We shouldn’t be surprised; after all, Jesus promised: “You
will be hated by everyone because of me” (Matt 10:22) “In this world you will
have trouble” (John 16:33), “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated
me first” (John 15:18), He prayed to His Father about us, saying that “the
world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the
world” (John 17:14), and in his epistle John reflects the same thing, “Do not
be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you” (1 John 3:13). Yes,
we have real enemies who really hate us. Yes, there is a definite war going on.
Sometimes it is more visible and obvious than other times, but always raging
just the same.
However, somewhere along the way we got the idea that we are
under attack; on the defense.
“Oh no! Terrorists are attacking our nation!”
“Oh no! Homosexuals are attacking our marriages!”
“Oh no! Schools are attacking our freedom of religion!”
“Oh no! The liberal education system is attacking homeschoolers!”
“Oh no! The government is attacking our faith!”
“Oh no! Congress is attacking our right to have guns!”
“Oh no! Obama is taking this country to hell in a hand basket!”
First of all, why are we surprised when the world hates us?
We are not of this world. Not only that, when we fall into this victim
mentality, we lose sight of the real battle God has actually called us to
fight.
When Jesus asked His disciples who they believed Him to be, Peter
stepped forward and declared, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”,
and Jesus replied, “…on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it” (Matt 16:15-18).
I believe the “rock” He is referring to is the revelation of
WHO HE IS: the Son of the Living God. The Creator of the universe. The One in
control. Even the winds and waves obey Him. What a rock! His church is built on
that revelation. And the gates of hell shall not prevail against that church
when it realizes just how powerful its foundation Rock really is.
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Think about it. The gates of hell. I’m sure you’ve probably
seen a movie at some point with a battle scene in it. Depending on the era in
history, the weapons being used may have been spears, arrows, swords, and axes
or they may have been muskets, cannons, bayonets, and pistols, or even missiles,
tanks, grenades, and atomic bombs. But have you ever seen a battle where the
weapons of choice were… gates? Does anyone march into battle with their… gates?
Gates are designed for defense, to keep an enemy out.
Wait, hold on. We’re not under attack after all? That’s
right. Turn the battle around in your mind. We are not the ones quivering on
the walls looking out over a vast army laying siege to everything we hold dear.
We are not getting trampled by the enemy hoards. Not at all.
We are not under attack. We are the attackers.
We are the ones laying siege on hell, storming the gates
(which we are promised cannot prevail against the revelation of who Christ is),
and dragging out the captives into the freedom they were called to live in. It’s
time for us to drop our shields and pull out our battering rams. We need to
stop whining and start winning.
There are so many prisoners of war being held in bondage.
Bondage to addictions. Bondage to depression. Bondage to fear. Bondage to
illness and pain. Bondage to sin. These are the true enemies we face. “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood
enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world,
against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the
heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). Not
terrorists. Not homosexuals. Not Obama. Our enemy is brokenness and the evil
spirits that perpetuate it. Yes, there are real demons. Yes, they really oppress
and possess people. It’s time we storm the castle and set the captives free!
There is peace and joy and healing available for them if only we will break
down those gates and offer it! “I have told you these things, so that in me you
may have peace. In this world you
will have trouble. But take heart! I
have overcome the world” (John 16:33). So many people are longing for that
peace. Longing for a Savior who has overcome the darkest parts of their hearts
and wants to set them free to walk in the light as He is in the light. We play
a vital role in that. Most people will not seek Him on their own, they don’t
know He’s the answer they’ve been looking for their whole lives. It’s up to us
to tell them.
Yes, we are at war. But we need to rethink who our enemy is
and what our position is in that war. When we know who Christ really is, and
know that when He dwells within us He gives us the same access to power that He
had, there should be no stopping us. Storm the gates!
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
for he has
anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,
that the blind
will see,
that the oppressed will be set free,
and that the time
of the Lord’s favor has come” –Jesus (Luke 4:18-19)
Amen! I have been thinking a lot lately about spiritual warfare, and marveling at the fact that so many Christians seem oblivious to the fact that we are fighting a battle. It is so vitally important for each of us to be aware of exactly what's going on, who we're really fighting against, and, above all, that we are given the power to put on the armor of God, march out in the strength of the Spirit, and win this war!
ReplyDeleteWell said. A few scriptures came to mind that contribute to this discussion:
ReplyDelete"For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God." (2 Timothy 1:7-8)
"Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory." (Romans 8:17)
Jesus suffered for righteousness and so his followers ought to do the same as you point out so well. It has been said, "the road to hell is paved with good intentions," but the above verse tells us the road to glory is paved with suffering.
There is much to be done to join Jesus in his ongoing ministry of bringing good news, releasing captives, giving sight where there is blindness and relieving oppression.
Our warfare is not against flesh and blood, but is spiritual as you quoted Ephesians 6:12. The Apostle Paul talks of Christian warfare and methods as being quite different than those in "the world":
"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)
In Ephesians 6:18-20 Paul describes the activity of the well-armed Christian is prayer for all people in every situation. Such prevailing prayer is the first and most potent weapon of any Christian, but there is more. As we pray God often shows us where we can be involved in the battle and we should not shrink from it. We are then to embrace whatever pain and suffering may come as we join Jesus through the power of his Spirit in storming those gates of hell to set the captives free.
Hi Carla,
ReplyDeleteThis blog post raises a few philosophical questions for me (detailed below). If this is an inappropriate medium for these types of questions/comments then please let me know, and I will remove them.
Toward the top in you series of quotations starting with, "Oh no," do you believe that the groups of people listed are at odds with the ideas and institutions mentioned? Are you trying to give examples of what you hear people say?
Do you think the world hates Christians or the world hates evangelism? There are certainly people who hate Christians, but I don't think Christians are generally hated for believing in Christ. (I am lumping national political involvement in with Evangelism here.)
In my opinion, the efficacy of Christianity is largely dependent on the same thing as every other religion - the definition of "sin", "suffering", or whatever you want to call it. I would be interested in a follow up post that defines this concept for you.
I think that many of my Christian brothers and sisters want the same things that I do - to heal the world through mutual trust, respect, love, and kindness. We just disagree on what some of the obstacles are and how to address them.