|
It was a sad day for Adam, and for the rest of us, when his comfortable life in the Garden of Eden came
to a sudden end. Though Adam was created to have dominion, his choice to disobey God changed everything. His status as royalty
over God's creation was lost, and he became a bonslave of sin and a wage-earner on Satan's terms. By his act of disobedience
Adam yielded his kingship to Satan, who from then on claimed the dominion offered by man's disobedience and became "the prince
of this world," in Eden God decreed enmity between the serpent's seed and the seed of the woman. Because of this, the law
of strife became the law of life for the human race. Hereafter the sinister eye of the deceiver would be on perpetual alert
for evidence of the arrival of the Seed in order to lay plans to prevent the coming of this one who was to crush his head.
In the fullness of God's time the Lord Jesus Christ, the Seed of the woman and the eternal Son of God, was born. As the Son
of Man on earth, Jesus was no mere civilian passively suffering the attacks and harassment of Satan. He was the Pioneer and
Captain of our salvation, the original Soldier of the Cross, pressing forward along the lonely road to victory through the
sufferings of death. Nailing His feet to that Cross could not prevent Him from crushing Satan's head beneath is heel. And
with His nail-pierced hands He tore off from Himself the evil powers that attempted to prevent Him from ascending to the throne.
Now glorified and seated at the Father's right hand, "far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion," Jesus
as Lord of all is beyond reach of Satan's attacks. The finished work of Calvary is now completely unassailable. Nothing that
Satan may do can change the finality of the victory stroke that crushed his head. However, the implication of that victory
over the powers of evil and its application in the world of men is now in the hands of the Church on earth. Consequently,
the bitter enmity of Satan is now directed against the Church in order to vent his spleen against the Head through the members
of His Body. In his true character as adversary Satan is very much alive to rob the finished work of Christ of its full effect
among men. His fiery darts zero in on the members of Christ's Body who have not learned to take their position in the heavenly
places with Christ by faith and who face life without taking to themselves by prayer the whole armor of God. He is especially
concerned about those who are proclaiming the Good News of the finished work of Christ in earth's dark corners. Because of
the hostility of the devil, the work of conforming the members of Christ's Body to the likeness of the soldier-image of the
Head is high on the priority list of the Holy Spirit. As believers we are in Christ and He in us, and this means that His
aggression against Satan must be expressed through us. So we are no longer free to play the role of civilians, living as if
there were no war. Our soldier role is pictured for us throughout the Old Testament and is now established by our union with
our conquering Head and affirmed in the New Testament. The history of the saints in every age is one of conflict. The pathway
the disciple treads as he follows his Lord is one of certain warfare. At this point let us ask ourselves some serious questions:
Am I expressing the enmity God put btween the devil and the Church's Head? Or, am I seeking detente, coexistence, and peace
through compromise? Am I available to my Lord as a willing instrument, ready for His use in His warfare? Am I aware of the
teaching of Scripture about my part in the spiritual conflict? ...Taken from Born For Battle by R. Arthur Mathews
|
