Friday, November 23, 2012

Ephesians 6:12


Copyright Ó 2012 J. Neely
Ephesians 6:12

12 For [hoti] we [hemin] wrestle [pale] not [ou] against [esti] [pros] flesh [sarx] and [kai] blood, [haima] but [alla] against [pros] principalities, [arche] against [pros] powers, [exousia] against [pros] the rulers [kosmokrator] of the darkness [skotos] of this [toutou] world, [aion] against [pros] spiritual [pneumatikos] wickedness [poneria] in [en] high [epouranios] places.  KJV-Interlinear

12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. NASB

Whole or complete armor, refers to the complete and covered protection of a soldier in battle.

In these verses there are described six pieces of armor in the spiritual battle dress of the believer.

Belt of truth;
Breastplate of righteousness;
Footwear of peace;
Shield of faith;
Helmet of salvation;
Sword of the Spirit.

It is clear that we can look and see the many troubles that exist in this world. All around us are people with social problems, financial problems, health problems and on and on the list of problems continues.

But there is a vast region beyond that which we can see, which is far more dangerous and ominous than the difficulties that we all face from day to day.

And that is the realm of Satan and all evil.

The Bible teaches us of beings beyond out human realm.  We call them angels.  And they come in two distinct categories.  In one category there are the elect or saved or good angels as we would call them, and in the other category there are the fallen angels, or those who have been judged and condemned to the lake of fire.

At some point in eternity past, God created all the angels in one single simultaneous creation.  After that God created the universe in one single moment of creation, which is the second creation.  The angels being the first.

The universe was created perfect.

Then Lucifer became arrogant and rebelled against God.  All of the angels rebelled and all fell in grace as it were.

There was an offering of sorts, the details which we do not know, and two-thirds of the angels returned to God, while one-third remained in rejection of God.

There was a trial and a finding and the fallen angels were condemned to the Lake of Fire.  However the Lake of Fire has not yet occurred, so as we have learned in the book of Job, Satan, who was formerly Lucifer, contested Gods right to judge.  Thus the third creation, man, was entered into history.

Before man could be created, a suitable living place for man had to be made and the earth was restored in those six days of restoration, occurred.

The earth was originally created perfect, but became void.  It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that it was Satan, the ruler of all corruption, who destroyed the earth and sent the universe into a form of creation panic and stress.

And so the struggle between good and evil, between Satan’s will and Gods will, continues throughout our human history, to determine who will win the day.

While we all live our day to day lives, just trying to make ends meet, trying to budget the rent and the grocery money, far above us and all around us is a phenomenal and far greater and ominous battle taking place.

The prize is eternity in heaven, and the loss is also eternity in the Lake of Fire.

Heaven is life with God and perfection.  The Lake of Fire is eternal separation from God and continual and perpetual and absolute chaos with terrifying teeth chattering aloneness in the most horrendous and terrifying place, beyond imagination.

Here we live from pay check to pay check, from school term to school term, from decade to decade, from working years to retirement years, and most folks do not think much beyond that concept.  All figuring that whatever comes after this life, they will be alright, if only they live a pretty much decent life and are sincere.

Of course there are those who could care less and just want to have fun at anyone's expense and whatever comes afterwards, well they don’t think much about that.

Just a century ago, the average life span was only forty years. Today the average life span is around eighty years, and we all pretty much take that for granted.  It is somewhat difficult comprehending a life span of tens of thousands of years.  After all, what could you do in that time and how boring would that become after a while?

If you are well off, then of course a long life would be nice.  But if your life is filled with continual pressure and burdens, then a long life is not appealing.  Who would want to suffer any longer than necessary?

But for the most part, people do not think in terms of thousand year life spans.  They only think about the here and now, and getting through to the next month and so forth.

What people do not see is that this life is not ours to settle into this world only, but we are here to become prepared for that next far greater life.  And that objective seems to get lost in the day to day activities and other priorities of life that we all have.

And all the while there is an unseen battle that will determine the eventual outcome of all of us.

It is not our will, not our education, not our intellect, not our wants and plans and desires, not mans government, not mans philosophies, not mans many plans that we think will determine our future.  And there are many plans for world government, social reform and so forth.  None of these things of human origin have any impact in our individual lives, like the impact of life beyond our seeing, has.

And yet, do you believe any of this?  Do you even think about it?  Do you consider these things in your day to day routine?  And for most folks, the answer is an easy ‘No.’

There are far too many other priorities in life to occupy our thoughts, much less what evil plots that Satan is planning today for tomorrow. Plots that we will never see or figure out.  Except of course unless they are revealed to us through the Bible.

Our days are filled with getting up and ready for school or work, planning the days activities or erands, fixing those things that need to be fixed, doing those things that need to be done, and otherwise just getting through this day so we can do it all over again tomorrow.

And yet, the clock keeps on ticking and our life here in this world keeps getting closer and closer to our final moment of life in this world, and then what!

Well the next life begins, and if we are not prepared, then the biggest disappointment ever will be realized.

If we had only spent a few minutes a day, if we had only spent some time thinking about our spiritual obligations, if we had simply confessed our sins daily, hourly, or for whatever frequency is needed in order to live in fellowship.  And these things do not take that much time, seconds perhaps in any given instance of spiritual thought.

Then our spiritual life would effectively transform us from the worriers and fretters of life, into spiritual warriors and worry free and confident individuals that God intended.

Then, our eternal life of many tens of thousands of tens of thousands of years and far more, will be unbelievable and more.  And you won’t be disappointed at not having wasted your life on earthly things, when the magnitude of spiritual things determines your entire future.

Sure things break and need fixing.  Sure the kids are a pain at times.  Sure the rent is due and the job is boring.  Sure the competition out there is cut throat.  There are many things in this world, which evil would prefer you spend your time pondering and worrying about and getting upset over, so that you will ignore your spiritual treasure and lose it.  And so the distractions of life are many, and are there to cause you to lose out in life.

But, if you put on that armor, cover yourself with Gods protection, namely doctrine learned and assimilated within your soul, and so forth, then all of those worldly assaults won’t touch your eternal destiny.

So, use wisdom and do not be the fool.  Do not let the world distract you away from your real purpose in life.

Do not allow yourself to become the fool.  But pursue your daily study, in fellowship, and advance to spiritual maturity and beyond, and let God arm you with a far more powerful armor, relieving you of the stresses of the day, and replacing them with a relaxed mental state of mind.