Spiritual Warfare Focused on Christ
If you are a genuine follower of Jesus Christ, then there is no avoiding spiritual warfare. The devil makes war on the saints (Rev 12:17; 13:7) regardless of whether we fightback or not. It is not a matter of whether we enter into the battle but whether we know the means given to us by God to fight the battle effectively. To grasp the truth about this we must have the right priority.
First of all, we need to decide where to focus our attention. C.S. Lewis observed: “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One isto disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight” (C.S. Lewis, Preface to The Screw tape Letters). The Bible mentions the devil only occasionally, yet we are warned to be aware of his schemes (2 Cor 2:11). It is one thing to be aware of the devil’s schemes and another to spend your life fixated on the devil and all his demonic cohorts. How are we to keep from being outwitted by Satan while at the same time keep from focussing and obsessing about demons and their work? The answer to that question lies in keeping our eyes on the one who is central to the biblical story, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Because the Bible is about Jesus from beginning to end (John 5:39), it is on Christ that we must focus. Consequently, spiritual warfare should not focus on the devil and his minions, but on Christ and his glory. This is the way theology is intended to be done. Instead of trying to figure out how to fight against the devil, we look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith (Heb 12:2), who has already won the victory for us. The Bible gives Christians quite clear instructions about how to live the Christian life. Our path is to be followers of Christ, not chasers after the evil one.
We are all in a battle, so we must understand the nature of that battle. Events are going on around us all the time. It is not unusual to find people who are antagonistic towards Christians and the Christian faith. Sometimes this is overt, as in the case of some famous atheists who speak out against Christianity regularly. Other times the opposition we experience is more subtle. Perhaps your boss reduces your hours at work, or your co-worker is promoted even though you work harder and more diligently for the company. Perhaps you are vilified for seemingly no reason at all. We must be careful in our responses to these attacks. To make the right choice here involves understanding the real nature of the battle in which we are engaged.
The Bible tells us that the nature of our warfare is not what one would normally expect from a human perspective. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12 ESV). Spiritual warfare is just that, spiritual. “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood.” “Flesh and blood” is a synonym for “human” (see Matt 16:17; Heb 2:14). Although human beings are the ones who persecute Christians, steal our goods, hurt our bodies, curse us for being followers of Christ, and generally get in the way of the proclamation of the gospel, they are not the ones we are really wrestling against. The real enemy are “the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places”.
One important implication of this truth is that humans are not the enemy. Therefore, we are not being asked to harm other people or even to get revenge on them for what they do to Christians. God tells us to love our human enemies, to pray for them (Matt 5:44), and todo good to them. God himself will repay in his time any evil done to us (Rom 12:19–20).We therefore treat people, even evil people, as those for whom Christ died. Revenge is not an option. Don’t treat human beings as the real enemy.
The second implication is that human weaponry will be utterly useless in a battle against spiritual forces. This is why we must take up the armour of God (Eph 6:11). “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Cor 10:4–5). The only weapons which can be effective in the battle are divine. But human beings cannot wield divine weapons without divine assistance. This is precisely why we need to take care to see what the Bible tells us about spiritual warfare.
These words are merely a taster, taken from a book titled How to Do Spiritual Warfare without Obsessing about Demons.
