Ephesians Devotionals
Bob Morris
Our Struggle is in the Heavenly Realms (Ephesians 6:10-12)
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
As we noted earlier (Eph. 1: 3), all our spiritual blessings in Christ are in the heavenly realms, right where we need them most. It is there that the unseen battle for our souls takes place, between the spiritual forces of evil and God’s mighty power. We are equipped with his grace, knowledge of his purposes, confidence in our identity as his children, resurrection power and the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We have all we need to engage the enemy, but we dare not trust in our own strength in the face of these mighty forces.
Arrayed against us are the Devil and his schemes and the rulers, authorities and powers which he controls in this world. But maybe the greatest danger we face is a failure to recognize that the flesh and blood we see before us is not the real enemy. The real enemy is the unseen power that manipulates, motivates and drives them. Failure to make that distinction will not only lead us to rely on human-centred tactics and strategies rather than the strength and power of the Lord, it will result in unnecessary and unhelpful hurting of people whom God loves.
It is all too easy to see the terrorist, the politicians, the CEO’s or the abusers as the target of our struggle to see God’s Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. The problem we discover is that eliminating one terrorist gives birth to ten more. Influencing one political party is no guarantee of success. Jailing fraudulent CEO’s does little to change corporate culture. Evil has to be opposed wherever it exists, whether in skewed values, misinformation, wrong motives, racism, or whatever. But we must never lose sight of the fact that powers, not people are the ultimate problem. It is an unhelpful truism to say that we must hate the sin and love the sinner; this is a distinction few non-Christians can make, and a rule of life that scarcely anyone can live consistently.
This is why Paul tells us to trust in God’s mighty power and put on the armour he provides. It will be more relevant to fighting the powers behind the flesh and blood problems we tend to challenge. When David confronted Goliath (1 Samuel 17), Saul offered his armour to him. First of all, it didn’t fit, because David was just a stripling and Saul was a head taller than anyone else in Israel when he was crowned. More importantly, Saul’s armour was suited to confronting flesh and blood but not the arrogance of Goliath, the blasphemous defiance of the Philistines or the despair and terror of Israel. That took David’s faith in the God of Israel, and the simplest man-made weapon that would kill the giant. We do well to remember David’s words on that occasion:
All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s and he will give all of you into our hands (1 Sam. 17: 47)
Sovereign Lord, we thank you that you have given us all the equipment we need to face our real enemy. Now grant us your power, we pray, and the discernment we need to avoid wasting our spiritual resources in irrelevant battles.
Print
Email
