Spiritual Warfare: Part One

Chapter Eighteen:

According to the Scriptures, there exists an unseen spiritual dimension.  And this spiritual dimension is what is really behind the battle mankind faces .  However, it is not a battle against flesh and blood, but is against spiritual beings who hate man and his being created by God for His pleasure and in His image.

As a precursor to these teachings on spiritual warfare,  I purposely wrote the last two chapters, on being filled with the Holy Spirit, because it takes the power of God working in you, and with you, to fight against this unseen enemy.   While these next teachings are not meant to be an exhaustive study on the topic of Satan (also known as Lucifer, the devil) or spiritual warfare, it will provide the basics that a believer needs to know.  Once you have the basics, you can then go on and pray for the Lord to show you what you need to learn further, and how He wants to teach you. 

Did you know that this unseen world is actually just as real than the one we see with our eyes?  Scripture says in Ephesians 6:12, " For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."   Paul is saying that there are forces that are opposition to God and we cannot see them as they operate in another realm, a spiritual realm. 

When we were unbelievers, we were blinded to the things of God.  Second Corinthians 4:4 tells us, " The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."   We were also unaware of how evil is real in the world and how the enemy influences things.  Once we join the family of God, we are awakened to spiritual things.  We realize that Satan is engaged in an all-out effort to destroy mankind, and in particular, believers.  Therefore, as believers and followers of Christ we pose a serious threat to him and what he wants to accomplish on this earth. 

The apostle Paul's many references to spiritual warfare throughout the New Testament indicate that he considered warring against the powers  of darkness to be a normal activity for Christians. Unfortunately many believers today do not think of Satan as a "being", but rather look at evil as just a bad influence in our world.  So,  who is this Satan, and where did he come from?

This war began a long time ago, before man was even on this planet.  God created many angels and one of them was named Lucifer. It is recorded in Scripture that Lucifer became discontent and out of pride decided that he wanted to elevate himself above God.  Isaiah 14: 12-15 tells of this event, "How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.' But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit."   

 Lucifer challenged God, and from that day forth the battle of good  against evil has dominated our world. Pride and rebellion led to Lucifer's fall (hereafter referred to as Satan),  and one third of the angels rebelled with him against God and as a result all were banished from Heaven.  The name Satan means "adversary, or one who opposes."

Then, God created the Garden of Eden and gave it to Adam and Eve to become its caretakers.  Satan, this fallen archangel, boiling over with anger toward God and His creatures, lurked about the Garden looking for an inroad where he could come between Adam and Eve and God.  Ultimately he persuaded Eve to believe his lies about God, and as a result, she ate of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Then she had Adam eat from it.  At that point, their spiritual eyes were opened and they realized what they had done...they had doubted God which led to their disobeying God and, as a result, had allowed sin to enter into their hearts and into the world.  This one act of disobedience on the part of Adam and Eve had caused the eternal separation of man from God...Satan had achieved his purpose.

You can read the account of all of this in Genesis 2:15 - 3:24.

As mentioned earlier, Satan wasn’t alone in being banished from heaven.  Scripture says that one third of the angelic beings revolted with him, and are doing his bidding to this very day.  Satan is their leader, their commander, in this great war. Since Satan is a created being, he can’t be everywhere at once the way God can be, so he has to rely on  his demons.  Because he’s their commander, they follow his orders, going to and fro throughout the earth, doing his bidding. 

What many believers don't fully comprehend is that as a result of Adam and Eve doubting God and sinning, they gave over the rule of this earth to Satan. Jesus referred to Satan as being the ruler of this world in John 12:31 when He said, " Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out."  The book of Matthew also shows that Satan is the ruler of this earth.  Jesus had been sent into the desert, and after fasting for forty days and forty nights, Satan came to Him several times to tempt Him to give up.  One of the temptations he used to get Jesus to give in was recorded in Matthew 4: 8-9.  It says, " Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.  'All this I will give you,' he said, 'if you will bow down and worship me.'"  

Obviously Satan could not give away something if he did not own it.  Jesus' reply was not to tell Satan he didn't own the earth, because He knew Satan had received dominion over it through Adam and Eve's disobedience to God and allowing sin to come into the world.  Jesus' only recourse was to quote Scripture and tell Satan to leave Him alone (Matthew 4:10).  It's hard to believe, but Satan is currently the ruler of this earth, and as a result he harasses mankind, especially followers of Christ.  In the next teaching we will look at what your attitude needs to be toward Satan and spiritual warfare.