual insurrection in the lives of those who live and walk in Satan’s kingdom. But Christians must always be on guard that we not fall into Satan’s snares and come to love the world (1 John 2:15; cf. Jam 4:4).

 

[1] J. Dwight Pentecost, Your Adversary the Devil (Grand Rapids, Mich., Zondervan Publishing, 1969), 25-26.

[2] Lewis S. Chafer, “Angelology Part 4” Bibliotheca Sacra 99 (1942): 282-283.

[3] Robert P. Lightner, Handbook of Evangelical Theology (Grand Rapids, Mich., Kregel Publications, 1995), 206.