Spiritual Warfare

Why is there spiritual warfare? Why is it an issue?

Man and Early Creation (Genesis 1:1,26-28,31 & Psalm 8:5)
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and over six days he rendered the earth habitable and perfect for plants, animals and man. He created man in his own image and likeness and crowned him with his own visible glory and majesty. God gave man (Adam and Eve) authority to rule over everything on the earth and in the heavens above it. Man looked and shone like God and was fashioned to experience deep intimacy and fellowship with him. He was to fellowship with God, know him, represent him, and bring his will to pass on the earth. The kingdom of God was to reign on earth through the relationship and oneness of Adam and God.

Lucifer and the Angels (Isaiah 14:12-14; Ezekiel 28:12-18)
In the third heaven, in the realm of God’s throne, and of angels and spiritual beings, Lucifer was the anointed cherub who spread his wings out over the throne of God and worshiped closer to God than any other being. He was anointed by God the Holy Spirit to worship, lead and administrate. He was a musician and led heaven in worship. He was over multiple sanctuaries where he led heavenly beings in worship. He was, on the day of his creation, the highest creation of God, the most beautiful, intelligent and wise. He walked in the presence of God, before his face, and was blameless. At some point, before he fell, he was even in Eden, the garden that God himself had created for man.

The Fallen Nature of Lucifer and his Angels (Isaiah 14:12-14; Ezekiel 28:12-18; Revelation 12:4, 9; John 10:10; 1 Peter 5:8)
But Lucifer became proud because of his beauty and splendor, and he was corrupted. He bartered with the angels, telling them that if they worshipped him, completely switching allegiance from God to him, he would give them a place of honor better than what God had given them. They would become gods under him and receive worship from those under them. One third of the angels were seduced and persuaded and defected from God and his kingdom to give worship and complete obedience to Lucifer.

In doing this the Bible says that Lucifer became corrupted and was “internally filled with violence.” He and his angels, having known and turned from the purity and absolute holiness of God, became completely and irrevocably evil. Lucifer became known as the Dragon (a massive evil being who quickly and easily overwhelms his prey), the Devil (which means “accuser”), and Satan (which means “adversary”). He is called the thief who comes only to steal, kill and destroy, and that he prowls about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.

The Fall of Man (Genesis 3:1-13; 2 Corinthians 11:3; 1 Timothy 2:14)
Lucifer, in his lust for worship and control, turned to man, who was beloved of God, and in the image of the God he now hated. He used his persuasion to deceive Eve into believing that God was holding out on them, and that they could become like gods themselves if they followed Satan’s influence. Eve was deceived and first transgressed God’s clear command. Adam was not deceived, but with eyes wide open he followed suit to be with Eve. Immediately they died to the glory of their inner union and oneness with God; in addition, they lost their glory-covering and were now naked, afraid, and guilty. God was with them but no longer dwelling in them. They lost the protection of the indwelling glory, and the out-shinning glory that covered them. They became vulnerable, and the strategies, impact, lies and mental and emotional control from the demonic began to infiltrate them.

The Transfer of Dominion on the Earth (Psalm 24:1 & 115:16; Amos 3:7; Luke 4:5-7; 2 Corinthians 4:3,4; 1 John 5:19; Ephesians 2:1,2)
The earth belongs to God by right of creation, but God delegated authority on the earth to man. God set it up so that he works through man. He does nothing on the earth except he first reveals it to his prophetic people who listen, believe it, pray it, declare it, and act on it. God gave man that place. But when Adam and Eve came under the influence of Satan and obeyed him, they came out from under the authority and covering of God; they dropped their own rulership under God to come under Satan. Instead of ruling and enforcing God’s will against Satan, they abdicated their authority and submitted to him. The dominion was transferred and its horrific outworking began. Satan began to take authority over them and the earth. Successive individuals and generations yielded more to Satan so that Satan, when he tempted and showed Christ all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, was able to say to him, “I will give You all this domain and its glory, for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. If You worship before me, it shall be yours.”

Scripture calls Satan the god of this world and says that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. His agents, the fallen angels, rule over humanity in regions, people groups, etc., and fulfill their strategies through demonic working. The kingdom of darkness works toward the goal of turning worship away from the true and living God, and of securing the hearts and minds of men for the control and worship of Satan. This is the spirit of the world. It is the outworking of Satan’s authority which he usurped from Adam.

Jesus Christ the Overcomer (John1:1,14; Hebrews 10:5-7; 1 John 3:8; John 14:30; Philippians 2:8; 1 Peter 1:19; Revelation 4:5,6)
In the midst of this Satan-dominated world, Jesus, the eternal Word and Son of God, became flesh and was born of a virgin. He came and lived to please the Father and do his will. He delighted to love the Father with his whole being and never, even for a millisecond, deviated from full hearted and sincere obedience to his Father. He never yielded to temptation, which would have given Satan authority over him. He stepped into, in his ministry, the authority that God had mandated for man to walk in. Wherever Jesus was to go and minister in the will of God, he destroyed Satan’s works and accomplished what the Father wanted. He was not yet, as a man, given all authority in heaven and on earth. But in the sphere of his calling and ministry he exercised complete, uncontested dominion over demons, disease and even the weather.

So Jesus overcame Satan, not by overwhelming force or hand-to-hand combat, but by never yielding to temptation. Shortly before his death, Jesus said, “The ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.” He humbled himself and obeyed to the point of death on the cross. He is the spotless Lamb of God, having no spots and blemishes of disobedience and rebellion.

Satan couldn’t touch Jesus until he drank the cup of our iniquity in the garden of Gethsemane. Once he was identified with our sin, the covering of God was removed and Satan attacked him and began the process to put him to death.

The Man Christ Jesus – Obedient Suffering, then Glory, Honor and Complete Authority (Hebrews 2:9; 5:7-9; 9:14)  
During his suffering Jesus completed his overcoming as he continued to love the Father and obey him. This obedience of Jesus was rooted in his love as the Son for his Father. Hebrews 2:9 tells us that because of his (love-based) obedience to the suffering of death, God responded and crowned him with glory and honor. Even though he was the eternal Son become man, in order to qualify and be our substitute on the cross, he had to complete and experience loving obedience in the full range of human experience, especially under intense suffering:

“In the days of his flesh, he offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One who was able to save him (that is, be enabled to go through the intense mental, physical and spiritual suffering and then be raised up) from death, and he was heard because of his piety. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience from the things which he suffered. And having been made perfect (he loved and obeyed under the full range human conditions, especially extreme suffering), he became to all who obey him the source of eternal salvation.” (Hebrews 5:7-9)

The Father answered the cries of his Son, and enabled Jesus through the Holy Spirit to offer himself on the cross without the slightest blemish of disobedience: “Christ, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without blemish to God.” (Hebrews 9:14)

Other Key Scriptures Describing the Obedience and Exaltation of Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:8-11; Ephesians 1:20-22; Matthew 28:18)
 In Philippians 2:8-11 the Holy Spirit tells us, “He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore also God highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

And then in Ephesians 1:20-22 we read, “He (the Father) raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenlies, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And he (the Father) put all things in subjection under his feet.”

Jesus himself said, after his resurrection and right before he went back to heaven, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”

The Position and Authority of the Believer (Ephesians 2:4-6)
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in out transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

The Scope of Spiritual Warfare & the Name of Jesus (Matthew 16:18,19; 18:18-20; Psalm 149:6-9)
There is intense work by evil spirits to keep unbelievers locked in ignorance, deception, blindness, false philosophies and false religions. Demons work to blind unbelievers to the reality of the Living God and Jesus Christ, and then upon death to take them into Hades where they will torture them.

An unbeliever cannot be saved unless he is awakened and enlighten by:
It takes the name of Jesus, the word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit to break through the demonic blindness and awaken a person to the reality of Jesus. Evil spirits control and watch over their hosts and will do everything they can to fight and hold on to their position in that person. Therefore, believers must sacrificially love the lost with the love of Christ, intercede and use the authority of the name of Jesus to bind the demonic, and free the person to hear the voice of the Son of God.

Believers must be gathered and come together under the direct Lordship of Christ and God-given Spirit-anointed leadership. They must be taught the word on how to love one another and grow in faith as individuals, families and as a church. They must learn how to:
This is the normal operating mode for the church. This is what Jesus uses to reach the harvest and to build his church in the midst of this sin and demon dominated world. He said, “You are Peter (petros – stone), and upon this rock (petra – bedrock of revelation of the Person of Jesus) I will build My church and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

As we obey the Lord Jesus, he builds. And Satan can’t stop it. We plunder hell.