A lot of Christians today have apparently forgotten something very important. They have forgotten that we are involved in a war. 2 Corinthians 10:3, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:". How did this war get started? Who is the adversary? For this we have to go back to the very beginning of the creation:
Genesis 1:1-2, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."
Most people read these two verses as being just two events:
1) God creates the heaven and the earth, which is then described as 'without form and void', and in darkness.
2) then the spirit of god moves on the face of the waters just before he says 'let there be light'.
This way of looking at it, however, does not take into account the fact that God, as a perfect, all-knowing, all-powerful creator would NOT create something that was 'without form and void'. Further study verifies this. The word that the king james translates 'without form' is "tohuw" (pronounced "to'-hoo") (strongs #8414 ), which translates: formlessness, confusion, unreality, emptiness, waste, empty place, nothing, vanity, place of chaos, that which is empty or unreal.
All of this adds up to chaos and confusion, and we know that God doesn't make confusion: 1 Corinthians 14:33, "For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints." So after God created the heavens and the earth, something must have happened between verse one and verse 2. That would be when satan's rebellion took place.
So what had to have happened is that God created the heavens and the earth, which was perfect and without a blemish, then lucifer decides that he wants to take God's place:
Isaiah 14:13-14, "For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High."
This is when he is cast out of heaven:
Isaiah 14:12, "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!",
Luke 10:18, "And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven."
Remember, before he fell, lucifer was the highest ranking, most powerful of the angels. He no doubt had some idea of what God had in mind for the earth that He had just created, and out of anger at being cast out of heaven and frustrated in his desire to usurp the throne of God, he sets out to destroy the earth. This brings us to verse two and the condition that the earth is in at that point.
For those who debate the age of the earth, while the bible does record approximately 6000 years from verse three of Genesis, time, at least as we understand it, did not exist before what is recorded in:
Genesis 1:3-5, "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day."
Those events instead took place in eternity, outside of time, and thus any attempt to determine the date of any event before the first day are meaningless.
In verse two, the spirit of God moves on the face of the waters, and from verse three through verse 31 there are six days of creation work where God sets the earth in order, restoring the damage done by lucifer after the fall, and on the sixth day he creates man and gives him authority over it:
Genesis 1:26, "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."
The next time satan is heard from is in the garden of Eden, when operating through the serpent, he deceived the woman about the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. She ate of that fruit, and gave to her husband who was with her and he ate. When Adam ate of the fruit that God had told him not to eat, he submitted his will to satan, instead of God. This had the result of the authority that God had given man being transferred to satan. God declares war:
Genesis 3:14-15, "And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."
God's telling him that the seed of the woman is going to defeat him, restoring what he had stolen from Adam. This is the first of many prophecies and promises of Jesus' victory over satan. And now satan is involved in two main tasks, 1) deceiving, distracting, and by any means trying to prevent people from accepting Jesus, and 2) trying to keep those that do accept Jesus from realizing and acting on the fact that Jesus has defeated satan and removed from him any authority or power. Matthew 28:18, "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth."
So we are at war, and satan is our adversary. In the old testament, the name satan is translated from a Hebrew word: satan {pronounced saw-tawn'} (strongs number 7854): adversary, one who withstands. And in the new testament it's translated from a Greek word of Aramaic origin: Satanas {pronounced sat-an-as'} (strong's number 4567): adversary, one who opposes another in purpose or act.
Fortunately we don't have to fight this war by our own strength, God has equipped us for that war.
2 Corinthians 10:4-5, "(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;"
God has given us weapons with which to fight this war, and His strength to fight with, and His spiritual armor to keep us safe from the attacks that are brought against us every day. However, they are only available to those who accept Jesus and choose to become His children.
John 1:12, "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:"
If you have not recieved Jesus, then you are NOT one of His children. If you do, you are given the ability to become one of His children by allowing His Holy Spirit to lead you.
Romans 8:14, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God."
If you have not done so before, I strongly urge you to take the first step toward victory and pray a prayer like this one:
"Lord God, I realize that I am a sinner, and that because I am not a child of yours I have no defense against the attacks of satan, nor do I have weapons with which to fight him. I repent of my sins and ask Jesus to come into my heart and live through me. Lead me by your Holy Spirit and let me become your child. In Jesus' name, Amen"
If you've just prayed a prayer like this one, then you now have the ability to become a child of God, study the bible, pray, and prepare to become a victor in this war.
In upcoming articles, I will be going into a more in depth study of the armor:
Salvation.....Get your Helmet!
Faith.....Put your Shield up!
Righteousness.....The Righteous Plate
Truth...Wrapped up in The Truth
Peace.....Rest in Peace
and weapons that God has equipped us with for this war:
The Word of God.....Surgery 101
The mind of Christ.....Have you LOST your MIND?
The Anointing of the Holy Spirit.
The power of the name of Jesus.....The Power in a Name.
