Coming to faith in Jesus Christ is to be understood as entering into every spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3), but it is also the commencement of a great struggle with Satan and his forces. Let those who would dwell on the blessings of our faith also take note of the battle which we have entered into by faith in Jesus Christ, and which we must wage in His strength.
The church is engaged in a spiritual war, and its enemy is Satan and a host of unseen angelic and celestial enemies whose power vastly exceeds our own. With a few exceptions, our enemies remain invisible to our eyes, but they nevertheless are real, and so is their opposition. These celestial enemies seem to have various forms, as is suggested by the variety of terms used by Paul to identify them: “rulers,” “powers,” “world forces of this darkness,” “spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (verse 12). I doubt that we can fully grasp the variety and the number of those forces which oppose us. I would simply remind you that there seem to be various rankings of angelic beings, and that the description of heaven in Revelation speaks of creatures which will probably not be understood by us until we are in God’s presence.
The Christian must tend to his weapons, as every soldier in
warfare must, for not only is his life on the line but also the lives of his
buddies, as he is their keeper too. Without serviceable weapons, the battle is
often lost even before it begins. It is a terrifying thought to imagine oneself
on a battlefield with nothing in hand to fight the enemy.
The Bible makes it clear that God has willed that this warfare is
an absolute necessity for the development and preparation of His children to
live in His Family Kingdom. It cannot be avoided; we cannot remain neutral. In
one sense, we really have no choice. We must either fight or be lost.
Rev Dr. Ronnie Ng
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