Eph 6:12, “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.”
We’ve all heard or quoted this verse countless times, usually as a reminder to avoid carnal reactions to specific situations; and not to take things personally but to focus on the powers of darkness manipulating people around us instead.
The classic example is that of the Lord and Peter. Jesus had just informed the disciples of His forthcoming death and resurrection but this didn’t match with Peter’s vision and projects; so, he took the Lord aside and rebuked Him saying: "Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you."
Jesus turned back and replied in a very harsh way: "Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man." (Mat 16:21-23)
He didn’t say: "Get behind me, Peter," but "Get behind me, Satan!"Peter was not the real issue at stake and it was pointless picking on him. Jesus knew the origin of his words was a power of darkness and He confronted it.
A short while ago, the Lord reminded me that ALL that is visible first WAS… in the invisible; WAS in the spirit. Whether we realize it or not, what we see and do always has a spiritual origin. Since God breathed His Spirit in us, we became living souls: spirits living in a body of flesh. We are spiritual beings and can therefore be easily influenced by what happens in the spiritual world. Satan inspired to Peter the thoughts that Jesus condemned; but just before that, the same Jesus was praising the very same Peter for some other thought and words: "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven." (Mat 16:17)! So, on one occasion God was behind the words of the apostle and on the other occasion, the devil was; but in both cases, it was neither flesh nor blood which had driven him to speak like that.
I’ve also realized that we do not only fight against the powers of hell; but we frequently fight against the angels of light as well. Unfortunately, because we often fail to tell the difference, as soon as things don’t go in the expected direction or as soon as we encounter some fierce resistance, we are usually very quick to blame it on the devil or our neighbours. Yet, the Bible presents a man who thought he was fighting against flesh and blood whereas he was wrestling with an angel of the Lord. Indeed:
Gen 32:24, 28, 30, “Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.... 28 "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed."… 30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, "For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered."”
If such an experience had happenned to us, many would have said that a wizard or a witch visited them at night. But Jacob did not wrestle against flesh and blood (i.e. against a sorcerer) or against a demon; he fought against a spiritual entity of another kind. Who is resisting you today? Whom are you fighting against?
Paul told the Ephesians that God raised Jesus from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places (1:20). He also said that we have been raised up with Him and seated with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (2:6), so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places (3:10). Christ is seated with us in the heavenly places; and the powers of darkness can also be found there: EVERYTHING thus takes place in the heavenly places and the cause of EVERYTHING is first and foremost spiritual.
If we decide to remain seated in the heavenly places instead of spending our time coming down in the physical/carnal realm, we'll quickly notice that on one hand we’ll soon be out of the reach of the dirty tricks of men -flesh and blood- because we’ll be in a place where they have no access; and on the other hand, the attacks of evil spirits will not touch us because we will be hidden in Christ and they’ll have to go through Him to get to us.
I ask again: Who is resisting you today? Whom are you fighting against? If you are dealing with agents of darkness, you have some powerful weapons at your disposal to defeat them; but if you are dealing with God’s envoy, are you certain you can be as strong as Jacob? What is the origin of your struggles? I pray that God enlightens you on these questions.
Have a great week!
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