SATAN CONTENDS WITH THE SAINTS

REF: Ephesians 6:12

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 spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

COMMENT: We are in a spiritual warfare in this world and age. The bible teaches that we should not love this world, and a well known song says, this world is not my home, I am just passing through. As we pass through this world, the time is really short (70 to 80 years) and it is full of problems of all kinds. We are oppressed by the evil one, Satan, who deceived Adam and Eve and they surrendered their dominion to him.

In spite of what happened at the Garden of Aden, God provided a way out of the dominion to all those who are willing to say no to Satan. The first step towards freedom from Satan’s dominion is accepting Jesus Christ in our hearts and that is getting born again. Surrendering to Jesus Christ, is the only way out of eternal dominion by Satan.

When we are fully born again and have learnt to engage in spiritual warfare, we are capable of defeating the devil. Satan’s spiritual army has four levels of command: Rulers, Authorities, Powers and Spiritual Forces. Each level is commanded by powerful demons in charge of geographical areas and have different responsibilities. Their powers and abilities are different.

When Satan rebelled in heaven and lost his position as a good angel, he was followed by one-third of all angels in heaven. It is estimated that before the fall, the total number of angels was 100 billion. (See Rev.5:11) . A third of 100 billion is about        33 billion. Out of these 33 billion, one third was locked up in prison leaving Satan with 22 billion. Twenty-two billion evil spiritual beings are based in the world and take orders from their master (god).

The contention with the saints (born again Christians as per the bible) is a real war. Several demons may be assigned to one human being depending on the contention at hand. Human beings today are around 7 billion and the demons are 22billion. About three demons can be assigned to one human being and the balance be Satan’s assistants.

The fact that Satan was defeated over two thousand years ago at Calvary gives us hope, ability and assurance that we can handle all the demons if not Satan himself. Mark 16:17gives us authority to drive out demons in the name of Jesus Christ. Matthew 16:19 says whatever we bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever we loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Christ’s authority in us is higher than the demonic authority, and therefore we have what we need to tackle the evil kingdom. We have the spiritual ability to engage in the fierce battle with the devil and we are always assured of victory. The bible says we are more than conquerors and that the battle is not ours.

PRAYER: Thank you Almighty God because you prefer to work with us. We are not alone in the battle.