How Christmas brings us Victory…
Romans 8:1-4
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
God created angels.
Lucifer, one of the most beautiful, powerful angels decided he wanted to BE God and tried to take over, convincing 1/3 of the other angels to join him.
They were cast out of Heaven.
“The Heavens” actually refer to multiple places. The first heaven is our sky/atmosphere. Then is second heaven, and the “Third Heaven,” or paradise where God is and where we will go when we go “home.” Here’s an article at Joy Digital Mag on the topic: http://www.joydigitalmag.com/burning-issues/the-three-heavens-qa-with-pastor-john-hagee/
Satan and his underlings were thrown to earth and left to operate in the 1st Heaven/sky. It’s a bit like a bully being kicked out of class, he hangs out in the hallway and tries to manipulate the students into not going to class to learn what they want to learn- only it’s a whole lot more extreme.
God formed mankind to rule over the earth, and allows us to invite Heaven to intercede on earth. God WANTS to help us- WANTS to give us blessings and operate on our behalf, but we need to invite Him (that’s what prayer does! We ask God to intervene on earth!). We often block Him from doing so by 1. Simply not asking and 2. Allowing the enemy (satan and his underlings) to distract and defeat us with lies so we miss what God has for us.
Satan, the thief, liar, and accuser, comes to “kill, steal, and destroy.” – We have an enemy that operates unseen, working to distract, defeat, discourage, and destroy us so we do not remember or understand who we are or that God is STILL on the throne.
God’s truth VS. Satan’s lies.
God’s truth is that He loves us and wants good things for us. God is all-powerful.
Satan and crew will do anything in their power to keep us from believing that. What that looks like is that they manipulate and twist the truth, they intervene in communication by planting seeds of thought that warp interpretations, creating conflict in relationships. This results in trauma, heartbreak, and destruction. Their efforts stir up confusion, anger, bitterness, resentment, unforgiveness, etc. and as soon as they can get our minds off of God and God’s truth, they have a foot in the door. Like a bridle in a horses’ mouth, they can then control and direct, as soon as we “bite.”
As soon as we give in to the temptation to believe those lies, they use guilt and shame to keep us beaten down and in submission – to make us forget who we are and whose. We are deceived into thinking we’ve messed up too badly to be forgiven and must be punished for our sins, that we’re not enough, not lovable, too broken, too weak, too insignificant, too busy….too human. We become slaves to that path of thinking and when those seeds of thought take root, they grow and choke out the good seed, like weeds. With each new seed and each new set of roots, the enemy has a better grasp on us, to keep us believing the lies and forgetting who we are in Christ. We settle further and further into darkness.
Because of this slavery to sin, we needed SOMEONE to come and win victory – to live blamelessly. Jesus came to earth to become ONE OF US. He lived a pure life on earth and was crucified and died on behalf of us all. Satan wants us to believe we are powerless against him. Jesus was proof that we’re not. He was proof that satan CAN be resisted. After He won victory, He sent His spirit for further help, in addition to His angels that He already commanded to watch over us and battle on our behalf.
None of us are perfect like Jesus and we give the enemy footholds in our lives when we give in to the lies and accusations. BUT, God had a bigger plan. He gave us a way out. He provided redemption and grace. He gave us victory as part of our inheritance when He adopted us into His family as His children. Jesus’ blood and sacrifice covers us all!
The enemy’s method of attack is consistent. Plant seeds of thought, manipulate situations, bury the truth in lies, accusations, and guilt. Rinse and Repeat. We do the rest when we allow those seeds to grow. Even worse – when we nurture them. Nurturing seeds from the enemy only leaves us vulnerable to further torment. Giving in to the temptation to withhold forgiveness removes our ability to have forgiveness.
The ground is more fertile and ready for those seeds if we’ve been hurt, abused, weakened, sick, distracted/busy, traumatized, neglected, rejected, betrayed, etc. For every “enemy” you have, there’s an unseen enemy behind the behavior. The seed was planted by someone. That person may have nurtured it and let it grow, but they didn’t plant it.
As Christians, we MUST learn to recognize that influence and stand firm against it.
Dig deeper into God’s truth. Really dig into it. Learn God’s Character. Learn the truth from scripture and how it all fits together so perfectly. Ask God to open your eyes to recognize the work of the enemy that you may stand firm and resist it. Focus. On. Truth.
If you want support as you dig deeper into learning who you are in Christ, how to wear your spiritual armor, and how to stand your ground against the enemy as you find overall wellness in life, check out our Digging Deeper group at https://diggingdeeper.everydayincredible.net