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.
