2003-01-29
Good Morning Cherished Readers,
I used the word “cherished” this morning, because God cherishes each of us and I also cherish each of you for the faith you show in reading these messages the Holy Spirit gives me to write each morning. Yesterday, we looked at evidence from God’s word that He has given us the power [“dunamis” in Greek] to wage spiritual warfare successfully. We are guided by Him in a fight to victory rightly claimed on the grounds of the cross. This evidence comes from God’s word in AC 1: 8, 1 JN 4:4, and 1 JN 2: 8, 13b, & 15-17. Today, we will examine the evidence Christ has to engage in this battle with “the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age” [EPH 6: 12]. I believe that when we came to faith in Christ, we also took on these battles at that time, because of COL 3: 3-4. “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Your real life is Christ and when He appears, then you too will appear with Him and share His glory.” So, when we look at Christ’s authority, we are also looking at our own authority to take on these battles with evil. Yes, Dear Ones, having faith in Christ is a vital commitment, but it’s the only one that will lead us to eternal life!
The first real evidence of Christ’s authority and power being greater than that of the devil shows up in MT 4: 1-11, His temptation in the wilderness. I have already written extensively about how Christ uses the word of God to do battle with the devil, but take a good look at MT 4: 8-11. “Then the devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in all their greatness. ‘All this I will give You,’ the devil said, ‘if You kneel down and worship me.’ Then Jesus answered, ‘Go away, Satan! The Scripture [DT 6:13] says, ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve only Him!’ Then the devil left Jesus; and angels came and helped Him.” The obvious thing to see here is that by using God’s word, Christ demonstrated greater power to overcome this temptation than the devil had. But, there is more to see. We must ask Who sent the angels to help Jesus? Another way of looking at this is to ask: Who was watching this 40-day interchange that went on in the wilderness the whole time? Since we know from EPH 6: 17 that we are told to “accept salvation as a helmet, and the word of God as the sword which the Spirit gives you,” it is not hard for us to put together the fact that the Father gives the same full armor to Jesus Christ. Christ was only doing what the Father had authorized Him to do, using the sword of the Spirit against Satan. Since the Father is the One Who sent Christ on this mission to become incarnate, to serve His public ministry on earth, and then to physically die on the cross so we could be saved, He knows that Christ is capable of being that obedient to Him. And, we mustn’t overlook the net result. In the short term, it was that the devil went away. At Calvary, it was that the devil was defeated!
I have also written previously about LK 4: 31-37, the story of a man with an evil spirit who spoke out in the Capernaum synagogue where Christ had been teaching on the Sabbath. The people were amazed with the authority with which Christ spoke. The possessed man spoke out, “Ah! What do You want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Are You here to destroy us? I know Who You are: You are God’s holy Messenger!” To the spirit, Christ issued this order, “Be quiet and come out of this man!” The demon threw the man down and then came out of him without doing him any harm. The amazed witnesses exclaimed, “What kind of words are these? With authority and power this man gives orders to the evil spirits, and they come out!” The news of this remarkable incident spread throughout the region. We must remember that Christ is the second personality of the One and only true God. Since God is omniscient [all-knowing], it stands to reason that Jesus is. We know from Christ’s perfection that He was completely obedient to the Father. JN 5: 19, “So Jesus answered them, ‘I tell you the truth: the Son can don nothing on His own; He does only what He sees the Father doing. What the Father does, the Son also does.” That tells us the Christ has perfect knowledge of the Father’s will. Thus, when we see Christ leaning on the authority given Him by the Father to exorcise evil spirits, then we can see the example of what the Father’s will is.
Understanding that we have the authority to combat evil opens us to a huge commitment that demands our godliness in how we carry it out. With JN 5: 19 in mind, we see that any unrighteous use of this authority, any application of it by us without God’s guidance, either won’t work and/or will lead us into sin. The only way we can know if our thoughts and actions are right with God is to engage in daily study of His word and frequent prayer just as Christ did during His time on earth. In other words, Christ is our Paradigm, the Model of how we should live and act.
PRAYER: O Lord, we stand before Your throne to say, “thank You,” for giving us Your Word, Your encouragement, Your patience, and Your compassion. We often find the circumstances of our lives difficult, because we live in a cold, cruel, and ungodly world. And yet, despite our sinfulness, You offer us blessing and salvation by the physical death of Your Son on the cross and our willingness to have faith in Him. We pledged at the time we came to faith to turn from our sinfulness, but Satan is always there to tempt us to return to it. You have given us Your word and the Holy Spirit to help us understand it. This is only a part of the blessings You shower on us through Your most excellent grace. You impute Your righteousness to our spiritual accounts, allowing us to desire to live rightly with You. When we pledge to serve You, You give us joy and courage, even though Satan is hard at work to challenge our faith. When we obey You, You give us peace-sometimes amidst the heat of battle with evil. That is Your way of letting us know that what we are doing pleases You. Perhaps, one of the greatest blessings that You give us is Your continual and constant love and presence in our lives. As we mature in the faith, we become more consciously aware of that. So, Dearest Father, this is a prayer of thanksgiving to You and an acknowledgement of all You do for us and all You are. These words express what is in our hearts: PS 106: 1-3, “Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever. Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord or fully declare His praise? Blessed are those who maintain justice, who constantly do what is right.” We are so blessed to have our lives “hidden with Christ” in You [COL 3: 4]. We heed the David’s words in PS 34: 8, “O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.” We believe in Christ’s authority and in the power and authority You give us to join in the battle against Satan. We pledge obedience to You in everything we do, and to keep studying Your word and praying, so that we can keep in line with Your agenda for us. In humility, we confess our sins and offer You our adoration, worship, loyalty, diligence, trust, obedience, glory, honor, praise, and eternal thanksgiving. In Christ’s name, amen.
There is still more to say about Christ’s authority to wage spiritual warfare, and the example it sets for us. That will be the subject of tomorrow’s message. If we look back over this rather long series of messages, we can see clearly that we have been empowered and authorized to enter the battlefield as Christ’s foot soldiers with confidence. That confidence is not foolish bravado, but instead, comes from the knowledge that we are fighting on the winning side, fully equipped for that victory, and that the victory was insured by Christ’s physical death on the cross at Calvary. The Father knows that these battles won’t be easy for us, that they will involve pain, suffering, and loss at times. And yet, through His word, He has given us a way to know Him and His will, has offered us the sword of the Spirit-an effective weapon against evil, and that He gives us a way to have two-way communication with Him through prayer. In all of these ways, the Father helps us not to forget His great plan, His big picture, and the fact that He keeps His promises. One of those promises is that all who love and obey Him will gain eternal life through faith in His Son. That makes all the pain, suffering, and loss worth it. As for us, we can’t help but feel the great love our Father has for us, which is the basis for His commands and His promises. Peter and I also send each of you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn