As we covered last week, this life is a war for a great purpose. As I John 5:19 states, “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” Jesus purchased the whole world on the cross, and He is coming to take it back. He has delayed doing this for the sake of those He has called to reign with Him in the age to come, which will be for the time of the “restoration of all things.” 

         Jesus did not just redeem us, but also the whole world. The Father so loved the world that He sent His own Son to redeem the whole world, not just men. We have been sent to be His agents and to prepare for His return to take what He purchased on the cross. We become His agents by living in His kingdom now, which is to live under His authority, and thereby demonstrating the authority of His kingdom over the power of the evil one and his works. 

         We are told in I John 3:8, “The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.” As Jesus prayed for His disciples in John 17:18 "As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.” We are sent into this world for the same purpose—to destroy the works of the devil. We are here to win victories against the devil, and to reclaim as much of this world as we can in preparation for the coming of our King and His kingdom. We plant the standard of the Lord’s kingdom on what we can retake as a testimony of His coming to take what is His.

         Of course, the devil and his hordes will resist any projection or representation of God’s kingdom. Just as Jesus was criticized for and opposed for everything He did, we can expect the same. The Lord uses this opposition to train those who are called to reign with Him in the age to come. 

         There is another point to the Lord allowing us to experience this conflict. As Thomas Paine, who many consider the greatest inspiration for the American Revolution, wrote: “What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives everything its value.”

         This seems to be why the Lord made Israel fight for their Promised Land. It is a main reason why He makes us fight for our promises with faith and patience. Not only does this cause us to value His blessings and provisions more, but the struggle helps us to grow more in faith, patience, wisdom, and the fruit of the Spirit. This prepares us to be good stewards of that which He is entrusting us with as stewards, including His authority.

         There is a diabolical concept that has crept into many Christians that if something is from God it should come easy. When we are babes in Christ this is true, but if we have been in Christ for years and this is still our mentality, then we have not matured and are still babes in Christ. 

         There are laws and there are principles. Laws are immutable, but there are exceptions to principles. What I am sharing here is a principle, not a law, and there are exceptions to it. There are two cases in Scripture when the Lord made it easy for His people when they faced conflict. In both of these He told the people to just stand and watch His salvation. For our salvation, our redemption, He has done it all, and there is nothing we can add to it. However, it has been estimated that there are nearly two hundred times when the Lord made His people fight, though He promised to be with them in the battle. 

         Some Christians tend to build their beliefs and actions on the exceptions in Scripture, rather than the entire testimony of Scripture. In this case, the biblical testimony is that most of the time the Lord will have us fight the battles. He promises to be with us in them, and that He will always lead us in His triumph, which also implies that we must learn to follow Him in these battles. For us to learn to follow Him in the great struggles of this life is a main reason why He wants us to fight them.

         Virtually all of the troubles in this world, and in our personal lives, are the result of us trying to run the world and our own lives without Him. The answer to these conflicts and problems is to turn to Him and follow Him. We were not made to live without Him. 

         Many Christians suffer defeats in life because they tried to apply the exceptions in Scripture and ignored the overwhelming weight of Scripture that is in contrast to these. We should never base our beliefs or actions on the exceptions in Scripture, but on the whole testimony of Scripture. However, the exceptions are there for a reason, and as they are there we should be open to following them, but only with clear and specific guidance from the Lord. 

         “Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.” –Thomas Paine

© 2021 by Rick Joyner. All rights reserved.