Spiritual Warfare, Part I — What is it?

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His power. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Eph 6:10-12 NRSV.

Anyone reading and accepting these words as the truth will be sufficiently concerned. As faithful followers of Christ, we must know spiritual warfare and the forces of evil. Not so much to be afraid but to be knowledgeable, decisive, and in the strength of His power.

We need to be courageous and prepared.

A healthy attitude toward spiritual warfare requires knowledge of the war, the enemy, Victor, and ourselves. Today’s article will inform us of the reality of spiritual warfare and uncover our enemy’s true identity.

“The devil does not sleep, nor is the flesh yet dead; therefore, you must never cease your preparation for battle because on the right and on the left are enemies who never rest.” — Thomas a Kempis.

Spiritual Warfare?

The text in Genesis 3 immediately introduces us to the enemy: “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made…”

This serpent is Satan — the devil himself. God made him, but he did not make him evil. There is no battle — no battleground without an enemy who attacks. Satan is alive and well on planet earth.

God created Adam and Eve perfectly, placed them in a perfect environment, and cared for them with His Sovereign love. There was no reason to rebel or move away from the center of God’s will until this cunning and evil creature showed up.

If only he had not shown up. If only Adam and Eve had rejected his attack. If only…

Satan was out to harm them, and he apparently concealed his identity under the cover of deception. He is an enemy of God and still moves about under the cover of lies and deception for evil purposes.

The Enemy

Sacred Scripture gives us a clue as to who this impersonator is. His name identifies him as the deceiver, the father of lies, and the accuser of the brethren.

It all started with a civil war:

And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan who deceived the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Rev 12:8-9 ESV.

Before God created Adam, breathed life into his soul, and set him in the Garden of Eden, there was in God’s great universe a traitor and sinner. Satan wanted to be sovereign and dethrone God, so a great war broke out in God’s kingdom. It’s as simple and complicated as this.

Satan rules over the angels that were cast out with him. They became the demons, the authorities, the spiritual forces of evil. Lucifer is not God, so he cannot be in more than one place, but sends out his soldiers, the demons, to do his bidding.

“The demons are aware that the devil fell from heaven through pride, so they attack first those who are advanced in the way, by trying to set them against each other through pride. In this way, they attempt to cut us off from God.” — Antony of Egypt

Read Ez 28:11-19 & Isa 14:12-20 and your eyes will discover a clue as to what happened. If we had time, it would take a significant and careful study and comparison to get to the truth. Below, I will try to briefly inform you of what happened, why, and why the battle still rages today.

What happened?

Satan was a created being and created perfectly: full of wisdom, perfect in beauty, perfect in his ways and the sum of perfection was found in him. He also held an exalted place in heaven (God’s holy mountain). Perhaps no other creature attained such a high position or enjoyed such an intimate connection with God.

What changed everything?

Despite all his perfection and power, Satan was still a created being — subservient to his Creator, dependent, and obedient to the will of God. His Creator gave him volitional freedom (free will).

He thought about his place in God’s creation, and his place was not enough for him. Emotionally, he wanted more — he wanted to sit on the throne of God. His inflated sense of pride and opposition to the LORD drove him to want to dethrone God. The rebellion began in his heart the moment he wanted his will over the sovereign will of God.

Treason began when the created wanted to be the Creator. Sin was born in the heart of Satan. The devil is no longer a subject to the kingdom of light, but sovereign over the kingdom of darkness.

Pride led to self-exaltation, and this formed in him a self-will to do and be what he wanted.

Pride!

You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you… Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of splendor… Eze 28: 14-15 & 17a NKJV.

The fall of any proud person reflects the fall of Satan!

Consider this truth: Satan had the role and destiny to carry out God’s will. He had a high office with authority and responsibility to defend and protect the holy mountain of God. But that was not enough for him.

It’s interesting to note the high order and special placement of Lucifer before his fall. It should have kept him in his place, but it didn’t. He betrayed such trust and formed a mutinous war in heaven. He harbors violence and a terrorist heart beats in his soul.

