The Kingdom of God vs. the Power of Darkness
- I am told that a postmodern society does not respond well to epic stories. Therefore, it is better to tell small-scale personal stories, or personal testimonies. As matter of record, Jesus Christ simply instructed many of the people whom He had healed to go home and tell others what great things God had done for them.
- Nevertheless, contrary to the foregoing stated cultural rejection of epic stories, the best selling movies of the last 30 years have been grand tales of battles between good and evil: Star Wars, The Dark Knight, The Lord of the Rings, Spiderman, and even Harry Potter.
- Maybe the secret to their success has been the ability of the storytellers to tell the epic story by involving the audience in the personal lives of the main characters. But the epic dimension of the story was not diminished to favor the personal; rather the personal magnified the events of the epic stage, the consequences of defeat, and the necessity of struggle and sacrifice to achieve ultimate victory.
- To the point, the only epic that is marginalized in this postmodern culture is the one told by the Holy Bible; in particular, the Gospel story of Jesus Christ. Perhaps the difference is that the movies are mere entertainment, and the stories within the Holy Bible are something more than fictional tall tales.
- Consider how much effort fictional arch villains put into hiding their "diabolical" schemes until they are finally revealed in the climatic act of a story.
- If you were a character in one of the movies above... How would you react when the protagonists introduce you to the storyline? What would you do if they tried to persuade you to join their side? Would you withhold your decision until after the innocent have been enslaved, or slaughtered? Maybe your friends and even your own family?
- Real life is not as simple as movies portray, the plot is more complex, the difference between good and evil is sometimes obscure, even intentionally distorted, and the storyline takes more than six sequels to tell. Nevertheless the truth remains... we live each day on a global battlefield on which a cosmic war is waged between the forces of good and the forces of evil.
- The war has been fought for thousands of years. The visible battlefield has spanned the entire surface of the earth, and has touched every human that has ever drawn breath... up to this very moment. It is fought in multiple dimensions, some of which are beyond the spectrum visible to the human eye, and each side has forces in the spiritual realm that usually go unseen.
- It is important that you understand the big picture beyond what your senses are capable of discerning. But what matters most is the part of the battle which you can discern, and which you influence through your decisions and subsequent actions.
- Fists, knives, swords, spears, rifles, tanks, and a host of other weapons have been used as instruments of warfare. But within the realm of mortal men the most powerful weapons in spiritual warfare are ideas expressed in words and made manifest by our actions. Ideas touch and transform human beings: their minds, their hearts, their souls, and their spirits... the evidence can been seen in their faces, their hands and feet, their words, and their deeds. Ideas can enslave them, or set them free; can bring life, or result in death.
- You can choose to be a spectator and victim,
or a warrior and hero. You even get to choose sides, but you cannot be neutral.
The choices have everlasting consequences... in this life and the next.
"...if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24:14-15 NIV)
Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God. (3 John 1:11 NKJV)
- I ask you to share with us in the hardships, as a good soldier following our Lord and King... Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, the Son of God. His disciples are fighting against the spiritual forces of darkness commanded by a thief and murderer named Satan who has made false claims in order to be called the ruler of this world.
Next: Spiritual Warfare