Over the past few days at groupbiblestudy.com, we've been reflecting on Paul’s words in his letter to the Ephesian church about the Christian's battle against four types of supernatural evil forces. Today, we reach the fourth type. Here again is the text:
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 the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:12; emphasis added).
4) The Spiritual Forces of Evil in the Heavenly Realms. We can compare these evil spirits to your basic foot soldiers. These demons of varying lower ranks oppose and target non-Christians to hinder them from knowing the truth about God. Additionally, they obstruct or impede the spiritual growth of God's people after they commit their lives to Christ. We lack detailed information on this, but all believers in Christ may have been assigned a demonic spirit that seeks to weaken and destroy their testimony. The primary weapon of these forces of evil is to sow destructive thoughts into the minds of people. Negative evil thoughts, if allowed to, can germinate, grow, and develop into attitudes and habits designed to enslave people and bring them into bondage to Satan. The greater your influence in the Kingdom of God, the higher the rank and cunning of the evil spirit assigned to you. The enemy also evaluates your potential to damage his realm. If he perceives you as a threat to the realm of darkness, he will oppose you and try to prevent you from becoming a challenge. Be strong in the power of God’s might, not your own—pray through every opposition to your growth in Christ. Be diligent in the things of God.
Some attacks may go beyond mere thoughts and delve into oppression. You can't prevent the birds of the air from flying over your head, but you can stop them from building a nest in your hair. If you dwell on dark thoughts, they can turn into feelings like depression, discouragement, frustration, bitterness, and resentment, among others. As you grow older and more mature in Christ and learn to cast down such thoughts, you may notice that the enemy changes his strategy. In my early days as a Christian, the enemy would plant a thought, such as, "You don't really believe in God, do you?" As I matured in my walk with Christ, that thought stopped coming because the enemy realized he was wasting his time sowing that seed thought. I had developed a firm, logical, Bible-based belief in God. I thoroughly researched and considered the evidence and arrived at reliable conclusions on which to base my faith.
A Disarmed Enemy
You may not realize you're in a battle, but let me assure you, if you are a disciple of Christ, you are fighting whether you want to or not (2 Timothy 3:12). Some Bible scholars believe that Revelation 12:4 shows Satan has persuaded a third of the heavenly stars to follow him. The interpretation is that these stars are supernatural beings, now called demons. I’m not sure if that’s the correct way to understand that passage, but I do believe many evil spiritual forces live in the unseen world. They are organized to cause the most damage possible to the Kingdom of God. We need not fear these demons and evil spirits against us because Christ has triumphed over them by the cross: “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Colossians 2:15).
The Word of God reminds us of the authority and power given to those born again of the Spirit; the Scripture says, “The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). Who is in us? If you are a believer, Christ Jesus took residence in our hearts when we received the gift of eternal life. The Lord Jesus said: “I have given you the authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you” (Luke 10:19).
The apostle Peter also assures us that Christ has overcome all the enemy's power and is seated beside the Father on the throne, with enemy powers under His feet.
Who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him (1 Peter 3:22 emphasis added).
We have nothing to fear from our defeated foe, for Christ disarmed him 2000 years ago at the hill of Calvary. Satan may still be a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8), but he lost his teeth and claws at the cross of Christ. Keith Thomas
This meditation is a shortened version of the study: Know Your Enemy, found in The War Against Satan and Demons series.