There’s more.

Because God’s word is true, Scripture informs Scripture. In Isa 14:12-14, we can also see Satan’s rebellion being revealed.

How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart; “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit on the mount of the congregation — on the farthest heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.” Isa 14:12-14 NKJV.

Light Bearer

Lucifer means “Light Bearer”. His sin, an unchecked ambition — a desire to be equal to or above God. So, Satan’s fall resulted from two things:

• Pride and the sin, as he presumed to take over God’s rule.
• Self will, thinking to be independent of the Most High God.

Satan exalted himself, and this led to rebellion against God and civil war. Lucifer, the Light Bearer, became Satan, father of the night. In the throes of darkness and death there Satan reigns as the prince of the air.

The moment Satan determined to dethrone the Sovereign, then sin became real. For the mere purpose of hurting God’s heart, Satan disguised himself as a serpent to instill sin into God’s treasure creatures, Adam and Eve.

Introducer of Sin!

Sadly, the enemy of God slithered his way into the Garden of Eden with one definite, deliberate, and diabolical reason. His goal was to tempt Adam and Eve to do what he himself had done — step outside the care of God’s will.

Would Adam and Eve –

• Fall for his tricks?
• Step out of the center of God’s will into the realm of self will?
• Dethrone God in their heart and enthrone themselves instead?
• Sin and bring darkness and death to their world?

Yes!

The rest, as they say, is history. The strategist tempted Adam and Eve into doubt, disobedience, and disloyalty. This decision affects us today and is the reason we need a Savior every day in this realm of spiritual warfare. We require continual fellowship with God in Christ Jesus.

The traitor, who was insubordinate, and a rebel, slithered his way into the Garden of Eden with a slippery tongue coated with lies to deceive and introduce sin into an enjoyable environment. Satan successfully destroyed their confidence in God, leading them to disobey and disbelieve Him. Sadly, Satan effectively crushed the intimate fellowship between the Creator and the creation. The Garden of Eden remains empty, and the children of God find themselves separated from Him.

The spiritual battle aims to destroy our intimate fellowship with our good and loving Creator.

Spiritual Warfare Continues

Spiritual warfare is not so much an open and out warfare, but a malicious propaganda to destroy under the cover of darkness. It’s set to undermine our trust in the Lord.

Honestly, his method has changed little from that day in the Garden of Eden to today:

• Churches are still being destroyed from the inside and out.
• Anti-Christian ideas are more acceptable and desirable than ever.
• Threats are being carried out against God’s people in and out of the Communist Regime.
• Destructive propaganda is destroying the truth and supplanting lies and deception.
• What’s good is called evil and evil good.

Even now, in some remote place and under the cover of darkness, temptation tempts a pastor to give up the ministry or give in to his hidden desires. Another “so called” Christian is teaching what is false with a “sprinkle” of the truth. There are false prophets who are determined to take us down.

Think about it. All these subtle and destructive moves are set to undermine God’s sovereign rule. This is spiritual warfare. This is the work of our enemy and God’s enemy.

Now, you have gained the knowledge and can comprehend it.

Conclusion

We’ve learned a valuable lesson about spiritual warfare. There is certainly power in knowledge. But we’re not done yet. Although we’ve come face to face with the origin of spiritual warfare and the enemy, we now need to understand who we are in the battle and who Christ is. We need to prepare ourselves with the Armor of God.

I refuse to rush through this lesson on spiritual warfare with surface knowledge or cursory bits and pieces of information, so stay tuned for next week or the next article. By the time we complete parts I, II, and III, I will have equipped you with what is necessary to be “strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.”

“We live in a world full of people struggling to be, or at least appear, strong, in order not to be weak, and we follow a gospel which says that when I am weak, then I am strong. And this gospel is the only thing that brings healing.” N.T. Wright.

Until we meet again, may the Lord bless and keep you and bring you peace,