2003-02-18
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
The Holy Spirit leads me to examine ways that we can break Satan’s grip on us using Scripture. As you can see, I’m writing my thirtieth message in this segment about God’s word, the “sword of the Spirit” [EPH 6: 17]. I’m not always sure what I’m going to write about on a particular day, other than the general subject. The Holy Spirit does the rest. He is showing me on the basis of number of messages in this segment just how important the word of God is to us all! He also lets me know that He leads, and I’m just to lend Him the use of my mind and computer in the performance of this writing. So, I won’t apologize for simply trying to do His will.
To break Satan’s grip on us, the first step we must take is: 1) to have confidence in the power of Christ’s atoning blood. I was listening this morning to my Bible teacher, Les Feldick, who happened to be teaching on what separates Jesus Christ from the leaders of all other belief systems. His answer (and mine) is found first in 1 COR 15: 3, “I passed on to you what I received, which is of greatest importance: that Christ died for our sins, as written in the Scriptures [IS 53: 1-12]…” Of course, this verse is the beginning of the most concise statement of the Gospel found in the Bible. Not Mohammed, Siddhartha Gautama [6th century BC-the originator of Buddhism], Joseph Smith, L. Ron Hubbard or any other religious leader, except Jesus Christ, can truthfully claim that his physical death on the cross can atone for the sins of the world. HE 10: 10, "Because Jesus Christ did what God wanted Him to do, we are all purified from sin by the offering that He made of His own body once and for all.” Christ’s obedience was unparalleled, even to Him willingly and out of choice, going to His suffering and death on the cross.
This was very much according to the Father’s plan. The words of Peter’s Pentecost sermon support this, AC 2: 23-24, “In accordance with His own plan God has already decided that Jesus would be handed over to you; and you killed Him by letting sinful men crucify Him. But God raised Him from death, setting Him free from its power, because it was impossible that death should hold Him prisoner.” The plan was made known in general terms to the OT prophets, as well. PS 16: 8-11 reveal David’s knowledge from God. “I saw the Lord before me at all times; He is near me, and I will not be troubled. And so I am filled with gladness, and my words are full of joy. And I, mortal though I am, will rest assured in hope, because You will not abandon me in the world of the dead; You will not allow Your faithful Servant to rot in the grave. You have shown me the paths that lead to life, and Your presence will fill me with joy.” As long ago as Isaiah’s time, he was allowed to know what would happen upon Christ’s emergence from the tomb. IS 52: 13-15, “The Lord says, ‘My Servant will succeed in His task; He will be highly honored. Many people were shocked when they saw Him; He was so disfigured that He hardly looked human. But now many nations will marvel at Him, and kings will be speechless with amazement. They will see and understand something they had never known.” Is it any wonder that Mary, His own earthly mother, didn’t recognize him in JN 20: 15-17 when Christ emerged from the tomb?
This confidence in the power of Christ’s atoning blood is what allows us to say aloud, REV 12: 10b-11 in Satan’s presence knowing it will chase him away and offend him. “…For the one who stood before our God and accused our brothers day and night has been thrown out of heaven. Our brothers won the victory over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the truth which they proclaimed; and they were willing to give up their lives and die.” We can be confident in the atoning blood of Christ, because of what we are told in 1 COR 6: 20, “He bought us for a price, so use your bodies to God’s glory.” The price He paid to buy us out of the marketplace of slavery to sin was His physical life on the cross. We learned a critical lesson about the depth of God’s love for us in RO 5: 20-21, “Law was introduced in order to increase wrongdoing; but where sin increased, God’s grace increased much more. So then, just as sin ruled by means of death, so also God’s grace rules by means of righteousness, leading us to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” RO 7: 7 helps us to understand that mankind had no way to know the difference between right and wrong in God’s eyes until the Law was established. Once that was done, man knew when he was sinning and when he wasn’t. RO 10: 4, establishes Christ as the fulfillment of the Law, “so that everyone who believes in Him is put right with God.” With a working knowledge of these Scriptures, we are able to use them to break Satan’s evil grip on us. If we are beginning to appreciate what a treasure each and every word in the Scriptures is by now, especially as it can be used against Satan and his followers, then the Holy Spirit is doing His job in our hearts.
PRAYER: O Lord, You have given us such a remarkable and right example in Jesus Christ to follow in formulating our own attitude toward being Your servants. This can be seen in PHIL 2: 6-9. “He always had the nature of God, but He did not think that by force He should try to become equal with God. Instead of this, of His own free will He gave up all He had, and took the nature of a Servant. He became like man and appeared in human likeness. He was humble and walked the path of obedience all the way to death-His death on the cross. For this reason God raised Him to the highest place above and gave Him the name that is greater than any other name.” We should never be puffed up, because we are saved through Your grace, nor should we think more highly of ourselves than others, because we have had more time in which our inward selves have been transformed by You by the renewal of our minds [RO 12: 2]. You have called us to lives of humility, lives filled with gratitude for the great sacrifice You made of Your only begotten Son [JN 3: 16]. That gratitude should extend to include Your willingness to give us the Scriptures. Your word teaches us how to center our lives on You, to exalt You, to live faithfully in Him, and should be used as a weapon in our battles with the forces of evil. We stand before Your throne to offer You thanks for the gift of the Holy Spirit, Who helps us to reach toward understanding of Your perspective and Your wisdom. We thank You also for the ideal You give us in Christ’s example, the promise of resurrection, and for the “roadmap” for our lives which Your word and prayer are. Today, the words of PHIL 2: 10-11 express the content of our hearts, Dearest Abba. “And so, in honor of the name of Jesus all beings in heaven, on earth, and in the world below will fall on their knees, and all will openly proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” We testify today that His blood sealed the new covenant [1 COR 11: 25], and that He is rightly called in Hebrew, “Yeshua HaMeshiah Adonai,” “Jesus Christ, our Lord and Messiah.” We dedicate ourselves to being His servants, following as closely as we can the example of servanthood He set for us. We come against the forces of evil in His name, and claim victory over them on the grounds of His atoning blood shed on the cross for us. We humbly confess our sins and offer You our adoration, worship, loyalty, diligence, glory, honor, trust, obedience, utmost thanks and praise. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, I’m led to look at another step in using God’s word to break Satan’s grip over us. Monday mornings often find my desk strewn with notes about things that I must do. My e-mail inbox is filled with wonderful messages from those who want to share their faith with me, each one mattering a lot to me. The phone rings frequently with prayer requests which I write for our congregation’s prayer chain, and I usually have laundry loads to do which have built up over the weekend. As I prepare to serve on the team that prays for a Cursillo weekend, I could allow all of this to make me feel quite overwhelmed. I know that’s what Satan would like me to feel. But, I place all my concerns on the only shoulders that are broad enough to handle them, those of Jesus Christ. Somehow, when I do this, He helps me to know that it will all get done in His way and on His schedule. That is the kind of Lord we have in our lives. No ordinary human can do that for us, only Him. When I read about the suffering that the OT prophets like Moses and Jeremiah went through, or the many challenges that Paul and Christ Himself faced, the Father forces me to put my tiny problems in perspective. If the Father was there for these people in the Scriptures, He is surely there for each of us. That kind of love is unconditional, consistent, fair, patient and compassionate. Our Father has that love for every person who endures in his faith in Him. He holds back nothing from the faithful, not even His Son! Peter and I send each of you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn